UNTIL 2012

Nostradamus

Introduction

Everything proceeds from the divine power of almighty God, from whom all goodness emanates.

Michel Nostradamus

He was a little under medium height, of robust body, nimble and vigorous. He had a large and open forehead, a straight and even nose, gray eyes which were generally pleasant, but which blazed when he was angry. By nature he was taciturn, thinking much and saying little, though speaking very well in the proper time and place. He slept only four to five hours per night. He praised and loved freedom of speech, and showed himself joyous and facetious, as well as biting, in his joking. He approved of the ceremonies of the Roman Church and held to the Catholic faith and religion. I do not want to forget to say that he engaged willingly in fasts, prayers, alms, and patience; he abhorred vice and chastised it severely. I can remember his giving to the poor, towards whom he was very liberal and charitable.

James Chavingy

View online The Centuries or consider getting some of many books written about Nostradamus and his prophecies.

Michel Nostradamus (1503-1566) was a 16th century French physician and astrologer. His modern followers see him as a prophet. His prophecies have a magical quality for those who study them: they are muddled and obscure before the predicted event, but become crystal clear after the event has occurred. Prophetic vision of Nostradamus is contained in 942 cryptic poems called The Centuries. Nostradamus wrote four-line verses (quatrains) in groups of 100 (called centuries). They have enthralled generation after generation of readers. He was often referred to as the prophet of doom because of the visions he had involving death and war. His followers say he predicted the Great Fire of London (1666), the French Revolution, the birth and rise to power of Hitler, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger.

Biography

1503

Michel de Nostradame was born on December 14, 1503 (11 years after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World) in St. Remy, Provence, France. Nostradamus came from a long line of Jewish doctors and scholars. His family had converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1502, as a result of persecution on the ascension of Louis the XII (it was the age of the Inquisition).

Nostradamus was the oldest son, and had four brothers; of the first three we know little; the youngest, Jean, became Procureur of the Parliament of the Provence. His father, James, was a notary. Nostradamus' grandfather, Jean, inspired him to study astrology and the celestial sciences when he was very young. It was then that Nostradamus was introduced to Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology. He upheld the Copernican theory that the world was round and circled around the sun more than 100 years before Galileo was prosecuted for the same belief.

1522

In 1522, at the age of nineteen, Nostradamus decided to study medicine and enrolled at Mont Pellier (the most famous school of medicine in France). He graduated with a bachelor degree and was soon licensed to practice medicine. As a healer, he was active in treating the victims of the "Black Plague" and developed unique and effective methods of treatment which helped to lessen the suffering of many people.

1529

On 23rd October 1529, at 26, Nostradamus returned to Mont Pellier to complete his Doctor's degree. The academic skill he displayed while working towards his doctorate won him praise and admiration from the whole college. He was recruited as an instructor after his graduation and taught for about a year. Nostradamus had some trouble in explaining his unorthodox remedies and treatments he used in the countryside. Nevertheless his learning and ability could not be denied and he obtained his doctorate. He remained teaching at Montpellier for a year but by this time his new theories, for instance his refusal to bleed patients, were causing trouble and he set off upon another spate of wandering.

1534

While practising in Toulouse he received a letter from Julius-Cesar Scaliger, the philosopher considered second only to Erasmus throughout Europe. Apparently Nostradamus' reply so pleased Scaliger that he invited him to stay at his home in Agen. This life suited Nostradamus admirably, and circa 1534 he married a young girl 'of high estate, very beautiful and admirable', whose name was lost to us. He had a son and a daughter by her and his life seemed complete.

1538

Then a series of tragedies struck. The plague came to Agen and, despite all his efforts, killed Nostradamus' wife and two children. The fact that he was unable to save his own family had a disastrous effect on his practice. The he quarrelled with Scaliger and lost his friendship. His late wife's family tried to sue him for the return of her dowry and as the final straw, in 1538, he was accused of heresy because of a chance remark made some years before. To a workman casting a bronze statue of the Virgin, Nostradamus had commented that he was making devils. His plea that he was only describing the lack of aestheticappeal inherent in the statue was ignored and the Inquisitors sent for him to go to Toulouse.

