The prophecies of Nostradamus
The
Prophecies of Nostradamus
Nostradamus
(1503-1566) was a Jewish prophet, astrologer, astronomer and
physician was born in St. Remy, France, and converted to
Catholicism to avoid religious persecution. His intrinsic
wisdom and future visions were true in many cases (although
many of his one thousand or so quatrains are vague.) In Centuries
he foresaw events far removed from his times — flying
machines, the fall of communism, the world wars, alien
visitors, and others.
The
accuracy and uncanny detail of Nostradamus’ prediction in
1556 foreseeing the death of Henry II by 1559 propelled him
to new heights and royal recognition. His immense visionary
power made him vulnerable to religious persecution and was
hounded by the Inquisition for a decade prior to his death.
It is for this reason his prophecies are obscure and
safeguarded in ancient languages and cryptic camouflage,
with strange references and metaphors to contemporary as
well as future events. Given the latent paranoia of the evil
of women during his time, any prophecy to their rise had to
be well hidden from inquisitive minds. Even if he had been
forced to explain them there were always "safe"
interpretations.
He
was a man ahead of is times. The essence of his powers laid
in his understanding of the ancient art of intuition, as is
evident in this preface to his son Cesar:
"I emptied my soul, brain and heart of all care and
attained a state of tranquillity and stillness of mind which
are prerequisites for predicting by means of the brass
tripod . . . human understanding being created by intellect
cannot see secret things unless helped by voices from a void
which is helped in turn by the thin candle flame . . . from
which comes a clouded vision of great events, unhappy and
important, cataclysmic adventures arriving at the right
time."
We
will present a number of authors and redirect the readers’
attention towards a different way of reflecting past
interpretations. We are of the opinion that there is more
than meets the eye.
"The
very meaning of Nostradamus means "Our Lady" in
Latin. So his prophecies of women are much more than has
been understood till today."
Manuela
Dunn Mascetti and Peter Lorie
Nostradamus: Prophecies for Women
(Manuela
Dunn Mascetti and Peter Lorie, Nostradamus: Prophecies
for Women, Simon & Schuster, 1995, p. 16.)
We
begin with the last chapter of John Hogue's Nostradamus:
The New Revelations, which reads:
"Almost
all the publications on Nostradamus' work which have
appeared this century focus exclusively on the negative
aspects of his predictions, making him, in the popular mind,
a prophet solely of destruction and disaster, plague and
nuclear war.
But
are we inevitably doomed to a future world of natural and
ecological disaster, plague and nuclear war? Is our future
destiny, as foreseen by Nostradamus, immutable, or will we
be given an opportunity to improve our chances of survival?
Throughout
the prophet's visions of apocalypse the theme of a new
religious consciousness occurs again and again. It will
flourish, he says, before the end of the 20th
century . . .
In
their present state the established religions show little
signs of an ability to bring peace on earth. On the
contrary, most of the wars of history have been fought over
differences of faith and different definitions of the nature
of "truth." By clearing predicting the flowering
of a new religion, Nostradamus discounts all the familiar
established faiths. What is the nature of this new religion?
Is it already developing, or yet to be born?"
John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations
(John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations, Element
Books, Inc., 1994, p. 225.)
"Radical
attempts to lift human consciousness always meet with
violent opposition, particularly from those with vested
interests in retaining the status quo. Throughout history
men of vision have been subject to persecution. Ironically,
many of the political and religious groups, the
"authorities," which silenced them, later
capitalized on their deaths, presumably in an effort to
consolidate both their power and influence.
An
example is the way the pagan Roman Empire crucified Jesus,
then later established Christianity as a state religion. The
history of the Roman Catholic church and its Vatican, built
over the bones of a crucified Peter, stems from these
beginnings.
Can
we be open to the possibility that there may be spiritual
teachers among us now who have new insights into how we can
all live happily on our planet? Such a fresh look at our
mystic contemporaries may require us to set aside our
accepted beliefs and preconceptions. By branding modern
visionaries as eccentric, or dangerous enough to outlaw, as
our society often does, we may be repeating the mistakes
made by the God-fearing citizens of Jerusalem 2,000 years
ago when they branded Jesus Christ as a guru of a mad cult.
