By TR Robertson
Hundreds of books and documentaries exist discussing the predictions of 16th century French astrologer/physician/seer Michel de Nostredame, known today as Nostradamus. There seems to be a divide between those that believe in the assorted future predictions taken from his 942 poetic quatrains in Les Propheties, published in 1555, and those that feel everyone is stretching and reaching to try and find some validity throughout his book. Whether you choose to believe in what he wrote or think it is a “bunch of mumbo-jumbo,” it is interesting to see what predictions are taken from Les Propheties each year.
Nostradamus was living in Europe in a time when large cities were crowded and unruly, sanitation was not to be found, and plague was rampant everywhere. For him, the outlook for the future was not on the positive side. He used biblical texts, vague predictions and wrote in 16th century French to create an unusual book that is open to a myriad of interpretations. As a result, the translation of Les Propheties has occurred over and over, leading to misinterpretations and mistranslations and the continuing controversy as to what Nostradamus was saying.
One example occurred when some said he had predicted the Earth would be struck by a planet killing asteroid making 2021 our last year. Others say his asteroid reference is for 2022. There are no specific dates listed in Les Propheties, making the exact dates hard to apply to some of the predictions. Interestingly, there is a comedic movie now on Netflix, “Don’t Look Up,” that deals with a killer asteroid hurtling toward Earth which officials have a tough time comprehending, so they simply choose to ignore the problem and advise everyone to not look up as a way to deal with the problem. The Mayan had a prophecy in 2012 that said the Earth was either ending or going through a major change. We are still here. Perhaps climate change falls into this category or maybe it’s the pandemic. There are some scholars who study Les Propheties that say Nostradamus extends his predictions to the year 3797, I think a time when we will not be around.
Some of the past predictions from Les Propheties, which those that believe in Nostradamus say have come to pass and were supposedly written about or can be extrapolated from the book, include World War I & II and the rise of Hitler, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Apollo Moon landing, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the death of Princess Diana, and the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center are but a few of the actual occurrences that many feel Nostradamus predicted. With the continuing COVID outbreaks around the world you would think this major world catastrophe would be in Les Propheties. There is controversy surrounding whether he predicted the COVID pandemic.
As for the interpretations of the predictions for 2022, things do not look too good. You can make your mind up as to whether you believe the interpretations or not. There is the asteroid to worry about and along with that lines that can be found that allude to inflation (it is the highest in 40 years), food shortage (can you say empty shelves and missing supplies in stores), droughts, floods & extreme weather (watch the weather channel lately?), nuclear growth and potential issues (China, Iran and North Korea come to mind), the escalation of artificial intelligence and potential issues (have any computer or other technical problems lately?), and the controversy surrounding cryptocurrency (I still don’t understand cryptocurrency, bitcoin and the rest of it). Remember, the specific words mentioned are not used in any of the predictions, they are vague references that are interpreted to cover issues today. When you look at what some of the interpretations of his prophesies are it is a little scary, whether you believe in Nostradamus or not.
Basically, it is going to be a rough year if you think Nostradamus was able to see the future today from his perspective in the 1500’s. Let’s hope this Prophet of Doom is wrong and 2022 will be a year which will find us coming out of two miserable years. Here’s hoping you have a Safe, Prosperous and Happy New Year.