Nostradamus, having no wish to stand trial, set out on his wandering again and kept well clear of the Church authorities for the next six years. We know little of this period. From references in later books we know he travelled in the Lorraine and went to Venice and Sicily. Legends about Nostradamus' prophetic powers also start to appear at this time.

1546

Over time, circumstances reversed with the Inquisitors. After traveling through Italy and France for six years, Nostradamus returned to his native turf where he was employed by the city of Aix in 1546. For a period of three years he again fought the plague. His services were viewed as invaluable by both his patients and his peers.

1554

By 1554 Nostradamus had settled in Marseilles. In November that year, the Provence experienced one of the worst floods of its history. The plague redoubled in virulence, spread by the waters and the polluted corpses. Nostradamus worked ceaselessly. Once the city had recovered, Nostradamus moved on to Salon de Croux, which he found so pleasant a town that he determined to settle there for the rest of his life. In November he married Anne Ponsart Gemelle, a rich widow. The house in which he spent the remainder of his days can still be seen off the Place de la Poissonnerie. It was during this period of his life that he acquainted himself with the apothecaries and healers of the area in order to include them in his book Traite des Fardmens, the world's first medical directory, which listed the names, location and specialties of physicians and healers practicing in Europe.

Nostradamus began to write his prophetic verses in the city of Salon, in 1554. They are divided into ten sections called Centuries (which refers to the number of verses in each section, not to a unit of 100 years).

1555

The Centuries were published in 1555 and 1558, and have been in print continuously ever since.
By 1555 Nostradamus had finished the first phase of his book that would contain his prophecies. Upon its publication, Nostradamus' fame quickly spread throughout Europe. The book contained only the first three Centuries and part of the fourth. His book became very popular among the literate and educated Europeans of the day, so much so that the French Queen, Catherine de' Medici, summoned Nostradamus to her court in Paris in 1556..

One could only wish that there had been a witness to record their meeting. Nostradamus and the Queen spoke together for two hours. She is reputed to have asked him about the quatrain concerning the king's death and to have been satisfied with Nostradamus' answer. Certainly she continued to believe in Nostradamus' predictions until her death. The king, Henri II, granted Nostradamus only a brief audience and was obviously not greatly interested.

Two weeks later the queen sent for him a second time and now Nostradamus was faced with the delicate and difficult task of drawing up the horoscopes of the seven Valois children, whose tragic fates he had already revealed in the centuries. All he would tell Catherine was that all of her sons would be kings, which is slightly inaccurate since one of them, Francois, died before he could inherit.

Soon afterwards Nostradamus was warned that the Justices of Paris were inquiring about his magic practices, and he swiftly returned to Salon. From this time on, suffering from gout and arthritis, he seems to have done little except draw up horoscopes for his many distinguished visitors and complete the writing of the Prophecies. Apparently he allowed a few manuscript copies to criculate before publication, because many of the predictions were understood and quoted before the completed book came off the printing press in 1568, two years after his death.

1559

On June 28, 1559, quatrain # 1-35 which predicted the accidental death of an "old lion" (an allusion to Henri -- the King of France) came true. Some people were upset with Nostradamus, others amazed. His fame grew even more. Nostradamus remained in Salon for a number of years, and continued to work on his writings. He was visited by many people of nobility and distinction during those days.

1564

In 1564 Catherine, now Queen Regent, decided to make a Royal Progress through France. While travelling she came to Salon and visited Nostradamus. They dined and Catherine gave Nostradamus the title of Physician in Ordinary, which carried with it a salary and other benefits.

1565-66

In 1565-66, Nostradamus' health began to be troubled with gout and arthritis. His health continued to worsen and he wrote his will on June 17, 1566. Nostradamus is said to have predicted his own death. When his assistant wished him goodnight on July 1, 1566, Nostradamus reputedly pronounced, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." He was found dead on July 2, 1566.

