---
title: "Mystical Experiences"
description: "About half of the U.S. public says they have had a religious or mystical experience."
date: "2009-12-29"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2009/12/29/mystical-experiences/"
---

# Mystical Experiences

About half of the U.S. public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a “moment of sudden religious insight or awakening.” This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994, and more than twice as high as in a 1962 Gallup survey (22%). In fact, the 2009 Pew Forum survey finds that religious and mystical experiences are more common today among those who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (30%) than they were in the 1960s among the public as whole (22%). [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1434/multiple-religious-practices-reincarnation-astrology-psychic)