Nostradamus -- a Catholic Astrologer

This is an extract from one of the series of religious commentaries available for free from https://sites.google.com/site/freecommentary (copy and paste this into the address bar) The commentaries cover false prophets and false sacred writings as well as Biblical scriptures, in an attempt to clearly show the difference between reliable and unreliable prophecy and between true and false scripture. Say 'Prophecy', and many people think of the 'prophecies' of Nostradamus, before they think of Isaiah or the other Biblical prophets, or of esus himself, or even of ohn, Peter and Paul. Such an aversion to the Bible, is a preference for third!rate imitation. "fter considering the polytheistic oracles #see the separate article on $erodotus and the %elphic &racles', and recognising real spirits at work, ( did not know what to e)pect from Nostradamus, despite having read 'about' him and his predictions several times before. ( did not e)pect 'sacred literature' but was surprised at how 'religious' it was. *any people have trawled through the words of Nostradamus. +ou can find plenty of defences and criticisms on the internet. ( can only add my particular perspective !! that of showing up the difference between true prophecy and imitation true-prophecy . ( allow that what is easily called 'superstitious nonsense' is more likely to be a real spirit of predicting the future, although not from ,od and not with ,od's standards. So the harder and more relevant -uestion to address, is whether that spirit is on God's side or against $im.

Since Nostradamus himself claims '"lmighty ,od' and 'Biblical scripture as his inspiration, on the one hand, and yet on the other hand, time has not obviously vindicated him, the -uestion was an open one for me. But the answer was -uick to show itself, from reading what the man himself said of his own work. (t soon becomes apparent that his ',od' was not the Bible's ,od. $is use of scripture was distorted. $e relied on other sources. The prefaces from his larger works is where this clarity about Nostradamus is to be found. The emphasis in bold, large print and underlining is mine, and my comments are in blue font. ( have used e)cerpts from...

The Compleat Works of Nostradamus

-=][ compiled and entered in PDF format by Arcanaeum: 2003 ][=Notes Specific to This Reproduction This te t is reproduced from Nostradamus! "ountdo#n to Apocalypse #ritten by $ean%"harles de Fontbrune! translated by Ale is &y'iard! prefaced by &i( )reene! and published by *enry *olt and "ompany! +nc,! Ne# -or'! ./03, This lar1ely literal translation is reproduced! here! as accurately as possible, The 2ori1inal2 source is &es Proph3ties de 4, 4ichel Nostradamus! the edition of .560 by 7enoist Ri1aud at &yon8 stored in 0, 7,9, 24ontepellier2! no, :03:0, De Fontbrune uses the second edition of .605 by 7enoist Ri1aud at &yon, This is a complete copy of the .560 edition #hich is considered the most reliable, +f #e accept the .560 edition as an accurate reproduction! #hich is reasonable! then this reproduction! here! has been copied once from the .560 edition to the .605! copied a1ain by De Fontbrune! translated once from .6th% century French #ith a Pro;en<cced8al [?Provencal accent to modern =n1lish by Ale is &y'iard! and finally copied to the form you see here, The &atin >sic?! meanin1 thus! has been inserted after #ords to indicate an e act reproduction of the ori1inal! includin1 spellin1 mista'es and

1rammatical errors due to translation, [but ! have corrected some other spelling and formatting errors Ray,&ampman@FullFeed,"om This is the first "enturie by Nostradamus! first printed on 4ay :! .555 in &yons by 4ac3 7onhomme, This first edition contained the Preface to his son "3sar and 353 Auatrains, A reprint #as done by 7areste in .0:0! unfortunately the ori1inal #as lost,

Part 1:

Nostradamus' Letter to His Son, 1555

Preface by:
*. Nostradamus to his Prophecies 'Nostra- damus', is .atin for 'our .ady', and is very /atholic. The 0rench is 'Nostre-dame' b.1234!d.1255. Said to be an apothecary #like 'a chemist' and 'doctor' today'. 6.uther died in 12758 This preface is dated 12228 /ranmer and .oyola died in 1225. /alvin was still alive.9 $aving already read the whole preface, ( -uickly came to the conclusion that its words were not to be swallowed. ( hope you too can clearly see the reasons why ( seem straightway to 'start' on a cynical note !! *y 'starting point' really depends on what follows. ,reetings and happiness to /:sar Nostradamus my son $e is really addressing 'all men' #immediately below'. ';riting to his son' may be a simple calculated lie to carry off deception. This literary techni-ue, for good or for bad, is very common. Solomon's Proverbs are set forth as a father's instructions to a son, and .uke's ,ospel and "cts is addressed to a perhaps hypothetical 'lover of ,od. The Bhagavad ,ita is styled as a conversation on the battlefield, and as an immediate report of it, neither of which is feasible.

$ere are his own words about it some years later, in a preface dedicated to the king, suggesting that it was a nominal address only< =(n the >pistle that some years ago ( dedicated to my son, /:sar Nostradamus, ( declared some points openly enough, without presage. But here, Sire, are included several great and marvelous events which those to come after will see.= +our late arrival, /:sar Nostredame, my son, has made me spend much time in constant nightly reflection so that ( 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.

(mmediately we can see that 'the divine spirit' has been replaced by human science? (t turns out that 'the divine spirit' does not mean what we imagine. (t gets worse. The word 'astronomy' is perhaps a little too generous, since what he describes is astrology. "nd since it was the "lmighty's will that you were not born here in this region 6Provence9 and ( do not want to talk of years to come but of the months during which you will struggle to grasp and understand the work ( shall be compelled to leave you after my death< assuming that it will not be possible for me to leave you such 6clearer9 writing as may be destroyed through the in@ustice of the age 612229. ;ell what could be so important and needing to be hidden, that he could not tell the king face!to!face, a king whom he says he fully trusted, the man to whom he dedicated his workA To tell, would spoil it, wouldn't itA The point is to keep all secrets hidden, not to reveal anything. But true prophets are revealers, even when it costs them their lives.

The key to the hidden prediction which you will inherit will be locked inside my heart.
*ystics are well!named, for they hide behind inscrutable things, such as private visions, the capricious will of the gods, the distant past or future, and knowledge without evidence. "s ( have already said in the Bible commentary, mystics will claim a place within any local religion, while claiming to pass beyond the details of that religion. They may name the same ,od or gods8 they will use the same religious @argon as their unwitting hosts do8 but they will subtly destroy the true spirit of prophetic revelation to ordinary people. Beware of mystics, in any religion. Beware of Nostradamus within /atholicism. The prophets of the Bible bring light, not a feeling of darkness, and do not rely on mysticism to gain a pass. Nostradamus focusses on disasters, as astrologers do. ;e all know that disasters will happen, even Biblical!scale ones, but we do not know when. "strologers claim to tell us when. Nostradamus will not tell us when. $is work is thus made valueless. "lso 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 "lmighty ,od, inspiring us not by bacchic frenBy nor by enchantments $e is fully aware of the criticisms levelled against him, and is talking his way around them !! not so much addressing himself to the issues head!on, as 'talking his way around' them !! $e cannot use scripture to defend his practice, and so reverts to unfounded claims, logic,

opinion, propaganda lies, etc !! This is the standard tell!tale of someone who refuses ,od's actual words. $e knows full well that the (n-uisition #which was already set up at this time against Protestants and against 'heretics' within /atholicism' would find him to be a practitioner of the occult arts, as soon emerges, and so he is suitably denying it, while continuing to practise.

but by astronomical assurances< predictions have been made

through the inspiration of divine will alone and the spirit of prophecy in particular. The double!talk is becoming obvious. ',od is "lmighty #and esus is my Saviour, below', but in practice it is astronomy which guides me'8 ,od's Spirit is 'alone' my source, but astrological calculations verify my astrological!based predictions, which in my view are part of 'divine inspiration', and which hereafter may be termed 'the spirit of prophecy' #i.e. something -uite different to 'the inspiration of the divine will''. These turn out to mean a spirit called 'angelic' but indistinguishable from any pagan spirit. (t gets worse. Since when did the lining up of planets 'assure' us of anything about the political future anywayA &n numerous occasions and over a long period of time ( have predicted specific events far in advance, *ost authors seeking recognition, at this point would show proof that what they had predicted actually came to pass. (t is addressed to all readers as some sort of convincing defence of his work, is it notA 6!!9 attributing all to the workings of divine power and inspiration, 6!!9

The wording is designed to pay lip!service to ,od, to avoid criticism, but to @ustify his own methods, which depart wildly from scripture. $ow can we believe that he attributes 'all' to divine inspiration, when he continually invokes other means of predictions and inspirationsA "nswer< Since ,od is responsible for working all things, he can easily claim anything as 'from ,od'. Perhaps none of it is from the ,od of the Bible, but is from other spirits. $ere is a later writing, claiming that his inspiration is 'not unlike' the Spirit of ,od in the Bible, yet suggesting that the Biblical prophets were astrologers... =But the danger of the times, & *ost Serene Cing, re-uires that such secrets should not be bared e)cept in enigmatic sentences having, however, only one sense and meaning, and nothing ambiguous or amphibological inserted. Dather they are under a cloudy obscurity, with a natural infusion 6Esupernatural spirit9 not unlike the creation of the world, according to the calculation and Punic /hronicle of oel< ( will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy. But such Prophecy proceeded from the mouth of the $oly ,host who was the sovereign and eternal power, together with the heavens, and caused some of them to predict great and marvelous events. "s for myself, ( would never claim such a title, never, please ,od. ( readily admit that all proceeds from ,od and render to $im thanks, honor and immortal praise. ( have mi)ed therewith no divination coming from fate. All from ,od and nature, and for the most part integrated with celestial movements.= 6note his use of 'natural' to mean 'super!natural' such as, perhaps, when he says, 'They 6his verses9 are composed in a natural manner.' and via a 'natural gift'9 Since the times have changed radically since then, and since many of his dire predictions were for the very near future, and since he claims that all would become clear to those seeing the fulfilments, why is there such a multitude of guesswork still beclouding his predictionsA (t is simply not as he said it would be. ( hope you stumbled over the doubletalk< 'enigmatic and under a cloudy obscurity, and secret and unbared, but not at all ambiguous. Spiritual, from nature and astronomy, but not spiritist,

no.' together with other fortunate or unfortunate happenings, foreseen in their full une)pectedness, which have already come to pass in various regions of the earth. Sooth!saying is a spirit of predicting the future, but the content can vary between e)tremes, from spiritual truth about /hrist, to political warring or domestic interest, and even to outright fraud and fakery, perhaps mi)ed in with enough better!-uality material to get by. *any people try to 'debunk' his predictions, as if that would put religion to bed, but whether in polytheism or paganism or in udao! /hristianity, there are real spirits of real sooth-saying. The predictions may still be partly debunked, because +ahweh ,od sets out to thwart the predictions of the sooth!sayers and astrologers and diviners, but not at all times, but to show that they are 'no!prophets' and serve 'no! gods'. Nostradamus claims success for himself #which ( cannot verify since he gives no evidence for his claims', but I do not see that as the crucial question. (n addition to having success in predictions, a spiritist must show teaching in conformity with God's. (n contrast, Biblical prophets were given on!the!spot high!profile public proofs, so that people thereafter recorded and feared their words, having confidence that their longer!term prophecies were also from ,od. This is not the case with Nostradamus. $e feels re@ected and condemned. $e has to write his own books. $e has to put off proof of his words to some nebulous time in the future. +et ( have wished to remain silent and abandon my work because of the in@ustice not only of the present time 6the (n-uisition9 but also for most of the future. ( will not commit to writing.