Some
60 quatrains of Nostradamus' prophecies seem to chronicle
today's new spiritual teachers and their movements. The
pattern of these prophecies indicates the unique historical
phenomenon which we call the "Human Potential" or
"New Age" movement . . . These 60 quatrains
contain eight major clues to the character of the new
religion and its teachings, and to the identification of its
visionaries."
John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations
(John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations, Element
Books, Inc., 1994, p. 226-27
It
has to be again emphasized that this Age of
Superconsciousness demands that humans light up the dark
caverns of their religious minds by erasing all past
conditioning. Seekers of Truth are just waking up, after Self-Realization,
like newborn babies startled by the strange mask of
spiritual Reality. We have a long time to go before we can
comprehend and be comfortable with this new Reality.
Enlightenment on Mother Earth is just the first faint ray of
Divine Light to awaken us from spiritual slumber. It will
take liberated beings ages to be fully enlightened. There is
an Ocean of Knowledge to be imbibed, drop by tiny drop. Just
a single spiritual drop can throw the mind into chaos and
confusion as the past conditioning confronts and clash with
radical Reality.
A
minute portion of this one drop from this Ocean reveals that
Shri Adhiparasakthi Shri Nirmala Devi is an Androgynous
Being. HER 861st name in the Sri Lalita
Sahasranama is Kantardha-vigraha, which literally
means "having a form half of which is
female." It is with awareness that the prophecies of
Nostradamus have to be understood.
"1.
THE MAN FROM THE EAST AT HOME IN THE WEST
He
will appear in Asia (and be) at home in Europe . . . C 10 Q
75
The man from the East will come out of his seat
Passing across the Apennines to see France
He will fly through the sky . . . C 2 Q 29
2.
Great HERME'S ROD
He
will fly through the sky, the rains and the snows
And strike everyone with his rod C 2 Q 29
He will appear in Asia, at home in Europe.
One who is issued from the great Hermes . . . C 10 Q 75
In
two major quatrains about a man from the East there are
allusions to the iron rod of Hermes. This rod is often
interpreted in terms of a nuclear missile, a reading which
makes the man an agent of the Antichrist. But interpreters
should also remember the occult significance of Nostradamus'
choice of vocabulary. The Hermes reference links the rod to
the caduceus wand, the Western symbol for enlightenment. The
rod has the power to transform, liberating the individual to
the truth. This man from the east wields the rod like a Zen
stick to jolt the world into waking from its illusions. From
this, we can infer that Nostradamus is describing an Eastern
teacher who strikes at the world and would, therefore, be
unpopular. He might use unusual and unorthodox devices to
stir people up, disturbing the status "codes" of
social and religious behavior in our materialistic times.
3.
THE OUTLAW TEACHER
A
man will be charged with destroying the temple and religions
altered by fantasy.
He will harm the rocks rather than the living.
Ears filled with ornate speeches. C 1 Q 96
The
idea that old religion is a fantasy or a shadow of its
living teaching is a recurring theme. The man mentioned in
Century 1, Quatrain 96 will strike out against traditional
rock-like dogmas, earning the unified wrath of the world's
organized religions.
4.
THE MYSTIC ROSE
Against
the red ones religions will unite . . . C 9 Q 51
(Those who plot are at point of dying
Except one who above all will run the world. C 9 Q 51.)
The rose (color) upon the middle of the world scene . . .
To speak the truth they will have closed mouths.
Then at the time of need the awaited one will come late. C 5
Q 96
Most
interpreters of Nostradamus believe that his references to
the color red relate to revolutionaries. But perhaps these
revolutionaries are not those from Russia or France which
spring most readily to mind. Red or shades of
"rose" are colors used symbolically by Eastern
mystics and seekers to represent the fire of awareness, the
sunset of the old world and the dawning of the inner
enlightenment, described by spiritual traditions as
"The Mystic Rose." A riddle "to speak with
closed mouths" is almost a Zen koan, and may very well
describe the 1990's worldwide interest in Eastern meditation
techniques. In fact, there is more mainstream interest in
meditation in these latter-days of the 20th
century than there was during the revolutionary 1960s.