It was rumored that a very secret document existed in his coffin, that would decode his prophecies. In 1700, the coffin was moved to a prominent wall of the Church. Careful not to disturb his body a quick look inside revealed an amulet on his skeleton, with the year 1700 on it.

One night in 1791 during the French Revolution, soldiers from Marseilles broke into the church, in search of loot. However, Nostradamus had the last laugh. In Century 9, Quatrain 7, he had written:

The man who opens the tomb when it is found
And who does not close it immediately,
Evil will come to him
That no one will be able to prove.

Reputedly, the soldiers who desecrated his tomb for the final time were ambushed by Royalists on their way back to base and killed to the last man.

View online The Centuries or consider getting some of many books written about Nostradamus and his prophecies.

Prophecies and Predictions of Nostradamus

During Nostradamus' lifetime the Black Death (today known as the bubonic plague) wiped out over a quarter of Europe. It is no wonder that a sense of apocalyptic terror fills Nostradamus' quatrains. Nostradamus can indisputably be said to have been ahead of his time, at least in terms of medical practice. His treatment of the Black Death involved removal of the infected corpses, fresh air and unpolluted water for the healthy, a herbal preparation rich in Vitamin C, and (in contravention of contemporary medical practise) not bleeding his patients.

Nostradamus had the visions which he later recorded in verse while staring into water or flame late at night, sometimes aided by herbal stimulants, while sitting on a brass tripod. The resulting quatrains (four line verses) are oblique and elliptical, and use puns, anagrams and allegorical imagery. Most of the quatrains are open to multiple interpretations, and some make no sense whatsoever. Some of them are chilling, literal descriptions of events, giving specific or near-specific names, geographic locations, astrological configurations, and sometimes actual dates. It is this quality of both vagueness and specificity which allows each new generation to reinterpret Nostradamus.

After his death, his son Caesar gathered the remaining prophecies which had been unpublished up to that point, and published them in 1568, two years after Nostradamus passed away.

Nostradamus referred to the ten chapters of his famous book, The Centuries, as "centuries", although they have nothing to do with 100 year cycles. Each of the centuries (or chapters) contain 100 prophetic quatrains, except for Century VII, which has 42, for a total of 942 prophecies.

The rhymed quatrains of Nostradamus were written mainly in French with a bit of Italian, Greek, and Latin thrown in. He intentionally obscured the quatrains through the use of symbolism and metaphor, as well as by making changes to proper names by swapping, adding or removing letters. The obscuration is claimed to have been done to avoid his being tried as a magician.

Nostradamus intentionally confused the chronological order of his quatrains (a four line prophetic stanza which constitutes one of his prophecies) as a way to make the interpretation of future events slightly more difficult. The interpretation of some quatrains are very specific, others more general in nature. The clearly stated quatrains speak for themselves, requiring little interpretation. Most quatrains, however, require a detailed examination.
Some readers might discover that it takes time to get a feel for reading the quatrains. The more you read them however, the easier it is to make sense of them.
Most readers might be shocked by the perceived contents of some quatrains, for in many ways The Centuries reads like a book of 1,001 future disasters.
Nostradamus stated in the Epistle, that as time goes on, he perceived his prophecies to carry more weight. This is interesting and seemingly correct, especially considering that as time passes, with a little hindsight, we can see the past from a clearer perspective.
In the preface ( a letter dedicated to his son Caesar), Nostradamus stated that his prophetic quatrains were covered with a veil cloud, but are clear enough to be comprehended by men of good intelligence.
Some quatrains were written in a manner that suggests a chronology of time from the beginning of the quatrain to its end. The first line or two of this type of quatrain may pertain to one given period of time, while the lines following it may apply to a time frame later than the lines before it. While this chronological rule does not apply to all quatrains, it seems to apply to some.
The majority of the quatrains pertain to the geographical regions of France, Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A few quatrains pertain to the New World, one pertains to the Moon, and a few others make references to outer space.

View online The Centuries or consider getting some of many books written about Nostradamus and his prophecies.