$ow can we believe that he sees his work as so important that he must write it down for his son, and yet must abandon most of it, must obscure the written part of it, and keep most of it to himselfA "nswer< $e is not talking straight. Demember that with the king as his patron, he has a great vested interest in presenting an acceptable public front. 0or instance, to the /atholic king he feigns to be only and purely /atholic. To 'all men' he claims that astrology is the Spirit of the "lmighty ,od and not forbidden in scripture at all. Since he lies in print to save his skin, his whole cover!story is flimsy. Since governments, sects and countries will undergo such sweeping changes, diametrically opposed to what now obtains, that were ( to relate events to come, ProFG2<17 "s clouds and wind without rain, So is he that boasteth himself of his gifts falsely. (n other words, he claims to know #almost everything', but never proves it satisfactorily. those in power now ! monarchs, leaders of sects and religions ! $is claim is to be way ahead of his time, and so to be unappreciated by those who think highly of success in the here and now. 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. (n the longer span of time, most people hardly care at all about past kings, leaders, popes and cults. he real spiritual and religious change -- the truly noteworthy changes -- had already happened around him !! the Deformation, the Protestant breakaway from /atholicism, the

baptism in the $oly Spirit separating the spiritual believers from both of the other main church sections, the translations and printing of the Bible, the rise of atheism, the (n-uisition, the counter!Deformation #wars and persecution against the Protestants'. There is nothing in Nostradamus to compare with the advent of (slam #a millennium before Nostradamus' time' !! a ma@or false!prophet and an anti!/hrist religion !! as predicted in the Bible, and which proved long!lived, but which had already happened !! $e can and does invoke dramatic themes like (slam, "nti!/hrist and calamities, persecutions and @udgement, but these are not his themes. $e is, like most false! prophets, leaning on stolen material, to bolster his second!-uality additions. Those interested in prophecy turn to the true prophets in scripture, and to Develation in particular8 and the contrast is huge !! the Bible centres on the fulfilment of e)isting prophecies, the return of /hrist, the resurrection, the new creation, the righteous kingdom of ,od, not on filling in details of this world in between the past and the future happenings of true note. $is prophecies are earth!centred, something which esus described as 'from the earth', not from heaven. ohF4<41 $e that cometh from above is above all< he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh< he that cometh from heaven is above all. Bear in mind also &ur Saviour's words< %o not give anything holy to the dogs, nor throw pearls in front of the pigs lest they trample them with their feet and turn on you and tear you apart. $e invokes esus as .ord, and invokes the ,od of the Bible as his inspiration. $e is therefore a false!prophet #such as esus would define one' whenever his words prove false or come from another source, or

when he advocates the turning to other than God. $e specifically names 'orthodo) astrology' as his other source. "s for claiming his own prophecies to be 'holy pearls', and his critics to be 'dogs and swine', remember that his critics were -uoting the true scripture at him, which outlawed astrology and divining by spirits, and which contradicted his own timetabling, and he was the one trampling on them, such as calling them pigs. $e #mis!'applies scripture to himself to cheat his way into credibility, like so many false!prophets do. $is use of scripture does not improve. 0or this reason ( withdrew my pen from the paper, because ( wished to amplify my statement touching the Hulgar "dvent #1', !"#e commun adv$nement, the %ulgar &dvent, or the accession of the people to power, is generally taken by commentators to refer first to republicanism 'via the (rench )evolution*, then to its development towards and change into communism" ' r"* 6The original translatorIeditor is biassed to this view too, as is evident in his other notes. "fter all, Nostradamus did not predict the 0rench Devolution or /ommunism !! That is only a later interpretation to fit history.9 by means of ambiguous and enigmatic comments about future causes, even those closest to us and those ( have perceived, so that some human change which may come to pass shall not unduly scandaliBe delicate sensibilities. The whole work is thus written in

a nebulous rather than plainly prophetic form. So much so

that, +ou have hidden these things from the wise and the circumspect, that is from the mighty and the rulers, and you have purified 6clarified9 those things for the small and the poor, 6.ukF13<G19

.ukF13<1J!G1 "nd the seventy returned with @oy, saying, .ord, even the demons are sub@ect unto us in thy name. 1K "nd he said unto them, ( beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 1L Behold, ( have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy< and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. G3 Nevertheless in this re@oice not, that the spirits are sub@ect unto you8 but re@oice that your names are written in heaven. G1 (n that same hour he re@oiced in the $oly Spirit, and said, ( thank thee, & 0ather, .ord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes< yea, 0ather8 for so it was well!pleasing in thy sight. and through "lmighty ,od's will, revealed unto those prophets with the power to perceive what is distant and thereby to foretell things to come. This is misrepresenting the thrust of the scripture. esus uttered his saying when moved to @oy by the Spirit, because these things #casting out spirits, raising the dead, performing miracle proofs' had been revealed to others, fishermen and whores #through the advent of esus himself !! The outpouring of the Spirit which oel prophesied, was publicly happening around him', not 'because they had been hidden' by the person who should be revealing them to his followers. Nostradamus then says, in contrast #by adding his own words seamlessly onto the end of an unflagged Biblical -uotation' that predictions #Emere unproven words' are revealed 'to prophets' #not to the general public', praising himself, on credit, rather than with valid currency. /omparing himself to esus or the apostles, is calling himself a 'mighty ruler' in spiritual terms, which is unsupported by public proofs. 0or nothing can be accomplished without this faculty, whose power and

goodness work so strongly in those to whom it is given 'those'A $e is really talking highly of himself, isn't heA $e is portraying himself as a humble prophet, with the keys to understanding, but is not serving the /hristian public by administering the truth to them. G/oF7<2 0or we preach not ourselves, but /hrist esus as .ord, and ourselves as your servants for esus' sake. (saiah would not want to be compared with him and labelled as 'an astrologer who used the methods of Nostradamus, and made meaningless predictions', would heA that, while they contemplate within themselves, these powers are sub@ect 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. 'Trust me, ( am truly inspired', he says, but ( say, '%on't be duped in ,od's name' #paraphrasing esus, who said '*any false!prophets will arise in my name''. esus would not call Nostradamus' astrology 'good' as this man wants us to think. The Bible instructs that prophecies are to be immediately tested, 1 nF7<1. Nostradamus refuses to submit his prophecies to those who might @udge them on the spot, by deliberately making them 'nebulous'. ;e human beings cannot through our natural consciousness and intelligence know anything of ,od the /reator's hidden secrets, 0or it is not for us to know the times or the instants, etc. 6"ctF1<59 "ctF1<5!K They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, .ord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to

(sraelA J "nd he said unto them, (t is not for you to know times or seasons, which the 0ather hath set within $is own authority. K But ye shall receive power, when the $oly Spirit is come upon you< and ye shall be my witnesses both in erusalem, and in all udaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 6This palpably came to pass, since we readers are now discussing these things in an international setting, and they began to come to pass within about a week of it being said.9 Nostradamus again misrepresents the thrust of that scripture< The disciples were already anointed apostles, and were told that not even in their further anointing as powerful prophets, were they to be given knowledge of the crucial dates of the restoration of (srael, the coming of /hrist, the end of the world, and so on. %o you hear him saying, '$uman is not enough, you need to operate as super!human, like ( do, to receive prophecy of the future' !! and that this negates the scripture which he has @ust now used to back himself upA The apostles of /hrist, made famous by public miracle proofs in abundance, who wrote the scriptures which Nostradamus relies upon, were told to mind their own business on matters of global security !! $ow much less should Nostradamus claim to be gifted in that arena? $e applies the scripture to 'human beings #but not to prophets'', but esus applied it to his own witnesses, empowered by ,od's Spirit. There is a fundamental difference in Nostradamus' attitude toward revelation, and the attitude of ,od, esus and his apostles. The disciples of /hrist were servants, constantly risking their lives to bring the good news of salvation to common people. They spoke as common

people and remained as common people after their commissioning. They did not loftily impose their prophetic powers over others by bewildering them with mysteries, but rather they unravelled mysteries and re@oiced in a bright future and in ultimate salvation from such troubles as lie ahead. They did not create mysteries about a dark future, and leave it there. So much so that persons of future times may be seen in

present ones, because ,od "lmighty has wished to reveal them by means of images,
$e evidently takes his cues from past and present persons, places and politics, #plus scripture and astrology' to concoct his scenarios of the future. This is very >uro!centric, which is not at all how the Bible works its fore!types. ;hile we agree with ,od's use of imagery, the interpretation of $is images ought to strictly follow what +e +imself makes clear in +is very clear e,planations in scripture #See the Bible /ommentary'. (nterpreting physical creation stems from this study, but only because the scripture ma@ors on using physical images to illustrate spiritual concepts. (nterpreting people as images of future people is, in the Bible, limited to *essianic typing and anti!*essianic types, and again is made reasonably clear in scripture, because the king of (srael is called the '/hrist' of (srael !! the 'anointed' one, as also the prophets and priests are 'anointed' in (srael. To e)tend the process to other kings in other lands is mere error!prone licence. (f ,od were guiding it, it would be in tune with and enlightening to scripture8 reputable books would have been written on the /hristology of modern history, taking their lead and source from Nostradamus' writings. $is writings would

be bound in the same cover with the Bible. These things are not so. together with various secrets of the future vouchsafed 6given for safe! keeping9 to orthodo) astrology, This may refer to what we would call 'astronomy', you might think to yourself, but it does refer to 'the Modiac' and 'the planets', and 'calculations' pertaining to them, for 'predicting the future' #other than the planetary positions', so the distinction is lost, and the facts dictate that he means 'astrology' over what we would call 'astronomy'. as was the case in the past, %on't swallow this often repeated suggestion that the orthodo) prophets of old were 'orthodo) astrologers'? The ,od of the Bible calls astrology 'abominable evil', but Nostradamus wants to relabel it as 'orthodo)'. $e later describes the prophet "braham 'a first!rate astrologer'. (n the Bible, prophets 'arise' like stars, with 'light', such as truth about the future, and there, in mere analogy, the comparison with the visible heavens stops. The false assumption that the physical sky will tell us future things which properly belong to inspired prophets, is common in all false!religion. *erging wind with spirits, stars with angels, unusual events with divine revelations !! these are the tell!tale signs of mysticism and sky!worship, and false!science and false!spirits. The visible images in the Bible are used to point us to not yet visible spiritual things, like righteousness and @ustice in a future kingdom. 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. ,od may bring into being divine works, which
are absolute8 there is another level, that of angelic works8 and a third way, that of the evildoers. +ahweh ,od never did acknowledge a middle way between $is way and the others. (f it were otherwise, ,od's position would be insecure, heaven would be in chaos, or we would have heard of mighty heavenly battles for supremacy between the %evil number one and the %evil number two. (nstead there is a single ,od with a single &pponent, both of whom muster support from the ranks of the other spirits. The upshot is that by invoking 'angelic works' as other than 'divine works', he himself has put his own works #which are via 'angelic inspirations'' in the 'evil' basket. Nostradamus soon refers to prophesying by an angelic spirit !! 'thanks to an angelic spirit inspiring the one prophesying' !! so that we must beware of 'Satan disguising himself as an angel of light'< /olFG<1K .et no man rob you of your priBe by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, G/oF11<14!12 0or such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of /hrist. 17 "nd no marvel8 for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. 12 (t is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. But my son, ( address you here a little too obscurely. "s regards the occult 6Ehidden9 prophecies one is vouchsafed 6given, for safe! keeping9 through the subtle spirit of fire,

