Who was Nostradamus?

Michel de Nostredame ( Nostradamus in Latin ), was a French apothecary and supposed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He was born December 14th or 21st (various sources) in December of 1503, and died  July 2nd 1566 - at age 62. He is well known for his book Les Propheties ( The Prophecies ), the first edition of which appeared some time in 1555. Since the publication of this book, which has almost never gone out of print since his death, Nostradamus has attracted a following that credits him with predicting many major world events and historcal turning points. The prophecies have in some cases been absorbed to the results of applying the alleged Bible code , as well as to other purported prophetic works. Most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes purposely) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power. What does all that mean? He was VAGUE, and extremely obscure - Often using symbolism (of his time) and also writing in 3 different languages.

Did Nostradamus predict the French Revolution?

"From the enslaved populace, songs,
Chants and demands
While princes and lords are held captive in prisons.
These will in the future by headless idiots
Be received as divine prayers"

Hope you remember your histroy. The peasants (aka the enslaved populace)  rising to power, the aristocracy taken down and beheaded  (the "headless idiots," now "princes and lords ... held captive in prisons"). In another verse, the "great wall" falling is said to mean the storming of the Bastille itself. Keep an open mind - and even then it's a STRETCH. However, it is possible that Nostradamus saw the coming of a peasant or enslaved uprising through completely standard means - it doesn't always take a prophet to question your life style or living conditions. Enslaved or punished populaces have done it before, and will again.  At that point in history, people were mad - and as Twisted Sister would say "WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT! NO! WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT. WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT... ANYMORE...."

So you be the judge on that one :)

Did Nostradamus predict the London Fire?

"The blood of the just will commit a fault at London,
Burnt through lighting of twenty threes the six:
The ancient lady will fall from her high place,
Several of the same sect will be killed."

Maybe you never heard of the Great London Fire of 1666, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a big deal back then. The fire itself  pretty much wrecked most of medieval London within the old Roman walls. Only six deaths were recorded ( "the six" in the second line), though poor people and commoners' deaths may not have been recorded..The fire, which supposedly started in a baker's shop, scorched the city for three days straight. Obviously if people had known that's what the translation was, they could have added Nostradamus to their fire safety manaual and avoided the blaze.

 

Did Nostradamus predict Princess Diana's Death?

"The penultimate of the surname of Prophet
Will take Diana (Thursday) for his day and rest:
He will wander because of a frantic head,
And delivering a great people from subjection."

Doesnt make sense?

The father of Princess Diana's boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, was Mohamed (aka 'the Prophet'). Did Diana's death deliver "a great people from subjection"? Maybe not, but we can all agree that the British are a great people.  The fact  that Diana's name is in the text makes Nostradamus followers all the more convincing. Normally specific names are rare in Nostradamus writings.

Did Nostradamus Predict Hurricane Katrina?

"The cities of Tours, Orleans, Blois, Angers, Reims and Nantes
Are troubled by sudden change.
Tents will be pitched by (people) of foreign tongues;
Rivers, darts at Rennes, shaking of land and sea."

Did he really mean THAT New Orleans? The shaking of land and sea might describe a hurricane - but this is a a super stretch. Could the people with "foreign tongues" be aid and rescure workers from other parts of the world, or other parts of the country? But what are Tours, Blois, Angers, Reims and Nantes doing there?Pre-Katrina, this prophecy was originally thought to refer to France. For all purposes, I am skeptic - but if it is aimed at France, perhaps stay on yer toes Frenchies :)

 

Did Nostradamus Predict the Kennedy Assassinations?

"The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt,
An evil deed foretold by the bearer of a petition.
According to the prediction, another falls at night time.
Conflict at Reims, London and a pestilence in Tuscany."

Being "struck down in the day by a thunderbolt" could mean gunshot. And the great man was struck down in the day, like John F. Kennedy was.

According to the prediction, "another falls at night time."

The other falling at night time would be Bobby Kennedy. Now, the prediciton/prophecy can work if oyu want it to, but let's go back to 1963 and read that. Wouldyou EVER guess it would be the Kennedy brothers?

...And what the hell is Reims, London and Tuscany?

Nostradamus prediciton / prophecy about Louis Pasteur?

