Podcast Transcript

Have you ever gazed at the sky and stumbled upon familiar shapes in the clouds? What if those seemingly random images revealed the future? Is there a reason that we are mesmerized by the beauty of the sky? We’ll dive into the fascinating intersection of psychology, science, and the Bible, exploring the intriguing phenomenon of seeing visions in clouds.

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One of my earliest memories of having an unexplainable experience was back in the early 1980s. I was a young tween, with long pigtails with big round plastic bobble hair ties, polyester clothes, and long sport socks up to my knees. I had an orange tabby cat, whose name was Tiger.

My family and I were in our station wagon, likely without our seatbelts on, traveling back home to British Columbia from the states. We would travel across the border a lot to go camping, shopping, and to fill up on cheap gas.

I don’t remember what kind of trip our family was having that time, but as we were driving home I was looking out of the window at the sky.

I have a crystal clear memory of seeing three different pictures in the clouds.

The first picture I saw was a cat with a rat in its mouth.

The second was a cross, like the kind I would see at Sunday School.

The third, and last one, was of a very long, unusual flying creature with a very long pointy beak, super long legs, and gigantic wings. I remember thinking it was pretty strange looking, not like any bird I had ever seen.

I simply thought I was just using my imagination and thought nothing of it.

After a few hours, we finally arrived home.

I’ll never forget, the second we opened our garage door to get into the house – and my cat tiger was sitting waiting for us with a rat in his mouth!

Well, this was super strange because he had never caught anything before, and didn’t bother again.

Later that night, my dad heard some shocking news. One of his friends had passed away suddenly. I didn’t understand the details, but I felt sad for my dad and the other family.

Later that week, I was playing in our driveway at sunset, I remember it was so nice outside. I looked up – and right above me was the strange silhouette of the flying creature that I saw! Obviously, it was a bird, but never had I seen one like that. We lived on the north shore on the side of a mountain – we had Canada geese, lots of small birds, crows… that sort of thing – but this bird was enormous and long, almost like a mythological Phoenix in my mind! I remember shouting ‘LOOK AT THAT !!!!’ We all just stopped and stared at it until it disappeared past the tree tops.

Right then, I remember that the three pictures in the clouds that I had seen earlier that week – had come to reality right in front of me. I simply thought ‘huh, that’s strange’ and it got seared into my memory as something odd that happened. It’s been at least 40 years and I can still see them well enough to draw a quick illustration to share.

Looking back, I remember after seeing the three pictures in the clouds, they were just ‘there’ – I didn’t have to try to see them. I didn’t have any thoughts or emotion beyond what they were. No different than if you were say, waiting for a ride and saw a cloud that looked like a hot air balloon or a polar bear.

It wasn’t until we got home and I saw Tiger with the rat in his mouth that the picture flooded back into my mind. I remember thinking it was a really odd coincidence. It wasn’t until we heard the news of my dad’s friend passing, when I recalled the second one right away – and that’s when I had the chill down my spine that said – ‘pay attention’ this is important, that wasn’t a coincidence. By the time I saw the funny bird flying overhead, that one was almost ‘ironically funny’ to me. I remember thinking that was the 3rd and last ‘thing’ I was going to see. I knew this odd series of events was over – and went back to playing.

However, I didn’t know it then, but in my early teens, this would happen again, but in a very frightening way, which I’ll share in a later episode. In hindsight to both of those events, I have a lot of questions.

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Recently, I researched what kind of bird it could have been that might have been migrating that time of year and possibly got off-the-path. It might have been a type of crane, or a heron, or maybe a stork? I’ll never know, but I remember as a kid, I’d look up at the sky to see if it would come back. It never did.

As I stood there on the driveway, I did have a sense of comfort in the fact that there was a Christian cross in the clouds. I had been going to Sunday School since I was little, and I knew I was baptized as a baby – I felt safe and that God knew who I was. I’m thankful for that. This experience reminded me that God was real even if I didn’t understand Him.

When we witness a spectacular sunrise or sunset, most of us can’t wait to share a photo of it with our friends and family. The peace, the quiet, the colors, the slow and gentle movement of the clouds slowing our heartbeat… Why are we filled with awe when we look at the sky?

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An article by SciTechDaily explains that we are drawn to watching changing weather patterns like the sunrise, sunset, rainbows, storms, and moonlit skies as compared to clear sunny blue skies. The University of Exeter discovered that people felt happier with a stronger sense of mental well-being. Because they are short-lasting, I would add, there is a sense of appreciation to stop and enjoy them because we know they aren’t going to last long. Could this be a reminder of our mortality in comparison of the vast universe and a taste of eternity? Could God have designed us with this yearning for a reason?