---

NOSTRODAMUS 2000

by Doug Yurchey

The name Nostrodamus evokes everything from reverence, mystery and the occult to total skepticism. It is easy to be a skeptic. It is far more difficult to truly understand. A man from the 16th Century should NOT have been able to write about these 20th Century things:

* Hitler.
* U.S. & its Eagle symbol.
* Free America to the west.
* Napoleon.
* Mussolini.
* Franco.
* Roosevelt.
* Pasteur.
* Atlantis.
* U.S., French & Russian revolutions.
* WWI & WWII.
* The atomic bomb.
* Air warfare; 'flying boats and galleys.'
* The submarine.
* Motors & antennae.
* Man-made mountains.

'Nostrodamus often mentions exact specifics such as 'Franco' and 'Pasteur.' Even a hardcore skeptic must soften when they realize that somehow...modern events were published in the 1672 edition: 'The True Prophecies and Prognostications of Michael Nostrodamus.' In 1946, Henry C. Roberts wrote as he read the 1672 edition: 'I had perused but a few pages when I was struck by the sense of familiarity that these verses seemed to hold for me. Words that that the author claimed held no significance for him, took on for me a definite meaning, became clearly focused into patterns of events - past, present and future.'

Seer to French kings, Nostrodamus was careful not to be too specific. He understood that this could trouble powerful people in his own time. The result is 4-lined quatrains that serve as enigmatic puzzles. Nostrodamus wrote: 'They would condemn that which future ages shall find and know to be true...(quatrains) are perpetual prophecies from this year to the year 3797, at which some perhaps will frown, seeing so large an extension of time...'

The following verses are some of the most extraordinary. At times, the seer is very specific and the quatrains are not a matter of interpretation.
How did Nostrodamus predict? We may never know. Although in the very first two quatrains, the prophet described his source of knowledge:

I / 1 Seated at night in my secret study, Alone, reposing over the brass tripod, A slender flame leaps out of the solitude, Making me pronounce that which is not in vain.	His nightly preparations and visitations seem like a para-normal experience in an occult setting.
I / 2 With divining rod in hand, I wet the limb and foot, Set in the middle of the branches. Fearsome awe trembles my hand, I await, Heavenly Splendor! The Divine Genius sitteth by.	He employs a divining rod; used for dowsing. Clearly, Nostrodamus trembled in fear during these encounters. As to precisely what 'Genius sitteth by' him, we can only imagine.
X / 66 The chief of London by rule of America, The Island of Scotland shall be tempered by frost, Kings and Priests shall have one, who is a false Anti-Christ Who will put them altogether in discord.	This remarkable quatrain states that British & USA leaders will empower a dictator. An Anti-Christ will betray the leaders & peoples of both countries. The French prophet should not have written 'L'Americh,' but he did in X/66.
VI / 33 His last hand bloody through all U.S. Shall not save him by sea, Between two rivers he shall fear the military hand, The black and wrathful one shall be repentant.	Here Nostrodamus actually writes of the U.S.; similar to the previous verse. A number of quatrains speak of the 'Black One' which refers to the leader of the Black Shirts; Mussolini.
VIII / 1 Pau, nay, loron, more in fire their blood shall be, Seen to swim, great ones shall run to their surreys, The aggassas shall refuse the entry, Pampon, Durance shall keep them enclosed.	This odd quatrain is actually a play on words. If 'Pau, nay, loron' is switched around, it becomes Nay, pau, loron or Napoleon.
III / 35 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.	Hitler (Anti-Christ #2) was born in Austria& in poverty. With his powers of speech&mob-control, he seduced many. Hitler's influence was even felt in the Eastern Empire of Japan.
VIII / 71 The number of Astronomers shall grow so great, Driven away, banished, books censured, The year one thousand six hundred and and seven years by Glomes, That none shall be secure in sacred places.	Nostrodamus dates all events starting with the Council of Nicaea; A.D. 325. With a given date, 325 must be added. 1607 + 325 = 1932. In January 1933,Hitler became Chancellor of Germany; banishing & burning books.
VI / 49 By the project of Mammon, high priest, They shall subjugate the borders of the Danube, They shall pursue crosses of iron, topsy-turvy, Slaves, gold, jewels, more than a hundred thousand rubles.	'Crosses of iron, topsy-turvy' is certainly a description of the Nazi Swastika. Hitler & his men also wore the Iron Cross. Subjugating the lands around the Danube was foreseen as well.
II / 22 The Camp Ascop shall go from Europe, And shall come near the submerged Island, From Arton shall a phalange go by sea and land By the navel of the world, a greater voice shall be subrogated.	Classic interpretations of this quatrain attribute it to Atlantis (Arton). Nostrodamus did not speak of fantasy-lands, but real history. Atlantis was the 'navel of the world' and spread out to all corners of the Earth.
I / 69 The great mountain encompasses seven stadia, After peace, war, famine, and inundation, Shall tumble a great way, sinking great countries, Even ancient houses and their great foundations.	Could the 'great mountain' be a very large pyramid? This quatrain could speak of the Atlantean destruction. A great tumble might be the Fall of Man. The sinking of the continent is the reference. The great foundations could be massive monoliths that compose the ancient structures.
I / 91 The Gods shall make it appear to mankind, That they are the authors of a great war, The sky that was serene shall show sword and lance, On the left hand the affliction shall be greater.	Does 'Gods' refer to an advanced technology sometime in our far future? Are the sword & lance hi-tech weapons like lasers & EMPs.
VI / 34 The contraption of flying fire, Shall trouble so much the captain of the besieged, And within shall be so much rioting, That the besieged shall be in despair.	The word 'contraption' could mean your basic flying-machines. The rest of the verse seems to describe the destruction airplanes have caused in the World Wars.
IV / 92 The head cut off of the valiant Captain, Shall be thrown down before his adversary, His body hanged from the ship's antenna, Confused, they shall fly with oars against the wind.	Here is a remarkable quatrain because of the modern word: 'antenna.' Henry C. Roberts interpreted this to mean radio. Roberts wrote before the age of UFOs. A 'ship's antenna' could mean a flying saucer topped with a power/receiver-type of antenna.
III / 67 A new sect of Philosophers shall rise, Despising death, gold, honors and riches, They shall be near the mountains of Germany, They shall have abundance of others to support and follow them.	This quatrain appears to describe the origin of the Secret Society known as the Illuminati. In Bravaria of 1776,the Order of the Enlightened planned to take over the world by deposing Imperial rule.
IV / 27 Salon, Mansol, Tarascon of six arches Where is still standing the pyramids, Shall come to deliver the Prince of a Denmark, A shameful ransom shall be paid into the temple of Artemis.	Could the 'shameful ransom' be the killing of Princess Diana? She died in France, not far from the Louve where glass pyramid stands. Artemis is the Greek goddess that in Roman mythology was called Diana. Around where she died is a garden devoted to the goddess Diana.

On the Internet, under Nostrodamus, you can read where he predicted 9/11. They have posted that Nostrodamus wrote of the destruction of the 'twins.' This is not exactly true. On line never gives you the quatrain # where you could look it up in his completed works. The following quatrains could refer to 9/11. They are actual Nostrodamus verses that any reader can verify...

I / 87
Ennosigee, fire of the center of the earth,
Shall make an earthquake of the New City,
Two great rocks shall long time war against each other,
After that, Arethusa shall color red the fresh river.

VI / 97
The heaven shall burn at five and forty degrees,
The fire shall come near the great new city,
In an instant a great flame dispersed shall burst out,
When they shall make a trial of the Normans.

V / 8
The fire shall be left burning, the dead shall be hid,
Within the globes terrible and fearful,
By night the fleet shall shoot against the city,
The city shall be on fire, the enemy shall be favorable to it.

Refer to the end of the Farshores article 'More on the World Wireless' and find a Nostrodamus prediction whereby Tesla Technology creates a grand, new age in the far future. Not all of the seer's predictions for the future are grim, negative and bloodied. Some are positive.

The following two verses predict an End of the World! In 7000 years, will the sun expand and consume the Earth as in I / 48?