5.
MARS AND THE FLAME
.
. . at the eve of another desolation
When the perverted church is atop her most high and sublime
dignity . . .,
There will proceed one born from a branch long barren,
Who will deliver the people of the world from a meek and
voluntary slavery
And place them under the protection of Mars . . .
The flame of a sect shall spread the world over . . .
Epistle to Henry II
Here Nostradamus attempts to describe what is the
cornerstone of all major religions — the concept of
complete surrender to belief. His poetic references to
liberating individuals from the "voluntary
slavery" of belief, a tenet of faith historically
abused by religious leaders to keep people obedient, becomes
less clear in the last line of the quoted section from
Nostradamus' Epistle to Henry II: "place them under the
protection of Mars."
But
is we look at the occult connection between Mars in its
higher form and Hermes, the bearer of the enlightened rod,
the meaning is less obscure. Mars rules the astrological
sign, Aries, a fire sign, and both are represented by the
color red. Eastern mystics wear red or orange, for similar
symbolic reasons, as described in clue four. Higher Mars is
represented by the Hermes the Magician holding the caduceus
rod of enlightenment. The philosophical similarities between
Hermetic teachings and Eastern tantra, the main essence of
Eastern philosophies, seem to imply that this new religion
is not like the old, judgmental faiths, but perhaps teaches
a new acceptance of life. This teaching would certainly be
in tune with modern developments towards change through the
"Human Potential" movement — a kind of magic
used as a launch pad to an experience of the divine.
6.
DIANA (THE MOON) AND DHYAN
Sooner
or later you will see great changes, extreme horrors and
vengeance,
For the moon is led by its angel,
The heavens approach the Balance.
(Astrological — Pluto transit of Libra 1972-1984)
C1
Q 56
The great amount
of silver of Diana (moon) and Mercury (Hermes.)
The images will be seen in the lake (the mind of meditation)
The sculptor looking for new clay.
He and his followers will be soaked in gold.
(a Hermetic reference to the attainment of
enlightenment.)
C
9 Q 12
Second to the
last of the prophet's name
Will take Diana's day (the moon's day) as his day of rest .
. .
C
2 Q 28
The moon in the
middle of the night . . .
The young sage alone with his mind has seen it.
His disciples invite him to become immortal . . .
His body in the fire.
C
4 Q 31
The allusions to "silent rest,"
"images," . . . seen" and "alone with
his mind" imply the silence and distance from thought
experienced by the individual who, in a state of meditation,
observes the changeability of life, the mind, and the
emotions. Buddha called meditation Dhyana or Dhyan, a name
which corresponds to the French pronouncement of
"Diana" used by Nostradamus. Here again,
therefore, fire and Hermes are linked. The references in the
first line of Quatrain 28 Century 2 also seem to infer that
the new spiritual leader has a name related to the moon.
7. THE INFURIATING TRAVELER
.
. . (he) will take Diana's day as his day of silent rest.
He will travel far and wide in his drive to infuriate,
Delivering a great people from subjection.
C
2 Q 28
Clue 5 also refers to a "people" linked to Hermes,
the moon and meditation and the coming to the West of an
eastern teacher. Perhaps the teacher travels, or will
travel, around the world. Maybe the controversial message of
his "drive to infuriate" orthodox belief will keep
the teacher on the move. Nostradamus implies that he will
only rest on Diana's day, which would be Monday, the moon's
day.
8. THE RARE BIRD CRIES "NOW!"
.
. . the Antichrist returns for the last time . . . All the
Christian and infidel nations will tremble . . . for the
space of twenty-five years. Wars and battles will be more
grievous than ever. Towns, cities, citadels and other
structures will be destroyed . . . So many evils by Satan's
prince will be committed that almost the entire world will
find itself undone and desolated. Before these events many
rare birds will cry in the air. "Now!"
