Prophecy: A History of the Future
Robert A. Nelson
Chapter 7
Michel Nostradamus
Prophecy: A History of the Future
Robert A. Nelson
Chapter 7
Michel Nostradamus
1. Biography
2. The USA
3. Recently Fulfilled Quatrains
4. Muslim Invasion of Europe
5. The Papacy
6. The Grand Monarch
7. The "Lost Quatrains"
8. References
Michel de Notredame, or Nostradamus, was the greatest prophet of all time. He was born to Renee and Jacques de Notredame in 1503 at St. Remy in Provence, France. They were Jewish, but converted to Christianity under the compulsory edict of Louis XII.
In 1522, his parents sent Michel to study medicine at Montpelier, where he obtained a baccalaureate in 1525. Armed with his license, prescriptions and zeal, Nostradamus set out through southern France to battle the Black Plague. In 1529 he returned to Montpellier to obtain his doctorate. Afterwards he went traveling again, but eventually accepted an invitation to stay at Agen, near Bordeaux, at the house of the eminent poet-philosopher and literary critic Julius-Cesar Scaliger. Nostradamus called Scaliger "a Virgil in poetry, a Cicero in eloquence, a Galen in medicine."
At Agen, Nostradamus met and married Adriete de Loubeja. They began to raise a family, but another outbreak of plague took the lives of his wife and two children. Despite his skills, Nostradamus could not save them; his medical practice suffered for that. Then, his friendship with Scaliger deteriorated into argument, as was the critic's wont, and the Inquisitors summoned Nostradamus for questioning. He decided to travel again, and did so for several years.
While in Provence from 1544-1545, Nostradamus fought the plague again, especially at Aix where it was at its worst. He settled nearby at Salon and married Anna Gemella in November 1547. He devoted himself to the practice of medicine and private studies.
Nostradamus began to discover his prophetic abilities in 1547. He began publishing predictive annual Almanacs in 1550, followed by Prognostications in 1554. At that time, the lawyer, scholar and theologian Jean-Ayme de Chavigny resigned from his position as mayor of Bearne to study under Nostradamus. Chavigny was the prophet's friend, only student, and wrote Nostradamus' biography. At the urging of Chavigny, Nostradamus had the first edition of The True Centuries published in March 1555. The book contained 353 quatrains; more were added in subsequent editions. In the preface, Nostradamus wrote:
"In 1554, I decided to give way and, by dark and cryptic sentences, tell of the causes of the future mutation of mankind, especially the most urgent ones... in a manner that would not upset fragile sentiments. All had to be written under a cloudy form, above all things prophetic...
"Many times in the week, I am overtaken by an ecstasy; having rendered my nocturnal studies agreeable through long calculations, I have composed books of prophecies, of which each contains one hundred astronomical quatrains of prophecies. I have sought to polish them a bit obscurely. They are perpetual prophecies, for they extend from now to the year 3797."
In the "Epistle to Henry II" included in the expanded 1557 edition of The True Centuries, Nostradamus wrote:
"Although my calculations may not hold good for all nations, they have, however, been determined with the emotion, handed down to me by my forebears, which comes over me at certain hours. But the danger of the times, O most serene King, requires that such secrets should not be bared except in enigmatic sentences having, however, only one sense and meaning, and nothing ambiguous or amphibological inserted. Rather, they are under a cloud of obscurity."
Nostradamus first wrote his quatrains in plain Old French, and he included names and dates. Then he rewrote them in a complex code of acronyms, anagrams, apocope, synechdoches, ellipses, hyperbations and metatheses, syncopes, aphereses, epentheses, metonyms, and other exotic grammars and syntaxes. Nostradamus burned (or possibly buried) the original, explicit prose prophecies, because he did not want to complicate unduly humanity's problem of free choice, or to encourage a fatalism that might deter us from making our best efforts to correct ourselves. Nor did he wish to interfere with the fulfillment of his prophecies by stating them too clearly in advance. And, he had no desire to incur the wrath of the Holy Inquisition. Nostradamus qualified his divinations in a warning in the preface:
"I warn you especially against the vanity of the more execrable magic, condemned of yore by the Holy Scriptures and by the Canons of the Church.
"However, judicial astrology is excepted from this judgment. For it is by this, together with divine inspiration and revelation, and continual nightly watches and calculations, that we have reduced our prophecies to writing. Although this occult philosophy was not condemned, I did not desire that you should ever be tempted with their unbridled promptings. I had at my disposal many volumes which had been hidden a great many centuries. But dreading what use might be made of them, after reading them I consigned them to the flames. As the fire came to devour them, the flame licking the air shot forth an unusual brightness, clearer than natural fire. It was like the light of lightning thunder, suddenly illuminating the house, as if in sudden conflagration..."
According to some opinions, those books were some of the sacred manuscripts rescued from the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem when it was destroyed by Titus in 70 AD. The occult keys were transmitted by the fathers of the tribe of Issachar, who were closely linked to the Temple and the Kings of Jerusalem. The builders of the Temple are thought to have removed themselves to the area of Provence, France, and Nostradamus may have inherited some of their books. Nostradamus explained himself further in his "Epistle to Henry II":
"It is quite true, Sire, that my natural instinct has been inherited from my forebears... and that this natural instinct has been adjusted and integrated with long calculations. At the same time, I freed my soul, mind, and heart of all care, solicitude, and vexation. All of these prerequisites for presaging I achieved in part by means of the brazen tripod...
Nostradamus described his mantic ritual in the first two quatrains of The True Centuries:
"Being seated by night in secret study
Alone resting on the brass stool
A slight flame coming forth from the solitude
That which is not believed in vain is uttered." (C.1:1)"With rod in hand set in the midst of Branchus
With the water he wets both limb and foot
Fearful, voice trembling through his sleeves:
Divine splendor. The divine seats himself nearby." (C.1:2)Branchus was a Greek youth to whom Apollo gave the gift of prophecy. The Oracle of Branchus had its own temple and cult. Apparently, Nostradamus invoked that spirit, or Apollo. The prophet also gave notice of his "Incantation of the Law against inept Critics":
"Let those who read this verse consider it profoundly
Let the profane and ignorant herd keep away
And far away all Astrologers, Idiots, and Barbarians
May he who does otherwise be subject to the ancient rite." (C.6:100)Shortly after the publication of The True Centuries, Nostradamus became famous as some of his prophecies found fulfillment in the death of King Henry II in a joust with the Count of Montgomery (C.1:35, C.3:30, and C.3:35). In the ensuing centuries, many more of his predictions have been fulfilled with acceptable (and sometimes startling) accuracy. Following is a partial list of historical events foreseen by the prophet according to a consensus of some of his commentators' interpretations:
16th century: Catherine Medici and the fate of her sons (C.6:29, C.2:63, and C.7:32); Queen Mary and the Casket Letters, 1567 (C.10:39, C.10:55, and C.8:23); the capture of Calais, 1558 (C.7:16); the Battle of Lepanto, October 1571 (C.9:42); the capture of Tunis, 1573 (C.8:50); and the Edict of Poitier, 1577 (C.5:72).
17th century: The death of Elizabeth I, 1603 (C.6:74); the death of Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIII, 1642 (C.9:18 and C.8:68); the defeat, captivity and execution of Charles I, 1649 (C.3:80, C.8:37, and C.9:49); Charles II and the battle of Worcester, 1651 (C.10:4 and C.8:56); the Plague of London, 1665 (C.2:53); the Great Fire of London, 1666 (C.2:51); the sinking of the French fleet in the Gulf of Lyon, 1655 (C.3:87); the 30 Years War (C.5:12 and C.5:13); and William III of England and the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689 (C.4:89).
18th century: The War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713 (C.4:2 and C.2:5); the death of Pope Pius VI at Valence, 1799 (C.2:97); the French Revolution and the death of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (C.1:3, C.1:14, C.1:58, C.5:5, C.6:92, C.9:20, C.9:34, and C.9:77); and Napolean and the Battle of Lodi, May 10, 1796 (C.6:79).
