According to new survey results from the Pew Research Center, a remarkable proportion of Americans recently reported “interacting with dead relatives” through dreams and other means. In fact, over half, 53 percent, of Americans have had such interactions with deceased loved ones, with that proportion saying they’ve interacted with the individual in a dream or through “some other form.”

Digging through that statistic a bit more, 46 percent of Americans reported the interaction happening in a dream, while 31 percent said it happened in another way, Pew noted. Some of the other metrics add to the intrigue, as 34 percent said they’ve felt the presence of a deceased loved one, 28 percent have told this person about their lives, and 15 percent said they’ve had a deceased family member communicate with them.

For anyone contemplating the frequency of such encounters, 44 percent of Americans said they had at least one of the previously mentioned experiences unfold over the past year. However, the data does come with some caveats. Respondents weren’t asked for explanations to shed further light on their self-reported interactions with deceased family members. Thus, Pew noted there’s no way to tell whether respondents view these moments as supernatural or mysterious or whether they see them as having natural or scientific causes or some of both.

For instance, the differentiator comes from dreams versus more overt communication attempts. It’s one dynamic to have a dream about a favorite memory involving a dead family member; it’s another issue entirely to believe that a family member has tried to communicate in the temporal space. It’s also essential to note Pew found Americans with medium levels of religious adherence and commitment are more likely than those with low or high commitment to report feeling the presence of a deceased family member.

In an analysis, Pew wrote, “People who are moderately religious seem to be more likely than other Americans to have these experiences. This is partly because some of the most traditionally religious groups, such as evangelical Protestants, as well as some of the least religious parts of the population, such as atheists and agnostics, are less likely to report having interactions with deceased family members.” Just 34 percent of agnostics and 26 percent of atheists report being visited by or interacting with a dead loved one.

Meanwhile, 42 percent of evangelical Protestants said the same. These proportions were much higher for historically Black protestants and Catholics. These polling results bring up an important reminder: attempts to communicate with the dead, known as necromancy, are precluded in the Bible. Leviticus 19:31 says, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God.”

It’s unclear if these practices led to any Americans’ responses in this survey, but considering the subject matter, the topic is important to consider. Pew collected the survey results from March 27 through April 2, 2023, among 5,079 U.S. adults.