I / 48
Twenty years of the reign of the moon having passed,
Seven thousand years another shall hold his monarchy,
When the sun shall resume his days past,
Then is fulfilled and ends my prophecy.

X / 74
The year seven of the great number being past,
There shall be seen the sports of the ghostly sacrifice,
Not far from the great age of the millennium,
That the buried shall come out of their graves.

EPILOG:

Skeptics should think again before they criticize Nostrodamus. Investigate the prophecies yourself. Recommended reading: The Complete Prophecies of Nostrodamus by Henry C. Roberts. Recommended viewing: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow; hosted by Orson Welles. Somehow, Nostrodamus knew the future. What other quatrains will suddenly become understandable due to current events?

© 2002 - Doug Yurchey

Related Articles written by Doug Yurchey:

• Articles on World-Mysteries.com
  

• Who Stops to Question The Man in the Moon?
• Wireless World
• Life Inside Venus?
• Buckminster Fuller- The World is Round

An Interview with Doug Yurchey

Preface by M. Nostradamus to His Prophecies

Greetings and happiness to Cesar Nostradamus my son. Your late arrival, Cesar Nostredame, my son, has made me spend much time in constant nightly reflection so that I could communicate with you by letter and leave you this reminder, after my death, for the benefit of all men, of which the divine spirit has vouchsafed me to know by means of astronomy. And since it was the Almighty's will that you were not born here in this region and I do not want to talk of years to come but of the months during which you will struggle to grasp and understand the work I shall be compelled to leave you after my death: assuming that it will not be possible for me to leave you such writing as may be destroyed through the injustice of the age. The key to the hidden prediction which you will inherit will be locked inside my heart.

Also bear in mind that the events here described have not yet come to pass, and that all is ruled and governed by the power of Almighty God, inspiring us not by bacchic frenzy nor by enchantments but by astronomical assurances: predictions have been made through the inspiration of divine will alone and the spirit of prophecy in particular.

On numerous occasions and over a long period of time I have predicted specific events far in advance, attributing all to the workings of divine power and inspiration, together with other fortunate or unfortunate happenings, foreseen in their full unexpectedness, which have already come to pass in various regions of the earth. Yet I have wished to remain silent and abandon my work because of the injustice not only of the present time but also for most of the future. I will not commit to writing.

Since governments, sects and countries will undergo such sweeping changes, diametrically opposed to what now obtains, that were I to relate events to come, those in power now - monarchs, leaders of sects and religions - would find these so different from their own imaginings that they would be led to condemn what later centuries will learn how to see and understand. Bear in mind also Our Saviour's words: "Do not give anything holy to the dogs, nor throw pearls in front of swine lest they trample them with their feet and turn on you and tear you apart." For this reason I withdrew my pen from the paper, because I wished to amplify my statement touching the Vulgar Advent by means of ambiguous and enigmatic comments about future causes, even those closest to us and those I have perceived, so that some human change which may come to pass shall not unduly scandalize delicate sensibilities. The whole work is thus written in a nebulous rather than plainly prophetic form. So much so that, "You have hidden these things from the wise and the circumspect, that is from the mighty and the rulers, and you have purified those things for the small and the poor," and through Almighty God's will, revealed unto those prophets with the power to perceive what is distant and thereby to foretell things to come. For nothing can be accomplished without this faculty, whose power and goodness work so strongly in those to whom it is given that, while they contemplate within themselves, these powers are subject to other influences arising from the force of good. This warmth and strength of prophecy invests us with its influence as the sun's rays affect both animate and inanimate entities.

We human beings cannot through our natural consciousness and intelligence know anything of God the Creator's hidden secrets, For it is not for us to know the times or the instants, etc.

So much so that persons of future times may be seen in present ones, because God Almighty has wished to reveal them by means of images, together with various secrets of the future vouchsafed to orthodox astrology, as was the case in the past, so that a measure of power and divination passed through them, the flame of the spirit inspiring them to pronounce upon inspiration both human and divine. God may bring into being divine works, which are absolute; there is another level, that of angelic works; and a third way, that of the evildoers.

