Background Information on Nostradamus
Is it possible to see into the future? Many believe that a
man named Michel de Nostradamus could. His predictions of the future have
mystified scholars for over four hundred years. Nostradamus made over one
thousand predictions and SOME historians say that over half of them have
already come true.
Michel de Nostredame was born on December 14th, 1503 in St.-Remy-de-Provence, France;
the first son of a large and educated Jewish family. During this era, Jews were
persecuted and often practiced their beliefs in shadows. His family converted
to Christianity.
By the time he was 16, Michel was ready to enter the university in Avignon. His beginning
studies were in classical grammar, rhetoric and logic along with basic
sciences, but these were interrupted by the plague of 1520 and Michel took his
place as physician among many other educated healers of the day. But Michel
became known, even in this early time, as a miracle worker. It wasn't until
after he spent many years of traveling around Europe
that Michel actually enrolled into medical school at the famous Montpelier medical
facility in October 1529.
His medical education was not without trouble however. His vast experience
during the plague and through his travels boosted Michel's knowledge, in many
cases, above those of the scholars doing the teaching. Michel was often at odds
with his instructors over the causes or affects of illness in patients. He
studied medicine in Montpellier
and started a practice about 1525. Soon after, he began to treat victims of the
plague in communities of southern France. Nostradamus used innovative
methods of treatment, and his success in curing extremely ill patients earned
him a reputation as an especially gifted healer. Unfortunatly, he lost his
first wife and daughter to a plague, and was devestated. Even WITHOUT all of
his 'visions' and 'prophecies,' Nostradamus would still have been a noteworthy
for his medical acheivements.
After this loss, he focused more on Astrology and began to see his first visions.
Before we move on: why are the Nostradamus prophecies so obscure?
Nostradamus explains that this was d 18218b117s one to avoid persecution
from the Inquisition. He also gives this as the reasoning why the quatrains are
not in chronological order.
Nostradamus left his predictions in the form of several letters, almost 1000
4-line verses called quatrains (the Centuries), and a collection of 6-line
verses called sixains. The prophesies are not
sequential by date. Some interesting coincidences have been observed between
the quatrain number (in the Centuries) and the last two digits of the year of
the corresponding event, but this is not uniformly true. Nostradamus almost
always concealed his meanings in anagrams, symbolism, and mythological
allusions, and to top it all off Nostradamus wrote primarily in "early
Modern French," with a mixture of archaic words mostly derived from Latin
and Greek. Confusing huh? He also incorporates words from the "Languedoc" or Provencal dialect of southern France. That is
why so many of his prophecies are left wide open to interpretation.
To put it in simple terms, he combined 3 languages, mixed it all together with
symbolism and cryptic messages, and then put them into 4-line
"verses" or "quatrains." Sort of like prophectic poetry I guess.
Another possible explanation for the obscurity of the quatrains has to do with
the dynamics of Nostradamus' visions. His visions seem to span thousands of
years. It was proabably difficult for him to interpret 20th and 21st century
technology using 16th century French. He simply lacked the vocabulary. Also, it
is possible that a single quatrain could refer to several events. The
incorporation of 'links' to several different events would further increase the
obscurity of a quatrain. I would also like to point out from my studies:
-use of language that was, even when written, archaic and chaotic
-use of anagrams and unknown names (symbolism) locations and objects
-use of astrological or mythological references (references to planetary
alignments and other phenomena).
-nonstandard word order, and sentence structure that seemingly doesn't flow
Death of Henry II & Other well documented predicitons
The young lion will overcome the older one
On the field of combat in a single battle;
He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage,
Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death.
(Century 1, Quatrain 35)
This quatrain foretelling the death of King Henry II of France in a
jousting accident is one of the most famous, predocumented, and perhaps one of
the most studied.
In June 1559, Henry II ignored all warnings that Nostradamus gave him and
participated in a jousting tournament against the Comte de Montgomery. Both men
used shields embossed with lions. Montgomery
was six years younger than Henry. A tournament is a field of ritual single
combat.
During the final bout, Montgomery
failed to lower his lance in time. It shattered, sending a large splinter
through the king's gilded visor (golden cage). Along with minor punctures in
the face and throat, there were two mortal wounds. One splinter destroyed the
king's eye; the other impaled his temple just behind the eye. Both penetrated
his brain. Henry lingered for ten agonizing days before dying a cruel death. Coincidence?
The London
Fire of 1666
The blood of the just will be demanded of London,
Burnt by the fire in the year 66
The ancient Lady will fall from her high place
And many of the same sect will be killed
(Century 2, Quatrain 51
The Great fire destroyed London
in 1666. This is one of the rare prophecies in which a date is given. Even many
skeptics look at this one and realise it's accuracy.
