Some Christmas pareidolia

Everyone knows how much I live pareidolia. It never ceases to amaze me how the human mind can impose imagery on everyday things. We've seen Jesus on toast, on sheet metal, in rocks, on trees, and in windows. We've seen the Virgin Mary on a similar bunch of things--even a Lava lamp or a freeway underpass.

However, this is the first time I've seen both Mary and the baby Jesus in hard candy.

Hmmm. Personally I don't see it, even with the picture of Mary and baby Jesus put right next to the candy. It looks more like a map to me. Perhaps my faith isn't strong enough.

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You don't see it because you didn't do what the reporter said you should do, "Let the imagination go". I see it. But since you mentioned maps I also see Pangea in the process of breaking up into new continents. I also see a turtle supporting the world on its back, which I'm sure is encouraging news for some devout Hindus (as well as some Native North American literalists).

By Daniel J. Andrews (not verified) on 19 Dec 2010 #permalink

Seriously. And exactly how many Renaissance Art and History of Western Art texts did he( or they) have to scour in search of a Madonna and Child that vaguely approximates orientation of heads and spots-seen-as-heads?

OT - but while we're on the subject of seeing things that aren't really there- Mike Adams ( NaturalNews; 12-19-10) "informs" us that "UK non-profits end era of sunlight ignorance and vitamin D denial". Be that as it may, I'm sticking to my SPF 100+.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 19 Dec 2010 #permalink

Good one, ylooshi! lol.

By Daniel J. Andrews (not verified) on 19 Dec 2010 #permalink

Augh, amazing. I facepalmed immediately and had to watch the rest of the video peeking through my fingers.

Huh. At my house, one of the kids would find it, no matter where it was hid, and try to eat it.

Fascinating!

By The Blind Watchmaker (not verified) on 19 Dec 2010 #permalink

... looks like a panel of xkcd to me.

Also, delicious. I love that kind of hard candy.

By attack_laurel (not verified) on 20 Dec 2010 #permalink

That was one messed up snowflake in there. Remind me to check all my millefiori pieces for divine grace.

By LovleAnjel (not verified) on 20 Dec 2010 #permalink

It looks like a BLOB to me, frankly. Now, on my fourth viewing of the video, I can kinda see what he's seeing, but it's pretty typical of pareidolia -- vague.

Of course, it should be trivial for candy makers to DELIBERATELY put these images into the candy, though given the nature of this type of candy, it will require some care and craft. If the manufacturer is clever, they will do so. ;-)

By Calli Arcale (not verified) on 20 Dec 2010 #permalink

Calli-

It would indeed be easy to throw a religious symbol instead of a star or snowflake into the candy. You can pay to have candy custom-made for weddings with the bride & grooms names, ect. I think it's rare because few people want to eat baby Jesus (and many would see it as blasphemous/idolatory). Also because, as you can see from this example, Baby Jeebus would get all wonky, and no one wants Baby Jeebus to cry.

By LovleAnjel (not verified) on 20 Dec 2010 #permalink

I can see why the guy in the video would think that Mary & baby Jesus had appeared in his hard candy.

It's definitely no more than some kind of manufacturing defect.

On the whole, it strikes me as ridiculous that people would expect divine and not-so-divine figures from particular religious traditions would manifest themselves on things like hard candy, toast, or, digging into the past here at Insolence, bathroom tiles.