                              Nostradamus FAQs

                            last updated 5/7/96

Author/Editor: Jeffrey Koenke (email: j-koenke@eurysis.com)
Original Author: James Flanagan

     Significant Contributions from:
   * James Flanagan
   * Goro Adachi
   * Marc Nijweide
   * Doug Taylor
   * Zoltan

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  1. Question. What was Nostradamus' day job?

     Answer. Nostradamus was educated as a physician and was noted for his
     work during the plagues of the 16th century. In later years, he worked
     as an astrologer to clients who included the Queen of France.

  2. Question. What did Nostradamus write?

     Answer. Apart from his professional works (in which no one is really
     interested) he produced a number of prophetic works. We discern
     between the Centuries and the Prognostications. The Prognostications
     are like an Almanac. They contain a series of Predictions about the
     next year. Because these predictions were fulfilled (or not) more than
     440 years ago few are interested in them.

     The really interesting stuff is the Centuries. This name comes from
     the fact that each Centurie contains 100 prophetic verses of 4 lines.
     These verses are called quatrains. Nostradamus wrote 10 Centuries,
     which are commonly numbered by roman numerals I to X.

  3. Question. In what kind of verse did Nostradamus write? Do the verse
     numbers have anything to do with the dates when the events are to
     occur?

     Answer. Nostradamus left his predictions in the form of several
     letters, almost 1000 4-line verses called quatrains (the Centuries),
     and a collection of 6-line verses called sixains. The prophesies are
     not sequential by date. Some interesting coincidences have been
     observed between the quatrain number (in the Centuries) and the last
     two digits of the year of the corresponding event, but this is not
     uniformly true.

  4. Question. It seems like there are more earthquakes, volcanoes,
     blizzards, cancer deaths, etc. today than ever before. Didn't
     Nostradamus predict that these things would happen at the end of the
     world?

     Answer. No. There are various prophesies that can be interpreted as
     earthquakes, bad weather, even global climate change. It seems that
     occurances of these events are to increase around the "time of
     troubles" and rise of the Anti-Christ.

     Nostradamus specifically said in one of his letters that he does not
     predict the end of the world. He also stated that his prophesies
     extend out several thousand years, which is far beyond the present
     age. The perception that there are more bad events than ever before
     may also be an artifact of observation. There have always been fires,
     earthquakes, genocide, wars, etc. It's just that CNN has not been
     around until recently.

  5. Question. Didn't Nostradamus say the world would end in (pick one)
     1984, 1999, 2000, 2012?

     Answer. Nostradamus clearly stated, in plain French that his
     prophecies would extend to the year 3797 ( See preface ). It is not
     clear whether this (or is not) the end or the world E.Leoni states:
     '.... this will be the year when the roll is called up yonder.' Keep
     in mind that this is Leoni's interpretation.

  6. Question. Did Nostradamus predict any specific names, dates, or
     events?

     Answer. The names of [Louis] Pasteur, [Gen. Francisco] Franco, and
     others are clearly given by Nostradamus. The exact date of the London
     Fire (1666) is also plainly given. Many interpreters think that
     Hitler's name is also given, slightly modified, as "Hister." There are
     still many unsolved names and dates.
     In other quatrains, several dates are given in terms of fairly
     specific and unique astronomical data (e.g., planet positions in the
     zodiac).

  7. Question. I'm missing quatrains 43-100 in Centurie VII.

     Answer. You're not missing them, for unknown reasons Centurie VII
     contains only 42 quatrains. The reason behind this is unknown.
     However, there are publications with more than 42 verses. Although
     these are written in the style of Nostradamus we can not be sure about
     their origin. ( However, note that the date signed under the Epistle
     is 1558, 58+42 = 100, a complete century. Does C-VII contain
     predictions for the 16th century ???)

  8. Question. Nostradamus refers to 3 Anti-Christs. Who are (were) they?

     Answer. It is commonly believed that the first two Anti-Christs were
     Napoleon and Hitler. The identity of the third Anti-Christ is not yet
     known. Some people believe that Saddam Hussien will be the 3AC. Many
     believe that the 3AC will come from the Mid-East. Others have argued
     that the 3AC will come from East Asia (China, Mongolia or Korea.) This
     is a common topic of discussion in the Nostradamus newsgroup.

  9. Question. Who is Mabus?

     Answer. Nostradamus makes one reference to a person (?) named "Mabus".
     In Century 2,62 Nostradamus states "Mabus then will soon die" ... many
     bad things will happen. Some people say that Mabus is the AntiChrist
     (or 3rd AC); however, this does not seem to be supported by C 2,62,
     which is the ONLY quatrain in which the name appears.

     There is a lot of discussion as to who Mabus is. Currently the best
     three guesses are Saddam, Rabin, or the current (early 1996) U.S.
     Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Raymond Mabus. Only time will tell if any
     of the aforementioned people are THE Mabus that Nostradamus refers to.

