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Preface   Quatrains   Sixains   Epistle   Almanacs   Orus Apollo

Michel de Nostredame (Michael of Our Lady), whose latinized name was Nostradamus, was born on December 14th, 1503, 11 years after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. Nostradamus' home town of St. Remy de Provence, was located in France. His family, of Jewish decent, converted from Judaism to Catholicism when Nostradamus was still a young boy. Some historians suggest that Nostradamus was a descendent of the lost Jewish tribe of Issacher, a tribe that was noted to be knowledgeable in astrology and the mystical arts.

Nostradamus' great-grandfather inspired him to study astrology and the celestial sciences when he was very young. It was then that Nostradamus was introduced to Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Later he was sent to Avignon, France, to study medicine.

In 1522, at the age of nineteen, Nostradamus decided to study medicine and enrolled at Mont Pellier (the most famous school of medicine in France). He graduated with a bachelor degree and was soon licensed to practice medicine. As a healer, he was active in treating the victims of the "Black Plague" and developed unique and effective methods of treatment which helped to lessen the suffering of many people.

At 26, Nostradamus returned to Mont Pellier to obtain his Doctor's degree. The academic skill he displayed while working towards his doctorate won him praise and admiration from the whole college.

He was recruited as an instructor after his graduation and taught for about a year.

Upon leaving Mont Pellier, Nostradamus passed through Agen while returning to Toulouse and married a young woman. It was at this time Nostradamus is believed to have been reintroduced to mystical and ancient books of knowledge.

Sadly, both Nostradamus’ wife and their two children were struck by disease and died. As if to add insult to injury, in 1538 Nostradamus was falsely accused of heresy by Church officials, due to an innocent comment he made one day about a church statue. This was unjust because Nostradamus was a spiritual and religious man. One misconception led to another, and the infamous agents of the Spanish Inquisition (the repressive European religious establishment of that era) sought his  arrest.  Wishing to avert the wrath of tainted religious extremists, Nostradamus left his home in France and wandered through Italy, avoiding arrest by the  Inquisitors. Nostradamus did as he wished during this period traveling, making new friends, and constructing astrological charts for people.

Over time, circumstances reversed with the Inquisitors. And after traveling through Italy and France for six years, Nostradamus returned to his native turf where he was employed by the city of Aix in 1546. For a period of three years he again fought the plague.

His services were viewed as invaluable by both his patients and his peers. Nostradamus later moved to Salon de Croux, married for a second time, and started a new family. It was during this period of his life that he acquainted himself with the apothecaries and healers of the area in order to include them in his book “Traite des Fardmens”, the world's first medical  directory, which listed the names, location and specialties of physicians and healers practicing in Europe.

By 1555 Nostradamus had finished the first phase of his book that would contain his prophecies. Upon its publication, Nostradamus' fame quickly spread throughout Europe. This first version of his prophecies contained over 300 predictions. His book became very popular among the literate and educated Europeans of the day, so much so that the French Queen, Catherine de' Medici, summoned  Nostradamus to her court in Paris. He and the Queen became close personal friends, and they discussed his quatrain predicting the death of her husband -- King Henri II of France. It was during that era that Nostradamus was appointed as the personal physician and royal advisor to Henry II. Later, he also advised the French Kings Francis II and Charles IX.

Nostradamus was called to Paris by the Queen a second time and was asked to draw astrological horoscopes for the royal children.

In 1557, when he was told that the Justices of Paris were again asking about his magical practices, he hurriedly returned to Salon.

On June 28, 1559, quatrain # 1-35 which predicted the accidental death of an "old lion" (an allusion to Henri -- the King of France) came true. Some people were upset with Nostradamus, others amazed. His fame grew even more.  Nostradamus remained in Salon for a number of years, and continued to work on his writings. He was visited by many people of nobility and distinction during those days.