19th century: Napolean I (C.8:1, C.1:57, and C.4:53) and his Italian campaign (C.4:37, C.3:37, C.2:94, and C.1:93); Wellington's campaign against Napolean in the Spanish peninsula (C.4:70) and at Waterloo, 1815 (C.4:75); Napolean's Russian Campaign (C.3:37) and his retreat from Moscow, 1812-1813 (C.4:82); Napolean's exile at Elba and St. Helena (C.1:32 and C.1:60); the assassination of Duke de Berry, 1820 (C.4:73); Napolean III (C.8:41 and C.5:20) and the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 (C.4:100); the coronation of Napolean III (C.5:6); and the defeat of Louis Napolean, 1870 (C.8:43).
20th century: The abdication of Edward VIII, 1936 (C.10:40), World Wars I and II (dozens of quatrains); Hitler (C.2:24 and several others); Marshal Petain of France, 1940-1944 (C.4:61 and C.8:68); the capture of Tobruk (C.1:28); and Mussolini and Victor Emmanuel V (C.8:31).
The literature about Nostradamus is inextricably connected with his fame, which increases or suffers according to his accuracy and that of his translators, interpreters, and other propagandists. Nostradamus prophecies have gone through many editions, some of which are counterfeit. Most are riddled with typographic and other editorial errors. In 1912, the German researcher Graf Karl von Klinckow published the first decisive bibliographic study of the old editions, but it contained many errors of transmissions. The definitive study to date is Edgar Leoni's Nostradamus and His Prophecies, which represents the authentic spelling and style of the first edition.
The quatrains have become more understandable since many were fulfilled by World War I and II. Perhaps as many as half of Nostradamus' prophecies have been fulfilled with acceptable accuracy. Nostradamus also foresaw his historical influence:
"For five hundred years more one will keep count of him
Who was the ornament of his time:
Then suddenly great light will give,
Who for this century will render them very satisfied." (C.3:94)By 2055 AD (500 years after the publication of The True Centuries in 1555), Nostradamus will be vidicated. Most of his prophecies will have been fulfilled and will have served well in guiding us through these perilous times. For that, we can be thankful and "very satisfied".
Nostradamus included notice of several inventions in his quatrains, such as the first hot-air balloon; he named the Montgolfier brothers (C.5:57). Nostradamus foresaw submarines ("the fleet swims underwater"), the periscope ("the eye of the sea"), rockets ("the device of flying fire"), the atomic bomb, and other machines as yet unknown.
Nostradamus also foretold the birth and growth of the United States of America:
"Of the aquatic triplicity will be born
One who will make Thursday for its holiday
Its fame, praise, rule its power to grow
By land and sea tempest to the Orientals." (C.1:50)The USA is surrounded by the "aquatic triplicity" of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, and celebrates the unique Thanksgiving holiday on a Thursday in November since its institution by a joint act of Congress in 1941. At that time (World War II), the USA became a "tempest to the Orientals", culminating in the hellstorms of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"The earth and air will freeze such great water
When they come to venerate Thursday:
That which will be never was it so beautiful,
From the four parts they will come to honor it." (C.10:71)The Great Blizzard of 1888 (March 12) might have been the event mentioned in line 1, but it may just as well remain to be fulfilled sometime in the future. Meanwhile, "to venerate Thursday" is to celebrate Thanksgiving in America the Beautiful (line 3). Line 4 suggests the immigration of so many people to America "from the four parts" (north, south, east and west) to honor America's development with their lives and works.
"The great city by the maritime Ocean,
Surrounded by a crystalline swamp:
In the winter solstice and the spring,
It will be tried by a frightful wind." (C.10:71)This quatrain reiterates the message of C.10:71. "The great city by the maritime Ocean" probably is New York, or perhaps London. The Hudson River will freeze over during an extremely cold winter marked by a terrible storm ("a frightful wind"). The city's water supply will be terribly polluted:
"Garden of the world near the new city
In the path of the hollow mountains:
It will be seized and plunged into the Tub
Forced to drink water poisoned by sulfur." (C.10:59)New Jersey is the "Garden State" near New York City ("the new city"), whose skyscrapers are "hollow mountains". Line 3 is mysterious, but acid rain can be inferred from line 4.
"One day the two great masters will be friends
Their great power will be seen increased:
The new land will be at its height
To the bloody one the number recounted." (C.2:89)"The two great masters" probably are the United States and the USSR or China, whose already great power is continuing to increase as mentioned in line 2. "The new land" is the USA. "The bloody one" is Al Gore (gore menaing blood and guts), and "the number recounted" is the Florida electoral vote of November 2000.
"Libra will see the Hesperias govern
Holding the monarchy of heaven and earth:
No one will see the forces of Asia perish,
Only seven hold the hierarchy in order." (C.4:50)Libra (the scales of justice) will be exalted in the USA (Hesperias, the Lands of the West), which has pioneered and dominated both on earth and in space ("Holding the monarchy of heaven and earth"). Line 3 suggests that the Chinese army will be destroyed at a long distance ("No one will see..."), presumably by nuclear or biochemical weapons. Line 4 is unclear, but a cabal is indicated.
Nostradamus may well have foretold the Nixon-Watergate scandal:
"The false message about the rigged election
Runs through the city stopping the broken pact.
Voices bought, the chapel stained with blood,
And to another the empire contracted." (C.8:20)The false message, rigged election, broken pact, and voices bought were aspects of President Nixon's Watergate crisis of 1974. "The empire contracted to another" refers to Nixon's replacement by President Gerald Ford. In line 3, "the chapel stained with blood" notes the murder of a young woman in San Jose, California in December 1974. Her body was found in a church. This line helps place the prophecy concurrently with the Watergate conspiracy. It also makes one wonder if Nostradamus was reading modern newspaper across time, since the murder in question was minor news, mentioned only in local newspapers. Of course, the prophet may well have had another meaning in mind.
3. Recently Fulfilled Quatrains ~
The following was fulfilled in every detail in December 1974. Its accuracy exemplifies the great adeptness of Nostradamus:
"Mars and Mercury and the silver joined together
To the south extreme dryness
The heart of Asia will say the earth trembles
Corinth, Ephesus then in perplexity." (C.3:3)Silver symbolizes the moon. Conjunctions of Mars, Mercury and the Moon occur every few years --- in this case, December 1974. At that time, there was a drought ("extreme dryness") in Biafra, Africa, "to the south" of France. The third line was fulfilled by a major earthquake that struck Pakistan on December 31, 1974. The fourth line refers to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in December 1974. Ephesus is in Turkey, and Corinth is in Greece, which of course is not Cyprus, but is closely associated with the island.
Nostradamus also predicted the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the siege of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Beirut in 1982:
"The device of flying fire
Will come to trouble the great besieged Chief
Within there will be such sedition
That the profligate ones will be in despair." (C.6:34)This quatrain can apply to the Israeli siege of the PLO in Beirut. "The device of flying fire" is Nostradamus' term for jets or missiles, phosphorus bombs and artillery which were used "to trouble the great besieged Chief", Yasser Arafat. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon was triggered by the attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador in London, by a PLO splinter group ("sedition within"). Line 4 is confusing until "profligate" is understood in its obsolete meaning: beaten and dispersed. Thus, "profligate" certainly applies to the PLO besieged in Beirut. Their circumstance and its resolution (the UN-supervised evacuation of the PLO army) are unique in history, and Nostradamus can be credited with having predicted it accurately.
The present and future situation in Iran did not escape Nostradamus' attention:
"Rain, famine, war in Persia not ceased,
The faith too great will betray the monarch,
For the end began in Gaul:
Secret augury for one to be sparing." (C.1:70)This quatrain foretells famine in Iran (Persia). "The faith too great" is the Islamic religion; the betrayed monarch was the deposed Shah Pahlavi. "The end began in Gaul" (France), where Ayatollah Rubollah Khomeini was exiled until he returned to Iran after the revolution there. The last line is more difficult to interpret. It can also be translated as "Secret augury for one to be fate", which may be private advice to some fated person whom Nostradamus expected to read his prophecies some day.
"New law to occupy the new land
Toward Syria, Judea and Palestine:
The great barbarian empire to decay,
Before the Moon completes its cycle." (C.3:7)Lines 1 and 2 predict the return of the Jews to establish Israel. Lines 3 and 4 foretell the decline of Moslem power; the crescent moon is a Muslim symbol. A lunar cycle is about 28 days, but a larger-scale cycle of 28 years may be meant here.
