About.
Despite the fact that examples of religious paraeidolia, and normal pareidolia, span recorded history, the term itself is extrememly new. In fact, the earliest known use of it was as recent as 1994. In an article for the Skeptical Inquirer, Steven Goldstein writes :
Like astrology, graphology seems to rest on the notion of "pareidolia": the human infusion of patterns or meaning on random audio or visual events. In the case of handwriting analysis, this might be the idea that writers of large capital I's are egotistical, or those having varying slants are unpredictable.
—Goldstein, S. "Watch what you're thinking!" Skeptical Inquirer, June 22, 1994.
Since it is such a new term, no major dictionary carries the term pareidolia. There can be little doubt as to its meaning, however, as numerous authors, researchers, and regular webloggers have begun incorporating this term into their vocabulary.
Definitions of pareidolia:
From WordSpy.com:
pareidolia (payr.eye.DOH.lee.uh) n. The erroneous or fanciful perception of a pattern or meaning in something that is actually ambiguous or random.
—pareidolic adj. (1)From Wikipedia entry, pareidolia:
Pareidolia (from Greek para- amiss, faulty, wrong + eidolon, diminutive of eidos appearance, form) is defined as a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (usually an image) being mistakenly perceived as recognizable. Common examples include images of animals or faces in clouds, seeing the man in the moon, and hearing messages on records played in reverse. (2)
(1) McFedries, P. "Pareidolia." March 2, 2004. http://www.wordspy.com/words/pareidolia.asp (accessed March 2, 2007).
(2) "Religious Pareidolia." 12 March, 2007 (last edited).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_pareidolia (accessed March 13, 2007).
Religious pareidolia: miracle or perception?
As mentioned earlier, religious pareidolia is a phenomena in which someone -or some people -have a pareidolic experience in which they perceive the "vision" they are experiencing to have religious significance. Religious pareidolic experiences can occur in any religion, though the phenomena seems most prevalanat in believers of Christianity or Islam. This website will mostly explore cases of Christian pareidolia, not because of any bias on the part of the creators, but simply because they have been documented mostly in English. In the links section of this website, there is an article that discusses Islamic pareidolia, for those that are interested.
Religious pareidolia is a particularly interesting event, because it usually has greater social implications than regluar pareidolia. To those who believe in them, religious pareidolic experiences are heralded as visions or messages from God. This supposed "message from God" will attract great interest from both those who are believers, who view these events as miracles, and those who believe them to be fakes or nothing than a trick of the mind and a simple matter of perception. These opposing viewpoints can, understandably, cause friction between the two groups and lead to ill will on both sides. Obviously, this is a much greater reaction than anything that would be illicited by a simple pareidolic experience. After all, the average person doesn't 
look at the USB plug in the colum above, see a simple laughing face, and believe that it holds some deeper meaning. The face is recognized for what it is and, at most, some amusement is felt.
But what about situations, like the one shown in the photographs to the right (photos owned by Golden Palace), where people believe they are experiencing a religious message? In this case, the figure of the the praying Virgin Mary is supposed to be visible in the bark of the tree. As evidenced by the flowers and candles surrounding it, many people have come to believe that this tree is more than just a tree with an odd pattern in its bark. They do not simply look at this tree and find themselve amused by the shape they see. They see this tree as an object of worship and as a sign of the presence of God.
It is critical to remember that the faithful will never see their "miracles" as anything but miracles. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will ever accept the concept of religious pareidolia, in which these events are explained as simple psychological phenomena. As a result, one must be as objective as possible when discussion these cases, so as not to offend anyone.
For more information on specific cases of religious pareidolia, visit the miracles section of this website. For some of the more outlandish examples or religious pareidolia, see the unbelievable section.