This 'flame of the spirit inspiring them' turns out to mean 'angelic inspiriations', since 'flames of fire' are made to be ,od's ministers #angels'. PsaF137<7 ;ho maketh winds his messengers8 0lames of fire his ministers8 6(n other words, $e can send storms and lightning bolts when $e wants to8 $is angel!messengers are like a bolt from the blue, or like a whirlwind upon the wicked9 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 lo-uacity. The reason is that all this

proceeds from the divine power of "lmighty ,od from whom all
bounty proceeds. This is potentially fallacious, allowing false!spirits and false! understanding. $e has @ust now @ustified 'contemplation' and 'occult prophecies' as 'all proceeding from ,od' !! which is a fallacy of interpretation to hide behind. ;hen asked about 'signs in the sky' for his second coming, esus warned of later false!prophets falsely invoking astrological omens< .ukF1J<G3 "nd being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of ,od cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of ,od 6'of the skies'9 cometh not with 6sky! watching!9 observation< *atFG7<G4 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the

/hrist, or, $ere8 believe it not. G7 0or there shall arise 6like stars do9 false /hrists, and false prophets, 6like errant stars9 and shall show great signs and wonders8 so as to lead astray 6like wandering stars do9, if possible, even the elect. ... G5 (f therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness 6like *oses, >li@ah or ohn98 go not forth< Behold, he is in the inner chambers 6of the temple, like the man of lawlessness !! what an 'abomination'98 believe it not. GJ 0or as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west 6horiBon to horiBon98 so shall be the coming of the Son of man. ... 43 and then 6at that time9 shall appear 6shine9 the sign of the Son of man in heaven 6the skies9< "nd so once again, my son, if ( have eschewed the word prophet, ( do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, $e is doing so right now, in effect, in public, and wants it to be done later, formally? $e calls his words 'prophecies' and says 'by the Spirit of the "lmighty /reator ,od' and '( cannot err' !! what more do you need to know, to confidently conclude that he surely is assuming the title ',od's prophet' for himself, in false humility, in publicA for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer8 Nuoted from... 1SaFL<5 "nd he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of ,od, 6Samuel9 and he is a man that is held in honor8 all that he saith cometh

surely to pass< 6Ealready proven many times9 now let us go thither8 peradventure he can tell us concerning our @ourney whereon we go. J Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the manA for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of ,od< what have weA K "nd the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, ( have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver< that will ( give to the man of ,od, to tell us our way. L #Beforetime in (srael, when a man went to in-uire of ,od, thus he said, /ome, and let us go to the seer8 for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.' 13 Then said Saul to his servant, ;ell said8 come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of ,od was. Nostradamus misrepresents this scripture, which was referring to orthodo, and proven prophets of -ahweh in Israel, like .amuel , in a time when Cing Saul would persecute mediums and spiritists to death, according to the same scriptures, which outlawed false!prophets, sooth!sayers, diviners, astrologers and those with familiar spirits. >)oFGG<1K Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.

.evF1L<G5 +e shall not eat anything with the blood< neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury 6C H 'observe times'9. .evF1L<41 Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits 6for necromancy9, nor unto the wiBards8 seek them not out, to be defiled by them< ( am ehovah your ,od 6Eturn to *e, to seek *e out9. .evFG3<5 "nd the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wiBards, to play the harlot after them, ( will even set my face against that soul 6E'life9, and will cut him off 6dead9 from among his people.

.evFG3<GJ " man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wiBard, shall surely be put to death< they shall stone them with stones8 their blood shall be upon them. %euF1K<13!17 There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, 11 or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wiBard, or a necromancer 6consulting the spirits of the dead9. 1G 0or whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto ehovah< and because of these abominations ehovah thy ,od doth drive them out from before thee. 14 Thou shalt be perfect with ehovah thy ,od 6Efollow *e with undivided loyalty9. 17 0or these nations, that thou shalt dispossess, hearken unto them that practise augury, and unto diviners8 but as for thee, ehovah thy ,od hath not suffered thee so to do. (s that clearA Nostradamus now makes up his own convenient definition prophet... since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures 6supernatural gifts in all people A9 "nd 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 e)tend far off into time. ,od's mysteries are incomprehensible and the power to influence events is bound up with the great e)panse of natural knowledge, A knowledge of Nature, i.e. the heavenly movements A That would be an entirely un@ustified astrological leap into the nature of the future of a

and how it is determined by the "lmighty. A super!natural knowledge in 'great e)panse'. That would deny the preciousness #rarity' of the divine revelations given to date, by the ,od of scripture to whom he pays lip!service. (t would betray an appeal to the other spirits who are in plenty in so!called 'poly!theism'. $e is not being clear, is he? $is son might understand his father's way of talking, but it seems designed to baffle outsiders. having its nearest most immediate origin in free will and describing future events which cannot be understood simply through being revealed. ,od of the Bible states the opposite, and so does common sense !! that $is words are intended to be understood, that $is prophecies are revelations, and that $e intends all men to know $im. #,od is certainly able to be known in part, like any person. %on't swallow the agnostic line that ,od is incomprehensible, unknowable. ;hen ,od wants to make $imself known, $e is -uite able to succeed isn't $eA' Nostradamus himself has claimed to clearly understand, yet he has forced obscurity onto the wording for his given reasons. (t is easier to remember that astrologers are notoriously ambiguous, than to believe his e)planations for why he must needs be so needlessly ambiguous. The wording above #'origin in free will'' is too obscure to see through, with no e,cuse that anyone would condemn him if he were to be a lot clearer. %eliberate double!talk, in all -uasi!sacred writing, is what degrades the public opinion of the Bible, by mere evil association. The prophecies of the Bible are downplayed by all, but usually without e)pert ac-uaintance with them, let alone understanding of the relevant

history, fulfilments, imagery and meanings. ;hen anyone asks you to trust them on very important matters, like ,od and truth, although you are not allowed to understand anything important from them, you can know that you are being duped by an agent of the %eceiver. Neither can they be grasped through men's interpretations nor through another mode of cogniBance 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 $erculean efforts #G', /"Nostradamus here compares his work, the twelve 0enturies, to the welve #abours of +ercules, in order to stress their difficulty and importance" 6'beyond normal human capabilities' is a poor e)cuse to say 'you can't check my calculations'. *ost authors simply reproduce the calculations on paper for all to see. Nostradamus only produced ten 'centuries' #sets of 133', anyway, not twelve9

things are revealed by the planetary movements.

0allacy is fallacy is fallacy. There is something real to astrology, but it is not the astrology itself. (t is the spirits inhabiting it. They have powers to know the future and to influence the mind of men given over to them, in any occult field at all. ( 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 ac-uired without divine

inspiration, given that all prophetic inspiration derives its initial

origin from ,od "lmighty, then from chance and nature.

This once again bypasses ,od and relies on lesser things. (n other words, he is using all the right religious words to give glory to ,od and /hrist and scripture, but in practice is not doing that, but is turning to sources of inspiration -uite different. There are two ways in this one sentence by which he achieves that8 firstly by saying that 'all prophecy' derives from ,od, which is a blank che-ue to delve into any occult practice of prognosticating8 and secondly by immediately negating ,od as the source, by invoking chance and nature as yielding up 'divine inspiration'. The many &ld Testament warnings against the occult practices, were for (srael who were under sworn agreement to serve the &ne ,od &nly. The New /ovenant is similar, so that the Bible makes a clear distinction for all its followers, between the true prophets and the false!prophets. The &ld Testament disasters upon (srael for turning to other spirits, is merely a pointer to the end!times greater disasters from following the end!times 0alse!Prophet. Since all these portents are produced impartially, prophecy comes to pass partly as predicted. 'Portents in the heavens' are not what ,od wants us to seek or heed or rely upon. (t sounds like a very cold and impersonal way to 'know ,od', who should be '&ur heavenly 0ather', and to know &ur .ord as 'The ,ood Shepherd' caring for his sheep. " mathematical calculation of the truth is not my idea of a sovereign ,od. Scripture wasn't 'calculated' from

the planets. (t is insufficient to call the portents 'impartial', since all depends on their interpretation, and that is called 'divining' and 'astrology', which is the sin which ,od outlawed. erF13<G!4 thus saith ehovah, .earn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven8 for the nations are dismayed at them. 4 0or the customs of the peoples are vanity... "nti!+ahweh spirits are not impartial, so that their predictions will be designed to mislead and deceive, even when some come true. Since +ahweh, as ,od and /reator, must win in the end, and it must be +is predictions, not theirs, which will come true, against the other 'gods', then the seductive ways of these other gods will eventually have to end up in disaster for those who follow them. 'prophecy comes to pass partly as predicted' is not the Bible's claim? The Bible has 'part!fulfilments', we might say, but only as historical 'earnests' for the 'full and final delivery of the complete promise'. The initial sign points to the final fulfilment, so that the down!payment gives us trust in the trustworthiness of the full accomplishment. Nostradamus seems not so confident as ,od is. 0or understanding created by the intellect cannot be ac-uired by means of the occult, only by the aid of the Bodiac, !!which most people would now acknowledge as an occult art!! predicting the future from the stars. bringing forth that small flame by whose light part of the future

may be discerned.
"gain he says 'part', with a different meaning, but perhaps with the same intention of e)cusing his 'part'!mistakesA. "lso, my son, ( beseech you not to e)ercise your mind upon such reveries and vanities as drain the body and incur the soul's perdition, and which trouble our feeble frames. "bove all avoid the vanity of that most e)ecrable magic formerly reproved by the $oly Scriptures ! only

e)cepting the use of official astrology.

1,ceptions to God's rule against astrology are like putting a hole in the bottom of a bucket. $e is giving lip!service to the very scripture which condemns him, and then he deliberately ignores it. (t is blatant distortion, and not legitimised by any true church 'office'. $ere is the 'official' position... (saF7J<14 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels< let now the astrologers, the star!gaBers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. Dedefining what is and is not 'occult', by calling it 'official', or 'physically visible to all' is a blinder, a bluff, a lie. The process of interpreting the omens is an occult #'hidden'' process, in which spirits hide, and in which they can hide their true nature #and lead men into disaster'. $e is again trying to defuse anticipated criticisms. $e knows more about the occult than most of us, as a practitioner. $e knows the score. +ou wouldn't e)pect him to say anything else. This self!@ustification is not a matter of logic, but of power. ;hen a person has a spirit of divination, it rules that person, no matter what

the logic of the situation. >veryone else seems powerless in the eyes of those with a spiritual power, and the gifted person simply cannot bring himself to listen to their theories about whether the power is right or wrong. (t is like trying to deny oneself, to stop being the vehicle for the spirit in you. +et the spirit is a hitch!hiker, and does not belong to that person, nor constitute that person. The person can be delivered from the spirits in them. "ctF15<15!1K "nd it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. 1J The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the *ost $igh ,od, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation. 1K "nd this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, ( charge thee in the name of esus /hrist to come out of her. "nd it came out that very hour. 0or by the latter 6Eofficial astrology9, with the help of inspiration and divine revelation, and continual calculations, ( have set down my prophecies in writing. $ere is an e)ample of his 'calculations' from a later preface< ="fter a while, ( found the time when Saturn turns to enter on "pril J till "ugust G2, upiter on une 17 till &ctober J, *ars from "pril 1J to une GG, Henus from "pril L to *ay GG, *ercury from 0ebruary 4 to 0ebruary G7. "fter that, from une 1 to une G7, and from September G2 to &ctober 15, Saturn in /apricorn, upiter in "-uarius, *ars in Scorpio, Henus in Pisces, *ercury for a month in /apricorn, "-uarius and Pisces, the *oon in "-uarius, the %ragon's head in .ibra< its tail in opposition following a con@unction of upiter and *ercury with a -uadrature of *ars and *ercury, and the %ragon's head coinciding with a con@unction of the Sun and upiter. "nd the year without an eclipse...= 0earing lest this occult philosophy be condemned,