The fire itself burnt down nearly 3/4 of London.
The French Revolution
Songs, chants, and refrains of the slavish mob
Whilst the Princes and King are captive in prison,
Shall be received in the future as oracles divine
By headless idiots deprived of judgment.
The husband, alone afflicted, will be mitered;
Conflict will take place at the tile works by 500.
One betrayer will be titled.
In this quatrain, Nostradamus writes of a place he could not have even known of The Twilleries was the palace of King Louis.
But this palace did not even exist in Nostradamus' day. In
1791 a gang of angry Frenchmen calling themselves the Marsi'es, meaning 500,
attacked King Louis' palace.
By night he will come to the forest
of Reines,
A devious rout, the white Queen of stone
And the gray King, to Varennes.
Scholars suggest this quatrain refers to the flight of King Louis and his Queen
Marie Antoinette. Taking the odd and out of way route through the Forest of Reines, the king was dressed in a gray
cloak posing as a monk. The two royals attempted their escape by carriage to
Varennes.
The government taken over, will convict the king.
A new king invites guests to a wedding,
but others plot the lady's death,
as well as that of his mistress.
The people of France
did convict King Louis and sentenced him to death. The Queen was tried by a
jury chosen by lot and was also sentenced to death along with the King's
mistress. The royals were taken to a square in Paris and beheaded at the guillotine.
The three Anti-Christs
Throughout Nostradamus' quatrains he speaks of three
powerful and tyrannical leaders that he calls anti-Christs. He said they
would lead their people through reigns of terror after first seducing them with
promises of greatness. Napoleon is thought to have been the first of
these anti-Christs. Of Napoleon's rise to power and years as Emperor
Nostradamus wrote:
An Emperor shall be born near Italy.
Who shall cost the Empire dear,
They shall say, with what people he keeps company
He shall be found less a Prince than a butcher.
Napoleon, who was considered a butcher even by his supporters, certainly cost
the Empire dearly in both manpower and political strength.
From a simple soldier he will rise to the empire,
From the short robe he will attain the long.
Great swarms of bees shall arise.
After becoming Emperor, Napoleon adopted the beehive as his imperial
crest. He was born near Italy
on the island of Corsica,
a most unlikely place for a ruler of France to come from. Some scholars
say that Nostradamus was referring to Napoleon's destruction of Moscow when he wrote:
A great troop shall come through Russia.
The destroyer shall ruin a city.
Napoleon's forces attatcked too far into the country, and got trapped in the
Russian winter. The following verse resembles what could have been
Napoleon's retreat across the icy part of Russia.
The rear guard will make defense.
The exhausted ones will die in the white territory.
Nostradamus made other predictions of Napoleon's fate:
The great Empire will soon be exchanged for a small place.
Which will soon begin to grow.
A small place of tiny area in the middle of which
He will come to lay down his scepter.
The captive prince, conquered, is sent to Elba;
He will sail across the Gulf of Genoa to Marseilles.
By a great effort of the foreign forces he is overcome,
Though he escaped the fire, his bees yield blood by
the barrel.
Napoleon was exiled to the small island
of Elba but escaped for
100 days. After a defeat at Waterloo he
relinquished all power for exile on tiny St. Helena.
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The second anti-Christ Nostradamus wrote about was
"a man stained with murder...the great enemy of the human race...one who
was worse than any who had gone before...bloody and inhuman."
Experts are in agreement that the sixteenth century prophet was referring to
Adolf Hitler.
Out of the deepest part of the west of Europe,
From poor people a young child shall be born,
Who with his tongue shall seduce many people,
His fame shall increase in the Eastern Kingdom.
Adolf Hitler, born in Austria
of poor parents, with his knowledge of mob psychology and powers of speech,
was successful in seducing many people , even in the
Eastern Empire of Japan. In some quatrains Nostradamus refers to Hitler
as the child or sometimes captain of Germany. Here are two examples:
He shall come to tyrannize the land.
He shall raise up a hatred that had long been
dormant.
The child of Germany
observes no law.
Cries, and tears, fire, blood, and battle.
A captain of Germany
shall come to yield himself by false hope
So that his revolt shall cause great bloodshed.
All of these images certainly describe Adolf Hitler. After seducing his
people, Hitler ignored all treaties and began a massive invasion of Europe. In the following verse, some experts say that
Nostradamus actually referred to Hitler by name but missed by one
letter. (A side note : "Hister" is
the ancient name for the river Danube also.)
Beasts wild with hunger will cross the
rivers
The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.
Finally, Nostradamus sums up Hitler's life and even predicts the fact that his
death in Berlin in 1945 would never be
confirmed:
Near the Rhine from the Austrian
mountains
Will be born a great man of the people, come too late.
