Melbourne, Jan 16 : An Australian man claims that his life has been blessed ever since an image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus appeared in his lava lamp.

The Oz man, who identified himself as only John Smith of Sydney, has even set up a shrine to the lava lamp in his home and on the holymarylamp. com website.

"This is a true, tangible miracle that is not just an optical illusion. It is visible in all directions and permanently frozen in this shape," News. com. au quoted him as saying.

"I turned on my brand new lava lamp and watched in awe as the unmistakable image of the Holy Mary cradling the Baby Jesus appeared.

"I immediately turned off the lamp and the lava has remained in this position ever since.

"This happened about a year ago and I have kept the lamp hidden since. I now want the world to know of its existence," he said.

Smith said that the lamp helped him get job offers, money, and find a partner.

"I had been going through a tough time and was paying for a sign . a divine sign from God that I was not alone and that all would work out fine," he wrote on the website.

But not all believe in the divine image, and Australian Skeptics vice president Richard Saunders has dismissed it as just another case of a phenomenon known as pareidolia, where the mind sees patterns and objects in random shapes.

Saunders even said that it led to people seeing holy figures in sandwiches, rocks, and oil smudges.

"I've seen examples where it definitely does look like a human face or figure but this person because of his religious upbringing sees it as he wants to see," he said.

"He may want to place significance on this but we all know what is really going on," he added. (ANI)