The enigma of Nostradamus has haunted the lives of modern society ever since the revelations went public. The prophecies and predictions made by the French astrologer are highly debatable, but very interesting...
Nostradamus, or Michel de Nostredame, was a French astrologer. He is well-known in the history of human civilization due to the intrigue he generated with a number of prophecies that remain in a state of debate.
The other reason for our love for this sixteenth century mystic springs from the fact that his psychic predictions make interesting reading and have not been out of circulation since being penned!
Michel de Nostredame
His family converted to Catholicism from Judaism when Nostradamus was 9 years old. He declared through his work that he approved of the ceremonies of the Roman Church. His grandfather taught him many languages including Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Nostradamus was introduced to the world of mathematics and astrology at an early age. He went on to earn a degree in medicine in the year 1529 and was a physician to Charles IX. Nostradamus is believed to have developed extraordinary healing abilities. Nostradamus made many accurate forecasts during his lifetime.
He is believed to have entered a state of meditation in his late forties. This is when he supposedly had visions of the future and began to document them. He fashioned the document in the form of quatrains in Latin, the French language and Greek.
He called the document 'Centuries' and had it published in 1558. He predicted both the World Wars, and 18 of the quatrains he wrote on prophecies refer to a Third World War. Nostradamus wrote 950 quatrains in all.
Famous Prophecies and Predictions
Pope Sixtus V
Nostradamus' document of predictions and prophecies were banned by the Roman Catholic Church in 1781. Nevertheless, there is an incident connected with the church that always comes up while debating the ability of the French mystic to predict accurately. In 1553, Nostradamus is believed to have come across a group of Franciscan monks.
He suddenly threw himself down on his knees and clutched at the garment of one of the monks. The monk was Felice Peretti. The reason he gave for this behavior was that he had to pay obeisances to 'His Holiness'. A good nineteen years after the death of Nostradamus, Felice Peretti became Pope Sixtus V.
Kennedy Assassinations
A number of people believe that Nostradamus accurately predicted the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. The predictions were made 400 years prior to the events.
He is believed to have referred specifically to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963 and his brother Robert F. Kennedy, on June 5, 1968 while celebrating his victory in the presidential elections.
It is important to note on reading the quatrains that there is no specific reference to the name 'Kennedy' and that the prediction or prophecy could reach out beyond a vast expanse of time. Experts debate over the assassinations as contrived or factual.
The reference to the assassination of Robert Kennedy was 'falls at nighttime' when in fact, he was shot early in the morning.
World War III
Nostradamus' popular prediction was of a Third World War. While the date has been in debate for centuries, the mere mention has generated a flutter within many faiths. Some experts interpreted the date for the start of such a war as 1999.
They referred to the Balkan conflict at the time. Yet some others drew attention to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Obviously, they too are wrong.
According to the quatrains on the war, Nostradamus predicted that the Slavs would raise an army, suggesting guerrilla warfare. His references point towards Greece, Italy and the Mediterranean. He also links the war to the unity between the 'eagle' or the United States and the 'rooster' representing France.
The quatrain refers to an alliance between England, Poland and Czechoslovakia. He also predicted that the Allies will win and that peace will prevail for a long time thereafter. Only time will be able to prove whether the Kosovo conflict or the World Trade Center attack does spark off a World War III.
Nostradamus predicted the year as 3786 or 3797, according to the different Nostradamus experts. The prophecies of Michel de Nostredame may be debatable, but the intrigue of a man who claimed access to divinity continues.