Holy Virgin Mary Pretzel Batman: The Face of the Virgin Mary Returns

eBay has become the home of yet another miraculous food product baring an angelic face. A pretzel said to be in the form of the Virgin Mary found its way to the internet auction floor. The item joyfully described at times by the seller as "stupid" has received over $1,666,000 in bids. The Virgin Mary pretzel was placed on eBay by a DJ for Eugene rock station KFLY . "Welcome to my stupid auction." the DJ invites, and until March 1, 2008, the bidding is welcome to go on.

Listeners to the station and users of eBay have begun to protest and to boycott. Outraged at eBays acceptance of what they call a farce and what some are calling religious ignorance, the internet is dancing with opinion. To date the item has nearly reached $2 million in auction and has over 90 bidders. The online auction system now allows an area on the auction page where questions can be posted and answered. Of the questions to the Virgin Mary pretzel seller, most are about the humorous aspect of the sell. WIthin the Q&A section the seller in all accounts agrees and at almost $2 million he has alot to find agreeable.

Strangely enough the pretzels appearance and image are strikingly similar to one found in the same place (Roll Gold Pretzels), and same shape back in 2005. In March of 2005 The Virgin Mary pretzel first appeared and was said to be found by a 12 year old girl in a bag of Roll Gold Pretzels. The image of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus was said to be seen in the items twisted shape. The eBay auction brought in over $10,000 with over 56 bidders.

The Virgin Mary Pretzel has set off an auction party of pretzel images through-out the eBay community. Spin off items are now for sale and many are not subtle about their humor. Item such as the Holy Pretzel Families (three actual pretzels), a pencil drawing of the Virgin Mary pretzel, Virgin Mary pretzel earrings, yes made from pretzels, and many others are receiving steady bids. One seller said he watched CNN's report on the Virgin Mary pretzel and low and behold found a pretzel stick in his drawer that resembles Joseph's staff. The pretzel is a rod and is currently at $8.00 with over 16 bids.

Yet, of the spin off auctions, one is gaining the most speed. A current auction which blatantly states "this is not the actual pretzel" is selling the Virgin Mary pretzel fake for a very real price. The auction is for what the seller calls a copy. "Why pay $500,000 for the original..." the seller claims. The bottom this sellers auction ends by again warning and inviting you into the truth of the sale: " Note: I make no claims or warranty that I am the original person to sell the "Virgin Mary Pretzel". I am merely riding their coat tails because I am broke and need it more than they do!" The fake Pretzel is currently at $16,000 with over 20 bidders and three days to go.

This is not the first time the Virgin Mary or her famous son Jesus have found their image on day to day items. In September 2007 A bar owner claimed to find the face of the Virgin Mary on a lemon. After slicing the lemon the face became some what apparent. However after taking a photo of the sliced lemon the bar owner claimed the face was positively of the Mother Mary.

The most popularly known face of the Virgin Mary was found on a toasted cheese sandwich in 1994. The sandwich was preserved and brought into the media stream of America some 10 years later. After riding a mountain of media attention in 2004, GoldenPalace.com bought the item on eBay for $28,000. GoldenPalace.com has been a large buyer of such auctions and takes the items on special tours annually.

In 2003, a tree stump in Passaic, New Jersey was said to hold the image of the Virgin Mary. After the tree was cut, the image appeared in the rings of the stump. The stump itself has been declared a local shrine and continues to draw many visitors.

Another GoldenPalace.com find was a $15,000 piece of metal bearing the images of Christ and the Virgin Mary. A hardware store employee found the image while unloading a truck in 2006. The image attracted over 120,000 visits during its reign on eBay and was finally won by Goldenpalace.com. Goldenpalace.com claims the item is another part of pop culture memorabilia.

In June of 2007 a family found the face of the Virgin Mary in their watermelon. The Arizona family found the fruity image as a blessing. They hoped the aberration was a sign of good things to come.

Marketing caught on quick to the faces on food phenomena. Soon after the 2004 'toast' sale eBay and the internet was bombarded with t-shirts, mugs, and even bumper stickers. More recently toasters that brown images into your families toast have become high sellers in online and offline stores. Items such as the Pop Art Toaster sold big during the holidays and has become a popular novelty gift.

Besides food, the faces of Jesus and Mary have been found on dunes, in clouds, in the background of old pictures, and even on ultrasounds. Entire internet sites have been dedicated to these particular types of sightings. Popular sites such as Wikipedia have a plenitude of pages listing the where and how of many religious sightings and phenomenons. It would seem, as long as sites such as eBay thrive, the media is hungry for the bizarre, and people continue to look for that one sign, faces will continue to be toasted and rolled onto Pop Culture America