Is there such a thing as ancestral memory?

Have you ever visited somewhere for the first time and felt a sense of déjà vu? Perhaps you turned a corner and found that the view was, oddly, just what you expected, even though you’d never been there before. Has someone in your family taken up a hobby or an occupation way outside what family and friends expected, and then proved amazingly good at it?

Many people in these circumstances have later discovered that the strangely familiar place, or the odd choice of hobby or career, is connected to a place or occupation that features in their family history.

At this point, many would use words like ‘spooky’ or ‘weird’ and, 40 years ago, my reaction would probably have been the same. Since then, however, I’ve come across so many cases of people relating to, and even repeating, the previously unknown experiences of their ancestors that I’ve been forced to consider the possibility of ‘ancestral memory’ – something that we inherit without realising it.

Keeping it in the family

One example in my own life showed up when I was about six or seven, but I didn’t realise its significance until some 20 years later.

At primary school, Friday afternoons were taken up with ‘painting’. It was never dignified with the word ‘art’ as we were never taught anything – it was just a way of keeping us quiet, until ‘home time’. One day, our teacher was joined by