 10. Question. What did Nostradamus say about China?

     Answer. Very little or nothing. He does refer to the King of the
     Mongols, and to a King from beyond the Black Sea. Most of the
     discussion about China relates to a verse from the Bible that mentions
     an army of 200 Million.

 11. Question. I just read in the National Enquirer (World News, Globe,
     etc.) that Nostradamus predicted the outcome of the O.J.Simpson Trial
     (the end of the world; winning lotto number, etc.). Can you tell me if
     this is really a prediction from Nostradamus?

     Answer. Most of these are complete fabrications. Here are some
     giveaways:
        o If the prediction is very specific, it is probably bogus.
          Nostradamus almost always concealed his meaning in anagrams,
          symbolism, and mythological allusions. (There are exceptions,
          however, see below.)
        o If the event is minor in the "grand scheme of things," the
          prediction is probably bogus. Who will care about the OJ Trial or
          the blizzard of '96 in 100 years?
        o These articles almost never give a citation to the original
          verse. Often all they give is an English "translation" that reads
          like it was composed by Bart Simpson. Not providing a reference
          makes it very difficult to find the original (if it exists at
          all), because translations vary tremendously.
        o Consider the source. Is the article wedged between ads for nose
          hair clippers, trusses, and bust enhancers? Enough said.

     If you are interested in finding out about a particular verse or
     topic, post a notice to the USENET group, alt.prophesies.nostradamus.
     There, several hundred readers can help you find whether Nostradamus
     wrote it or not. It's OK if the article is complete tripe -- the
     posting will provide a good laugh. Most of us are too embarrassed to
     buy those tabloids in the supermarket.

     To search for a particular verse yourself when all you have is a
     "translation," do the following:
        o find several "key" words in the supposed translation (e.g.,
          "bloody" and "glove" for the OJ prediction)
        o find the french equivalent(s) for each key word using the on-line
          English-to-French glossary. Don't forget to include synonyms or
          related words (glove -> hand, fingers, etc.).
        o use one of the on-line indexes of the Centuries to find quatrains
          that contain the key words.
        o goto to the on-line verses (french w/ literal english
          translation) & see if there is a resemblance to what you're
          trying to find.

 12. Question. Why is this FAQ necessary? There is already a Nostradamus
     FAQ.

     Answer. The existing Nostradamus FAQs in various USENET archives have
     a good biography and offer some provocative interpretations. However,
     they are based heavily on the works of D.Cannon (DC), who claims to
     have contacted Nostradamus in the Other World by "hypnosis." While
     hypnosis may or may not have validity, people should be encouraged to
     read, translate and interpret Nostradamus for themselves.

 13. Question. If we know in advance that something bad is going to happen,
     can't we avoid it?

     Answer. Most of Nostradamus' prophesies are only understood in
     retrospect, that is, after the event has occurred. Few have been
     understood prior to the event.

     Some specific events have been predicted for the period 1996-1998 by
     astrological dating and by the sequence of Popes of the Catholic
     Church -- see the essay "At 45 Degrees the Sky will Burn" by Goro
     Adachi available on the internet (see below). Stay tuned to see if the
     future unfolds as Goro predicts. (This FAQ was written in early 1996).

 14. Question. Why are the quatrains so obscure ?

     Answer. Nostradamus explains that this was done to avoid persecution
     from the Inquisition. He also gives this as the reasong why the
     quatrains are not in chronological order.

     Another possible explanation for the obscurity of the quatrains has to
     do with the breadth of Nostradamus' visions. His visions seem to span
     thousands of years. It was proabably difficult for him to describe
     20th and 21st century technology using 16th century French. Also, it
     is possible that a single quatrain could refer to several events. The
     incorporation of 'links' to several different events would further
     increase the obscurity of a quatrain.

     Some more reasons that Nostradamus' writings are difficult to
     understand and interpret include:
        o use of language that was, even when written, archaic.
        o use of anagrams and unknown names.
        o use of astrological or mythological references.
        o inconsistent spelling.
        o nonstandard word order.

 15. Question. What language did Nostradamus use? Can people today
     understand what he meant?

     Answer. Nostradamus wrote primarily in "early Modern French," with an
     admixture of archaic words mostly derived from Latin and Greek. Early
     Modern French is approximately contemporaneous with Shakespearian
     English. He also incorporates words from the "Languedoc" or Provencal
     dialect of southern France. Readers who are familiar with Latin and
     modern French can often understand the original language, even if they
     have not studied early French or Provencal.

 16. Question. Where can I get a dictionary of 16-th century French?

     Answer. French dictionary of the period is provided by the University
     of Chicago's ARTFL Project. A link to it is available on:
     www.alumni.caltech.edu/~jamesf/nostradamus.html However, this is
     useful only if you already know French and Latin.

 17. Question. Do native speakers of French have an advantage in
     understanding Nostradamus' French compared with someone who has
     learned French out of a book?

