Norway's New Obsession: Ghost Hunting as a National Sport

Marianne Halland Bogdanoff, the manager of a travel agency in southern Norway, is a thoroughly secular woman. Like most citizens of the thriving Scandinavian nation, she was raised to believe in science and progress, steering clear of anything religious. Yet, although Bogdanoff doesn't believe in Hashem, she has no qualms about declaring her belief in ghosts.<\/span><\/p>

This belief began after persistent issues in her office. A slew of experts failed to solve recurring computer malfunctions, strange odors, and employees' complaints about persistent headaches. All these issues occurred solely on the first floor of the office. After all conventional attempts to resolve the problems failed, Bogdanoff reached out to a medium. The medium performed a 'cleansing' on the office, and the odors vanished, along with the headaches and computer problems. "I have no idea what she did exactly," Bogdanoff told 'The New York Times,' which published an article yesterday about the burgeoning popularity of ghost belief in Norway. "But she said there was a spirit there, and she got rid of it." Employees at the office confirmed they also felt a burdensome presence that finally dissipated thanks to the medium.<\/span><\/p>

Belief in ghosts, it seems, is common in European countries with a strong secular tradition. In Norway, however, this belief has reached the status of a national sport. Even the Norwegian royal family is known to hold this belief, with one of the princesses advising people on how best to communicate with spirits.<\/span><\/p>

"When people don't believe in Hashem, belief in ghosts fills that void," explains Roar Foltland, a Norwegian priest. "It's a sort of post-modern religion." Clergy are perhaps the most skeptical about ghosts: they point out that these 'ghosts' tend to appear in specific areas, where each resident draws inspiration from their neighbor's stories. Nonetheless, the Norwegian Lutheran Church has had to adopt a version of a 'prayer for exorcising ghosts' for the few Norwegians who still visit churches and expect a solution to their 'ghost problem.'<\/span><\/p>

Norway's most popular television program is called "The Power of Ghosts," and it has been airing for ten consecutive seasons. Half a million people watch it every Sunday—a significant audience in a country of only 5.1 million people. The show's host claims that while he was once skeptical of paranormal phenomena, after ten years of hosting, he had to acknowledge their existence. "I have visited many homes where things happened contrary to the laws of nature. Hundreds of people write to us to report their homes or workplaces are haunted. I don't think they're all crazy."<\/span><\/p>

In some places, a large enough collection of ghost stories has turned the area into a tourist attraction. This happened, for example, in the town of Moss. The municipality organized a 'ghost tour' led by a local medium after a high percentage of buildings in town were reportedly inhabited by ghosts, according to residents. A group of exact science students in the city even works as ghost hunters: they believe that ghosts emit electromagnetic pulses that can be measured with scientific instruments. They publish their findings—always invisible—on the internet.<\/span><\/p>

"I never believed in ghosts," says Un Boom Tuvitu, manager of the town's tourist information office. "But when I started in my current position, I noticed that German brochures always had the most prominent display in our office, despite few tourists speaking German. All efforts to change the layout didn't help—the German brochures always ended up in the central display."<\/span><\/p>

The team decided to send the story to "The Power of Ghosts." The medium sent by the show 'solved the mystery': he told the team that the spirit of a German soldier who worked in the building during the Nazi occupation was still there and was the one rearranging the brochures.<\/span><\/p>

The New York Times reporter who wanted to see the brochures organized by the ghost was disappointed. "The ghost has already left us and moved elsewhere," the manager explained. <\/span><\/p>