"The lost thing is discovered, hidden for many centuries.
Pasteur will be celebrated almost as a God-like figure.
This is when the moon completes her great cycle,
But by other rumors he shall be dishonored."

Pasteur, in French, could also mean pastor, so some say that this Nostradamus prediction could just be about any old priest. Others call it a shout-out to the man who studied microbial decay, brought you spoilage-resistant milk and found a vaccine for rabies. Yeah - this one's a long shot :)

Did Nostradamus predict Nuclear Weapons?

"Near the gates and within two cities
There will be scourges the like of which was never seen,
Famine within plague, people put out by steel,
Crying to the great immortal God for relief."

This one is hard to dispute... It's an accurate depiction of the nukes being used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "Scourges the like of which was never seen,"  and people "crying to the great immortal God." Of course it's vague - and you could insert other events that have effected 2 populaces - but in our known history, the dropping of atomic weapons on Japan is a huge turning point in our history, warfare, and politics.

Did Nostrdamus predict world war 2 and Hitler?

"The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa,
From the Rhine and Lower Danube they will be said to have come,
Cries, tears at Malta and the Ligurian side."

and
"From the depths of the West of Europe,
A young child will be born of poor people,
He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop;
His fame will increase towards the realm of the East."
Do you think those two verses describe Hitler or World War 2?

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to name his KILLING or being repsonsible for a "wrold war"? Those two little facts make these quatrains also a stretch. Much of the talk of Nostradamus' prophecy of Hitler may come from his use, in the original text, of the Latin word "Hister" to describe the river Danube. If he meant Hitler by naming Hister then something could still happen at that river. I tend to be skeptical on this Nostradamus prediciton. People have always tried to use his naming of "Hister" on reference of Hitler - but you be the judge...

 

Did Nostradamus predict September 11th (9/11 2001) or the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers?

"Earthshaking fire from the center of the Earth
Will cause tremors around the New City.
Two great rocks will war for a long time,
Then Arethusa will redden a new river."

Supposedly two great rocks could mean two great towers. But why would he say "war for a long time" - as almost to sound like... against each other. If September 11th hadn't happened, doesn't it souns like an earthquake or volcano erupting?

When Nostradamus wrote those infamous lines, skyscrapers like the WTC Twin Towers, and massive airplanes like the ones that crashed into them - even cities as massive as New York were probably not imaginable. 

Did Nostradamus predict Armageddon or the End of the world?

How many times has the end of the world been predicted now?

 Oh that's right : we have a nice little page here for how many FAILED PROPHECIES and PREDICTIONS have happened.

The doomsday crown always insist that Nostradamus said the world was going to end and that he NEVER GOT ANYTHING WRONG. Now days it's all about 2012. Specifically, December 21st 2012.  Nostradamus  wrote that his prophecies only went as far  as the year 3797. Think what you want, and read below - I will list some misconceptions about 2012.

Inaccurate theories about 2012, Nostradamus and other predictions / prophecy related material

• The Nibiru (celestial Bbody) collision theory is based on claimed 'channeling" by extraterrestrials / Aliens, and astronomers regard the possibility of planetary collision as frivolous.

• The  Book of Revelation in the Bible, put together some 1900 years ago, did indeed offer a dramatic picture of the end of the world - however it also suggests that it would happen "very soon". The Bible makes no mention about 2012 or any similar date.

• The prophecy of the Tiburtine Sybil, as redone in the 16th century, did  likewise present a dramatic picture of the apocalypse -  but did not date it - more importantly also never mentioned 2012.

• Nostradamus and his quatrains are clearly intended to be read in a pre-apocalyptic manner, they do not mention (more importantly DATE) the end of the world. Their Preface summarizes that they are valid until the year 3797.

• The "Lost Book of Nostradamus" is a version of the anonymous Vaticinia de summis pontificibus - a book of prophetic papal emblems dating from centuries before his time – and makes no mention the year 2012.

• The "Prophecies of Merlin" were a fictional writing by the medieval Geoffrey of Monmouth, amplified in 13th-century Venice, and did not mention the year 2012.

• The original 1641 edition of "The Prophecies of Mother Shipton" says nothing about doomsday or the end of the world or - nor were any dates given.

• The claims of imminent doom made by Sony Pictures in their fictional publicity for the upcoming film "2012" are meant as entertainment and are not scientific.