clipped from: atheism.about.com   

Where is the Virgin Mary Today? Pareidolia: Seeing Religious Faces Everywhere


Why Do People Think They See Mary or Jesus on Windows and Toast?


Sometimes it seems that every other week, someone is claiming to see images of religious figures (Mary and Jesus are the most common) on walls, in windows, or in their breakfast foods. What prompts these visions? Why would Jesus or Mary wish to make an appearance on someone's toast some morning? There's a curious disconnect with such incidents because the people can believe in them fervently, but religious authorities and institutions tend to be much more skeptical and critical. What's really going on here?


There is a name for this phenomenon: pareidolia. It's not limited to religious figures, either. Humans are pattern-seeking animals and sometimes we see patterns that we think are real objects when, in fact, they are not patterns at all.