$e in effect admits that the /atholics would call him a heretic. ( did not therefore wish to make known its dire import8 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 ( presented them to Hulcan. 6i.e. burned them9.
This claim is unverifiable, and his reasons are unconvincing. $e in effect claims an independent confirmation and authority which no!one can check, and tells nothing about it, so that no!one might @udge, and destroys the evidence !! how convenient. ;hy does he even mention them in regards to his own 'gift of prophecy' 'by means of natural knowledge' and 'astrological calculations'A (t sounds puffed!up. $e might have plagiarised older apocryphal apocalyptic prophecies, but certainly admits to reading banned literature. (s he really asking us to believe that such important books as were irreplaceable, ancient and inspired #and yet unknown', were to be destroyed, while he wants preserved and publicised a far smaller book of deliberately obscured versesA ;hat could 'become of them' which is worse than being destroyedA $e describes the books as supernatural #which he would attribute to ',od''... "nd while he devoured them, the flame licking the air gave out such an une)pected 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. ;hich is why ( 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 #4'. 2"3oon and .un are constant symbols in Nostradamus of the republic and the monarchy respectively, hence the alchemic imagery also has a political aspect here" 6The editor assumes revolutionary terminology from the politics of two centuries later !! un@ustified9 "lchemy !! seeking to transmute lead into gold !! was a pseudo! science more of the past than of the Denaissance. ( surmise that the Bible would label it as 'sorcery' because of the magical potions it brewed up. Note that the so!called 'light' was not the light of specific revelation, but is described as 'occult' i.e. hidden in darkness. ;hat is the difference between them and himA But as to that discernment which can be achieved by the aid of

planetary scrutiny, ( should like to tell you this. >schewing

6shunning9 any fantastic imaginings, you may through good @udgement 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 6past, present, and future9 are understood as >ternity whose unfolding contains them all< for all things are naked and open 6$ebF7<149. $e is -uoting from... $ebF7<1G 0or the word of ,od is living, and active, and sharper than any two!edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both @oints and marrow, and -uick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. 14 "nd there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight< but all things 6EcreaturesEpeople9 are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Now to call ,od's eyesight 'able to @udge the hearts of men' in no way tells us that '$e has made all secret and hidden things available to Nostradamus and to his son'. To -uote scripture about ,od, to bolster a man practising astrology, shows us his ongoing contempt for the true meaning of scripture. 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<

'naturally' again means 'by a spirit of interpretation, given by a personal spirit' in practice, for his words are not about visible astronomy, but about 'foretelling events naturally'. ;ho could interpret the 'natural' heavens as future!telling, without a spiritA ( do not wish to ascribe to myself the title and role of prophet, but emphasiBe inspiration revealed to a mortal man whose perception is no further from heaven than the feet are from the earth. ;hat is the definition of a prophet unless it be 'a mortal man in closest touch with God'. $e is dissembling again. $is words of false!modesty are manipulative. ;hy has such a favourite of heaven not been able to give to the world such inspired scriptures as would be put into the canon of the Bible, to the benefit of all menA "nswer< $e is boasting, and is no such favourite of heaven.

( cannot fail, err or be deceived, although ( may be as great a

sinner as anyone else upon this earth and sub@ect to all human afflictions. (n light of the scripture which he -uotes from !! the Bible !! which

warns us constantly of false inspirations, and to test all the prophets, his is a most unwise claim. No!one can claim for himself that he 'cannot be deceived', sinner as he is, and weak as the rest of us. $e is no perfect man. The whole Bible warns of the elect being deceived by Satan, and gives many e)amples, including +ahweh's own prophets. (t is a very strong theme. $is warning therefore was for ,od's people to test the prophets. "fter some years Nostradamus wrote more humbly< =so far as my profound astronomical calculations and other knowledge have been able to make out ... ( have calculated ... as accurately as ( could= =Should (, however, have made any errors in my calculation of dates, or prove unable to please everybody, ( beg that your more than (mperial *a@esty will forgive me. ( protest before ,od and his Saints that ( do not propose to insert any writings in this present >pistle that will be contrary to the true /atholic faith, whilst consulting the astronomical calculations to the best of my abilty.= but continues to claim... =Sire, ( present these predictions almost with confusion, especially as to when they will take place. 0urthermore, the chronology of time which follows conforms very little, if at all, with that which has already been set forth. +et it was determined by astronomy and other sources, including $oly Scriptures, and thus could not err.= There is some cross!wiring here< 'Because the planetary motions are perfectly predictable, within normal limits of calculation ability, therefore my interpretations and predictions of the future, based so heavily upon them, are as near as certain as can be'. Not convincing? $is problem is not so much in having to blame his fallible calculations, but lies in his presumption to interpret them as supernatural truth! telling, while disavowing the forbidden arts. Please note that the original scriptures were not calculated astronomically<

GPeF1<G3!G1 knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. G1 0or no prophecy ever came by the will of man< but men spake from ,od, being moved by the $oly Spirit. But after being surprised sometimes by day while in a trance, and having long fallen into the habit of agreeable nocturnal studies, ( have composed books of prophecies, each containing one hundred astronomical -uatrains, which ( want to condense somewhat

obscurely. The work comprises prophecies from today to the year

4JLJ. This may perturb some, when they see such a long time!span, and this will occur and be understood in all the fullness of the Depublic #7'8 4")eference to toute la concavit5 de la lune" 0f" note 2 above" 6'all the concavity of the moon'. (n other words, this translation was prepared in the light of the Devolution, and was later interpreted and altered to suit.9 these things will be universally understood upon earth, my son. '(, my son, am a prophet to the whole world' !! (s this not the claim of every crank cultA True prophets, not only spoke of the future, but of the past and of the present, and were shown to be true within their own lifetimes. (n fact, ,od made it a test of a prophet< %euF1K<G1!GG "nd if thou say in thy heart, $ow shall we know the word which ehovah hath not spokenA GG when a prophet speaketh in the name of ehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which ehovah hath not spoken< t he prophet hath spoken it presumptuously,

thou shalt not be afraid of him. 6'$e shall die'9 (f 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. (f one lifetime of study is sufficient for reasonable understanding, and since such understanding is available 'universally', why has it taken us G3 generations to get nowhere much, e)cept to call his words 'forgettable' 'obscure' 'ambiguous' 'debunked', etcA Note that he does not say that 'you will see predictions come to pass', but only that you will 'understand' some predictions. 0or only >ternal ,od knows the eternity of $is light which proceeds from $im, and ( speak frankly to those to whom $is 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 ,od, there are two principal

factors which make up the prophet's intelligence.

$e ne)t usurps ,od with 'astral science' and places it first8 then he follows with 'natural gift' as defined by him and as opposed to divinely supernatural grace and anointing known to the /hristian church from the infilling of the $oly Spirit. $e therefore classifies himself as a 'diviner', such as is outlawed by *oses. To 'divine' means to get in touch with the divine gods. +ahweh is truly divine, but the gods are false!spirits only claiming to be divine and to give divinations, so 'divining' by means other than +ahweh's, is outlawed. The first 6principal factor9 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 ,od and by a natural gift, namely, that what is foretold is true and ethereal in origin #2'. 6"1ther7 originally personified as a deity of the upper atmosphere, and later confused with 8eus" '9#:%*" '%ivine truth' through 'astral science' E astrological error. By 'natural gift' ( think he means 'supernatural spirit' !! because of the way he merges 'nature' and 'predicting the future' by means of astronomy. "nd such a light and small flame is of great efficacy and scope, and nothing less than the clarity of nature itself. E'( am unsurpassable among prophets' !! >gomania is a product of a little power. 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. $istory has proven, through science, that most philosophy has been in error, by reason of e)ceeding the evidence. (nterpreting the sky is one such philosophical endeavour that has long been shown up to be full of pseudo!science. The spirits inhabiting astrology have found a home wherein they can safely escape scrutiny, behind a wall of pretence, and yet they are powerful enemies of ,od, none!the!less, such that ,od warned vehemently against them. >ven more have theologians been shown to fall into religious error, by departing from scripture, to rely on visions from mystics, logic from

"ristotle, over!literalism from poor translations and such!like. The 'light of human nature' is more like humanism, in direct opposition to ,od. 'Natural philosophy' always was ill!advisedly mi)ed with religion, mysticism, astrology, false!science and the occult. But my son, lest ( venture too far for your future perception, be aware that men of letters shall make grand and usually boastful claims about the way ( 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 #5', ;"<ater and flooding are often as a symbol of revolution in Nostradamus" 6There is a presumption in what the editor notes, that revolution means 'the 0rench Devolution' rather than 'political and other changes'9 and this will last until all has perished save history and geography themselves. "gain he trashes ,od's own prophecy and promise, in this case, never to flood the world again so as to destroy it. %aniel was told that the end would come like a flood, but that does not make it a flood. ,enFL<11 "nd ( will establish my covenant with you8 neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood8 neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth 6land8 creatures on the land9. ohn's Develation had already prophesied calamity in detail, long before these add!on words by Nostradamus, and it had added a great deal of relevant spiritual interpretation, which did not focus on the mere happening of plagues. %oes he really add anything worthwhile,

so that after centuries the average person still knows nothing but the name of Nostradamus, and yet knows a great deal about ohn's DevelationsA The point, before ,od, is not whether his prediction #of calamities' is true, for ,od sends false!prophets with true signs which come to pass, but that $e also abhors the false!prophets who deliver their false! prophecies. %euF14<1!4 (f there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, G and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, .et us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them8 4 thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams< for ehovah your ,od proveth you, to know whether ye love ehovah your ,od with all your heart and with all your soul. 7 +e shall walk after ehovah your ,od, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 2 "nd that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken rebellion against ehovah your ,od, who brought you out of the land of >gypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which ehovah thy ,od commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. Nostradamus certainly wants to draw us away from +ahweh's stated will of shunning astrology, into calling it 'divine' revelation. That is swapping gods, @ust like this passage warns against. Perhaps you are reading this with the contention that some of Nostradamus' prophecies have proven themselves. That is a powerful act of faith and trust, which might turn you away from +ahweh's Bible full of better prophecies. /an you see why +ahweh warns us not to pay attention to a prophet simply because he is a prophetA (t is up to each

of us to trust +ahweh because of $is superior teaching, not @ust because of $is superior powers, prophets and prophecies, with consistency, proofs and hope. erFG4<GL!43 (s not my word like fireA saith ehovah8 and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in piecesA 43 Therefore, behold, ( am against the prophets, saith ehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. >BeF17<L "nd if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, (, ehovah, have deceived that prophet, and ( will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people (srael. 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. ,od does not say such things, but promises that believers who remain faithful despite the tribulation #properly a religious persecution, not a mere disaster' will not be harmed in the least #despite being martyred in this world' and will always find 'refuge' in $im. Nostradamus' version lacks the mercy which ,od has shown in recorded disasters, such as Noah and .ot and a remnant of (srael escaping. Nostradamus pro@ects an unloving '*onster' of a ,od in control, in a negativity which is in discord with scripture. 1/oF14<G "nd if ( have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge8 and if ( have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, ( am nothing. "nd this will occur before the last conflagration 61LLL9. This has not occurred. Something like it was already in Develation, but

after the last millennium. 0or before war ends the 6twentieth9 century and in its final stages 61LJ2!LL9 it will hold the century under its sway. Some countries will be in the grip of revolution #J' for several years, and others ruined for a still longer period. :" he (rench te,t refers to &quarius, i"e" the water-bearer" 0f" note ; above" 6Emore astrology8 more alteration of the te)t after the event, to suit the presumed interpretation8 The editor's dates are not to be believed. Nostradamus himself has disowned specific dating.9 "nd now that we are in a republican era, 6probably an astrological concept #like 'the age of "-uarius'' rather than any historical reality !! $enri (( was in power #from 127J!122L', followed by 0rancis ((, and then /harles (O, at the time of the second preface being printed.9 with "lmighty ,od's aid, and before completing its full cycle, 'completing full cycle' is astrological talk. the monarchy will return, then the ,olden "ge #K'. ="Golden &ge7 rule of .aturn, the happy, peaceful time, to commemorate which the )omans celebrated with .aturnalia" 0or according to the celestial signs, the ,olden "ge shall return, and after all calculations, with the world near to an all!encompassing revolution ! from the time of writing 1JJ years 4 months 11 days #L' ! >" !666 ? !:: @ !:2/, the e,act date when )ousseau arrived in Aaris, 6*y encyclopaedia says that he arrived in Paris in 1J7G?9 6The letter is dated the first of *arch, which ( suppose indicates