But my son, I address you here a little too obscurely. As regards the occult prophecies one is vouchsafed through the subtle spirit of fire, which the understanding sometimes stirs through contemplation of the distant stars as if in vigil, likewise by means of pronouncements, one finds oneself surprised at producing writings without fear of being stricken for such impudent loquacity. The reason is that all this proceeds from the divine power of Almighty God from whom all bounty proceeds.

And so once again, my son, if I have eschewed the word prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer; since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures. And it can happen that the prophet bringing about the perfect light of prophecy may make manifest things both human and divine, because this cannot be done otherwise, given that the effects of predicting the future extend far off into time.

God's mysteries are incomprehensible and the power to influence events is bound up with the great expanse of natural knowledge, having its nearest most immediate origin in free will and describing future events which cannot be understood simply through being revealed. Neither can they be grasped through men's interpretations nor through another mode of cognizance or occult power under the firmament, neither in the present nor in the total eternity to come But bringing about such an indivisible eternity through Herculean efforts, things are revealed by the planetary movements.

I am not saying, my son - mark me well, here - that knowledge of such things cannot be implanted in your deficient mind, or that events in the distant future may not be within the understanding of any reasoning being. Nevertheless, if these things current or distant are brought to the awareness of this reasoning and intelligent being they will be neither too obscure nor too clearly revealed.

Perfect knowledge of such things cannot be acquired without divine inspiration, given that all prophetic inspiration derives its initial origin from God Almighty, then from chance and nature. Since all these portents are produced impartially, prophecy comes to pass partly as predicted. For understanding created by the intellect cannot be acquired by means of the occult, only by the aid of the zodiac, bringing forth that small flame by whose light part of the future may be discerned.

Also, my son, I beseech you not to exercise your mind upon such reveries and vanities as drain the body and incur the soul's perdition, and which trouble our feeble frames. Above all avoid the vanity of that most execrable magic formerly reproved by the Holy Scriptures - only excepting the use of official astrology.

For by the latter, with the help of inspiration and divine revelation, and continual calculations, I have set down my prophecies in writing. Fearing lest this occult philosophy be condemned, I did not therefore wish to make known its dire import; also fearful that several books which had lain hidden for long centuries might be discovered, and of what might become of them, after reading them I presented them to Vulcan. And while he devoured them, the flame licking the air gave out such an unexpected light, clearer than that of an ordinary flame and resembling fire from some flashing cataclysm, and suddenly illumined the house as if it were caught in a furnace. Which is why I reduced them to ashes then, so that none might be tempted to use occult labours in searching for the perfect transmutation, whether lunar or solar, of incorruptible metals.

But as to that discernment which can be achieved by the aid of planetary scrutiny, I should like to tell you this. Eschewing any fantastic imaginings, you may through good judgement have insight into the future if you keep to the specific names of places that accord with planetary configurations, and with inspiration places and aspects yield up hidden properties, namely that power in whose presence the three times are understood as Eternity whose unfolding contains them all: for all things are naked and open.

That is why, my son, you can easily, despite your young brain, understand that events can be foretold naturally by the heavenly bodies and by the spirit of prophecy: I do not wish to ascribe to myself the title and role of prophet, but emphasize inspiration revealed to a mortal man whose perception is no further from heaven than the feet are from the earth. I cannot fail, err or be deceived, although I may be as great a sinner as anyone else upon this earth and subject to all human afflictions.

But after being surprised sometimes by day while in a trance, and having long fallen into the habit of agreeable nocturnal studies, I have composed books of prophecies, each containing one hundred astronomical quatrains, which I want to condense somewhat obscurely. The work comprises prophecies from today to the year 3797.

This may perturb some, when they see such a long timespan, and this will occur and be understood in all the fullness of the Republic; these things will be universally understood upon earth, my son. If you live the normal lifetime of man you will know upon your own soil, under your native sky, how future events are to turn out.

