After a rockslide in the San Francisco municipality of the Putamayo Province, many believe the face of Jesus has been revealed among the rubble.
“If you believe in Jesus you will see your image,” said Ximena Rosero Arango, one of the many people who flocked to the scene to photograph it.
Some of the surrounding landowners are charging up to 2,000 pesos to give people access to what is being called a miraculous phenomenon. A photograph of the rockslide has gone viral on Twitter, and the story has been picked up internationally. So many worshippers have made a trip to the site to pray that police had to be brought in to control the crowds, reports Time .
It is now believed that as long as the face remains, people will come to pray. In time, there is a good chance that the area will be deemed holy ground.
The now-open hillside joins an ever-growing list of natural features that resemble human faces. However, the Colombian discovery has drawn the attention of the word because of its religion connection. As a result, residents as well as media are flocking to the site to get a look at the “face” for themselves.
Neuroscientists have discovered that the areas of the brain that are involved in visual processing — especially the fusiform gyrus, which focuses on facial recognition — will “fire up” and see details such as a human face, even if they are not human. People’s beliefs will influence their perception, and if they want to believe they are seeing the face of Jesus, for instance, then they will, reports the Huffington Post .
In 2012, a study was done by Finnish researchers that found subjects who were religious believers or believers in the paranormal were far more likely to see a human face in scenery than other people. The study was published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology .
Believers see the face as a miracle while non-believers say there are other explanations. Each individual brain is high-wired by evolution to see what we choose to believe.
Jesus seems to have made several appearances these days. In November, someone claimed to have found his face in a piece of fried chicken. In October, several people claimed to have seen him in a plume of smoke.
Every individual’s mind works differently, but we are created to see what we believe. So readers, what do you see among the rubble of this rockslide?
[Photo courtesy of Tumblr. ]