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Countless artists have been trying to capture the grandeur of cloudscapes for centuries. I found some beautiful examples to share with you. If you’re listening on the podcast, I’ll provide links in the show notes so that you can enjoy looking at them too.

Thomas Cole c. 1846-47 is known for his oil painting called ‘The Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey.‘ A study for series, ‘The Cross and the World.’ This scene shows three glowing angels with wings facing a pilgrim wearing a brown garment. He has extended his left hand to them. It’s a beautiful painting that shows an extreme contrast of bright white light which, according to The Smithsonian, represents the glory of God and the darkness (which also looks like stormy clouds) behind him which symbolizes the darkness of the world without faith, a wasteland of hardship and fear. There in the brightest spot in the painting is a glowing cross in the sky surrounded by clouds.

Thomas also painted this dramatic piece called ‘The Oxbow’ which shows a rugged wooded hilltop with dark, heavy storm clouds raining down in sheets, almost like how our monsoon rains are here in Arizona, moving towards a peaceful green river valley below with blue sky overhead. As the storm moves in the birds are getting anxious flying in a chaotic circle. The clouds were what drew me to this painting – but with research, there was a note that on the far hill there appears to be Hebrew letters formed by cut down trees. According to Matthew Bagel, and multiple other sources, they claim that appears to spell: “NOAH.” If viewed upside down says ‘SHADDAI – The Almighty.’ These sources say that it unknown if Thomas Cole did this on purpose or not.

This next oil painting, “The Ninth Wave” is a stunning example of sun brightly illuminating stormy orange clouds against an angry green sea with shipwreck survivors clinging for their lives on a wooden mast. The clouds are glowing, possibly with a fiery ship veiled behind them unseen, as the waves threaten to drown the sailers. This piece was by Ivan Aivazovsky, a Russian painter c. 1850. He also painted this peaceful scene of fluffy, white clouds over a peaceful sea, aptly titled “Clouds above the Sea.” I love how he used subtle limited color palette of yellows and purples to show the texture difference of sky, clouds, and water.

The next oil painting, “The Pink Cloud” is by H. Lyman Sayen, circa 1910-1912 featuring cotton candy pink, thick fluffy clouds taking over the blue sky, above purple rooftops.

Another cloud painting example is Vance Kirkland’s watercolor, circa 1953, called “Clouds at Timberline, Mt. Evans.” This really reminds me of the surreal landscape shapes of Salvador Dali.

I love clouds. One last example, is this beautiful oil painting called ‘The Pink Cloud’ 1896, by the French painter Henri Edmond-Cross . There are thousands of tiny dotted brush strokes throughout the whole canvas. The entire sky is filled with sunset hues of light pink, coral, orange, purples, blues, and yellow. The technique reminds me of Georges Seurat’s pointillism, which was a play on light using tiny brushstrokes of contrasting colors.

As wonderful as these paintings are, nothing quite captures the awe we feel in watching the clouds in the sky transform moment by moment.

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It’s almost like, we were designed to be drawn to the natural world around us, to make us feel connected to something so much larger than ourselves. Humans can do a lot of things, but we can’t control nature. Look at hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis… they tried to show what would happen in the animated film, and book, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’… look at how that turned out.

Cloud watching is a growing hobby today, especially since the pandemic. It’s relaxing, available anytime – and FREE!

Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s Ted Talk “Cloudy with a Chance of Joy” shares about how he created the “Cloud Appreciation Society” so that people could share stunning photos of unique and beautiful cloud formations, and phenomenons with other members around the world. I 100% agree with his premise that we would be healthier and happier if we could SLOW DOWN and soak in the constantly changing beauty of the clouds above.

I found another project that promotes our happiness quotient through light hearted humor. “A Daily Cloud” is a collaboration of photographer Cliona O’Flaherty and her artist and husband, Chris Judge. Chris would draw fun doodles onto her photographs of clouds – turning them into whimsical, lighthearted scenes featuring
flying elephants and dragons, bears, dogs, whales, alligators, men with mustaches – and yes, cats and kittens – lots of them. This wonderful project was born during the infamous lockdown of 2020. This is yet more proof that creativity and innovation is often the result of necessity.