"Newcomers, place built without defense,
To occupy place then uninhabitable
Meadows, houses, towns to take at pleasure,
Hunger, pestilence, war, extensive acreage arable." (C.2:19)This is Nostradamus' prediction of the Israeli kibbutz program, which has taken "at pleasure" and occupied the desert, a "place then uninhabitable", turned it into meadows, and rendered "extensive acreage arable". The following are predictions of World War II:
"The scourge passed the whole world shrinks
For a long time peace and populated lands
On will travel safely by air, land, sea and wave
Then the wars started up anew." (C.1:63)"At night they will think they have seen the sun
When pig half-man is seen:
Noise, shouts, battle, in heaven fighting is seen:
And brute beasts will be heard to speak." (C.1.:64)These are predictions of the airplane (line 3 in each quatrain). The peaceful travel enjoyed between the World Wars will end with the advent of more wars. The first line of suggests the explosion of an atomic bomb. "Pig half-man" is an apt description of a pilot wearing an oxygen mask, which somewhat resembles a pig's snout. The "brute beasts" heard speaking probably refers to the pilots' radio communication, or perhaps the success of modern experiments to teach animals to speak (i.e., Viki the chimpanzee).
"The Gods will make it appear to men
That they are the authors of a great conflict:
Before heaven seen serene sword and lance,
So that the left hand will be a greater affliction." (C.1:19)This quatrain has several possible translations and interpretations. The first line also can be translated as "The Gods will make an appearance to men." This suggests that demi-gods --- or mere extraterrestrial aliens --- will put on a display of their power for our edification. However, as Samuel Browning put it, "The Gods are those who either have money or don't need it"; this definition qualifies Mammon, the Illuminati, the Bilderbergers, etc., to join the club. Or, Nostradamus could be telling us that the next great war will be "religious", such as a Muslim Jihad versus Christianity. Line 4 can be interpreted politically or geographically as leftist governments or western countries.
"Many people will want to come to terms
With the great lords who will want to bring war upon them:
They will not want to hear anything of it from them,
Alas! if God does not send peace to the earth." (C.8:4)Here, Nostradamus seems to be telling us that the international peace movement will not deter the superpower warlords from having their way.
"Before long all will be arranged
We will expect a very sinister century,
The state of the masked and solitary ones much changed,
Few will be found who want to be in their place." (C.2:10)The international bankers who run this planet will consummate their plans to control everything, but their plans will fail despite temporary success. Then they will be hunted down and executed.
4. The Muslim Invasion of Europe ~
According to the most obvious interpretations that can be made of Nostradamus' cryptic verses, Europe will suffer an invasion by Muslims. The situation will be complicated by Russian and Chinese aggressions. Almost 15% of Nostradamus' quatrains concern the Muslims. Some of his predictions came true within 20 years after the publication of The True Centuries, but most of them definitely indicate a future war between Christians and Muslims. About a dozen quatrains concerning this tribulation are dated by astronomical configurations beginning in the 1980s and continuing into the 21st century. This war did not begin on schedule, but the prophet was perfectly accurate in his timing the Balkan war between Christians and Muslims in the 1990s.
"When those of the arctic pole are united together,
Great terror and fear in the East:
Newly elected, sustaining great trembling,
Rhodes and Byzantium stained with Barbarian blood." (C.6:21)"Those of the arctic pole" are the Soviet republics, the USSR. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, or the Vietnam War, or the Cambodian Pol Pot regime can be inferred from line 2. Line 3 may mean that a newly elected government or leader will remain in power despite a revolution or devastating earthquake. There will be fighting at Rhodes and Eski Eregli (Byzantium). The "Barbarian blood" is that of the Moslems.
"From the Pont Euxine and great Tartary
A king will be who will come to see Gaul
To transpierce Alane and Armenia
And within Bysantium he will leave his rod." (C.5:54)The Pont Euxine is the Black Sea, and Tartary is in Central Asia, whence came Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Alane is the area between the Don, the Volga, and the Caucasus, occupied by the Alans. The king will be distinguished by "his rod" (a scepter or weapon), with which he will whack about:
"The Easterner will leave his seat,
To pass the Apennine mountains to see Gaul:
He will transpierce the sky, the waters, and the snow,
And everyone will be struck by his rod." (C.2:39)"He will enter ugly, wicked, infamous,
Tyrannizing over Mesopotamia:
All made friends by the adulterine lady,
Land horrible black of physiognomy." (C.8:70)The leader of the Muslims will attack Iraq (Mesopotamia) or will come from there (Saddam Hussein?). "The adulterine lady" may be the harlot of "Mystery Babylon" in the biblical Revelation of St. John, or it may symbolize American diplomacy ( e.g., Hillary Clinton ). The land will be razed. Muslims throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa will be drafted into the jihad, which will be led by a murderous young man. Alternatively, the "young black one filled with felony" might just as well be Barack Obama :
"Throughout all Asia great proscription,
Even in Mysia, Lysia, and Pamphilia.
Blood will be shed because of the absolution
Of a young black one filled with felony." (C.3:60)"The synagogue sterile without any fruit
Will be received by the infidels:
The daughter of the persecuted of Babylon
Misery and sadness will clip her wings." (C.8:96)Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 injured its national and religious spirit, rendering it "sterile" in the sense of line 1. This sentiment was expressed in June 1983, when Shlomo Argov (the Israeli ambassador whose attempted assassination triggered the war) made his first public statement about war. Argov denounced the politicians and especially the "generals who wanted to try their hands at running a war and were incapable of doing so. The Lebanese war is an unsuccessful war, and the people of Israel came out weakened by it. Worthwhile wars are the business of charlatans. Those who spoke about the war and brought it upon us should have thought more than twice of the price, especially in human life. We are a nation short in human resources, and have needlessly sacrificed the lives of hundreds of our best boys. It is the eternal right of our soldiers never to go to war unless it is necessary."
Lines 1 and 2 also can be understood to prophecy the return of the Jews to Israel in 1948. Line 4 suggests that Israel ("The synagogue" and "The daughter of the persecuted of Babylon" --- a reference to the Jewish captivity) will be conquered.
"The great Arab will march far forward
He will be betrayed by the Byzantians:
Ancient Rhodes will come to meet him
And greater harm through the Austrian Panonnois." (C.5:47)Turkey and Rhodes will resist the Iranian-Arab invasion, and Austria-Hungary (Pannonois) will be attacked by way of Trieste.
"The Blue Turban King entered into Foix
And he will reign less than the evolution of Saturn:
The White Turban King Byzantium heart banished
Sun, Mars, and Mercury near Aquarius." (C.9:73)"The Blue Turban" Muslims (or, the United Nations army) will overthrow the "White Turban" Turkish ruler of C.5:47. Foix is in southwest France, which will be invaded. The new Muslim empire will last less than 30 years, the period of an orbit of Saturn around the sun. The conjunction of Mars, Mercury, and the Sun in Aquarius last occurred in January 1994. The next "near" positioning of these planets ( "near" being understood as including Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces ) will occur in January 2015, December 2016, and May and November-December 2018.
"The two will not remain united for very long,
And in thirteen years to the Barbarian Satrap:
On both sides they will cause such loss
That one will bless the bark and its cope." (C.5:78)The Muslim alliance will last about 13 years; it will test the Christian spirit ("The Bark and its cope" -- the Church and the Pope)
"At the great market they call that of liars
Of all Torrent and field of Athens
They will be surprised by light cavalry,
By Albanois Mars, Leo, Saturn in Urn." (C.5:91)War will return to Greece and Albania. The astrological configurations of Mars in Leo, and Saturn in Aquarius ( the Urn ), occurred between February 1991 and January 1994. This prophecy probably was fulfilled by the Balkan War of the 1990s. Line 1 is inexplicable; it might be a reference to diplomacy or the UN. Mars will be in Leo and Saturn in Aquarius in March-July 2020 and in 2020. Mars will be in Leo in August 2015, July-August 2019, and May-July 2023.
"The horrible plague Perinthus and Nicopolis
The Peninsula and Macedonia will it fall upon:
It will devastate Thessaly and Amphibolis,
An unknown evil, and from Anthony refusal." (C.9:91)A new disease ("an unknown evil") will ravage the Balkan Peninsula, especially in Thrace and Preveza.