the 1Gth une. ;hy has the editor not used this obvious dateA9 6The 'arrival in Paris', upon which Dousseau taught and wrote about music for decades, can hardly be called significant to the revolution, or to the world, nor 'an e)act date' to the nearest year? with the Devolution still decades away, nor can it be a pivotal point in history, and can hardly be called 'the world near to an all! encompassing revolution' !! Dousseau was one among a host of e)traordinary figures of the age. "nd the full light of atheism is hardly a laudable turning #',olden "ge'' for someone who talks so highly of the "lmighty in this preface9 6&nly one -uatrain mentions 'rousseau', which makes the editor's comment an obvious over!generalisation 1. H((. Tard arriu: l'e)ecution faicte, F"rrived too late, the act has been done. .e vent contraire lettres au chemin prinses< FThe wind was against them, letters intercepted on their way. .es coniureB O((( . d'vne secte, FThe conspirators were fourteen of a party. Par le Dousseau seneB les entreprinses. FBy Dousseau shall these enterprises be undertaken. 9 Nostradamus considered )ousseau the father of revolutionary and atheistic ideas" 6The 0rench word, 'rousseau' used by Nostradamus, has the simple meaning of redness, so that it is not as if he is clearly naming a person. $e could be naming the influence of the red planet #compare 1. O.(O below !! 'the influence of the *oon''. $e could be invoking 'bloodshed'.9 (t is now -uite evident that the editor is biassed. $is interpretations of the wording are therefore to be held lightly. Because the 0rench Devolution occurred within G33 years #what are the chances of that, given the Deformation and /ounter!Deformation doing battle around him?' we think that all his talk of 'revolution' was predicting that. The trouble is that 'revolution' is to Nostradamus primarily an astrological word, describing the changes in the heavens, which supposedly portend ringing of the changes in politics and religion on earth. 1ven if there had been no ')evolution' in (rance

at all, his words would still be replete with the idea" ;e would perhaps render the word 'evolution' to match the slow orbits of the planets, or 'punctuated evolution' for the politics of >urope. or simply 'changes'. Note that the original editor of this translation has @umped to the conclusion that Nostradamus knew all about the 0rench Devolution to come, and used symbols of it... Notes [by original editor of this document]: !"#e commun adv$nement, the %ulgar &dvent, or the accession of the people to power, is generally taken by commentators to refer first to republicanism 'via the (rench )evolution*, then to its development towards and change into communism" ' r"* 2"3oon and .un are constant symbols in Nostradamus of the republic and the monarchy respectively, hence the alchemic imagery also has a political aspect here" 4")eference to toute la concavit5 de la lune" 0f" note 2 above" ;"<ater and flooding are often as a symbol of revolution in Nostradamus" >"!666 ? !:: @ !:2/, the e,act date when )ousseau arrived in Aaris, Nostradamus considered )ousseau the father of revolutionary and atheistic ideas" !!"Bpheavals and revolution" 0f" notes ; and : above" 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 @udgement of heaven, before we reach the millennium which shall complete all. (f the dates supplied by the original editor, '1LLL', are reliable #They aren't', the millennium, G333, has come and gone in relative peace and unprecedented prosperity and industry, and notably, with unparalleled population growth, so that land area is in high demand

everywhere. (n addition, no!one has recorded a 'visible @udgement from heaven' beforehand, convincing enough that you and ( immediately know what on >arth he could be referring to. (f Nostradamus means the age of 1333 years of the imprisonment of Satan, then we do better to turn to the Bible for details. "nd we would have to reverse the sense of him saying 'before we reach the millennium'. (n the 1K33's the Bahai founder predicted a century of peace to come #1L33's', but ;orld ;ar ( happened instead8 $is successor, supposedly ,od on >arth, also predicted the century of peace for the 1L33's, but ;orld ;ar (( happened instead. #See the introduction to the separate commentary.' Now, does Bahai persist today, despite proven false propheciesA +es. #ike many other cults with proven false prophets from that era , they thrive even today, which shows how gullible people are. 'The end!of! the!world' cults have been proven wrong, time and time again, in that they named a date which came and went. (t seems that Nostradamus has simply been proven wrong by time, whatever dating you put on his 'prophecies'. (t is no surprise to see that respect for him lingers, so we should not ask, 'But why doesn't everyone say that Nostradamus was a false!prophet thenA' They don't say it of (slam's *uhammad, or of ehovah's witnesses #Dutherford and others', or of the "dventists and the Seventh %ay "dventists #*iller, >llen , ;hite and others', or of the *ormon's oseph Smith, who were all e)posed by time or law! courts. (t is normal that when a dated prediction fails, the 'prophet' 'amends his calculations and sets another date further off. "fter this happens

two or three or more times, they revert to 'not specifying a date' #somewhat like Nostradamus has decided', but they do not immediately resign in disgrace at the obvious error of their ways and spend their efforts to disillusion their followers. (n the firmament of the eighth sphere, a dimension whereon

"lmighty ,od will complete the revolution, and where the constellations will resume their motion which will render the earth stable and firm,
This is generally regarded as pseudo!science passing off as religion. %on't you feel blinded by fogA (t is mysticism, not revelation. The idea of 'the seven heavens' is an earth!centred onion!skin model of the visible heavens, as 'spheres', debunked by science, so that the 'eighth firmament' would be ,od in $is heaven. This was the time of Denaissance of science, and Deformation in religion, which leaves no e)cuse for *ediaeval error. $e paints ,od as complicit with astrology , which serves Nostradamus, not ,od? $e presumes that constellation movements move politics and religion on earth. $e implies that the constellations will stand still, which they never have done. but only if $e will remain unchanged for ever until $is will be done. This is -uoting the Bible '( change not' and 'Thy will be done', so that he is leaning on the respect won by the Bible, in order to depart from it without being called a heretic.

Someone no doubt -uoted the verse to him which contrasts ,od with astrologers, eclipses, occultations8 so he alludes to it as if astrology is consistent with ,od? as 1<1J >very good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the 0ather of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. This is in spite of all the ambiguous opinions surpassing all natural reason, e)pressed by *ahomet8 *uhammad was another false!prophet, in that his promised world! wide calamity in the life!time of his hearers, simply failed centuries ago, and yet his following thrives more than ever before. "ll you need to do to get a following is to swear that you are ,od's prophet, and many people will fear to deny it. which is why ,od the /reator, through the ministry of his fiery

agents with their flames,

This is an allusion to inspiration via 'angels'< $ebF1<5!J "nd when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, "nd let all the angels of ,od worship him. J "nd of the angels he saith, ;ho maketh his angels winds, "nd his ministers a flame of fire< 6(t should really read as in the $ebrew being -uoted< ;ho maketh winds his messengers #angels', "nd lightning #a flame of fire' his ministers<9 will come to propose to our perceptions as well as our eyes the

reasons for future predictions. 'Seeing angels' is again a warning to us that all that is spiritual is not truth from ,od. ( repeat that esus warned us not to listen to the sky!watchers omens.

Signs of events to come must be manifested to whomever

prophesies. 0or prophecy which stems from e)terior 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 sub@ect to a sickness of the mind. Deason is only too evident. This only amounts to private inspiration, since he specifies the recipients of such visions as 'whomever prophesies'. Private inspiration is only admissible when it passes the discernment of the spiritually! gifted congregation. $e has already despised that, by claiming to be inerrant and undeceivable. >verything is predicted by divine afflatus #13' !C"Breath or inspiration, oracular possession" and thanks to an angelic spirit inspiring the one prophesying , consecrating 6making sacred and holy9 his predictions through divine unction 6anointing9. (t also divests him of all fantasies by means of various nocturnal apparitions 6inspired dreams9, 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. $e claims the sky as an independent public witness to his private interpretations of the future. That is either astrology or unbelievable, or both. $e in effect is again claiming that he cannot be wrong, which

is wrong. Spiritual help does not make anything sacred, divine or holy8 it makes it spiritual. Then the spirit has to be discerned as to its origins and loyalties and character. The term 'sacred prophecy' is made ambiguous by preceding it with 'my consecrated prophecies and predictions through divine unction'. (t therefore tries to slip in an unwarranted comparison between his words and ,od's. So come, my son, strive to understand what ( have found out

through my calculations which accord with revealed inspiration,

'Devealed inspiration' is ambiguous. ;e might think of 'scripture', which is what he says he has been 'in accord with', but he might intend 'my angel', which is what he describes in several places. $e uses the words 'prophecy8 prophet8 prophesy8 inspired revelation8 divine inspiration' only in the sense of receiving inspiration from some source or other, and not in the sense of 'scripture', so that 'sacred prophecy and revealed inspiration' is more likely to mean 'my divine inspiration8 my spiritual revelation' than mean 'scripture'. 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. "nd this sword shall smite the earth and return to it often, for the stars confirm this upheaval People only get noticed when they 'sound like ,od', and especially, they have to imitate the most notorious aspects of what ,od is known for !! warnings of future calamities so fearful that they are hardly believable. ;hat about ,od's plan to save the whole worldA '&h, no, my forte is $is destructive powers, and the end of the world'. ;hat

about ,od's mercyA &h 'that will end'. ;hat about salvation by faithA &h it is more important that you 'understand my -uatrains'. ;hat about $is good pleasing and perfect will, and pleasant ways of peaceA &h, that doesn't draw attention. +ou can again hear the presumption that heavenly alignments portend >arthly changes. ,od and Bible re@ect such a claim. Science re@ects such an invisible force or connection. $istory re@ects astrological predictions. "strology must, by its very nature, focus on the unusual #like comets', and so predict disruptions from normality, which must mean 'evil turnings' #an astrological concept'. (t will only ever be mostly about disasters. asF1<1J >very good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the 0ather of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. The Bible uses a lot of similar wording, for those familiar with 'the signs in the heavens', such as the red comet with a long tail in Develation, and its wars in heaven and on earth. But they are always described as visions and dreams to be interpreted with the given interpretations, and they point to the sovereignty of /hrist over the demons, spirits spiritists and opponents. 0or instance, in ames, @ust -uoted, he makes a stark contrast between ,od and astrology. and it is also written< ( shall punish their in@ustices with iron rods, and shall strike them with blows. 6PsaFG<L, DevFG<GJ, GSaFJ<17 These all refer to /hrist, (srael or the *iddle!east, not to the wide world9

,od's plagues have a purpose made very clear in the Bible, but not addressed here, that ,od's people should repent #not simply be afraid, and blame the anti!/hrist'. Nostradamus is a good e)ample of someone who feels safe within his religion, but who is sinning full!time against ,od, and needs to repent more than the people he is blaming for evil. 0or ,od's mercy will be poured forth only for a certain time, my son, This is a fallacy in the making. ;hen ,od says '( will show no mercy' #see two lines further on' it does not mean that $e has changed, nor that $is mercy will ever cease. $e says such things only in specific instances, when $e has e)hausted all options for salvation from what $e is about to do. The ones affected by such a calamity have little chance to regret their intransigence, but the ones looking on or coming after, once again turn to the ever!lasting mercies of ,od. In the thick of )evelation's end-times plagues, there are frequent mentions of chances for the enemies of God and 0hrist to repent, and esus advised his disciples to earnestly pray for the promised mercy of salvation, right up to the end, and told them that the days had been cut short for the sake of the elect. >ven 'all (srael' who are 'enemies to the gospel' will mourn and repent and be saved, as promised. The idea that there will be an end to forgiveness for the repentant is therefore a false!doctrine from the one who hates the eternal gospel. There will be an end, for the unrepentant. That is not an end to mercy. (t is the fruition of mercy. *ercy will be poured out at the end, and not 'cease before the end'. (t is typical, though, of a false!prophet, to hate the ideas of salvation and faith in /hrist. ;ith no advice about how to avoid the predicted disaster, and with no @oy and praise, Nostradamus is completely one!sided.

