The Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus Appear On A Potato

Posted on EBAY from Curious Auctions

This is the text which accompanied the image: ~

It has been almost one year since our Father passed away from Prostate Cancer. We all miss him very much and think about all of the wonderful times we had.

I was thinking about my Father as I was preparing dinner today. In total amazement, I looked at the stack of potatos I was about to peel and I couldn't believe my eyes. Staring back at me from the sink was the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus.

I knew this had to be a sign from my Father telling us that everything is OK and he is at peace. The feeling of joy was very overwhelming and I suddenly felt a great sense of calm. You can clearly see the Virgin Mary's face in the top of the potato and the baby Jesus in the lower right side.

I didn't have the heart to peel and eat the potato, so we have listed it for eveyone to see. GOD BLESS you for checking our auction.

~*~

And also from EBAY

Description from EBAY:~

This is a real Folgers Coffee single that I opened and was astonished to see the face of the Virgin Mary. You can clearly see it in the center of the bag.

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And from Needled - Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Tattoo

And the history of this possibly sacred snack?

The sandwich came into being in Diana's father's frying pan at 8:30 one morning 11 years ago. Almost immediately it sustained a small bite to its bottom right corner from Diana, before she realized she was possibly nibbling on the mother of Christ and screamed, ``Oh my God!''

The sandwich came at a difficult time for Diana and her husband, Greg, who'd learned that he had emphysema, a herniated disc and a degenerating spine. They kept it in the kitchen, on a shelf with some dishes. ''We got so close to her,'' Diana said. ``Every time there was a problem we'd go in and pray to her.''

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And Virgin Mary in Water Fountain

We built this fountain a couple years ago out of a piece of scrap marble and some copper tubing. The idea was that the water would spray out in a half-circular fashion across the face of the stone. It worked pretty well, but last fall we had an early snow around Thanksgiving and never had a chance to dismantle the fountain and bring it in.

Forgot about it for 5 months, but when we started cleaning the yard up in the spring we noticed the unusual image formed by the combination of weather, mineral deposits, marble etching and copper tubing. I joked that it kind of looked like the Virgin Mary, and then the more I looked at it, I
realized it REALLY looked like the Virgin Mary.

Copper tubing forms her halo, etching her facial features plus a laurel crown, mineral deposits her gown. We're probably going to be moving out of state soon, possibly into a condo, so I need to get rid of a lot of the stuff we can't bring with us. Because of its size and weight, the fountain won't be going. It'll either stay with the house or be put away in the garden shed for the new owner.

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"There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good- will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us." - David Hume

This tendency to recognise the human face in objects aparts from people is called pareidolia. Astronomer Carl Sagan claimed that the human tendency to see faces in tortillas, clouds, cinnamon buns, and the like is an evolutionary trait.

He writes:

"As soon as the infant can see, it recognizes faces, and we now know that this skill is hardwired in our brains. Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper. These days, nearly every infant is quick to identify a human face, and to respond with a goony grin." - Sagan 1995: 45

The need to recognise a human face appears to be advantageous for survival. Human beings are apparently "hard-wired" to identify the human face.

While there is no question that the majority of face perception skills developed by adults are not present in babies, there is evidence of an innate tendency to pay attention to faces from birth.

It is known that early perceptual experience is crucial to the development of visual perception and this orienting response undoubtedly encourages the rapid development of face specific skills such as the ability to identify friendly others and relatively complex pre-verbal communication.

By two months of age face perception has developed so specific areas of the brain are known to be activated by viewing faces.

LINKS: ~

• Face perception
• Face Blindness - Prosopagnosia
• Anthropomorphism
• Visual Perception