The Great Seer of the 16th Century

[Killean]

Nostradamus - Seer of Mankinds Downfall or Author, Physician, Astrologer?

 

Last night I was listening to Coast to Coast AM on the radio and there was a great discussion about who this well know man really was, and what exactly he did. The man who was being interviewed was David Ovason, scholar and author of many books including Nostradamus: Prophecies for America http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006009351X/ctoc/104-8744912-4043930. This book by the way was written soon after the Trade Tower attacks trying to counter all the 'nuts' who twist Nostradamus' 940 quatrains. Yes, he did predict (sort of) 9/11, and a couple others regarding US history, but most of the subcultural nonesense you might hear about this man are completly blown out of perportion. Not once does he mention anything about the end of the world, nor does he ever speak of an anti-christ (yes he does say anti-christ in a couple of his quatrains, but they are used for a different meaning) who shall rise up to destroy our way of life. In his cryptic ways he also mentions the use of the atomic bomb but as David mentioned, after reading through all of the quatrains, said that he does not see any others being used other than the tests and Hiroshima, Nagasaki. With the cult like rumors out of the way, I give you who Nostradamus really is...

 

At first he wasn't really a seer of any sort, but a doctor. Along the time he worked as a physician he also studied astrology and began to enter trances over a bronze bowl filled with boiling water. This was said to be the medium into his predictions. He wrote to a king mentioning that he was going to write 1000 quatrains which would 'see' into the future, unfortunate that he died before he could finish them. Of all Nostradamus wrote, 300 of the quatrains were "precisely correct", and the rest seem to be speculation but not too far off from the truth. Or that these predictions have not been pinned to any recent events which leads one to belive that they have yet to occurred. Nostradamus even predicted his own death and what would occur with his body. After he died, a french revolution occurred in which a few soldiers desecrated his burial site and tossed around his body. Afterwards, the french government moved his body to his place of birth. As mentioned previously, Nostradamus never really predicted the end of the world because it is thought that he wasn't really capable of it, or he was never interested. His main interests include the stars, French rulers, wars and technology.

 

Here are a couple examples that are considered to be Davids favorite predictions. First was his prediciton of a supernova (or as Nostradamus explains it, a new star) in 1572. He wrote about this in 1552. 20 years later a bright light appeared in the sky sure enough. Another talked about the escape, betrayal and eventual execution of King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. The quatrains mention the two meeting up with a good friend of theirs in belgium (back then was a part of Germany), but a member of the French army who they trusted betrayed them and they were caught (Not too sure if this is what happened, the exact comments of David are a day old in my mind so I might be missing somthing. Or he might be completly wrong about the subject at hand. Corrections are welcome). A few predictions which David mentions have been fulfilled are the Declaration of Independance, electricity, the first movie theater, 1969 space program and landing on the moon, and many more including a few about World War 2.

 

So is this man a true visionary, a lucky guesser, or the tool of todays generations paranoid habits? I personaly think he did see somthing, but the way he writes can be too easily manipulated since his original text is a cryptic tomb made in a misture of french and latin. What David Ovason said about him could be just another person who is trying to use Nostradamus' quatrains to express a purpose (What gain he would get from taking this stance I have no idea which is what makes me WANT to believe his side is true).

[Tormod]

Good piece of writing there, Killean.

 

I don't know much about Nostradamus. I grow tired of the Discovery channel some times when all they offer are shows about seers and cryptic Egyptian writings suddenly turning up in someone's basement.

 

I think the only way to predict the future is to study the past and learn from it. As in all science.

 

It would be nice to know a thing or two about the future, but maybe I'm better of not knowing. :hihi:

[Turtle]

I heard that program & the man was compelling because he did the work;learned to read & write French, Latin, Old French etc. Recall he said the prophecys can't be acted on to change the furure? So all in all, it's really just another interesting anecdote. :hihi:

[Killean]

Recall he said the prophecys can't be acted on to change the furure? So all in all, it's really just another interesting anecdote.

Yes you are correct, David did mention that the prohecies of Nostradamus cannot be used to predict the future based on the way he wrote. He said that only after reading the entire series of quatrains, then looking back at history does the memory of certain quatrains make any sense and can be matched up.

[Turtle]

Are you a regular Coast To Coast listener? What do you think of it overall? :hihi:

[Killean]

Heh heh heh. I started listening back in the day when Art Bell was still ruling the show. My father introduced me to his show as we both had a facination with the supernatural. After Art dug too deep or I think he had some drug problems, the show changed. Still listen once in a while. A good show to listen to for the strange, bizarr, not necessarily bull stories. :hihi:

[Turtle]

Strange indeed. On my small page under Links is a story I did for Coast web site.

http://home.comcast.net/~turtlediable/wsb/index.html

I listen more selectively these days; the ghosty stuff I don't much care for. Give us the weird science! :hihi:

[Tormod]

Okay. Someone tell me what is so special about Coast to Coast!

[Turtle]

Ok They take on topics in depth (4 hour talk format) that mainstream medi doesn't cover. UFO's. alternate energy, ghosts, etc. Further, they have on people like Micahel Green(String Theory author), Michio Kaku (physicist), & other experts to explain science. It's really a mad mix, but usually stimulating. Besides, night owls like me gotta do somethin late besides post! :hihi:

[Turtle]

Here is Coast To Coast AM show web site:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/ :hihi:

[Turtle]

___I haven't listened much to Coast To Coast lateley, but I have something further on Nostradamas. I recycled my copies of his quatrains, but I seem to recall one or several refering to the line of Popes. I seem to recall something about this new Pope is the last, at least in the list he wrote, & his accuracy on all the others (remember he was predicting them) is right on.

___Interesting reading his work for sure.

[lindagarrette]

Good piece of writing there, Killean.

 

I think the only way to predict the future is to study the past and learn from it. As in all science.

 

I'm pretty sure no one takes Nostradamus seriously. They just have fun deciphering his writings and making them fit events that have occurred since. To predict the future you would have to know all the events that surround (cause) every preceding event up to and including the event being predicted. (Determiinism, remember.)

[Buffy]

A scary number of people take Mr. N. seriously! And who's to say he didn't have a Rambaldi Device that would have given him the secret location and state of every superstring in the universe so that those predictions were simply deterministic extrapolations?

 

:note: :note: :note: :note: :note:

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Turtle]

___All in all, the quatrains make for very interesting reading. After reading, then one can decide what value they contain. ;)