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In the second of an occasional series exploring some of the more curious aspects of British life and society, Ben Schott has teamed up with Ipsos MORI to examine faith, belief and superstition.

1. Do you believe in ghosts? 31 per cent of people who say they're 'not superstitious' believe in ghosts.

3. Do you believe in Heaven? Most people believe there is neither a Heaven, nor a Hell. Optimistically 16 per cent of those surveyed believed in the former rather than the latter, leaving a small pessimistic minority of 1 per cent in all surveyed groups who felt that only Hell existed.

4. Where do you stand on Witches and Wizards? Overall, 13 per cent of us think of Harry Potter as a credible character; those with non-Christian religious beliefs are more likely (21 per cent) than Christians (12 per cent) to believe in them

5. Do you believe in crop circles? 23 per cent of non-white people believe crop circles are the work of extraterrestrial forces, compared with 7 per cent of white people.

6. Do you believe in telepathy? 34 per cent of men said yes, compared with 47 per cent of women.

7. Do you believe we have souls? 54 per cent of men said yes, compared with 69 per cent of women.

8. Do you ever cross your fingers for good luck? 44 per cent of Christians said yes, compared with 31 per cent of atheists.

9. Do you believe governments around the world are concealing evidence of extraterrestrials? 34 per cent of Labour voters believe in a global Alien conspiracy, compared with 23 per cent of Lib Dem voters.

10. What about Reincarnation? 23 per cent believe in reincarnation (The popularity of the idea among adherents of Eastern religions skews the results slightly: Only 22 per cent of whites think they'll be coming back as opposed to 35 per cent of non-whites).

11. Do you believe in Horoscopes? It depends who you vote for: Labour voters are more likely to read their horoscope regularly (28 per cent) than Conservative (22 per cent) or Lib Dem voters (17 per cent).

12. Have you ever consulted a palmist? Three times as many Women as Men have consulted a palmist, with over a third of the better-manicured gender availing themselves of professional divination services.

13. Do you touch wood for luck? 42 per cent of respondents who considered themselves not to be superstitious would still touch wood before any perilous undertaking.

(Based on a survey of over 1,000 adults in Britain in October 2007)