"In the Cyclades, in Perinthus, and Larissa,
In Sparta all of Peloponnesus
Such great famine, plague through false dust,
Nine months it will last and throughout the entire peninsula." (C.5:90)The Cyclades are Greek islands southeast of Athens; Perenthus was near the eastern tip of Thrace, and Larissa was the chief city of Thessaly in northern Greece. Sparta is on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. All will be ravaged with biological weapons ("plague through false dust") -- or depleted uranium or chemtrails -- during nine months.
"Through fire and arms not far from the Black Sea,
Will come from Persia to occupy Trebizand
To tremble Pharos, Myteline, Sol joyful
The Adriatic Sea covered with Arab blood." (C.5:27)Muslim forces will occupy Trabzun (formerly Trebizand) in the northeast corner of Asia Minor on the Black Sea. Pharos is an island forming part of the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt, and Myteline is the island of Lesbos off the northeast coast of Asia Minor; both will be attacked. Many men will die in the Adriatic Sea.
"Wreck for the fleet near the Adriatic Sea:
The land trembles stirred up upon the air placed on land:
Egypt trembles Mahometan augment,
The Herald surrenders himself, to cry is commissioned." (C.2:86)As in the preceding quatrain, Nostradamus has predicted a naval battle in the Adriatic Sea. Line two indicates a geological or meteorological catastrophe. Egypt is threatened, as prophesied also in line 3 of C.5:27 ("to tremble Pharos") and in the following quatrain. Line 4 suggests that a new prophet will arise, or that a diplomat will be held hostage.
"The Arab prince Mars, Sun, Venus, Lion
The reign of the Church will succumb to the sea
Toward Persia well near a million
Byzantium, Egypt will resist the temptation." (C.5:25)Mars, Sol and Venus conjoin in Leo in August 2015, and in August 2019.
"One whom the gods of infernal Hannibal
Will bear to be reborn, terror of humans
Never more of horror nor worse days
In the past than will come by Babel to Romans." (C.2:30)The ancient Carthaginian conqueror Hannibal will reincarnate and attack Rome again. Carthage in North Africa was founded by the Phoenicians. This suggests that Lebanon (Phoenicia) and Libya (Carthage), joined in a 1-million man Jihad from Libya, will attack Italy first. Babel (line 4) is now Iraq-Iran.
"The Church of God will be persecuted
And the holy temples ill be plundered,
The child will put his mother out in her shift,
Arabs will be allied with the Poles." (C.3:73)The first two lines of this quatrain are self-explanatory, but cannot be dated. The alliance of line 4 may have been established on September 9, 1982, when Col. Khadafy visited Poland and signed a friendship treaty with that country's leaders.
"Libyan leader powerful in the West
Will come to inflame very much French with Arab.
Learned in letters he will be condescending
To translate the Arab language into French." (C.3:27)Khadafy will interfere with French-Arabic diplomacy. Khadafy is "learned in letters" insofar as he is the author of a 3-volume "green book"; he argues for his "third universal theory" and holy war, which he insists should be Islam's sixth basic obligation. Another quatrain also mentions his "letters":
"O vast Rome, thy ruin approaches,
Not of thy walls, of thy blood and substance
One harsh in letters will make a very horrible notch,
Pointed iron driven into all the hilt". (C.10:65)"How many times will you be taken, Solar City.
Changing the Barbarian and vain laws,
Your end approaches: you will be more tributary,
The great Adria will recover through your veins." (C.1:8)The "Solar City" probably is Rome, since it is mentioned in relation to "the great Adria" (Adriatic Sea). Perhaps this prophecy is related to C.1:69 and C.8:16 (above), which mention a great deluge. Otherwise, the prophet may be suggesting an invasion of Venice by Moslems.
"From the Orient will come the Punic heart
To vex Adria and the heirs of Romulus,
Accompanied by the Libyan fleet
Malta to tremble and nearby islands empty." (C.1:9)"The Punic heart" refers to the Carthaginian Hannibal of C.2:30, attacking Italy ("the heirs of Romulus") with the Libyan fleet in the Adriatic Sea.
"Very near the Tiber presses Libitinia:
Shortly before the great inundation
The chief of the ship taken, thrown into the bilge:
Castle, palace in conflagration." (C.2:93)Libitinia was the Roman goddess of the dead. The Tiber River will overflow, and the Pope will be captured, according to the most likely meaning of line 3. The Church often is symbolized by a ship, as Christ appointed the Apostles to be "fishers of men". The castle of line 4 is that of San Angelo, the Palace of the Vatican.
"During the appearances of the bearded star
Three great princes will be made enemies
Struck from the sky, peace earth quaking,
Po, Tiber overflowing, serpent placed on the shore." (C.2:43)"The bearded star" is a comet. "Struck from the sky" probably means aerial bombing. The Po River (France) and the Tiber in Italy will overflow, and the Moslems will mount an amphibious assault ("serpent placed on the shore"). The islands of the Mediterranean Sea will be pillaged:
"Naples, Palermo and all Sicily
The entire coast will remain desolated:
There will remain no suburb, city or town
Not pillaged and robbed by the Barbarians." (C.7:6)"The chief of Persia will occupy great Olchades
The trireme fleet against the Mahometan people
From Parthia, and Media: and the Cyclades pillaged:
Long rest at the Ionian port." (C.3:64)The Iranians, et al., will invade southwest Spain (Olchades). The Cyclades are islands in the Aegean Sea. Parthia and Media were located in what is now Iran. "The Ionian port" is either Venice or Trieste.
"From Monaco to near Sicily
The entire coast will remain desolated:
There will remain no suburb, city or town
Not pillaged and robbed by the Barbarians." (C.2:4)"The legion in the marine fleet
Will burn lime, lodestone, sulfur and pitch:
The long rest in the secure place:
Port Selyn and Monaco, fire will consume them." (C.4:23)"Greater calamity of blood and famine,
Seven times it approaches the marine shore:
Monaco from hunger, place captured, captivity,
The great one led crunched in an iron cage." (C.3:10)These quatrains are reasonably clear, spelling doom for the inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast of Europe. A ruler or military commander will be captured and put in a cage.
"In the country of Arabia Felix
There will be born one powerful in the law of Mahomet
To vex Spain, to conquer Granada,
And more by sea against the Ligurian people." (C.5:55)Arabia Felix is the area between Yemen and Aden. Here Nostradamus seems to be predicting yet another Moslem leader besides the Iranian and the Libyan. Liguria is now Genoa, Italy.
Several of the following group of related quatrains mention the appearance of a great comet during the reign of an ill-fated Pope:
"After great trouble for humanity, a greater is prepared
The Great Motor renews the centuries:
Rain, blood, milk, famine, steel and plague,
In the heavens fire seen, a long spark running." (C.2:46)World War III is being prepared. "The Great Motor" can be interpreted as a metaphorical symbol or as a revolutionary new prime mover for power generation. The "long spark running" in line 4 is the great comet that is expected.
"The year that Saturn and Mars are equally fiery
The air hot, dry, long trajectory
From secret fire, the great heat burns the place to ashes
Little rain, hot, arid, wars, incursions." (C.4:67)The most recent exact Saturn-Mars conjunction took place on 26th August 2014. The next is 26 August 2016, and then 2 April 2018. The "secret fire" is the atomic bomb, which is top secret in many respects. This prophecy may have been fulfilled in May 1986 when Halley's Comet passed and the disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, or the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Japan.
"The strange nation will divide spoils,
Saturn in Mars his aspect furious:
Horrible slaughter of Tuscans and Latins,
Greeks, who will desire to strike." (C.1:83)This quatrain repeats the schedule of C.4:67 above. "The strange nation" (the new Muslim empire) will pillage and slaughter the Italians and Greeks, who will continue to resist the invaders.
"Saturn in Mars" is meaningless per se, unless a conjunction is meant. Both planets will be in Leo in the summer of 2019 and 2023. Nostradamus repeatedly warned the French navy not to overextend itself in the Mediterranean Sea, but the advice will be ignored:
"Mabus then will soon die, to come
Of people and beasts a horrible defeat:
Then suddenly one will see vengeance strike,
Hundred, hands, thirst, hunger when the comet will run." (C.2:62)"Mabus" is the Old German spelling of Moebius, and means "great adulterer"; it is also an Irish name. At the time of his death there will be a plague of men and beasts (probably anthrax). These events will be concurrent with the appearance of a great comet.