In my research I came across a website called signsandmiraclesfromgod.com where people share photos that they have seen that clouds that look like famous biblical figures or scriptures. This website also shows photos of clouds that seem to show pictures of news events that occurred on the same day. Just one example is this photo of a cloud that looks like a seahorse. The website states “On August 23rd, 2012 a shipment of illegally caught and dried seahorses was confiscated in Peru. This cloud appeared at the Ocean Beach in Connecticut that afternoon.” The news article posted on the BBC on August 24th, 2012 is the matching news story with the headline “Peru police seize thousands of dried seahorses”

Looking at different photos on this website, you can tell what the person was seeing in the cloud, but others are definitely like ‘ummmmm.’ The point that I wanted to add is that there is often a disconnect between the eye of the beholder and what other people may be seeing. Could there be another aspect of this silent ‘knowing’ that’s happening inside the person looking at the clouds? Where is this ‘knowing and connection’ coming from? If I had pointed out what I saw in the clouds that day to my family, chances are they probably wouldn’t be seeing them with clarity either. If I had a camera and took a photo of them… would anyone else see them? Honestly, I doubt it. The experience of the viewer in this case might be clear and memorable – but could just look like a blob to someone else.

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So, if we stop long enough to look, why is it that we can see so many familiar things in the clouds?

The dictionary definition of PAREIDOLIA is ‘ the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. PsychCentral was that it’s “the tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in reversed music.”

Examples could be those ink blot paintings, or the electrical outlet that looks like a happy face.

PsychCentral goes on to say that this is all harmless unless someone sees something that could be interpreted as ACTING upon it in a dangerous way to cause panic or harm. They warn saying that ‘we need to learn to distinguish when we’re uncovering meaning from when we’re constructing it.

So, yes. We need to use discernment. 

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Has anyone else in history seen visions in the clouds and acted upon it?

History books described varying accounts of Constantine’s vision in the sky as well as a dream that changed the course of history.

One account was that Constantine was standing with his officers outside of his tent when he saw a vision in the sky of a huge cross of fire. On one side of the cross the translated words from Greek were ‘By this sign thou shalt conquer.’

Another account explained that Constantine had a dream that Christ ‘appeared to him in robes of dazzling white, bearing a cross in his hands and that he promised Constantine victory over his enemies.’ He then had the monogram ‘chi-rho’ the first two letters of the Greek name Christos’ painted on every shield.

Some historians and scientists offer an explanation that the vision was just a solar disk made by refraction of light in a cloud containing ice crystals – or…. a freak meteorite blazing across the sky falling with the force of a small nuclear bomb – in Central Italy.

Regardless of the presentation, natural or supernatural, this changed history.

USHistory.org shares a written account of George Washington having had a complex vision involving water and clouds moving across a birds’ eye view of the world. This website has a disclaimer, they state that it is a work of fiction created in the mid 19th Century.

The story goes that he had been praying to God for aid and comfort. He had written that he was an apparition in front of him with a message. This figure had dipped water of the ocean in its hands sprinkling it over America and Europe and then “Immediately a cloud raised from these countries, and joined in mid-ocean. For a while it remained stationary, and then moved slowly westward, until it enveloped America in its murky folds. Sharp flashes of lightning gleamed through it at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans and cries of the American people.”

The report mentions in depth more water sprinklings and dark cloud movements with battles and activity going on before his eyes all moving along with this growing cloud. George Washington wrote:

“Instantly a light as of a thousand suns shone down from above me, and pierced and broke into fragments the dark cloud which enveloped America. At the same moment the angel upon whose head still shone the word Union, and who bore our national flag in one hand and a sword in the other, descended from the heavens attended by legions of white spirits. These immediately joined the inhabitants of America, who I perceived were will nigh overcome, but who immediately taking courage again, closed up their broken ranks and renewed the battle.

Again, amid the fearful noise of the conflict, I heard the mysterious voice saying, “Son of the Republic, look and learn.” As the voice ceased, the shadowy angel for the last time dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it upon America. Instantly the dark cloud rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious!” George Washington ended the journal entry expressing that he felt that he had seen a vision illustrating the birth, progress, and destiny of the United States.”

We weren’t alive and present with Constantine and George Washington, we’ll never really know what happened, but these accounts are certainly intriguing!

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We can see that our interpretation of visions may result in major life altering decisions. Back to the importance of discernment because there is another caution to be aware of.

