Finding Christ in the kitchen

Valley resident sees portrait of Christ in floor tiles

Richard Brian

Antonia Baker holds up one of the tiles in her home that she says has an image of Jesus ingrained in it.

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Friday, Jan. 2, 2009 | 12:02 a.m.

A holy image in an unexpected place

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It's been claimed that images of Jesus Christ have appeared on everything from water stains to potato chips.

Often those images fade. But one West Valley woman says she has had the likeness of Jesus in every one of her kitchen tiles for eight years.

Antonia Baker saw the image in the floor of her Lakes home for the first time three years ago during the Christmas season while she was recovering from surgery for an eye injury. Doctors said she had to keep her head down to allow her retina to heal. She wasn't allowed to read or use the computer, so she had to stare at the floor for three weeks.

That much concentration led her to see an image that had always been in the 13-by-13-inch ceramic tiles, but had never been recognized.

"I never noticed for five years. I never even looked," she said. "It didn't manufacture itself. It was just always there."

The image of Jesus from the waist up and facing to the left is the same in every tile, so it likely was made during manufacturing, she said. Baker bought the tiles about eight years ago from a shop that is no longer in business. However, it's possible others purchased the same tile and could be walking on Jesus too.

"You could find him and he might be right there under your feet," she said.

Some of Baker's friends told her they see the image, but not everyone can, she said.

Baker said she doesn't want to make a big deal out of the image or turn her house into a shrine. She believes the depiction is meant to be inspirational and said this is the time of year for religious reflection.

"My brother said, 'The reason that your eye popped (referring to her eye injury) is that you're walking on Jesus all the time.' I said, 'No, he's holding me up,'" she said.

She attempted to sell a couple of spare tiles on eBay, but pulled them off after one man, who offered $100 for one, made too many demands to complete the deal.

"I thought if someone needs a gift for someone that is really, really down, they might see this," she said.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or jeff.pope@hbcpub.com.

Discussion: 14 comments so far…

By incredulousnyc

1/2/09 at 9:42 a.m.

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Wow. When will rational, reality based thinking be en vogue again?
By paplikaplik

1/2/09 at 9:47 a.m.

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Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse.
By Guy_Burgess03

1/2/09 at 11:19 a.m.

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I think it looks more like Elvis.
By shootsnleaves

1/2/09 at 12:08 p.m.

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I cannot believe that there is an apparently serious written article on this woman and her hallucinations. Las Vegas Sun, what is wrong with you? Should we rename you the Las Vegas National Sun-Enquirer?
By redferret

1/2/09 at 2:27 p.m.

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Can anyone say "slow news day"?
By revbobdobbs

1/2/09 at 3:30 p.m.

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In fairness to the Sun, Jeff Pope is a writer with the Henderson Home News.
By KillerB

1/2/09 at 5:51 p.m.

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Looks more like a hippie giving a noogie to a skinhead.
By gold1020

1/2/09 at 10:40 p.m.

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This is truly idiotic nonsense.
By johnevegas

1/3/09 at 6:21 a.m.

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This morning in my bathroom I saw something that looked like the Mona Lisa. But when I flushed the toilet, it went away.
By mmpsychol

1/3/09 at 8:28 a.m.

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When one looks at the image on the tile there is indeed a discernable human figure. Seeing it in the tile is a lot like looking at a Rorschach Test card and telling the doc what you see there. So, what is more pathological--1) denying that you can discern anything at all? 2) claiming to see something gross or inane? 3) making vulgar sport of a positive and sincere person who does see something decent? or 4) seeing a figure of Jesus, Who is kind, good, and worthy of love and devotion? Out of the human mouth the content of the human heart is revealed.
By bird2brain

1/3/09 at 10:21 a.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By CaptJack

1/3/09 at 11:12 a.m.

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Something tells me the eye surgery was not successful.
By Sonic_Nurse

1/7/09 at 7:01 p.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By cmankey999

1/8/09 at 2:59 p.m.

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"So, what is more pathological--1) denying that you can discern anything at all? "

If you saw an animal in the clouds and pointed out to me and told me what animal it was, I would see it too. This is because of a psychological phenomenon called Pareidolia. It's not a message from a magical animal from beyond nature.

"4) seeing a figure of Jesus, Who is kind, good, and worthy of love and devotion? Out of the human mouth the content of the human heart is revealed."

Out of the mouth of the ignorant, misunderstanding about subjective phenomena are reveled