Editing Cloud (section)

==In culture and religion==
[[File:Benjamin West - Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''Joshua Passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant'' (1800) by [[Benjamin West]], showing [[Yahweh]] leading the Israelites through the desert in the form of a [[pillar of cloud]], as described in {{Bibleverse||Exodus|13:21–22|9}}<ref name="Gertz" />]]
Clouds play an important mythical or non-scientific role in various cultures and religious traditions. The ancient [[Akkadians]] believed that the clouds (in meteorology, probably the supplementary feature ''mamma'') were the breasts of the sky goddess [[Antu (goddess)|Antu]]<ref name="Nemet-Nejat">{{Cite book |last=Nemet-Nejat |first=Karen Rhea |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/182 |title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0313294976 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/182 182] |author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat}}</ref> and that rain was milk from her breasts.<ref name="Nemet-Nejat" /> In {{Bibleverse||Exodus|13:21–22|9}}, [[Yahweh]] is described as guiding the [[Israelites]] through the desert in the form of a "[[pillar of cloud]]" by day and a "[[Pillar of Fire (theophany)|pillar of fire]]" by night.<ref name="Gertz">{{Cite book |last=Gertz |first=Jan Christian |title=The Book of Exodus: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation |date=2014 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-28266-7 |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |page=111 |chapter=The Miracle at the Sea: Remarks on the Recent Discussion about Origin and Composition of the Exodus Narrative |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmGeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111}}</ref> In [[Mandaeism]], [[uthra]]s (celestial beings) are also occasionally mentioned as being in ''anana'' ("clouds"; e.g., in ''[[Right Ginza]]'' Book 17, Chapter 1), which can also be interpreted as female consorts.<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{Cite book |last=Gelbert |first=Carlos |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |title=Ginza Rba |publisher=Living Water Books |year=2011 |isbn=9780958034630 |location=Sydney}}</ref>

''[[The Cloud of Unknowing]]'' is a 14th-century work of [[Christian mysticism]] that advises a contemplative practice focused on experiencing God through love and "unknowing."{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

In the [[ancient Greek comedy]] ''[[The Clouds]]'', written by [[Aristophanes]] and first performed at the [[City Dionysia]] in 423 BC, the philosopher [[Socrates]] declares that the Clouds are the only true deities<ref name="Strauss1966">{{Cite book |last=Strauss |first=Leo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vce_OEKtTf4C |title=Socrates and Aristophanes |date=1966 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-77719-1 |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages=17–21, 29}}</ref> and tells the main character Strepsiades not to worship any deities other than the Clouds, but to pay homage to them alone.<ref name="Strauss1966" /> In the play, the Clouds change shape  to reveal the true nature of whoever is looking at them,<ref name="Roche">{{Cite book |last=Roche |first=Paul |title=Aristophanes: The Complete Plays: A New Translation by Paul Roche |date=2005 |publisher=New American Library |isbn=978-0-451-21409-6 |location=New York City, New York |pages=149–150}}</ref><ref name="Strauss1966" /><ref name="Robson">{{Cite book |last=Robson |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isKSDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |title=Popular Culture in the Ancient World |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-07489-7 |editor-last=Grig |editor-first=Lucy |location=Cambridge, England |page=81}}</ref> turning into [[centaur]]s at the sight of a [[long hair|long-haired]] politician, wolves at the sight of the [[embezzler]] Simon, deer at the sight of the coward [[Cleonymus of Athens|Cleonymus]], and mortal women at the sight of the effeminate [[Theoroi|informer]] [[Cleisthenes (son of Sibyrtius)|Cleisthenes]].<ref name="Roche" /><ref name="Robson" /><ref name="Strauss1966" /> They are hailed the source of inspiration to comic poets and philosophers;<ref name="Strauss1966" /> they are masters of [[rhetoric]], regarding [[eloquence]] and [[sophistry]] alike as their "friends".<ref name="Strauss1966" />

In China, clouds are symbols of luck and happiness.<ref name="Ding">{{Cite book |last=Ding |first=Ersu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLeQ8eDWNGUC&pg=PT118 |title=Parallels, Interactions, and Illuminations: Traversing Chinese and Western Theories of the Sign |date=2010 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-4048-1 |location=Toronto, Canada |page=118}}</ref> Overlapping clouds (in meteorology, probably ''duplicatus clouds'') are thought to imply eternal happiness<ref name="Ding" /> and clouds of different colors are said to indicate "multiplied blessings".<ref name="Ding" />

Informal cloud watching or cloud gazing is a popular activity involving watching the clouds and looking for shapes in them, a form of [[pareidolia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://discovertheforest.org/activities/cloudgazing|title=Cloudgazing|website=Discover the Forest|access-date=23 November 2020|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004143134/https://discovertheforest.org/activities/cloudgazing|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2015 |title=Do You See Faces In The Clouds? The Science of Pareidolia |url=https://www.farmersalmanac.com/is-that-a-face-in-the-clouds-pareidolia-21911}}</ref>