"Now!" and sometimes later will vanish. (Epistle
to Henry II)
Nostradamus
is fond of using riddles about animal life, such as the
swarms of bees and the eagle used to describe Napoleon’s
crest of arms. The birds in this part of the Epistle to
Henry II may be another riddle, perhaps a symbol relating to
some aspect of the religious visionary who will help ward
off the dire apocalyptic events described in the rest of the
passage. The message may be anti-prophetic in that the key
to avert disaster may come from abandoning both the past and
our obsession with tomorrow. Instead, we should focus all
our intelligence and energy on "Now!" The rod or
the Zen stick only "strikes" in the present
moment. According to Eastern mystics enlightenment is ever
"now." "
John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations
(John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations, Element
Books, Inc., 1994, p. 226-234.)
"Madam
Blavatsky, one of the leading psychic seers of the 19th
century, predicted that the Maitreya would appear in Asia
around the year 1950. "We are at the close of the cycle
of five thousand years of the present Aryan Kali Yuga, or
Dark Age. This will be succeeded by the age of light . . . A
new messenger of the spirit will be sent to the western
nations. He is appearing in 1975." . . .
Nostradamus'
equivalent to Blavatsky's prophecy occurs in Century 4,
Quatrain 50.
Libra
will see the western lands (America) to govern,
Holding the rule over the skies and the earth
No one will see the forces of Asia destroyed
Until seven hold the hierarchy in succession. C 4 Q 50
The
quatrain number may imply 1950 and the superpower America,
represented by Libra's scale of democracy. Here again is the
reference to Middle and/or far Eastern alliances being
destroyed, clearing placing this event in our new future.
America is portrayed in many prophetic traditions as the
most fertile ground for the new religious teachings. The
"seven" are the seven millennia in Nostradamus'
calculations which end in A.D. 2000, which also links this
quatrain to the quatrain below:
The
year the great seventh number is accomplished
Appearing at the time of the games of slaughter,
Not far from the age of the great millennium (2000)
When the dead will come out of their graves.
C
10 Q 74
If,
before the year 2000, man can reject political power games
in favor of a new awakening, the world may survive into the
next millennium. . . . For our last quotation in this
chapter it is thus appropriate to remind ourselves of the
following quatrain describing the new spiritual teacher from
the East, the man we are in danger of missing.
Long
awaited he will never return.
He will appear in Asia (and be) at home in Europe,
One who is issued from the great Hermes . . .
C
10 Q 75
We are still not far enough down the line to draw precise
conclusions as to the identity of the man or men whom
Nostradamus and many other prophets saw as the instruments
of the birth of the new religion. As the prophecies unfold
into reality, it remains to be seen just what we can hope to
enjoy or suffer in the coming "New Age." . . .
Mars and the scepter will be in conjunction, (June 21st,
2002)
A calamitous war under Cancer. (July 1999)
A short time afterward a new king will be anointed
Who will bring peace to the earth for a very long
time.
C
6 Q24
There will be peace, union and change,
Estates and offices (that were) low, (are) high those high,
(made) very low.
To prepare for a journey torments the first (child).
War to cease, civil processes, debates.
C
9 Q 66
The first quatrain may be a promise of redemption for the
world after the terrible natural disaster or war that brings
terror down from the skies in July of 1999 (calamitous war
in Cancer). The next time Jupiter (scepter) conjuncts Mars
will be on 21 June 2002. The new king could be the long
awaited Christian Messiah, or the Messiah of a half-dozen
other religious traditions, who triggers Nostradamus’
promised millennium of peace on earth. The second quatrain
could represent any post-cataclysmic or post war period. An
occult interpretation of the third lines identifies the
"first" as the children of a new mankind who are
about to embark on a new era of exploration of space and the
inner exploration of the soul."
John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations
(John
Hogue, Nostradamus: The New Revelations, Element
Books, Inc., 1994, p. 244-48.)