until the ma@ority of my prophecies are fulfilled and this fulfillment #sic' is complete. (f we of latter generation ever 'see with clarity' the fulfilment of his predictions, to whom should we give the gloryA "nswer< to Nostradamus, for he calls them 'his' prophecies8 to his 'laborious, melancholy and continual calculations of the planetary positions'8 to the heavenly bodies8 to 'angels'8 to man's intelligence P understanding, toils P natural gifts8 to the portents in the skies8 and so on. There is a world of difference between straightforward prophecy from prophets of +ahweh, and astrological predictions. The title 'prophet' should refer to someone who is publicly acknowledged as ,od's proven prophet even before he claims to 'prophesy'. Nostradamus calls his own words 'prophecies', and the world gullibly follows him, yet they are only 'predictions'. Then several times in the course of the doleful tempests the .ord shall say< Therefore ( shall crush and destroy and show no mercy8 ;hen ( looked in the Bible for where this might come from, ( did not find it, although it echoes several verses about (srael's final e)ile to Babylon. erF14<17 "nd ( will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith ehovah< ( will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that ( should not destroy them. erFG1<J MecF11<5 0or ( will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith ehovah8 but, lo, ( will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand,

and into the hand of his king8 and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand ( will not deliver them. (saFGJ<11 The 'several times' may be reflecting the refrain in 1Dekiel< >BeFJ<7 "nd mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will ( have pity8 but ( will bring thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee< and ye shall know that ( am ehovah E >BeFJ<L E >BeF2<11 E >BeFK<1K E >BeFL<13 E >BeFG7<17 The Bible is undoubtedly reflecting the final woes upon the land, but that is still centred around erusalem and the temple and the chosen people in the *iddle >ast. It is wrong interpretation to transport the 3iddle 1ast to (rance< See the comments above about 'the end of mercy' being a distortion, in contradiction to the everlasting mercies of ,od. (nstead the constant theme in the New Testament is of warnings against false!hopes, false!docrines, false!teachers, false!prophets, false!apostles, false!/hrists, false!practices, false!worship, false!law, false!righteousness, false!gods, false!shepherds #priests', false! gospels, false!brothers, false!dealers, false!faith, false!wisdom, and falsely taking up hatred against the innocent !! false condemnations as 'false'. By 'condemnations', is meant deadly and merciless force. The call is to discern errors, not to enforce 'truth'. ;hat is still not addressed here #although he does address it later', and what is ignored by most of the church, is that ,od's anger comes

first and foremost against +is own people, $is own children, for their sins against $im, and only secondarily against the enemies of ,od's people. /hrist returns to call his own servants to account8 to inspect his own invited guests, to reward each according to his deeds. <hat Eesus will sort out is the true prophets from the false-prophets !! both groups of whom prophesy in the one name, as if truly religious. (t is Nostradamus himself, who speaks in the Saviour's name, who will be e)amined for a false spirit. The physical details of rain or plague or tempest, are not the interpretation we need. 1PeF7<1J 0or the time is come 6set9 for @udgment to begin at the house of ,od< and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of ,odA 1K "nd if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appearA and many other circumstances shall result from floods and continual rain #11' !!"Bpheavals and revolution" 0f" notes ; and : above" of which ( have written more fully in my other prophecies, composed at some length, not in a chronological se-uence, in prose, limiting

the places and times and e)act dates

(s it spiritually enlightening to know for certain that in the future something or other will happen sometime or otherA ( already knew that about the past, and already e)pected that about the future, more from reading the Bible than from consulting the astrologers. The Bible at least e)plains itself spiritually !! in terms of sin, repentance, forgiveness and salvation, with the infilling of ,od's $oly Spirit being the critical alternative to occult practices.

so that future generations will see, while e)periencing these inevitable events, how ( have listed others in clearer language, so that despite

their obscurities these things shall be understood< ;hen the time

comes for the removal of ignorance, the matter will be clearer still. ;hat is so far 'clear' is that he was boasting of detailed knowledge which he never proved, and of predictions which never showed themselves to be accurate anyway. The times of ignorance is a Biblical phrase referring to the removal of idolatry and polytheistic spirits #such as astrology and sooth!saying', and that removal was brought about in /hrist, who was a far superior 'prophet' from ,od than Nostradamus. /hrist said that the coming $oly Spirit would lead the disciples into 'all truth', and soon sent the Develations to ohn, and to Paul, Peter and others. They wrote to us in understandable words. Nostradamus would like to turn the clock back into the times of darkness and gloomy sight. So in conclusion, my son, take this gift from your father *. Nostradamus, who hopes you will understand each prophecy in every -uatrain herein. This 'hope' sounds sickly hollow, in view of what is written above, and in view of the fruit of time. *ay (mmortal ,od grant you a long life of good and prosperous happiness. $ow ironic, to end so optimistically, after having predicted things like 'now the sword of death approaches us, with pestilence and war more horrible than there has ever been'.

.alon, ! 3arch !666 Notes [by original editor of this document] .,&e commun ad;Bnement! the Cul1ar Ad;ent! or the accession of the people to po#er! is 1enerally ta'en by commentators to refer first to republicanism >;ia the French Re;olution?! then to its de;elopment to#ards and chan1e into communism, >Tr,? 2,Nostradamus here compares his #or'! the t#el;e "enturies! to the T#el;e &abours of *ercules! in order to stress their difficulty and importance, 3,4oon and Sun are constant symbols in Nostradamus of the republic and the monarchy respecti;ely! hence the alchemic ima1ery also has a political aspect here, :,Reference to toute la conca;it3 de la lune, "f, note 3 abo;e, 5,=ther: ori1inally personified as a deity of the upper atmosphere! and later confused #ith Deus, >D&EC?, 6,Fater and floodin1 are often as a symbol of re;olution in Nostradamus, E,The French te t refers to AAuarius! i,e, the #ater%bearer, "f, note 6 abo;e, 0,)olden A1e: rule of Saturn! the happy! peaceful time! to commemorate #hich the Romans celebrated #ith Saturnalia, /,.555 G .EE H .E32! the e act date #hen Rousseau arri;ed in Paris! Nostradamus considered Rousseau the father of re;olutionary and atheistic ideas, .0,7reath or inspiration! oracular possession, ..,9phea;als and re;olution, "f, notes 6 and E abo;e, Abbre;iations: "f, 2confer2! &atin! compare, D&EC 2Dictionnaire &arousse2! E ;ol, etc, et cetera! French! and others, i,e, 2id est2! &atin! that is, 4, 4ichel or 4onsieur, Tr, translator, ;ol, ;olumes,

Part 1b: Nostradamus' Astrological Predictions for 1555

$ere is Nostradamus' astrology for the year of his letter. #The sea reddens with blood at least thrice. ,reat calamities are a dime a doBen. %eath is filled up so it can take no moreA *any of the words are without meaning.' Almanac of !!!

The soul touched from a distance by the divine spirit presages, ENostradamus, doing his worst in ,od's name Trouble, famine, plague, war to hasten< ;ater, droughts, land and sea stained with blood, Peace, truce, prelates to be born, princes to die. The Tyrrhenian Sea, the &cean for the defense, The great Neptune and his trident soldiers< Provence secure because of the hand of the great Tende, *ore *ars Narbonne the heroic de Hillars. The big bronBe one which regulates the time of day, Qpon the death of the Tyrant it will be dismissed< Tears, laments and cries, waters, ice bread does not give, H.S./. peace, the army will pass away. Near ,eneva terror will be great, Through the counsel, that cannot fail< The new Cing has his league prepare, The young one dies, famine, fear will cause failure. & cruel *ars, how you should be feared, *ore is the scythe with the silver con@oined< 0leet, forces, water, wind of shadow to fear, Sea and land in a truce. The friends has @oined ..H. 0or not having a guard you will be more offended, The weak fort, Pin-uiet uneasy and pacific< They cry =famine,= the people are oppressed, The sea reddens, the .ong one proud and ini-uitous. The five, si), fifteen, late and soon they remain, The heirRs bloodline ended< the cities revolted< The herald of peace twenty and three return, The open!hearted five locked up, news invented. "t a distance, near the "-uarius, Saturn turns back, That year great *ars will give a fire opposition, Towards the North to the south the great proud female, 0lorida in contemplation will hold the port. >ight, fifteen, and five what disloyalty The evil spy will come to be permitted< 0ire in the sky, lightning, fear, Papal terror, The west trembles, pressing too hard the Salty wine. Si), twelve, thirteen, twenty will speak to the .ady, The older one by a woman will be corrupted< %i@on, ,uienne hail, lightning makes the first cut into it, The insatiable one of blood and wine satisfied.

The sky to weep for him, made to do that? The sea is being prepared, $annibal to plan his ruse< %enis 6drops anchor9, fleet delays, does not remain silent, $as not known the secret, and by which you are amused? Henus Neptune will pursue the enterprise, Pensive one imprisoned, adversaries troubled< 0leet in the "driatic, cities towards the Thames, The fourth clamor, by night, the reposing ones wounded. The great one of the sky the cape will give, Delief, "driatic makes an offer to the port< $e who will be able will save himself from dangers, By night the ,reat &ne wounded pursues. The port protests too fraudulently and false, The maw opened, condition of peace< Dhone in crystal, water, snow, ice stained, The death, death, wind, through rain the burden broken. Bear in mind that this is at the height of the Denaissance of learning, the throwing off of superstition for science, the appeal to reason, the re@ection of /atholic magical rituals, the worldwide raising of knowledge of the Bible, in print, even in the original languages, for general study. To claim to be a prophet of the ,od of the Bible is a claim which should really be given Bero credibility, even back then, and could only work on the wilfully ignorant, whether back then or now.