"There will appear toward the North
Not far from Cancer the bearded star:
Susa, Siena, Boeotia, Eretria,
The great one of Rome will die, the night over." (C.6:6)The Pope will die during the appearance of a comet in the constellation of Cancer. Susa is in northern Italy. Boeotia was a province in southeast Greece, and Eretria now is Aletria on the island of Euboia near Boetia.
"When the sepulcher of the great Roman is found,
The day after a Pontiff will be elected.
Scarcely will he be approved by the Senate
Poisoned, his blood in the sacred chalice." (C.3:65)In 1979, the Vatican announced the discovery of the alleged Tomb of St. Peter. Pope John Paul I died soon after, following his dinner with a cardinal. Other quatrains tell of this tomb (C.5:7 and C.6:66), but none concern the Pope.
"Through the death of the very old Pontiff
A Roman of good age will be elected.
Of him it will be said that he weakens his see,
But long will he sit and in biting activity." (C.5:56)This quatrain may be related to St. Malachi's papal prophecy of Peter the Roman, who will rule the Catholic Church at the end of this age, setting a shining example.
"The great Pontiff of the party of Mars
Will subjugate the confines of the Danube:
To chase the cross, by sword hook or crook,
Captives, gold, jewels more than 10,000 rubies." (C.6:49)According to this quatrain, a militaristic Pope will wage a crusade against the heretics or Muslims in Austria. This quatrain was not fulfilled in the past, unless by the Siege of Vienna in 1683, so it may still pertain to the current invasion of Europe by Muslim refugees, immigants, and 5th column jihadists.
"Through the powers of the three temporal kings,
The Holy See will be put in another place,
Where the substance of the corporeal spirit
Will be restored and received as the true see." (C.8:99)After World War III, three rulers will help the Catholic Church establish a new capital where the Christian spirit will nest and renew itself in pristine truth.
"The great star will burn for seven days
The cloud will cause two suns to appear
The big mastiff will howl all night
When the great pontiff will change country." (C.2:41)The cometary gases will create the illusion of two suns for a week. The Pope will then be forced to flee Rome and Italy. He is doomed to die a fugitive. This quatrain may be related to the following:
"Roman Pontiff beware of approaching
The city the two rivers flow through,
Your blood will come to spurt
You and yours when the rose will flourish." (C.2:97)This quatrain may have been fulfilled by Mehmet Agca's attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, but it probably applies to the future fugitive pontiff mentioned so many times by other European prophets.
The French too will be attacked by the Muslims. Nostradamus repeatedly warned the French navy not to overextend itself in the Mediterranean Sea, but the advice will be of no avail:
"If France you pass beyond the Ligurian Sea,
You will see yourself in the isles and seas enclosed:
Mahomet contrary, more so the Adriatic Sea:
Of horses and asses you will gnaw the bones." (C.3:23)"Gallic fleet, do not approach Corsica,
Less Sardinia, you will repent of it:
Every single one will die frustrated of the end of the cape:
You will swim in blood: captive you will not believe me." (C.3:87)"The great Satyr and Tiger of Hyrcania
Gift presented to those of the Ocean:
A chief of the fleet will come from Carmania
Who will take land at Tyrren Phocaean." (C.3:90)In this quatrain, apparently a Muslim naval commander who hails from Hyrcania (now part of Iran) will attack Marseilles ("Tyrren Phocaean"). These quatrains may have been fulfilled in 1655, when the French fleet was sunk in the Gulf of Lyon, or in 1940 when the British navy destroyed the French fleet off the coast of Algiers.
"Because of Gallic discord and negligence
A passage will be open to Mahomet
Blood soaks the land and sea of Senois
The Phoenician port covered with sails and ships." (C.1:18)"The Phoenician port" is Marseilles, where the Muslims will enter France, which will be weakened by civil disorder and unable to repel the invaders. the Senois (line 3) are the Senons, an ancient Gallic tribe.
"France because of Negligence assailed on five sides,
Tunis, Algiers stirred up by Persians
Leon, Seville, Barcelona having failed,
For the Venetians there will be no fleet." (C.1:73)"The inhabitants of Marseilles completely changed,
Flight and pursuit up to near Lyon,
Narbonne, Toulouse wronged by Bordeaux
Killed and captive nearly a million." (C.1:72)According to the apparent interpretation of these clear visions, the Muslims will penetrate deep into France. Nearly a million persons will be killed or captured as they flee or fight. See also C.1:92.
"Three foists will enter the port of Agde
Carrying the infection, not faith or pestilence:
Passing the bridge they will carry off millions,
And to break the bridge resistance by a third." (C.8:21)Agde is in the southwest France; the Muslims will attack there with biological weapons. Or, an epidemic will break out in the aftermath of the fighting. This and several related quatrains focus on an unidentified bridge as the scene of a great battle in which millions of people will be killed and captured.
"Great Po, great evil will be received through Gauls,
Vain terror to the maritime Lion:
Infinite people will pass by sea,
Without escaping a quarter of a million." (C.2:94)The Po is in southern France, where the Muslims will enter the country. "The maritime Lion" is the British navy. Line 4 suggests that a quarter million people will be captured.
"From Barcelona by sea a very great army
All Marseilles will tremble with terror:
Isles seized help shut off by sea
Your traitor will swim in earth." (C.3:88)This quatrain is self-explanatory, though the last line is confusing. As the war continues, famine follows:
"Those in the isles long besieged
Will take vigor and force against their enemies:
Those outside dead overcome by hunger,
They will be put in greater hunger than ever before." (C.3:71)"Lightning brightness at Lyons visible
Shining, Malta is taken, suddenly it will be extinguished:
Sardon, Maurice will treat deceitfully,
Geneva at London to the cock feigned treason." (C.8:6)Here Nostradamus seems to be predicting that Lyon and Malta will be attacked with nuclear weapons. Lines 3 and 4 suggest political betrayals.
"At 45 degrees the sky will burn:
Fire to approach the great new city:
In an instant a great scattered flame will leap up,
When one will want to demand proof to the Normans." (C.6:97)Lyon is at 45o latitude, but it is not a "great new city". Many modern interpreters and exegetes of Nostradamus agree that New York City may be meant here. The approaching fire of line 2 suggests a missile attack. An atomic bomb causes "a great scattered flame" to leap up in an instant. The Normans are the French, but the meaning of line 4 remains unclear. If 45o is a longitude, then this quatrain could be warning an attack from Russia. The target is not clearly indicated, but it will be utterly obliterated.
"Burning torch in heaven at night will be seen
Near the end and source of the Rhine:
Famine, steel, the relief provided late,
The Persian turns to invade Macedonia." (C.2:96)The "burning torch in heaven" might be a comet, or a nuclear missile. It a missile attack is intended here, Nostradamus may be warning us that the targets will be the source and mouth of the Rhone River, which originates at the foot of Furka Pass and runs 505 miles to the Mediterranean Sea west of Marseilles. The Rhine River begins within 100 yards of the Rhone, and runs 820 miles to the North Sea. The Danube River begins only 15 miles away from the Rhine and Rhone, and it flows 1776 miles to the Black Sea.
Famine will devour the people as the delivery of relief supplies is delayed. the Iranians (Persia) will invade Greece (Macedonia), according to line 4, which reiterates several other quatrains. The Muslim invasion will include Switzerland, whose neutrality will not be respected:
"Through Suevi and neighboring places,
They will be at war over the clouds:
Swarm of marine locusts and cousins,
The faults of Geneva will be well denuded." (C.5:85)"Tears, cries and laments, howls, terror,
Hearts inhuman, cruel black and chilly:
Lake Geneva, the Isles, of Genoa the notables,
Blood to pour, hunger to none mercy." (C.6:81)"Drying up from hunger, of thirst, Genevese people,
Hope at hand will come to fail:
On the point of trembling will be the law of Cevennes,
Fleet at the great port cannot be received." (C.2:74)The preceding three quatrains are clear and reiterate the danger to the Swiss. "The law of Cevennes" refers to the Cevennes Mountains; that area also will be fearfully threatened. Worse is to come:
"Migrate, migrate from Geneva every one,
Saturn from gold to iron will change,
The contrary RAYPOZ will exterminate all,
Before the advent the sky will show signs." (C.9:44)The inhabitants of Geneva will be wise to flee when the economy (Saturn) turns from banking (gold) to war (iron) against "RAYPOZ". This is Nostradamus' transposed spelling for Zopyra, who delivered Babylon into the hands of Darius. Another possibility is a disaster generated by the CERN accelerator, or a positive ray (ion beam) weapon that will be used. The event will be portended by celestial omens.
