August: A Busy Month for Religious Sightings!

The Virgin Mary has been busy lately, in the month of August alone, she has appeared in chocolate:

As a chocolatier to the rich and famous, Martucci Angiano has posed with many celebrities. But this month she held in her hand a figure that dazzles her more than any Hollywood star: a 2-inch-tall column of chocolate drippings that workers at her gourmet chocolate company believe bears a striking resemblance to the Virgin Mary. Since the discovery at Bodega Chocolates, Angiano's employees have spent much of their time hovering over the tiny figure, praying and placing rose petals and candles around it. Since the discovery at Bodega Chocolates, Angiano's employees have spent much of their time hovering over the tiny figure, praying and placing rose petals and candles around it. "I was raised to believe in the Virgin Mary, but this still gives me the chills," Angiano said as she balanced the figure in her hand. "Everyone should see this."

... on the stomach of a pet turtle named, of course, Mary:

An 81-year-old woman in Chicago said the image of the Virgin Mary appeared to her on the stomach of a pet turtle, according to a Local 6 News report. Shirley McVane said the image mysteriously appeared on a sand turtle given to her by a family member. McVane, said she had had the turtles for about a year and the image is plain to see. "I told some of our friends, you know I've got a turtle and I said it has the image of the Virgin Mary on it, and I said it's getting plainer and plainer," McVane said. "And they said, 'Yeah sure. Yeah, I know, you're 81 years old, you think we believe that?' I said, 'Well, it's the truth.' So, now they all believe it."

... in a piece of wood paneling in the Souplantation restaurant in Grantville, California:

... and finally, on a George Forman Grill drip pan:

John Milanos was cooking a hamburger on his George Foreman Grill last week in Missouri. After he was done, he said the Holy Mother's face appeared in the leftover grease. The grease was in a small plastic drip pan that catches the grease and other fluids that run off the grill.

Milanos saved the grease in his refrigerator so he could show his friends and the makers of the George Foreman Grill. So far, the company has not responded to Milanos.

She's probably mad that someone stole her 700 year-old religious icon in Greece, by scaling a sheer cliff face!

Not to be outdone, her son Jesus also made a few appearances, like for example on an oyster shell (selling right now on eBay, of course):

(Pretty neat, though not as cool as the one found last year, also on an oyster shell)

... in an MRI scan of a woman's spine (probably about to be sold on eBay)

A 34-year-old woman in Pittsburgh, Pa., claims the image of Jesus appeared to her in a recent magnetic resonance imaging scan of her body, according to a Local 6 News report. Rhonda Hodge of Duquesne had several X-rays taken of her spine because of a bulged disc, which has been causing numbness in her neck and left arm. One of the images caught her attention and that of her friends and co-workers. "What went through my mind?" Hodge said. "Just surprise. Oh my God, that's the crucifixion." Hodge said there is no doubt in her mind that the image looks like the crucifixion.

... in an ultrasound scan of a baby:

After seven months of a difficult pregnancy, Laura Turner looked anxiously at the latest ultrasound picture of her unborn son. She was reassured to see not just the baby sucking his thumb - but what she believes is an image of Jesus watching over him.

... and on a shrimp:

The man wrote that he wanted to share with viewers a smile and a sense of hope. He claimed that when he finished his first shrimp, he disregarded the tail, but then looked at it again and saw the face of Jesus.

The writer said he believed it was a sign, as he's currently going through a nasty divorce.

And God? He only appeared once in August, on the side of a man's four-feet long pet alligator's side:


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im very saddened at the comments of people on this page about the virgin mary and jesus in my life it was mary the mother of jesus who brougt me back to christ her son which i was lost and really in the dark and with her awsome intervention and grace it got to a point where i would pray the rosary and the whole room started to smell like roses no matter where you are in life succesful or down and out try praying to mary she will always answer you she did it for me i was in a real dark spot but she never let me down i always said she has a sense of humour.
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OMB(buda)haha i am a christan and only 13 years old at that i am making more muture dissitions than all of u non-believers of crist becuase he lives in me !!!!! i love him soo much i go on these things just to share the love of jesus , but just 2 let u know there is a hell and 1 day jesus will come all of thouse who believe 2 a place that if better than the filling of being drunk ,i never have been drunk but i know thaat heaven can not be bet in its awsomeness JESUS loves u even if u don't love him back so get over ur sins and just try jesus before its too late!!!:)
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There are a few well-known, well-established, and well-studied cognitive theories that explain why people perceive things like this. Namely (in order of underlying to specific):

Apophenia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
- Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.

Pareidolia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia
- psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse.

and of course:

Confirmation bias - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
- confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and to avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs.

Put all of those together, a dash of religiously-motivated ignorance and.....voilĂ ! jesus/God/Mary faces in things....

*golf clap*

(of course, the religious will look at this and say, "that's just scientific mumbo jumbo..." and thereby demonstrate Confirmation Bias...
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Oh by the way, the Virgin Mary appeared to me in a dream, I suppose that's a figment of my imagination right?

For those who believe no explanation is necessary,
For those who do not believe no explanation is possible.
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