A man who will defend Poland
and Hungary
And whose fate will never be certain.
The 3rd and final Anti-Christ
According to Nostradamus, the first two anti-Christs were
extremely evil, and history has shown this to be so; however, Nostradamus
speaks of a third anti-Christ who is more hideous than all the others
combined. Some have said Sadaam Hussein, the dictator from Iraq (proved
false now), or even Osama Bin Laden. Could he be this evil tyrant?
Others say that he has not yet appeared. What does Nostradamus say
about this third anti-Christ? First, Nostradamus tells us he will come
from the Middle East.
Out of the country of Greater Arabia Shall be born a strong master of
Mohammed
He will enter Europe wearing a blue turban.
He will be the terror of mankind.
Never more horror.
Here, Nostradamus says that a man from Greater Arabia will lead his forces on
an invasion through Europe. This
invasion will start a third world war that will be far worse than all the
other wars put together. When will all this take place? In one quatrain
Nostradamus gives us an exact date in which the war will be well under way.
In the year 1999 and seven months
From the sky will come the great King of Terror.
He will bring back to life the King of the Mongols;
Before and after war reigns.
Nostradamus predicts the war will begin
shortly before the year 1999. It doesn't make much sense to this author, but
many are now saying that the 'war' was set 'in motion' in
and now after Septermeber 11th these things are going to come true... as we
are now 'at war with terror.' Interpret it how you will. He also tells
us how long the war will last.
The war will last seven and twenty years. (so 27
years)
Nostradamus says that the war will be so terrible that the world will come
face to face with final annihilation. Here, he implies that the war
might involve some kind of horrible weapon, possibly nuclear.
Nostradamus tells what the first target will be.
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees.
Fire approaches the great new city.
In this phrase, Nostradamus refers to a great city in the new world of America near
forty-five degrees latitude. Experts agree this could only be New York. I know
many of you are thinking of other websites that claim this means he predicted
September 11th. Again, interpret it how you will. The sky did burn at 45
degrees, but New York
was not destroyed, nor was it a nuclear attack.
By fire he will destroy their city,
A cold and cruel heart,
Blood will pour,
Mercy to none.
Although Nostradamus 's predictions for our future
sound frightening, the accuracy and dates he gave do not seem to flow. Are
they being misinterpreted, or are they just plain wrong? Is the New City at 45 degrees
yet to be destroyed? He does give us some hope by telling us how this third
world war will end. He says it will end as a result of an unexpected
alliance.
When those of the Northern Pole are united,
In the East will be great fear and dread...
One day the two great leaders will be friends;
Their great powers will be seen to grow.
The New Land will be at the height of its
power:
To the man of blood the number is reported.
Again, the new land was a common term used by Nostradamus to refer to what we
now call America.
The countries of the northern pole could be Russia
and the United States.
We have recently seen the breakdown of Communism in Russia and an increasing friendship between Russia and the U.S. Perhaps the two
countries will work together against the source of evil.
The End of the World
Of course, not only have the
"experts" on the prophets not always been correct - the seers
themselves have not always been quite so accurate in their forecasts.
Although people keep claiming that "it's the world will end" they
often ignore other prophecies he wrote. Nostradamus NEVER said the world
would end in 1666, 1999, 2012, 2096, or any of those years. In fact, he was
quite clear we would survive through all of these other conflicts, and if we
took it upon ourselves, we could change / prevent what was indeed going to
happen.
Time will tell if the Iraq
conflict or, indeed, the World
Trade Center
attack had put the spark to a bigger barrel. As for the end of the world...
Nostradamus predicted it to be the year 3786 or 3797, depending on which
Nostradamus expert you believe.
Conclusion
So, some of the historical events may have Nostradamus predicted were the war
with Napoleon, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the rise and the fall
of Hitler, events in the British monarchy such as the abdication of Edward
VIII, and the assassinations of Lincoln and John and Robert Kennedy. He also
predicted three reigns of terror by persons he named as ?antichrists?.
What Nostradamus did prophesy was that a great war would come sometime during
the last five years of the 20th century, presaged by famine, drought and a
series of other natural disasters. This war will last close to 30 years,
after which there will be one thousand years of peace, or a new golden age.
Nostradamus quatrains did not go beyond 3786 or .
According to a letter written to one of his sons, the seer claimed this is
the year the world will end.
Michel de Nostradamus, gifted French physician and prophet, made and recorded
over one thousand predictions during his lifetime. Of those, some say over
half have come true. As the new millennium begins his published collections
of quatrains have become more popular than ever as people look for answers
and direction.
What does the future hold? Was Nostradamus a whack-job or a true prophet?
That is for you to decide.
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