"Great stench will come out of Lausanne,
Such that one will not know the origin of the fact,
They will put out all the foreign people,
Fire seen in heaven, strange people defeated." (C.8:10)Death will raise a great stench. The Muslims will suffer a major defeat, and retreat from Switzerland. The "fire seen in heaven" maybe a comet, as in line 4 of C.9:44.
"The holy empire will come to Germany,
Ishmaelite will find open places:
Asses will want also Carmania,
Supporters of earth all covered." (C.10:31)"The holy empire" is that of the Muslim religion. The Ishmaelites are the Arabs, who claim descendance from Ishmael, son of Abraham. According to the apparent meaning of line 4, the defenders will be slaughtered.
"In the place very near not far from Venus,
The two greatest of Asia and Africa,
From the Rhine and Lower Danube they will be said to have come,
Cries, tears at Malta and Ligurian coast." (C.4:68)Venus in line 1 is obscure; possibly it refers to Venice, though there is no etymological connection. The conquerors will convene there. Malta and Genoa (Liguria) will suffer. This prophecy may have been fulfilled when Hitler and Mussolini met at Brenner Pass to sign the Tripartite Pact with Japan.
"In the Danube and the Rhine will come to drink
The great Camel, not repenting it:
The Rhone to tremble, much stronger than the Loire
And near the Alps the Cock will ruin him." (C.5:68)The Muslim invaders (the "great Camel") will penetrate Austria and Germany. They will be defeated by the French ("the Cock") near the Alps.
"Entered amidst the fields beside the Rhone
Where the crusaders will be almost united,
Mars and Venus met in Pisces,
And a great number punished by flood." (C.8:91)The European Christians ("the crusaders") will gather their armies near the Rhone River, which will flood and drown many people. The astrological configuration of line 3 ( Mars and Venus in Pisces ) also is mentioned in C. 9:55; it will occur in April 2022.
"The great force which will pass the mountains
Saturn in Sagittarius Mars turning from the Fish:
Poison hidden under the head of salmon,
Their chief hung from the cord of the warlord." (C.2:48)The great battle of C.5:68 above was scheduled for June-November 1988. Saturn is in Sagittarius from 2015-2017. Line 3 suggests an assassination with poisoned fish; line 4, an execution by hanging.
"Between Campania, Siena, Florence, Tuscany
Six months nine days without a drop of rain:
The strange tongue in the Dalmatian land;
It will overrun, devastating the entire land." (C.2:84)A long drought will occur in the area covered by the cities listed in line 1. The Muslim invades ("the strange tongue") will devastate the land. The heat of the drought will cause large bodies of water to boil:
"Because of the solar heat on the sea
Of Euboea the fishes half-cooked:
The inhabitants will come to cut them,
When the biscuit will fail Rhodes and Genoa." (C.2:3)Euboea is an island northeast of Athens. The sea there will be so hot as to cook the fish therein. Then the Europeans will suffer another naval defeat near Rhodes and Genoa; "the biscuit" probably alludes to the staple of sailors' diets.
"At the forty-eighth degree climacteric
At the end of Cancer so great dryness
Fish in sea, river, lake boiled hectic,
Bearn, Bigorre in distress through fire from the sky." (C.5:98)The 48th degree of Latitude passes near Rennes, Le Mans, Orleans, and Langres in France. "The end of Cancer" is on June 20. At that time in some unspecified year, according to this quatrain, the solar heat will boil the seas, lakes and rivers. Bearn and Bigorre are neighboring counties in southwest France; they will be bombed.
"Pau, Verona, Vicenza, Saragossa
From distant swords wet with blood:
Very great plague will come with the great pod,
Relief near, and the remedies very far." (C.3:75)The cities listed in line 1 are in southwest France, Spain and northern Italy. Line 3 seems to describe biological warfare delivered by missile. As the war continues, Paris will be sacked by Muslims:
"All around the great city
Soldiers will be lodged throughout the fields and towns:
To give the assault Paris, Rome incited
Then upon the bridge great pillage will be carried out." (C.5:30)"The great city will be thoroughly desolated
Of the inhabitants a single one will not remain:
Wall, sex, temple and virgin violated,
By iron, fire, pestilence, cannon people will die." (C.3:84)"In Avignon the chief of the whole empire
Will make a stop on the way to desolated Paris:
Tricast will hold the anger of Hannibal:
Lyon will be poorly consoled for the change." (C.3:93)The Muslim advance will be halted at "Tricast", which might be the French city of Troyes, or St. Paul-Trois-Chateaux. Nostradamus wrote several quatrains that prophesy great tribulations for the British people, who will rally against the Muslims:
"Towards Aquitane by the British isles
By these themselves great incursions
Rain, frosts will make the soil uneven,
Port Selyn will make mighty invasions." (C.2:1)Aquitane is a large province in southwest France, where the British will land and attack the Muslims. In line 3, "Selyn" (from the Greek selene, moon) symbolizes the Muslim crescent moon logo. Or, it may indicate an attack on Genoa, Italy.
"The trembling of land at Mortara
Cassiterides St. George half sunk to the bottom
Drowsy peace the war will awaken
In the temple at Easter abysses ripped open." (C.9:31)Mortara (in northern Italy near Milan) will be struck by an earthquake at Easter. England is Cassiterides, the Tin Islands; St. George is the patron saint of England. The island will half-sink in a geological catastrophe.
"The great Britain comprised England
Will come by waters so high to be inundated
The new league of Ausonia will make war
That against them they will come to band." (C.3:70)Ausonia (near Naples) will become a center of resistance against the Muslims. The sinking of England (or the flooding of East Anglia at least) may be caused by a great earthquake, possibly caused by the impact of a comet:
"The great round mountain of seven stades
After peace, war, famine, flood
It will roll far, sinking great countries
Even the ancient ones, and of great foundation." (C.1:69)A stade is a measure varying from about 607 to 739 feet; seven stades equals about 4250-5150 feet. Conservatively interpreted, line 1 suggests that Mt. Vesuvius, which is about that high, will erupt with extreme violence. However, it is just as likely that this is a warning that a comet will strike Earth. Several other prophets also predicted a cometary impact, i.e., Revelation 8: 8-11.
"At the place where Jason had his ship built,
There will be a flood so great and so sudden
That one will have no place or land to fall upon,
The waves to mount Olympian Fesulan." (C.8:16)Jason is he of Golden Fleece fame; Greece is indicated here. "Fesulan" is one of Nostradamus' many unsolved linguistic barbarisms, but probably derives from Fesulae (now Fiesole) in central Italy, which certainly would suffer also if such an enormous catastrophe were to befall Greece.
"The efforts of Aquilon will be great
On the ocean the door will be opened,
The kingdom on the Isle will be restored,
London will tremble discovered by sail." (C.2:68)In this quatrain, Aquilon (the Eagle, or North) probably symbolizes the North American eagle, i.e., the USA, which will take Gibraltar ("the door" to the Atlantic Ocean) from the Muslims and will restore the British government. Line 4 is unclear, but suggests a naval assault on England, either by Muslims to invade, or by Christian allies to liberate the country.
