Saturday, July 15, 2006

Muslim Pareidolia

Since reality is an equal opportunity employer, Muslims are more than entitled to have their share of religious pareidolia.

Earlier this year a fish named Oscar became a celebrity when it was discovered that the markings on him seemed to spell out "Allah" and "Muhammad." (I wonder if Oscar faces Mecca when he prays)

Then last month a rabbit fish grabbed the limelight when it was seen sporting "Allah" on its belly. Unlike their American simulacra counterparts this fish never made it to the market.

Dubai's Allah fish will never be sold on eBay, however. It has been commandeered by the Dubai government and, after a visit to a taxidermist in Abu Dhabi, will be accorded a place of honour in a museum.

Ah! Immortality.

Now it's the chicken's turn. Well, actually it's the chicken's egg's turn.

A chicken in a Kazakh village [in Kazakhstan] has laid an egg with the word "Allah" inscribed on its shell, state media reported Thursday.

"Our mosque confirmed that it says 'Allah' in Arabic," Bites Amantayeva, a farmer from the village of Stepnoi in eastern Kazakhstan, told state news agency Kazinform.

"We'll keep this egg and we don't think it'll go bad."

(Via God is for Suckers)


Calling all Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Pastafarians, .... Send in your simulacra-pareidolia entries. Put your religion on the map!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Taoism is a philosophy, not a religion. They're pretty light-hearted folks anyway... all about enjoying life, drinking wine, wandering into peach groves and the like, thinking up interesting paradoxes of consciousness and existence... Taoist writings are worth reading; they have some interesting perspectives on obstacles, which are solved using common sense. Admirable! No prayer involved!

Ingrid
(My high school offers a Chinese Lit. class.... I'm glad I had a chance to take it before I graduated)