Is déjà vu prophetic or witchcraft? I’ve been pondering this for a long time. In fact, I discussed this with a group of prophets 10 years ago and never picked it up again.
Déjà vu is a French phrase that means “already seen.” Merriam-Webster defines déjà vu as “the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time” and “feeling that one has seen or heard something before” and “something overly or unpleasantly familiar.”
Dionne Warwick sang a song about Déjà vu in the 1970s. This Top 40 song comes to mind whenever this topic emerges. Hers is a love song. The Bee Gees also recorded a song about déjà vu, opining about a great love, as did Beyonce and others. The secular music world, mostly motivated by the prince of the power of the air, is fascinated with the concept.
Déjà Vu: More Common Than You Think
I’ve experienced this many times—and you probably have too. About two-thirds of the population reports déjà vu experiences, according to a report in Current Directions in Psychological Science. But the scientific world can’t settle on the root of déjà vu.
According to research, déjà vu can come from mental disorders like anxiety, dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia. Déjà vu can come from medical disorders like epilepsy, and some pharmaceutical drugs can cause this “already seen” experience.
Other researchers point to memory-based origins. Psychology Today offers three reasons for déjà vu: 1) the result of some sort of “mismatch” in how we’re simultaneously sensing and perceiving the world around us; 2) a fleeting malfunctioning between the long- and short-term circuits in the brain; 3) and a region of the brain called the rhinal cortex, involved in detecting familiarity, may be inexplicably activated without actually activating memory (hippocampal) circuits.”
Is It Really a Familiar Spirit?
Some prophetic people point to déjà vu as a deep prophetic experience. Could it be possible that God is using what feels like déjà vu to communicate His truths? Or is it a familiar spirit? Is it witchcraft?
Some witches seem to feel this is a gift. On witch who claims to experience déjà vu three times a week was advised by another witch that she had a gift. Another witch claims déjà vu is a sign of being a witch. Some paranormalists insist it’s precognition and still others point to a connection with a past life.
Déjà vu is mentioned nowhere in the Bible, but one thing is certain: It is not a spiritual gift. This is not the gift of prophecy. It’s not the word of knowledge. Scripture is very clear that some supernatural communications and expressions come from God’s Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12:4-11) while others come from evil forces (see Deut. 18:10-12).
Could what feels like déjà vu be God showing you something? Possibly. But give its connection to witches and the paranormal, the concept of déjà vu does not belong in a prophetic person’s spiritual vocabulary of God expressions. At best, it’s likely a similar memory that’s buried in your subconscious. At worst, it’s witchcraft.
