Nostradamus's Predictions example essay topic

For Many years scholars and interpreters have been trying to find any truth that could possibly be found in the writings of Nostradamus. For many occasions people have been convinced that this man could see the future and he documented it in his many journals and books titled The Centuries. The writings and prophecies have been a controversial issue for many years. Most Nostradamus translators have more than likely misinterpreted his work because of his nearly illegible style of writings, thus false information is commonly found about this man of the past. Nostradamus, a French Jew converted to Christian who lived in France in the 16th century. Born Michel de Nostredame on December 14th 1503 in St. Remy, France.

Hew as the oldest of five children. His grandfather, Jean, taught him Latin, Greek, Hebrew, mathematics and astrology at an early age. Nostradamus received a medical degree in 1529 and became a physician. "Nostradamus made his reputation as a doctor of extraordinary skill gave generously to the poor". (Sobel B) Nostradamus was in his late when he frequently went into a meditative state and reported to have visions of the future. He began to document his visions in a number of journals in a mixture of Latin, French, and Greek quatrains, publishing his famous " Centuries" in 1558.

Nostradamus had married twice, losing his first wife and children to the plague. Living in France from 1503-1566 AD, making a living as a wealthy French astrologer and physician, Nostradamus led an almost perfect life for his time. The Freshman also predicted his own death which occurred on July 2, 1566. I twas the end of his foretelling the future on this planet. De retour d', don de roy mis au lieu, Plus n 1 en fera: sera alle a Dieu Pagans plus pro ches, amis, frees du sang, Trouve tout mort pres du list et du banc.

When translated: On his return from the embassy, having secured the kings gift, He will be no more, (his spirit) having returned to God, Nearby will be his close family, his friends and his brothers, He will be found dead near the bed and the bench. Nostradamus returned to his home late in the day returning from a visit of the king for which he was presented with three hundred gold crowns. After being worn out from the carriage ride home he decided to go to bed but died before reaching it. His family found him dead, laying on the floor of his room. He was buried in the ancient temple of Miners Brothers. His son Caesar wrote in Nostradamus's honor", To god the greatest, here lies the bones of the great re owned Michel de Nostredame, regarded dignified among all mortal beings to describe the movement of the stars, the universe, future happenings with a pen almost divine".

His wife wrote", He lived for 62 years, six months and ten days, he died at Salon, in 1566. Do not be jealous of his rest, Oh you who shall follow in his foot steps". For Nostradamus, his final prophecy foretold his final days, or did it? His final prophecy foretold the end of Nostradamus. How did this man come up with his predictions? Nostradamus used a variety of magical arts and tools to induce ecstatic trances.

Visions came to him through flame or water gazing, sometimes both together. He also followed the practice of Brach us, a Delphic priestess of ancient greece, requiring him to sit, spine erected, on a brass tripod, the legs of which were angled at the same degree as the Egyptian pyramids. The upright position, and possibly the use of nutmeg, stimulated the mind; the angle of the tripod legs thought to create a bio electric force which would sharpen psychic abilities (Prophetic Meth. 1 of 3)". Today people believe that he may have predicted such occasions as Napoleon, Hitler, and the most recent the World Trade centers being terrorized. These are just few of what have been said to have come true, but what about the ones that haven't come true?

He had said that the world would end at the year 2000 AD, this could have been either a false prediction or a misinterpretation. "The Old Testament predicts that seven great events will happen at roughly the same time, all of which indicators that mankind is approaching armageddon, Nostradamus' millennium. Horrifying enough, these events appear to have already started and mankind will have to act quickly if the predictions are not to be fulfilled (Signs of the... 1 of 5)". The date that Nostradamus named for the end of the world can be figured in several different ways, depending on the chosen starting point, so that Armageddon arrives in the year 2000 or later in 3797 (Sober F).

Some specialists believe that people create things such as false predictions to help them cope with what is hard for them to understand, it helps them feel secure. There are rumors that for some are wish fulfillment such as that on Osama Bin Laden terminally ill and that Sept. 11th as his last desperate act. And there are wedge driving rumors, such as the untrue story of Arab Americans celebrating at a Dunkin Donuts in New Jersey upon hearing of the New York attacks (Alexandra A 2). "One of the ways that people deal with fear and lack of sense of control is through telling stories, believing them", says Tom Rankin, director of the center for documentary studies at Duke Universities in Durham, N.C... "It gives some way to catalog their fear and share it".

(Rankin B 2) Stories have come in phases since Sept. 11th. In the first week, there were coping and miracle stories. People tried to explain the tragedy trough conspiracy or mystical theories, such as the one that Nostradamus predicted it.

He did not (Emery C 2)". At the same time, stories provide hope, like the one about a man who rode rubble down 80 floors and survived with only a broken leg. It turned out to be false but at that time we needed that story". The Urban Legend Zeitgeist doesn't know what comfort people draw from gleaning 'predictions' form Nostradamus, but cooking up bogus prophecies for public consumption transgresses at least the bounds of good taste (The First... 1 of 2). Were his predictions true?