"The chief of London through the reign of Americh,
The Isle of Scotland will be tempered by frost:
King "Reb" will face an Antichrist so false,
That he will put every single one in the melee." (C.10:66)The British government will go into exile in America ("Americh"). The newly formed island of Scotland will be frozen over. King "Reb" will arise to oppose the Muslims. "Reb" is a Latin alchemical term that appears often in the literature of Alchemy; it is one of the many names for the Philosophers' Stone. The king will be a master of the Royal Art, according to several other, related quatrains by Nostradamus. See also "Alchemy & Prophecy" (Chap. 3)
The Grand Monarch, the King of Europe, will lead allied forces ("those of Aquilon") against the Muslims (the king of Babylon):
"Like a griffin will come the king of Europe,
Accompanied by those of Aquilon:
Of reds and whites he will conduct a great troop
And they will go against the king of Babylon." (C.10:86)"The aimless army of Europe will depart
Collecting itself near the submerged isle:
The weak fleet will bend the phalanx
At the navel of the world a greater voice substituted." (C.2:22)The retreating armies of the European allies will regroup in what is left of England ("the submerged isle"). Their fleet will deal a crippling blow to the Muslim navy. "The navel of the world" probably indicates the Kaaba at Mecca, the center of the world according to the Muslims.Other possibilities include Iraq-Iran, Israel, Egypt, Rome, or even Delphi, Greece. "Another voice substituted" may be that of a new leader, or a prophet.
"Naples, Palermo, Culy, Syracuse,
New tyrants, celestial lightning fire
Force from London, Ghent, Brusselles, and Susa,
Great hecatombs, triumph to make feasts." (C.2:16)Allied European forces will defeat the Muslims at the places listed in lines 1 and 3. The "celestial lightning fire" of line 2 may be that of nuclear weapons used by or against the Muslims.
"After the victory of the Lion over the Lion
Upon the mountain of Jura Hecatomb,
Deluge and browns seventh million
Lyon, Ulm at Mansol dead and hecatomb." (C.8:34)The Muslims will be defeated in a battle in the Jura Mountains of Franche-Comte. It will be a great slaughter (hecatomb; see also C.2:16 above) of the "browns" (African Muslims); a seventh million" is approximately 120,000. Line 4 is obscure, but Lyons certainly is in France, and Ulm is in Germany. "Mansol" is believed to be St. Paul-de-Mausol near St.-Remy, Nostradamus' birthplace.
"Very near Auch, Lectoure, and Mirand
Great fire from heaven in three nights will fall
A very stupendous event will occur:
Very soon after the earth will tremble." (C.1:46)Auch, Lectoure and Mirand are neighboring towns in the department of Gers in southwest France. Apparently there will be three nights (and days?) of bombing. The "very stupendous event" is not specified, but it will be followed by an earthquake.
"Condom and Auch and around Mirande
I see fire from heaven enveloping them
Sol Mars conjoined in the Lion, then at Marmonde
Lightning, great hail, wall falls in Garonne." (C.8:2)Mars will be conjunct with the Sun in Leo in August – September 2017, 2019, & 2021, etc. Marmande is about 50 miles up the Garonne River from Bordeaux; it will fall to the Moslems.
"Through fire from heaven the city nearly burned:
The Urn menaces Deucalion again:
Sardinia vexed by the Punic foist,
After which Libra will leave her Phaeton." (C.2:81)An unidentified city will be bombed (line 1); there will be a deluge (line 2); Sardinia will be attacked by the Libyan navy ("Punic foist"); the balance of power and peace will be lost during a young leader's meteoric career (line 4).
"The terrible war that is being prepared in the west
The ensuing year will come the pestilence
So very horrible that young, old, nor beast
Blood, fire, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter in France." (C.9:55)Germ warfare with anthrax will ravage humans and animals. The conjunction of Mercury, Mars and Jupiter last occurred in March 1998 without notable incident. Jupiter was conjunct with Mars on 17 October 2015. The next conjunction will be 7 January 2018.
"Chief of Aries, Jupiter and Saturn
Eternal God, what mutations
Then for the long century its bad time returns
Gaul and Italy, what emotions?" (C.1:59)Mars ("Chief of Aries"), Jupiter and Saturn conjoined in Taurus in May 2000. The conjunction of Jupiter and saturn is known as a great Conjunction. The next such will be in late December 2020, precede by a total solar eclipse. The Church will suffer terrible persecution:
"In the world will be one Monarch
Who will not be long in peace or alive:
Then the fishing bark will be lost,|
It will be ruled to its greater detriment." (C.1:4)"The year 1999, seven months
From heaven comes a great king of terror
To resurrect the great king of the Angolmois
Before that Mars reigns for happiness." (C.10:72)This quatrain is a fail : In July or August of 1999, a great and terrifying ruler was expected to enter the political arena, perhaps arriving from outer space, or perhaps being "heaven-sent". The resuscitation of "the great king of Angolmois" might refer to a resurrection of the French monarchy. "Angolmois" may mean Angoumois (an early Gallic people who were conquered by the Goths) or the noble French family of Angouleme and the House of Orleans, which produced Charles V, Francis I, and the Valois kings. Aside from those possibilities, Job 17:14 calls Death the King of Terrors, and death is the last enemy.
"Of Trojan blood will be born a Germanic heart
Who will rise to a very high power:
He will drive out the foreign Arabic people
Returning the Church to its pre-eminence." (C.5:74)"Trojan blood" refers to the royal blood of France, which according to legend descends from Francus, son of King Priam of Troy. The king will rout the Muslims and restore the Catholic Church.
"The sacred pomp will come to lower its wings,
Through the coming of the great legislator:
He will raise the humble, he will vex the rebels,
He will be born on earth none his emulator." (C.5:79)The Pope will acknowledge the Grand Monarch, who will be so great that none can emulate him.
"Chief of the world the great CHYREN will be,
PLUS ULTRA after loved, feared, dreaded:
His fame and praise will surpass the heavens
And with the sole title of Victor quite content." (C.6:70)CHYREN is an anagram for Henry, the Grand Monarch; PLUS ULTRA was Charles V's device.
"The Augur to put his hand on the head of the king,
Will come to pray for the peace of Italy:
He will come to change the sceptre to his left hand
From King he will become pacific Emperor." (C.5:6)"The Augur" probably is the Pope, who will anoint the Grand Monarch as Emperor of Europe.
"The present times with the past,
Will be judged by the great Jovialist:
The world too late will be tired of him,
And disloyal through the clergy jurist." (C.10:73)"The great Jovialist" refers to the coming Messiah or the Grand Monarch. A new world order will be established. However, apostasy will prevail, and the clergy will be corrupt.
"Mars and the sceptre will be found conjoined
Under Cancer calamitious war:
Shortly afterward a new king will be anointed
Who for a long time will pacify the earth."(C.6:24)The sceptre" is Jupiter, which conjoined Mars in Cancer in October 2015, their next conjunction is in January 2018 The new king presumably will be the anticipated Grand Monarch.
"In the grassy fields of Allein and of Verneques
Of the Lubern Mountains near the Durance,
Camps of two sides in conflict so bitter
Mesopotamia will falter in France." (C.3:99)Allein and Verneques are villages northeast of Salon, Nostradamus' hometown. The Luberon mountains are on the north side of the Durance River. The Muslims will be defeated there.
"The great one of the foreign land led captive,
Chained in gold to king CHYREN offered:
He who in Ausonia, Milan will lose the war,
And all his army put to fire and sword." (C.4:34)The Muslim commander will be captured and brought before the Grand Monarch. The Muslim army will be annihilated in Italy.
"Saturn in the Bull Jove in the water, Mars in arrow,
Six of February will bring mortality,
Those of Tardenois at Bruges so great a breach
That at Ponteroso the barbarian chief will die." (C.8:49)The next such aspects will not occur until 2029.
"The savage black one when he will have tried
His bloody hand at fire, sword and drawn bows:
All of his people will be terribly frightened,
Seeing the greatest ones hung by neck and feet." (C.4:47)The captured Moslem commanders will be executed and their armies demoralized. The execution of Mussolini may have fulfilled this prophecy.
"With great fury the Roman Belgian King
With want to vex the barbarian with his phalanx:
Fury gnashing, he will chase the African people
From Pannonois to the Pillars of Hercules." (C.5:12)The Grand Monarch ("the Roman Belgian King") will rout the invaders. Pannonois is Hungary; the Pillars of Hercules are the Straits of Gibraltar.
"To the Spains will come a very powerful king
By land and sea subjugating the South:
This evil will cause, lowering again the crescent,
Clipping the wings of those of Friday." (C.10:95)The Grand Monarch and company will enter Spain and cross the Straits of Gibraltar into Africa in pursuit of the retreating Muslims ("the crescent" and "those of Friday", the Mohammedan day of rest).