Part 2

Nostradamus' !reface to Henri "" #ing of $rance

Excerpts
To the most /atholic and /hristian king. Areface to the last three centuries in !6;=" "# "$% &#'" (N)(N*(BL% &#'" P#+%,-.L AN/ &#'" *$,('"(AN $%N,01 2(N3 #- -,AN*% "$% '%*#N/:444

>ver since my long!beclouded face first presented itself before the immeasurable deity of your *a@esty, & *ost /hristian and *ost Hictorious Cing, ( have remained perpetually daBBled by that sovereign sight... 6(t is not most /hristian to deify a man other than esus?9 ( protest before ,od and his Saints that ( do not propose to insert any writings in this present >pistle that will be contrary to the true /atholic faith... *any true /hristians from the Protestant sects were martyred because they did 'protest' against the /atholic teachings and practices. This is how Nostradamus himself described his own verses to $enry (( of 0rance< =the rhythm is as easy as the sense is difficult. That, & *ost $umane king, is because most of the prophetic -uatrains are so ticklish that there is no making way through them, nor is there any interpreting of them= $e goes on to say in that dedication< ..as time elapses after my death, my writings will have more weight than during my lifetime. $e says this often, and presumes that proven truth is a watertight defence against criticism. #(t would be easy to think so.' No it is not? The general public falls for this fallacy, but, place yourself before God and try telling +im, 'but my astrological predictions, with the aid of a braBen tripod, and via occult rituals, and from a sooth!saying spirit which contradicted +our Bible, came true?' and see how far you get. ;e are not discussing meaningless kitchen recipes, but true and false! prophets, with an implication of eternal stakes !! ;e need to get more serious about what ,od has called< 'wrong, whether it comes true or

not'. Should (, however, have made any errors in my calculation of dates, or prove unable to please everybody, ( beg that your more than (mperial *a@esty will forgive me. ( protest before ,od and his Saints 6Every /atholic9 that ( do not propose to insert any writings in this present >pistle that will be contrary to the true /atholic faith 6mentioning the saints to the /atholic king e)cludes the meaning of little 'c', 'catholic', which is 'universal'9, whilst consulting the astronomical calculations to the best of my abilty. Such is the e)tent of time past, sub@ect to correction by the most learned @udgment, that the first man, "dam, came 1,G7G years before Noah # not reckoning by such ,entile calculations as Harro used, but simply by the $oly Scriptures, as best my weak understanding and astronomical calculations can interpret them.' "bout 1,3K3 years after Noah and the universal flood came "braham, who, according to some, was a first!rate astrologer and invented the /haldean alphabet. "bout 212 or 215 years later came *oses, and from his time to that of %avid about 2J3 years elapsed. 0rom the time of %avid to that of out Savior and Dedeemer, esus /hrist, born of the uni-ue Hirgin, 1,423 year elapsed, according to some chronographs. Some may ob@ect that this calculation cannot be true, because it differs from that of >usebius. 0rom the time of the human redemption to the detestable heresy of the Saracens about 5G1 years elapsed. *uhammad's first revelation is put at 513. 5G1 is the date of his ha@@. There is therefore considerable slop in his figuring. 0rom this one can easily add up the amount of time gone by. "lthough my calculations may not hold good for all nations, they have, however, been determined by the celestial movements, combined with the emotion 6spirit9, handed down to me by my forebears 6familial spirit9, which comes over me 6spiritually9 at certain hours.

$is 'calculations' contradict the scriptures by centuries in several places. %avid to /hrist is ten centuries, for instance. 0or a more careful listing of the $ebrew scriptures used as the recognised basis for our >nglish versions, see the article on Biblical '%ating' within' the commentary on >gyptian te)ts. #The Samaritan and Pentateuch versions are not considered reliable, but there is disagreement between versions.' $ere is another part of the same writing< By this discourse, Sire, ( present these predictions almost with confusion, especially as to when they will take place. 0urthermore, the chronology of time which follows conforms very little, if at all, with that which has already been set forth. +et it was determined by astronomy and other sources, including $oly Scriptures, and thus could not err. (f ( had wanted to date each -uatrain, ( could have done so. But this would not have been agreeable to all, least of all to those interpreting them, and was not to be done until +our *a@esty granted me full power to do so, lest calumniators be furnished with an opportunity to in@ure me. $e says '( won't make myself very clear lest those e)amining my claims call them very clearly wrong' !! a pathetic e)cuse. "nyhow, ( count the years from the creation of the world to the birth of Noah as 1,235, /ompare the coming of "dam to Noah, 1G7G years, above. The two are incompatible. and from the birth of Noah to the completion of the "rk, at the time of the universal deluge, as 533 # let the years be solar, or lunar, or a mi)ture of the ten 6A9 ' ( hold that the Sacred Scriptures use solar years.

"nd at the end of these 533 years, Noah entered the "rk to be saved from the deluge. This deluge was universal, and lasted one year and two months. "nd GL2 years elapsed from the end of the flood to the birth of "braham, /ompare this KL5 span #from Noah's birth to "braham' to the 13K3 above 'after Noah and the universal 0lood, to the coming of "braham'. Since "braham lived 1J2 years, even reinterpreting 'came "braham' as 'went "braham to his grave' could not bridge the discrepancy. and 133 from then till the birth of (saac. "nd 53 years later acob was born. 143 years elapsed between the time he entered >gypt and the time he came out. This seems to be a mistranslation for what he would get from scripture, and should read< 'from the birth of acob 143 years elapsed to the time he entered >gypt'. acob was 143 when he went to Pharaoh and died at 17J and was buried in (srael soon after !! 1J years later !! but the time of his coming out is not the point at which the chronology continues. Between the entry of acob into >gypt and the e)odus, 743 years passed. 0rom the e)odus to the building of the Temple by Solomon in the fourth year of his reign, 7K3 years. "ccording ot the calculations of the Sacred ;ritings, it was 7L3 years from the building of the Temple to the time of esus /hrist. This seems to be 2 centuries in error. $e has named the temple as Solomon's, but the %aniel's time!span of 'seventy times seven' refers to the rebuilding of the ruined temple half a millennium later. "dding up his figures to @ust over 7 millennia, leaves no room for the e)tra half!millennium, so it is indeed a mistake on his part, and not a mistranslation. "lso the timespan of ten @ubilees is 233 years, not 7L3 as easily but wrongly concluded, since each @ubilee counts a 23th year to complete the 'J weeks' of years. Thus, this calculation of mine, collected from the holy writ, comes to about 7,1J4 years and K months, more or less. K1.2 years has gone missing, 'according to my calculations' perhaps to fill the gap between creation and "dam #2 'days''. This gives us no confidence in his dating, even if he had 'wanted to date each -uatrain'. (t is very easy to check the scriptures against history, about the dates from Solomon to /hrist !! about a millennium between the

two sons of %avid and their respective temples !! taking in about half a millennium of kings followed by about half a millennium of the four great empires predicted in %aniel !! so for someone claiming to be very good at his numbers, how can you believe any of his astronomical calculations, which we cannot checkA The scriptural history is so clear in dating, for this period of history, that he must be distorting the scriptures in order to make his theories fit his calculations, which is an intellectual sin two orders bigger than distorting his theory and calculations in order to make them fit the scriptures. $ere is a check on his astronomical calculations< =This will be preceded by a solar eclipse more dark and gloomy than any since the creation of the world, e)cept that after the death and passion of esus /hrist.= Now, esus was crucified on a Passover, which is at full *oon, so that there can have been no solar eclipse by the *oon #which would be on the other side of the sky'. $e is distorting a miracle into a natural eclipse, and if he, whose profession is astronomy, distorts scripture on such an obvious point, what else does he do with his private 'calculations'A Because there is such a diversity of sects, ( will not go beyond esus /hrist. This probably refers to the Protestant breakaways from /atholicism !! known as the /hurch Deformation !! which was in full swing. There is no reason in this or in any other sects, which gives him sufficient cause to opt out of dating. The ne)t line continues the fuBBy logic. ( have calculated the present prophecies according to the order of the chain which contains its revolution, all by astronomical doctrine modified by my natural instinct '(nstinct' is .atin for 'inspiration8 impulse'. $e is describing a spirit, a 'genius' for something #or 'genie' or '@inn''. 'Natural' again means

'supernatural'. $e seems to feel free to alter scripture to fit 'astronomy' and 'private inspiration'. #That is a sign of a cult!leader.' This is part of the same preface addressed to $enry ((, which makes it clear that his inspiration is not natural... =(t is to a most prudent and most wise Prince that ( have dedicated my nocturnal and prophetic calculations, which are composed rather out of a natural instinct, accompanied by a poetic furor, 6contradicting 'inspiring us not by bacchic frenBy' above'. 9 than according to the strict rules of poetry.= 6( acknowledge that he is not indulging in a drunken revel, singing Bacchic song, and raving like a madman, in a street procession, -uite naked, in honour of a god of crop!fertility, but these Bacchic frenBies were some sort of spirit!possession, and that is the crucial -uality in focus. $ere are two snatches from $erodotus describing a 'poetic furor' such as Nostradamus describes< "risteas also, son of /aystrobius, a native of Proconnesus, says in the course of his poem that wrapt in Bacchic fury 6Anaked9 he went as far as the (ssedones 6very cold regions to the North9. ..the god took the tripod 6see immediately below9, and, carrying it to his own temple, seated himself upon it, and, filled with prophetic fury, delivered to ason and his companions a long prediction. =;hen a descendant,= he said, =of one of the "rgo's crew should seiBe and carry off the braBen tripod, then by inevitable fate would a hundred ,recian cities be built around .ake Tritonis.= The .ibyans of that region, when they heard the words of this prophecy, took away the tripod and hid it.9 =There can be no truth entirely determined concerning the future. (t is -uite true, Sire, that my natural instinct has been inherited from my forebears, who did not believe in predicting, $e is describing an inherited spirit, what we would call a 'familiar

spirit' !! to do with the 'family'. and that this is natural instinct 6sic9 has been ad@usted and integrated with long calculations. "t the same time, ( freed my soul, mind and heart of all care, solicitude and ve)ation. "ll of these prere-uisites for presaging ( achieved in part by means of the braBen tripod.= Sitting upon a 'braBen tripod' was how the oracles of the polytheistic world delivered their pagan oracles? #See the separate commentary.' 0rom the (SB>< ="fter preliminary sacrifices, the priestess purified herself and mounted the tripod in the temple8 the -uestion was propounded to her by a temple official, and it was his function also to put her wild ravings into he)ameter verse for the person consulting the oracle. " considerable number of these answers remain to us, all, of course, somewhat vague, many of them containing shrewd advice on the -uestion that was brought to the oracle.= =..those of yet other nations have had a certain instinct for the art of divination...= That describes a spirit of divination. =determined by the celestial movements, combined with the emotion, handed down to me by my forebears, Ea familiar spirit, again, such as outlawed in *oses. which comes over me at certain hours.= cf 'in a trance' in the first preface above. $ere is an e)ample, of how cultic writings take their lead from the scriptures, to lend credibility, but launch into tangential fantasies, which time re@ects. =%uring this astrological supputation, harmoniBed with the $oly

Scriptures, To 'the most /atholic Cing', Nostradamus emphasises the most /atholic idea that the most $oly and sacred Scriptures take second place to mystics, occult, calculations, astrology and men. >)cept for one similar and ambiguous reference< 'he prophesies through the science of astronomy, with the aid of sacred prophecy' 6probably meaning his own 'holy inspiration'9, he did not talk about the scriptures as his source, to his son, but only about the spirits of angels, astronomy, vigils, and such like. the persecution of the >cclesiastical folk will have its origin in the power of the Cings of ="-uilon= 6the North9, united with the >asterners. ... Thereupon the third Cing of ="-uilon= 6the North9, hearing the lament of the people of his principal title, will raise a very mighty

army and, defying the tradition of his predecessors, will put almost
everything back in its proper place, and the great Hicar of the hood will be put back in his former state. But desolated, and then abandoned by all, he will turn to find the $oly of $olies destroyed by paganism, $e seems to be transferring %aniel's *iddle!>astern and temple! centred prophecies into a >uropean and /hristian conte)t. $e earlier in this preface said of his predictions< '*ost of them have been integrated with astronomical calculations corresponding to the years, months and weeks of the regions, countries and most of the towns and cities of all >urope, including "frica and part of "sia, where most of all these coming events are to transpire.' $ere are some e)amples of the wording in %aniel...

