Pareidolia

Pareidolia is seeing images in patterns or objects. It's something everyone can do and is normal, even encouraged when we are young though it can be frightening to some if most of the things they see are of disturbing nature.

A few years ago I started seeing images, these faces on my bathroom and livingroom walls. On two occasions I saw two faces, one in person that looked like a demon laughing, and another one in a photo. Is it even possible to see ghost this way, and if it is, is it paranormal? Can you give me more information on this.

Daviona

What you are experiencing is called Pareidolia and is a normal phenomena. We are actually encouraged to use it when we are very young, like when we look up at clouds and imagine all sorts of fluffy bunnies and faces and whatnot.

pareidolia photo
Being able to imagine pictures within other objects means you have a very creative nature and a super imagination. Both great things to have.

It can be a bit disturbing when the things you are seeing lean toward a scary or evil subject, which in your case is screaming demons.

Although in the movies one of the favourite scenes is to have demons coming out of walls at us, it really doesn't happen. Demons appearing at all, is extremely rare, and the circumstances are very different from what you are experiencing. So, this is definitely not a paranormal event.

Why would it only start a while ago?

We are constantly changing, our views and perceptions of things constantly evolves. It isn't unusual to begin seeing images in anything with a pattern type of surface at different stages in your life. Although it may feel like it just starts out of the blue, it's just a subtle change in how you perceive things.

Once you begin to form these pictures it's also not unusual to begin to see even more of them. It's just your brain processing the information it is given with more clarity and frequency – your mind thinks that's what it's supposed to be doing.

Using Pareidolia in a Positive Manner

It can be disturbing if what you see is always of a frightening nature. Once you understand what is causing them you may find they don't bother you any more and may instead just turn back into wallpaper, or the correct photo you are looking at.

If however, you find they do still bother you, and especially if they are disturbing, you can turn them into something more positive. A lot of creative people use this technique to get ideas and inspiration for their work and make an effort to hone it further.

With practice, and a bit of concentration, you can search these patterns and train yourself to see more pleasant things. Train your mind to imagine the pattern changing into something else. Let the lines and curves twist in directions that outline flowers, or cartoon characters, or very simply just splotchy images of nothing substantial. By changing your attitude from – this is scary and dark - to one more uplifting – this is a fun and interesting exercise – the objects you see will change as well.

It might take a bit of practice, but it's just like looking at clouds, you know that clouds can look just like ordinary clouds, and the wallpaper can look just like wallpaper too. Seeing images in patterns is very normal and just Pareidolia, not anything paranormal or anything to be concerned about and really can be interesting and fun.


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