Welcome.
From the beginning of time, humans have been interpreting random visual sequences or patterns as meaning more than they do. It's natural for humans to seek out symbols and items they recognize in the world around them. Who hasn't looked up at a cloud and thought: "Hey, that one looks like a heart/sheep/face!" This action of taking something random and assigning more meaning to it is known as pareidolia.
This site was created to explore cases of religious pareidolia. Religious pareidolia is essentially the same phenomenon as normal pareidolia, the only difference being the viewer will interpret the item as having some religious context. For example, a figure will not simply be a man or woman, it will be seen as representing the Virgin Mary or Jesus.
While most people are familiar with the concept of pareidolia and have probably experienced it themselves, not many are familiar with the term itself. Hopefully, this site will provide an interesting introduction for the average reader. Visit the about section to learn more about religious pareidolia, the origins of the term, and more. Visit the miracles section for specific examples of religious pareidolia and the unbelievable stories section for a look at some of the weirdest pareidolic occurances. Finally, visit the links section for more interesting websites and articles on religious pareidolia. For a more light-hearted take on the religious experience, look in the links section for some funny (and just plan weird) sites related to religion and pop culture and then get advice on how to create a tasty relgious pareidolic experience of your very own.
Simple Examples of Pareidolia
If you looked at this AC adapter on the left and thought that it looked like a surprised face or looked at the power strip on the left and thought it was smiling at you, you had a pareidolic experiences!
(AC Adapter photograph © James Leftwich, 2003 & Power Strip Photograph © educared)
Disclaimer
This site was created in 2007 for a Drexel University iSchool graduate course in website design and NOT for any commercial use. All text content belongs to Bekki Morgan unless otherwise indicated. All images are used with permission from the owner(s) or within the set copyright permissions.
In addition, this site is not meant to offend in any way. It is simply meant to document and explore an interesting phenomena that takes place on a seemingly regular basis. Any and all humor included is simply for entertainment purposes only. The opinions expressed within this site are the solely of the author herself. Please contact Bekki Morgan with any questions or concerns.