%anF11<12!15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well!fortified city< and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand. 15 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him8 and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction. %anF11<G2 "nd he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army8 and the king of the south shall war in battle with an e)ceeding great and mighty army8 but he shall not stand8 for they shall devise devices against him. G5 +ea, they that eat of his dainties shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow8 and many shall fall down slain. %anF11<41 "nd forces shall stand on his part, and they shall

profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt!offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate. %anFJ<G2 "nd he shall speak words against the *ost $igh, and shall wear out the saints of the *ost $igh8 and he shall think to change the times and the law8 and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. $e soon works this >uropean remake, up into the final *illennium, so that there is no doubt left that he is not describing a mere rehearsal for the end!times. Such a distorted interpretation is clearly contra! scriptural and anti!Semitic !! side!lining Mion, which always remains at the centre of the action throughout the Bible. The Coran is the best known e)ample of predicting a world!wide calamity with no specific acknowledgement of Mion, and is itself a clear attempt by the %eceiver to distract us from scripture proper. (t works. See how it happens here even while giving lip-service to the true prophets...

and the old and new Testaments thrown out and burned. (t is a common tactic of false!prediction and false!scripture, to adopt the @argon and ideas of the Bible, in order to throw much confusion on what otherwise would be a clearer scenario. Nostradamus, and the anti!/hrist Spirit he talks about, are actually @unking the real prophecies, with fake ones. "fter that "ntichrist will be the infernal prince again, for the last time. "ll the Cingdoms of /hristianity will tremble, even those of the infidels, By '(nfidels' he means non!/atholics, perhaps Protestants. $ere is an e)cerpt from the later preface< 'The daughter will be given for the preservation of the /hristian /hurch. $er lord will fall into the pagan sect of the new infidels. &f her two children, one will be faithful to the /atholic /hurch, the other an infidel.' for the space of twenty!five years. ;ars and battles will be more grievous and towns, cities, castles and all other edifices will be burned, desolated and destroyed, with great effusion of vestal blood, violations of married women and widows, and sucking children dashed and broken against the walls of towns. By means of Satan, Prince (nfernal, so may evils will be commited Satan is lying about himself again, as he did to >ve in the ,arden, telling her that his fruit from his tree would give her ,od's wisdom. The wording comes from the &ld Testament. that nearly all the world will find itself undone and desolated. Before these events, some rare birds will cry in the air< $ui, $ui 6Today, today9 and some time later will vanish. "fter this has endured for a long time, there will be almost renewed another reign of Saturn, and

golden age. $earing the affliction of his people, 6This ne)t bit is taken out of Develation9 ,od the /reator will command that Satan be cast into the depths of the bottomless pit, and bound there. Then a universal peace will commence between ,od and man, and Satan will remain bound for around a thousand years, and then all unbound. "ll these figures represent the @ust integration of $oly Scriptures with visible celestial bodies, namely, Saturn, upiter, *ars and others con@oined, as can be seen at more length in some of the -uatrains. The belief that the lining up of planets predicts calamities, is abominable to ,od and to man. To ,od, because it gives the glory which is due to the /reator of the future, to dead creation8 To man because, whether you believe in ,od or not, you cannot believe that astrology is the key to the universe, upon pain of complete moral and intellectual despair. ( would have calculated more profoundly and integrated them even further, *ost Serene Cing, but for the fact that some given to censure would raise difficulties. Therefore ( withdraw my pen and seek nocturnal repose. *any events, most powerful of all Cings, of the most astounding sort are to transpire soon, but ( neither could nor would fit them all into this epistle8= $istory does not record 'many most astounding events' in the time soon following. .ies are lies are lies. If you are interested in the full te,t of the letter to +enri II, it is to be found in ' he 0omplete <orks of Nostradamus'"

Part 2b he !-lined Predictions

%he &uatrains %hemsel'es consist of 1((( )-liners in ten '*enturies' +hundreds, +*entury - has only )., but an e/tra 50 are a11ended in this '*om1lete 2or3s', +ou can recognise the following wording, from his prefaces, in the first two verses, and with e)tra information of occultic practices of divination, viB, a magic wand and magic rituals...

*%N".,(% (
(. >ST"NT assis de nuict secret estude, Seul repos: sur la selle d'Srain< 0lambe e)igue sortant de solitude, 0ait prosperer -ui n'est T croire vain. Sitting alone at night in secret study8 it is placed on the brass tripod. " slight flame comes out of the emptiness and makes successful that which should not be believed in vain. ((. .a vierge en main mise au milieu de Branches %e l'onde il moulle P le l'imbe P le pied< Hn peur P voi) fremissent par les manches< Splendeur diuine. .e diuin pres s'assied. The wand in the hand is placed in the middle of the tripod's legs. ;ith water he sprinkles both the hem of his garment and his foot. " voice, fear< he trembles in his robes. %ivine splendour8 the god sits nearby. The rest of the -uatrains get down to details... (((. Nuand la lictiere du tourbillon versee, >t seront faces de leurs manteau) couuers, .a republi-ue par gens nouveau) ve)ee, .ors blancs P rouges iureront T l'enuers.

;hen the litters are overturned by the whirlwind and faces are covered by cloaks, the new republic will be troubled by its people. "t this time the reds and the whites will rule wrongly. (H. Par l'vnivers sera faict vn monar-ue, Nu'en pai) P vie ne sera longuement< .ors se perdra la piscature bar-ue, Sera regie en plus grand detriment. (n the world there will be made a king who will have little peace and a short life. "t this time the ship of the Papacy will be lost, governed to its greatest detriment.

..and so on. ( do not think it worthwhile to further comment on deliberately obscured merely political pagan oracles. There comes a time when one @ust has to accept the evidence and stop making e)cuses for Nostradamus. But interpretations of 47 of his -uatrains are discussed in the original article, which you can download from... https<IIsites.google.comIsiteIfreecommentary The following are general comments e)cerpted from that part of the commentary...

Part "

Nostradamus' )-line !redictions

#nterpretations of "! $uatrains
..to give you a feel for how Nostradamus' deliberately uninterpretable predictions have been interpreted by others.

( hope you can see a lesson in that already. Since the original predictions are so unclear that there are thriving arguments about what they are referring to !! this event or that event !! even after the incidents, then there will never be any surety attached to the 'predictions'. This voids all of Nostradamus' 'predictions', whenever they do not make themselves unmistakeably clear !! and it is e)actly his stated aim, to be imprecise. ;e are about to dabble in the swirl of claim and counter!claim of arguing over the details, details which simply are not made clear in the original wording. (t is like being drawn into a whirlpool which you do not want to enter, and is a mistake and a distraction. ;hen the argument is about what the wording 'could have' referred to, for e)ample, 'a 'field of battle' 'could' refer to a field used as a @ousting field', then we have lost the plot !! unclear 'predictions' are not clear at all. There is a need to keep a sense of proportion and perspective. The overall picture is of crank theorists interpreting uninterpretable astrological nebulae. "ny predictions which may be true, such as the @ousting field, are certainly swamped by the larger cloud. 0rom sites and discussions on the internet, some things stand out clearly #to me at least'< 5 The sites which claim that his predictions have come true are mostly crank sites. This is a matter of seeing the distorted translations, the stretched interpretations, "merico!centric interpretations, the focus on news! worthy events P controversies of little spiritual import, the putting of specific dates onto each -uatrain. 5 The sites which claim to scorn the 'predictions' P wild interpretations, are far less wild. They rely on more accurate translations, keep the spiritual conte)t in mind, recognise distortions and mistakes of facts, allow discussion. 5 %ifferent cranks claim that specific predictions represent different historical events or people. #So much for the clarity of the verses?'

0or instance, one interpretation is a prediction of Nostradamus as the last $ebrew prophet before the final prophet, but the same verse is used to predict the death of Princess %iana. "nother claim about Sept. 11 G331 is countered by a claim that it refers instead to a waterfall called "rethusa in New $ampshire. +ou can see the connection between the tsunami in apan and the %!%ay landing can't youA There is one verse for both. 5 /reative re!translation of the &ld 0rench has become an art!form somewhat like interpreting tea!leaves. #So much for reliability.' The claimed 'translations' put forward, are really fabrications, mere interpretations written back into the wording, such as naming $itler, Pope Pius, New +ork as if part of the original 0rench. The '&ld 0rench %ictionary' supplied on one web!site simply repeated the new definitions which were invented centuries later #such as defining '$ister' to mean '$itler'?'. Some *ore ,eneral /omments< U *ost everyone focusses on the predictions themselves, rather than on the preface to them8 (t is in what he himself wrote about his predictions, that all of this becomes clear. ( was e)pecting to have to wade through deep mud in addressing his detailed predictions, but une)pectedly found that all became clear in his introductory remarks about his own works. $e is an astrologer, and a liar. U *ost everyone focusses on the predictions themselves, with little reference to the Bible. This is -uite distorted, since he based his predictions on those in the Bible, and took pains to say so, and his work is all about the anti!/hrist and such. The e)planation for not involving the Bible in any discussion of the meaning of Nostradamus' verses, ( think, is the general aversion to the Bible and its prophets. /laimed religious truth is only of interest to the irreligious, if they can feel that it is unrealistic and fraudulent nonsense, or titillates their hope that the Bible is indeed to be sidelined by alternative 'prophets'. Test it< Try publicising that Nostradamus was an astrologer whose own policy was to make deliberately unclear predictions, and watch how -uickly enthusiasm to talk about him wanes. "dd that he contradicted the Bible in many ways while claiming to believe in it, and was therefore a false and lying prophet, and people will turn away from you. They prefer to keep some hope alive, by not facing

the facts. They certainly don't want to be told to turn to the Bible. 5 Nostradamus' verses are not prophecies in the same proven and consistent style of the ,od of the Bible. The value of prophecy!proper lies most often in its warnings of punishments to come, so that the heedful can take appropriate action !! repentance !! to avoid the promised punishments. They can either make ,od change $is mind or can be saved from the midst of what does happen. The Bible's prophecies usually start with a positive hope set out, to provide a very good reason for repentance. By contrast, Nostradamus' words are @oyless, depressing, and do not aim to set out in full view the ultimate goodness to come. 5 Nostradamus' verses are not really predictions, let alone prophecies. Since his 'detail' is so malleable as to be retro!fitted to any notorious events in modern history, then, e)actly as he had decided, his sayings are not 'predicting' anything testable. No!one can say, ';e are all waiting for such and such to happen'. ;hen they do name a Nostradamus date for the end of all normality, it doesn't happen. ;hen prophecy has become uninterpretable, it has become valueless. "sk yourself what direct benefit has flowed to you from his words. U Some people commenting on interpretations place higher value on 'balanced and unbiassed' analysis, than on truth. "nalysis will reflect the bias and pre@udice of the analyst, nothing surer, so an atheist will see proof of emptiness, a Bible!believer will see a false!prophet, a /atholic will see one of their own, a Protestant will see proof of /atholic errors, and so on. ;e cannot avoid bias, and we must not let that make us avoid coming to a clear opinion. The charge of bias is something which comes from those who claim to be unbiassed #rationalists8 scientists8 relativists8 agnostics', but the unashamed boast of wanting to be fully biassed toward the truth, comes from those who believe in absolute truth. ;hat else are you searching for, if you are investigating a supposed proof of the supernaturalA The charge of bias implies deception, distortion, ma@oring on minors, re@ecting the facts and evidence and weight. *ere mistakes are not proof of bias and do not invalidate the overall picture. The overall picture is that the detractors of Nostradamus and of his eager followers, outweigh the proponents, by weight of sensible evidence, more than by loudness.

;hat becomes obvious from the verses themselves, is that they teach us nothing spiritual. %espite all the talk of anti!/hrist, they teach us nothing about /hrist. They focus on death but not on eternal life8 on bad news, not on gospel8 on punishments not on rewards8 on atrocities but not on morals8 on kings but not on the Cing of (srael8 on >urope not on Mion !! (n short, despite all his claims to a scriptural and /hristian faith,they are about as far from the Bible as he can get away with. &n the one hand, looking at the discussions about his words, leads to a criticism of the interpreters of the words of Nostradamus8 but on the other hand, the light is shone upon the original words, and shows them up to be part of the same problem. "strology plays upon people's fears of the unknown future, and hides behind ambiguity... ..and so do crank conspiracy theorists.