In 1565-66, Nostradamus' health began to be troubled with gout and arthritis. His health continued to worsen and he wrote his will on June 17, 1566. On July 1st, Nostradamus sent for the local Catholic priest and requested that his last rites be administered to him, telling his close friend Chavigny that he would not live to see the next day. As Nostradamus prophesied, he was found dead in the morning, and was buried in one of the walls of the Church of the Cordeliers, in Salon.

Question. What was Nostradamus' day job?

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

Question. What did Nostradamus write?

Answer. Apart from his professional works (in which no one is really interested) he produced a number of prophetic works. We discern between the Centuries and the Prognostications. The Prognostications are like an Almanac. They contain a series of Predictions about the next year. Because these predictions were fulfilled (or not) more than 440 years ago few are interested in them. The really interesting stuff is the Centuries. This name comes from the fact that each Centurie contains 100 prophetic verses of 4 lines. These verses are called quatrains. Nostradamus wrote 10 Centuries, which are commonly numbered by roman numerals I to X.

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

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

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

Answer. No. There are various prophesies that can be interpreted as earthquakes, bad weather, even global climate change. It seems that occurances of these events are to increase around the "time of troubles" and rise of the Anti-Christ. Nostradamus specifically said in one of his letters that he does not predict the end of the world. He also stated that his prophesies extend out several thousand years, which is far beyond the present age. The perception that there are more bad events than ever before may also be an artifact of observation. There have always been fires, earthquakes, genocide, wars, etc. It's just that CNN has not been around until recently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Question. Who is Mabus?

Answer. Nostradamus makes one reference to a person (?) named "Mabus". In Century 2,62 Nostradamus states "Mabus then will soon die" ... many bad things will happen. Some people say that Mabus is the AntiChrist (or 3rd AC); however, this does not seem to be supported by C 2,62, which is the ONLY quatrain in which the name appears. There is a lot of discussion as to who Mabus is. Currently the best three guesses are Saddam, Rabin, or the current (early 1996) U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Raymond Mabus. Only time will tell if any of the aforementioned people are THE Mabus that Nostradamus refers to.

Question. What did Nostradamus say about China?

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

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

Answer. Most of these are complete fabrications. Here are some giveaways:

If the prediction is very specific, it is probably bogus. Nostradamus almost always concealed his meaning in anagrams, symbolism, and mythological allusions. (There are exceptions, however, see below.)

If the event is minor in the "grand scheme of things," the prediction is probably bogus. Who will care about the OJ Trial or the blizzard of '96 in 100 years?

These articles almost never give a citation to the original verse. Often all they give is an English "translation" that reads like it was composed by Bart Simpson. Not providing a reference makes it very difficult to find the original (if it exists at all), because translations vary tremendously.

Consider the source. Is the article wedged between ads for nose hair clippers, trusses, and bust enhancers? Enough said.

Question. Why is this FAQ necessary? There is already atleast 100 different Nostradamus FAQ.

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

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

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

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

Question. Why are the quatrains so obscure ?

Answer. Nostradamus explains that this was done to avoid persecution from the Inquisition. He also gives this as the reasong why the quatrains are not in chronological order. Another possible explanation for the obscurity of the quatrains has to do with the breadth of Nostradamus' visions. His visions seem to span thousands of years. It was proabably difficult for him to describe 20th and 21st century technology using 16th century French. Also, it is possible that a single quatrain could refer to several events. The incorporation of 'links' to several different events would further increase the obscurity of a quatrain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Answer. Study of Nostradamus is an interesting intellectual exercise, even for skeptics. Some people with adequate grounding in French, Latin, and other languages find Nostradamus to be an interesting diversion. Many people enjoy reading the original words that Caesar, Dante and Chaucer wrote for the same reason. Some intelligent non-skeptics believe that the quatrains have some prophetic value. If it can be determined that Nostradamus has accurately predicted some events of the past 440 (appox.) years, then it makes sense that some people would use the quatrains as a tool for gaining insight on the future.

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

Answer. The books of Erika Cheetham have good biographical material. These are readily available in university libraries and even in many bookstores. Hopefully I will have a copy available here in time.

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