We have learned that our brains naturally looks for familiar patterns in the world around us. On a supernatural level, might this also be why fortune tellers may read tea leaves, coffee grounds, salt, bones, crystal balls, dice, tarot cards, and palm reading – just to name a few. They are seeking to predict the future, for money, for their customers. You might say, sure, that’s innocent enough – and I’ll be honest with you and say that I remember trying to read tea leaves with my friends at one point in high school (years later after today’s story) … and even read library books about trying to figure out our love life by the squiggly lines on our palms. But, often these practices are accompanied by summoning some kind of supernatural guidance, like spirit guides, or angels, or ancestors, or whatever entity who has access to secret knowledge that we don’t know in this realm. This is more than just looking for pictures to interpret.

The bible warns us in Deuteronomy 18:11-14:

“For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the LORD your God forbids you to do such things.”

Yikes. This passage is scary, as I mentioned previously, as naive teenagers, my friends and I were naturally curious about the future, to try to figure it out was an exciting game which included reading our horoscopes, going to psychic fairs, and yes… even making our own Ouiji board out of cardboard to see if it worked. What an easy path the enemy created to entice curious minds to follow. I mean, this stuff was talked about all the time in Seventeen magazine, nothing to worry about right?

Fast forward a decade… I did naturally start to question if that stuff was dangerous, even before I started reading the Bible and going back to church. I 100% repented from all of that long ago. If this is you, and you’re starting to question this stuff too, simply confess it all to God, and ask for His forgiveness, and turn away from it. He will help equip you to have the will power to do that because we can’t do that much in our own strength and limited wisdom.

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So, does the Bible have anything to say about clouds?

Pastor Creighton Lovelace, wrote a sweet essay about his utter dismay about how clouds are referred to in the majority of traditional hymns. He explains that most hymns praise ‘cloudless skies’ because the presence of clouds often signify looming doom and gloom. But as we’ll very quickly see, the Bible shows that God not only made the clouds, but He is IN the clouds.

Let’s take a look.

The earliest mention about clouds was in Genesis Chapter 1. God of course created the heavens above and the waters below. Without water, there are no clouds. Without clouds, there is no rain. In Genesis chapters 6-8 of course is the Great Flood account and in Chapter 9 God made a rainbow in the sky to be a visual sign representing his covenant promise to Noah that never again would the earth be destroyed in this way again. How are rainbows made? Through sun refracting through water molecules when we have a mixture of sunshine and rain – which, comes from clouds. All of which, God himself made.

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Romans 1:20
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Later, God was literally in the cloud as He was interacting with Moses and the Israelites, so that his Glory wouldn’t harm them – he remained unseen. The cloud served as a protective covering.

2 says that God led the Israelites toward the promised land, away from Egypt, by way of a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. They were sheltered during the heat of the day in the wilderness and were probably protected, kept warm, and could be guided and protected at night.

Right before the parting of the Red Sea, God within this pillar also went behind them to shield and intimidate their enemies. (Exodus 14:24)

When they built the Tabernacle, the Lord filled it with his presence, which looked like a cloud.

“And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.” He was to warn his brother Aaron to not enter into the holy place because God ‘will appear’ in the cloud over the mercy seat. (Leviticus 16:2)

In the new testament, clouds are again referenced as the manner in which Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, as well as how he will return again in his second coming.

Matthew 26:64

Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. 

Act 1:9

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

Mark 16:19
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

Revelation 1:7

Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen. 

Thessalonians 4:16-18

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

In the old testament there is a reference to Elijah’s prayers for rain, after a very long drought, being answered with a sign of a tiny cloud rising from the sea. What was just a small cloud turned into a hearty downpour.

Charles Spurgeon was recorded saying that small signs can mean that God’s going to do something big!

Could our desire to look up and search the clouds be a subconscious yearning to Jesus’ return?

I love what John Piper shared about his experience of awe of the morning sun on the lake:

“Glory, glory, glory.” And I didn’t reason it out either. I didn’t lecture myself. It was just there; it’s just there. When you open your eyes to see what God has done, you see glory. The glory of God is not something that can be transferred merely by words. It is transferred by words in the gospel, by gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, by the Scriptures, and by the skies, but it is only being transferred. The glory of God is always something more than sky. It’s always something more than Scripture. It’s always something more than gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit. The glory of God is tasted by spiritual perception within. It is perceived by the gift of God’s revelation. It is an awesome thing to behold the glory of God in the sky.”

I hope that your appreciation of clouds has grown during our time together today. When you are running errands or walking your dog, remember to stop and look up! Notice the movement and the colors, notice the reverence and peace that grows within you. Thanks be to God for this beautiful gift we have everyday – and thank you for being with me til the end of this long episode.

If you have any experiences with clouds to share, please reach out in the comments below!

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