"From Barcelona, from Genoa and Venice
From Sicily pestilence Monaco joined:
They will take their aim against the Barbarian fleet,
Barbarian driven well back as far as Tunis." (C.9:42)"Ogmios will approach great Byzantium
The Barbaric League will be chased
Of the two laws the heathen one will retreat,
Barbarian and Frank in perpetual strife." (C.5:80)The Muslims will retreat into Africa and the Middle East. Ogmios (the Celtic mythic equivalent of Hercules), the commander of the European army, will chase the fleeing Muslims ("The Barbaric league" and "heathen one") all the way to Turkey. The Europeans will be counter-attacked on the beach:
"On the point of landing the Crusader army
Will be ambushed by the Ishmaelites,
On all sides struck by the ship "Impetuosity"
Promptly assailed by ten elite galleys." (C.9:43)"On the fields of Media, of Arabia, and of Armenia
Two great armies will assemble three times:
Near the bank of Araxes the host,
Of great Suleiman will fall in the land." (C.3:31)The Araxes River is in Armenia, east of the Black Sea. Media is southeast of Armenia. The war will end there with the total defeat of the Muslim army.
"The false trumpet concealing madness
Will bear Byzantium a change of laws:
From Egypt will go forth one who wants the withdrawal of
Edicts debasing the quality of coins." (C.1:40)Line 1 is an apt description of infrasound weapons or psychoacoustic projectors, which disrupt the hearing and concentration of the enemy. The Christian army will reach the Euphrates River:
"The great band and sect of crusaders
Will be arrayed in Mesopotamia:
Light company of the nearby river,
That such law will hold for an enemy." (C.3:61)"The beard frizzled and black through skill
Will subjugate the cruel and proud people:
The great Chyren will remove from far away
All those captured by the banner of Selin." (C.2:79)In this and several other quatrains, Nostradamus described the Muslim commander as having a black, frizzled beard. Chyren (Henry, the European commander) will liberate the captives held by the Muslims ("Selin").
Nostradamus refers to the Antichrist as such only a few times in his prophecies. In C.8:77 he distinguishes three antichrists. Napolean and Hitler probably were the first and second. The Muslim leader of the jihad will be the third:
"The Antechrist three very soon extinguished,
Seven and twenty years of blood his war will last:
The heretics dead, captives exiles,
Blood human body water redden to hail on land." (C.8:77)"Stained with murder and enormous adulteries,
Great enemy of the entire human race:
On who will be worse than his grandfathers, uncles or fathers,
In iron, fire, waters, bloody and inhuman." (C.10:10)"A fox will be elected without saying a word
Playing the saint in public living on barley meal
Afterward he will very suddenly tyrannize,
Putting his foot on the throats of the greatest ones." (C.8:41)Nostradamus also predicted global famine:
"The great famine which I sense to approach
Often will turn, then will become universal
So great and so long that they will grab
Roots from trees and the infant from the breast." (C.1:67)"The cry of the unwanted bird will be heard
On the pipe of the breathing floor:
So high will rise the bushel of wheat
That man will eat man." (C.2:75)"The unwanted bird" is the vulture. "The pipe of the breathing floor" probably means chimneys, particularly the "flood chimneys" that are built around sewer manholes during floods. The famine may be caused in part by weather warfare:
"From where they will think to make famine come,
From there will come the surfeit:
The eye of the sea through canine greed
For the one the other will give oil and wheat." (C.4:15)The USSR and the USA exercise secret weather control/warfare by means of Nikola Tesla's Magnifying transmitter, Dr. Wilhelm Reich's orgone technology, and other methods. The independent space colony "Samarobryn" will avoid a worldwide plague:
"Very great famine through pestiferous wave,
Through long rain the length of the arctic pole:
Samarobryn 100 leagues from the hemisphere,
They will live without law, exempt from politics." (C.8:5)"For forty years the rainbow will not appear
For forty years it will be seen every day:
The parched earth will wax more dry,
And great floods will accompany its appearance." (C.1:17)This quatrain predicts 40 years of drought, then 40 years of wet weather. Like several other quatrains, it can also be interpreted alchemically.
"The Celtic river will change its cours
No longer will include the city of Agrippina:
All transmuted except the old language
Saturn, Leo, Mars, Cancer in rapine." (C.6:4)The Celtic river is the Rhine, which will change its course.
Nostradamus also predicted the end of the world, or at least of this cycle of civilization circa 10,000 A.D.:
"Twenty years of the reign of the Moon passed
Seven thousand years another will hold its monarchy
When the Sun will take its tired days
Then is accomplished and finished my prophecy." (C.1:48)In recent years, astrophysicists have begun to worry about variations in the solar diameter and output of neurons, and other phenomena which suggest that the Sun may be entering a new stage of its evolution in which human life on Earth could not exist.
In recent years, copies of a dubious manuscript, allegedly written by Nostradamus, have been circulating in Europe. The prophet supposedly considered these quatrains to be so dangerous that he sealed them behind a wall in the basement of his house. They were discovered during a renovation of the building, which is a landmark. The manuscript was so badly damaged that only 21 of 51 pages have survived. The English account of these unnumbered quatrains was written by Arthur Crockett in The Untold Story: Nostradamus' Unpublished Quatrains. The following are most pertinent. However, their style does not match that of the genuine quatrains. (11)
"Mars and the Sceptre will be conjoined
Under Cancer calamitious war;
Later, a new ruler, Laus Masbu, will be anointed,
Who will rule in blood for 27 years."Mars and Saturn ("the Sceptre") conjoined in Cancer in July 2002, next in August 2016. Lines 1 and 2 are identical with C.6:24. "Laus Masbu" probably is "Mabus" (C.2:62). His 27-year reign is mentioned again in the following prophecy:
"For two decades plus seven the great empire rules.
Famine, pestilence, blood, tears, war.
The Antichrist is joyous and the multitudes
Cry out because of Xerxes.
Oppression for all in a troubled world.
The comet gone, the fish floats on its side
Pagans rejoice, sin triumphs, Satan's work is successful,
The King's Mother frowns as tears flow on pale cheeks
And a plague reigns unchecked throughout the land."After the passage of a great comet, the Church will be ruined by anti-Christian forces, and a plague will ravage Europe.
"Five punctures appear. The malady spreads.
Churches overflow with the devout, and blood trails
Are seen. Rome scoffs; the puzzle deepens.
Images weep and the King demands answers before his death."An outbreak of stigmata (the five wounds of Christ) will spread and serve to strengthen the Christian faith, though the Church of Rome will be dubious of the phenomenon. Statues of Christ, Virgin Mary, and saints will be seen to weep.
"Comets without tails, move silently
Panic abounds. An offering rejected, a tailed comet
Glides among the bees, dies, and heads of state
Nonplused. Signatures in the sand ignored by all."UFOs will appear in association with a comet, causing panic. The aliens will make overtures of peace, but will be rejected. Line 4 is enigmatic. One ship will land in New York City, but rumors of an alien plague will cause them to be quarantined while three leaders (the USA, Russia and China?) decide what to do. Then the aliens will lose patience and demonstrate their power:
"A salver flies, comes to rest in the New City
Hate flourishes for the entity within. Battle lines
Drawn. Fears of disease mask truth while three
Leaders in secret, unite against a false threat.
The bees sting amid thunderclaps and lightning bolts,
Confusion. Fear. Awe. The fish trembles,
Governments are strangely silent while the heavens
Flash ominous messages to the populace. East and West darken.
Revolution without bloodshed, without strife
Men in unhappy confusion strive for perfections
Beyond their ken. Failure, then elation.
Earth's forces give way to a new power above the clouds.Twenty plus two times six will see the lore of the heavens
Visit the planet in great elation. Disease, pestilence,
Famine dies. Rome rejoices for souls saved. The Learned
Smile in awe. Astrology confirmed. For science, a new beginning."The formula in line 1 can be interpreted to add up to 132, or as a date: 2012 AD, which closely relates to the end of the South American "Eagle Bowl Calendar" (Chap. 5).
8. References [Not available in the Internet Edition]
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