     Answer. Yes, particularly in recognizing subtle nuances of meaning and
     in unscrambling the nonstandard word order. A good background in
     classical Latin, or one of the modern romance languages, is helpful in
     understanding the many words that differ from modern French.

 18. Question. I think that Nostradamus is balderdash. Most of his verses
     are so vague that it's no surprize that a few of them "hit" at random.
     There are over 1000 verses (Centuries + Sixains) plus the letters. By
     chance alone there are likely to be similarities with real events.

     Answer. Undoubtedly this sort of random similarity accounts for many
     of the "hits" that have been found by various interpreters. Verses
     that are extremely vague and ambiguous can be interpreted in many
     different ways. Unfortunately, most of Nostradamus' verses are of the
     vague and ambiguous persuasion. Thus, it is possible to find at least
     one verse that can be interpreted as almost any given event, provided
     that the interpretation is done after the event has already happened.

     Several verses appear to be so exact and accurate that it is difficult
     to believe that this is due to chance alone. See, for example, "Franco
     & Riviera" at jamesf's web site.

 19. Question. Why are intelligent people wasting their time on this stuff?
     Shouldn't they be out doing meaningful activites such as saving the
     whales, or something?

     Answer. Study of Nostradamus is an interesting intellectual exercise,
     even for skeptics. Some people with adequate grounding in French,
     Latin, and other languages find Nostradamus to be an interesting
     diversion. Many people enjoy reading the original words that Caesar,
     Dante and Chaucer wrote for the same reason.

     Some intelligent non-skeptics believe that the quatrains have some
     prophetic value. If it can be determined that Nostradamus has
     accurately predicted some events of the past 440 (appox.) years, then
     it makes sense that some people would use the quatrains as a tool for
     gaining insight on the future.

 20. Question. Where can I find a good biography of Nostradamus?

     Answer. The books of Erika Cheetham have good biographical material.
     These are readily available in university libraries and even in many
     bookstores. See also the other Nostradamus pages on the WWW and the
     USENET Nostradamus FAQ. (See below.)

 21. Question. Are there any other recommended books?

     Answer. E. Leoni, "Nostradamus and his Prophecies". Wings Books, New
     York. ISBN 0-517-38809X.

 22. Question. Who is DC? What is CWN?

     Answer. DC is Dolores Cannon. CWN is Conversations With Nostradamus. A
     three volume book written by DC. For more information see the question
     12 above.

 23. Question. Who is GMS?

     Answer. GMS is Gordon-Michael Scallion. He has been on radio and TV.
     He produces a monthly newsletter called the Earth Changes Report. His
     prophecies are occasionally discussed/reviewed in this news group.

     The following are URLs where you can find out more about GMS.
        o A Summary Of Scallion's Most Import Predictions --
          http://www.sedona.net/nen/nhne/scallionsummary.html (Score 67,
          Size 27K)
        o Biographies -- http://205.162.178.61/bio.html (Score 80, Size 2K)
        o http://nexusweb.com/~max/art_bell/guests.html

 24. Question. Where can I find the Quatrains on the Internet?

     Answer. Marc Nijweide's page:
     http://morra.et.tudelft.nl/~nijweide/ncents/nostradamus.html
     Goro Adachi's Prophecy Page:
     http://www.concentric.net/~adachi/prophecy/prophecy.htm

 25. Question: Are there any Nostradamus Web sites?

     Answer: Yes. Here are a few.
        o http://www.concentric.net/~adachi/prophecy/prophecy.html
          Goro's home page: See T.J.Germine's essays on the AC on Goro's
          home page.
        o http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~jamesf/nostradamus.html
          A Nostradamus resource page, complete with an FAQ.
        o http://morra.et.tudelft.nl/~nijweide/ncents/nostradamus.html
          Marc Nijweide's page (lots of good Nost. info).
        o http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~hebert/
          Mike Hebert's home page (complete with word search capability):
        o http://www.infobahnos.com/~ledash/nostradamus.html
          Some interesting web pages about Nostradamus.
        o http://www.newciv.org/~albert/nosty/nosty-index.html
          Also don't forget to check out Albert Nanomius' eight part FAQ
          regularly posted on apn. Excellent stuff as a sidebar to the
          quatrains, and goes to some lengths in theorizing about the
          "subject" of N's writings.
        o http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/TLF.html
          A real honest-a-goodness original 1606 french dictionary with
          word search capabilities. Not complete, but neither was the
          french language in 1606.
        o http://www.wordsmith.org/awad-cgibin/anagram
          The Anagram page. Enter a word up to 10 characters long and
          generate all possible anagrams (The page is very amusing. I
          [Zoltan] entered the word "mabus" and the most intelligent answer
          I got back was "as bum").
        o http://newciv.org/millennium_matters/index.html
          The Millennium Matters Homepage.
        o http://newciv.org/millennium_matters/spiritm.html
          Malachy's Prophecy of the Popes: A collaborative effort by Mike
          Hebert and Zoltan.
        o http://www.ionet.net/~wes/
          A short course on understanding biblical prophecies.
