Belief in spirits and the paranormal has become more visible in the western society, and surveys show that about half of the populations in Europe report some form of belief in spirits and the paranormal. Contemporary belief in spirits is here regarded as part of a multifaceted personal worldview, which I have chosen to cal l neospiritism . Expressions of neospiritism are reflected, among other things, in various TV ‐ shows about ghosts and haunting, communities and forums on the internet, ghost hunting, courses, magazines and books focusing on the supernatural and the belief in spirits.

The beliefs incorporated in neospiritism span across a wi de spectrum. They range from a strong faith in spirits and other worlds, to an openness to the possibility that spirits may exist. Contemporary belief in spirits is often assumed to be related to the pre ‐ industrial folklore belief in ghosts and specters. However, I do not consider neospiritism to be prim arily related to folklore beliefs so much as being a modernized and adapted version of nineteenth century spiritualism. The concept neospiritism can be used to unify the contemporary individual belief in spirits, which can also be understood as a more or less normalized western ancestor belief. In my presentation, I w ill discuss some of the phenomena which seem to characterize this contemporary belief system.