Well, reader Deborah didn’t see this moth, but she saw the article, and it’s the first case I know of of Jesus being spotted in a lepidopteran:
From the site of station KXAN (in Austin, Texas). Can you spot the savior?
Of course it was seen as a sign:
GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – A Georgetown woman says a moth that showed up at her home with a pattern that resembles the face of Jesus is a sign from above.
Yvonne Esquilin tells KXAN the moth showed up at her home just after noon Wednesday. At first, her family thought it was a butterfly. It stuck around until she got home from work and saw it for herself.
“We were just amazed at the size of the moth,” she told KXAN. “It didn’t dawn on me until I snapped the picture. At first it looked like Jesus- and I still think it looks like Jesus.”
Esquilin says she has been praying for signs of hope that she would find a way to help her daughter continue pursuing her degree.
“I believe this was a sign,” she said. “God is letting me know Good News is Coming and to keep the Hope.”
The family looked into the significance of moths colors and learned yellow means hope and brown means important news. They’ve shared the image on social media asking others what they make of the large insect.
“People also saw an image of the Devil which is kind of creepy but after staring at it for so long it almost looks like it,” she said.
The moth spent the night at the family’s home before flying away around 7:15 this morning.
At least they let it escape. Had they killed it and preserved it properly, it would have gone for hundreds of dollars on eBay. Can any reader identify the moth?
Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis
Yep, Imperial moth. Plenty of messages flying around!
I’m not “on social media” but what I “make of the large insect” is pareidolia.
Pareidolia. New word to me. Thanks.
Hey, Jeebus. Look out for that flame –
The imperial moth, Eacles imperialis: http://bugguide.net/node/view/4757/bgimage
Nice to see Jesus breaking into some new territory. I was getting tired of all the tortillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, and whatnot.
The imperial moth has a rather variable color pattern of yellow and brown. I found one many years ago, and it was a lovely insect.
I sorta see the old Greek god Pan, playing the flute.
Looks much more like Rasputin than Jesus!
Was about to post the same just now.
Well at least we know what Rasputin looked like, so it’s easy to make a comparison.
Or Bob Marley.
I thought that too.
I was gonna go with Charles Manson.
You guys are wrong. It is definitely a message, because to me it looks exactly like Conchita Wurst, the Austrian bearded drag queen who won Eurovision. And the message for Yvonne Esquilin is “Your son will dance on stage in high heels”.
Charles Manson, yes me too.
Seems to me that anything that has bilaterally symmetrical markings is going to provoke a sighting of one kind or another. Nature provides one Rorschach test after another.
Looks like Josephine Clofullia to me. 🙂
My vote is Vlad the Impaler.
I wish I had that. Could fetch a nice price on Ebay. Or maybe I could build a shrine around the place it was found and charge omission. Just kidding.
admission, sent too fast….
I’d pay omission to see that!
This imperial moth indicates that Jesus sported massive sideburns and a braided beard.
Wait — Jesus looks like bird shit, not a dog’s bunghole?
b&
I would have been kinder to the moth by calling it dappled sunlight on bark or autumn leaves. But at least it’s not Marmite on toast.
You bean Marmite isn’t bird shit?
b&
Marmite is perhaps the best lunch booby trap short of actually stuffing some moths between two slices of bread.
No, that would be Vegemite.
…there’s a difference? I thought they both came from the same cesspool, and just had different labels slapped on the jars for different regional markets….
b&
You’re going to have to be very careful if you ever visit Britland. Or Ozland for that matter. I don’t know if Kiwiland has their own variant on [Vege- | Mar-]/mite, but you’d better watch out for more than the cannibal sheep there too.
Must be their secret plan for keeping Americans at bay. Like garlic for vampires?
b&
I believe it is vegemite in NZ but my relatives of Kiwi origin in the US eat marmite as well. I can’t tell the difference and think both taste like oxo cubes.
Yes, NZ has vegemite.
I’ve got relatives there and they sent me a jar for Christmas one year.
I don’t talk with them anymore.
I know someone who went to England and her colleagues told her that it tasted just like Nutella. Now that’s evil!
I thought it looked like a fish. Clearly something is wrong with my brain.
What with all the fish I see on cars, I thought Jesus looked like a fish – I’m so confused.
Actually…the ichthys started life as a Pagan fertility symbol representing, to put it both politely and in context, the midwife’s view of the birth canal.
Similar iconography can be easily seen in pictures of the Virgin of Guadalupe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe
Be forewarned: it’s one of those things that, once seen, will never be unseen….
Cheers,
b&
s/Our Lady of Guadalupe/Marmite/
s/seen/tasted/
Not sure I want to taste Our Lady, whether or not you smear her with Marmite….
b&
“HAMLET: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
POLONIUS: By th’ mass, and ’tis like a camel indeed.
HAMLET: Methinks it is like a weasel.
POLONIUS: It is backed like a weasel.
HAMLET: Or like a whale.
POLONIUS: Very like a whale.”
Thorin going woooooooo.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/07/28/article-2708990-2012DA8400000578-121_634x262.jpg
It’s the J*s*s M*th, h*ll*luja!!!!
I’m pretty sure that’s Obi Wan Kenobi circa a long time ago.
The picture is upside down. Turn it over, and the pattern is clearly a gremlin that’s been fed after midnight.
My favorite comment from the original site is how this moth provides evidence of evolution. In Texas, a Jesus moths blends in with all the other Jesus images, while a Periodic Table moth would be spotted instantly.
That’s amusing. I was thinking “moth Jesus was pinned for your sins”.
Yep. That makes as much sense as the original version.
I was trying to think of something to use that unavoidable trope. You’ve saved me the effort.
Well this one really does look like Jesus to me. At least, as he’s portrayed in the authoritative Brick Testament made with Lego blocks.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_life_of_jesus/the_crucifixion/jn19_16-17plk23_32.html
Jesus is a myth, not a moth, and besides, it can’t be Jesus, coz insects haz four legs.
So Jesus platted his beard and had a bald spot?
I think the woman is mistaken. That is clearly Charles Manson.
“Had they killed it and preserved it properly, it would have gone for hundreds of dollars on eBay.”
Yup, it was sent to help pay for her daughter’s degree and they screwed up by letting it go. When are people ever going to learn to interpret these miracles properly?
Ah, but she’s not at heart a snake oil salesperson. She’s a snake oil salesperson’s dream.
Looks like Gandalf to me.
A colleague just sent me a photo of a volcanic eruption with Zeus (Planet of the Apes) in the plume. Unfortunately I don’t know where he got it – if it’s someone else’s photo or one taken by a colleague in the field.
It’s George Harrison. Don’t forget, the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
Holy crap, can’t these idiots see that that is Charles Manson? Good grief, it looks nothing like Jesus!