For only Eternal God knows the eternity of His light which proceeds from Him, and I speak frankly to those to whom His immeasurable, immense and incomprehensible greatness has been disposed to grant revelations through long, melancholy inspiration, that with the aid of this hidden element manifested by God, there are two principal factors which make up the prophet's intelligence.

The first is when the supernatural light fills and illuminates the person who predicts by astral science, while the second allows him to prophesy through inspired revelation, which is only a part of the divine eternity, whereby the prophet comes to assess what his divinatory power has given him through the grace of God and by a natural gift, namely, that what is foretold is true and ethereal in origin.

And such a light and small flame is of great efficacy and scope, and nothing less than the clarity of nature itself. The light of human nature makes the philosophers so sure of themselves that with the principles of the first cause they reach the loftiest doctrines and the deepest abysses.

But my son, lest I venture too far for your future perception, be aware that men of letters shall make grand and usually boastful claims about the way I interpreted the world, before the worldwide conflagration which is to bring so many catastrophes and such revolutions that scarcely any lands will not be covered by water, and this will last until all has perished save history and geography themselves. This is why, before and after these revolutions in various countries, the rains will be so diminished and such abundance of fire and fiery missiles shall fall from the heavens that nothing shall escape the holocaust. And this will occur before the last conflagration.

For before war ends the century and in its final stages it will hold the century under its sway. Some countries will be in the grip of revolution for several years, and others ruined for a still longer period. And now that we are in a republican era, with Almighty God's aid, and before completing its full cycle, the monarchy will return, then the Golden Age. For according to the celestial signs, the Golden Age shall return, and after all calculations, with the world near to an all-encompassing revolution - from the time of writing 177 years 3 months 11 days - plague, long famine and wars, and still more floods from now until the stated time. Before and after these, humanity shall several times be so severely diminished that scarcely anyone shall be found who wishes to take over the fields, which shall become free where they had previously been tied.

This will be after the visible judgement of heaven, before we reach the millennium which shall complete all. In the firmament of the eighth sphere, a dimension whereon Almighty God will complete the revolution, and where the constellations will resume their motion which will render the earth stable and firm, but only if He will remain unchanged for ever until His will be done.

This is in spite of all the ambiguous opinions surpassing all natural reason, expressed by Mahomet; which is why God the Creator, through the ministry of his fiery agents with their flames, will come to propose to our perceptions as well as our eyes the reasons for future predictions.

Signs of events to come must be manifested to whomever prophesies. For prophecy which stems from exterior illumination is part of that light and seeks to ally with it and bring it into being so that the part which seems to possess the faculty of understanding is not subject to a sickness of the mind.

Reason is only too evident. Everything is predicted by divine afflatus and thanks to an angelic spirit inspiring the one prophesying, consecrating his predictions through divine unction. It also divests him of all fantasies by means of various nocturnal apparitions, while with daily certainty he prophesies through the science of astronomy, with the aid of sacred prophecy, his only consideration being his courage in freedom.

So come, my son, strive to understand what I have found out through my calculations which accord with revealed inspiration, because now the sword of death approaches us, with pestilence and war more horrible than there has ever been - because of three men's work - and famine. And this sword shall smite the earth and return to it often, for the stars confirm this upheaval and it is also written: "I shall punish their injustices with iron rods, and shall strike them with blows."

For God's mercy will be poured forth only for a certain time, my son, until the majority of my prophecies are fulfilled and this fulfillment is complete. Then several times in the course of the doleful tempests the Lord shall say: Therefore I shall crush and destroy and show no mercy; and many other circumstances shall result from floods and continual rain of which I have written more fully in my other prophecies, composed at some length, not in a chronological sequence, in prose, limiting the places and times and exact dates so that future generations will see, while experiencing these inevitable events, how I have listed others in clearer language, so that despite their obscurities these things shall be understood: When the time comes for the removal of ignorance, the matter will be clearer still.

So in conclusion, my son, take this gift from your father M. Nostradamus, who hopes you will understand each prophecy in every quatrain herein. May Immortal God grant you a long life of good and prosperous happiness.

Salon, 1 March 1555