Because his writings are in four different languages it makes it difficult to decipher for some and this can make for false predictions. Nostradamus, according to his latter-day followers predicted the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, and cataclysmic earthquake that will devastate the United States in the decade to come. The earthquake was originally scheduled for 1988, but the prophet interpreters now say they misread the event (Sobel A). So were his predictions correct? Some do not believe so and some do believe so, who's right? No one can tell.

Most Modern day Prophecies that are interpreter today are incorrect because of his language and form of writing. The so called Hitler predictions were actually about the Danube and that this talk of the world ending with the arrival of the king of terror (Roy d') was a punctuation error. What Nostradamus actually predicted was a "Roy". A king who defrayed taxes (Billed A 3). With time running out before the turn of the new millennium, fears are growing about Nostradamus cults that prophecy about the end of the world is high. Dr. Gruber says the " powerful king" is an astronomical event described be Nostradamus -- A total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999, over central Europe -- an event feared during the middle ages.

Nostradamus would have been quite capable of calculating the date of such a solar eclipse during his time. He points to a case where a German Author, after lengthy studies of Nostradamus texts, came to the conclusion that Europe would be hit by a terrible nuclear catastrophe on August 5, 1990. The panic stricken man calculated the time down to the second in order to make sure his manuscript was published in time to warn humanity. "We see here an extreme example where a text proclaimed as prophetic truth stirs up a collective fear", says Gruber. "There is nothing that indicates that Nostradamus had psychic impressions about catastrophic events in the year 1999 or in any other time period. Even prophecies that supposedly came true seldom happen in the way they are foretold -- and then only in a fragmentary way."Even recognized Nostradamus fans would find if difficult to call their idol on to the witness stand on whether the world will end in 1999, because the Nostradamus prophecies, after all, continue until the year 3797 (Gruber A 4)".

Due to recent events that took place in New York, people began frantically searching for the most information they could find, to feel a sense of closure. Nostradamus put his predictions into a form of writing called a quatrain. It is simply a poem with four lines. The rhymed quatrains were mainly written in French with a bit of Italian, Greek, and Latin thrown in. He intentionally obscured the quatrains through the use of symbolism and metaphor, as well as by making changes to proper names by swapping, adding or removing letters. The obscuration is claimed to have been done to avoid his being tried as a magician.

Of course a skeptic might say it was done so the quatrains could be interpreted to fit numerous situations (What is... 1 of 2). Numerous people are looking for the truth hidden behind his hundreds of coded quatrains. The thousands of obscure verses read like a poem or riddle.

One quatrain reads: When the serpents shall come to encompass the air, The French blood shall be angered by Spain, By them, a great number shall perish, The chief flies, and hides in the rushes of the marshes. Quatrain 19 Another reads: The fire shall take by night in two houses, Many shall be stifled and burnt by it, Near two rivers it shall for certain happen, Sun, Arc, Caper, they shall all be mortified. Quatrain 35 Quatrain 19, above, is said to predict events during World War 2, when the French were threatened by the Nazis in the air and the Spanish at the common border, and the French president fled Paris without is encourage. Quatrain 35, Nostradamus interpreters have yet to decipher the writings.

Probably the most of his predictions of modern time is the one foretold the crisis in New York. Bogus prophecies have been circulating all around the internet saying that Nostradamus had predicted the World Trade Center collapsing. On the 11th day of the ninth month / two metal birds will crash into two tall statues / in the new city / and the world will end soon after. This is not the only one.

The next one tries to make the last one more complex. In the year of the new century and nine months / from the sky will come a great king of terror / the sky will burn at forty-five degrees / fire approaches the great new city / in the city of york there will be a great collapse/2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos / while the fortress falls the great leader will succumb / third big war will begin when the city is burning. The second quarai n is entirely made up, and the first is composed of lines taken from other prophecies. These have been going around spreading fear and making a name for Nostradamus. In 1990 a Canadian college student wrote a paper on Nostradamus and in his paper created his own quatrain and people found it and rearranged his work". Someone obviously mistook this for a real prophecy and added a few lines of his own (Lowe 1 of 4)."He said this will be bigger than the previous two.

2001 is the first year of the new century and this is the ninth month. New York is located at the 41st degree latitude (Foresaw... 1 of 2)". Though the information provided can prove in many minds that Nostradamus's predictions are fake many do believe that he could accurately predict the future. Lets just think for a second, What could I predict for the future that will ensure my prediction to come true? The first thing that I would do is predict something to happen with fire.

Come on how many events in the past, present, and future result in a fire? Would also predict it to happen in a large city like our ever so brilliant Nostradamus. Answer this, how many things have happened in the city as result to fire. Eventually it would come true and Nostradamus was no dummy. Is it wrong to assume that Nostradamus could in fact predict the future? From the information gathered it is easy to come to the conclusion that the writings of Nostradamus can no more tell the future than a child's nursery rhyme.

A prediction that can only be interpreted after the events it supposedly foresees have occurred is not a "prediction" at all. Anyone who could spew out a thousand vague " prophecies" and not have to explain what they meant until after the events they supposedly predicted had occurred, It possible for anyone to manage a pretty impressive record for accuracy too.