Was Nostradamus truly a prophet?

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Portrait of Nostradamus. Courtesy of Films for Christ.

Nostradamus is a household name. He was the subject of a major Hollywood motion picture. Thousands of books have been written about him and his incredible predictions. Tabloids quote him. Video stores carry documentaries on his work. His life and prophecies have appeared with the famous on A & E's “Biography.” This is why:

With the passing of time, we have come to realize that Nostradamus accurately forecast a host of happenings, ranging from an English naval blitz on Spanish treasure ships at Cadiz to Adolf Hitler's machinations of war; from the invention of the submarine, airplane and Montgolfier balloon to the era of space stations and nuclear war. (Predictions, Fisher and Commins).

Add to this the invention of the radio, the light bulb, the great fire of London, the Kennedy assassination, man landing on the moon and even the naming of America in prophecy, and we can see why he is so highly acclaimed. Let's now look at some of the applauded prophecies of Michel de Nostredame and their incredible interpretations from French into English:

The invention of the radio and the light bulb

When the animal is tamed by man
After great efforts and difficulty begins to speak,
The lightning so harmful to the rod
Will be taken from the Earth and suspended in the air. (C3 Q44)

The animal in this quatrain which is tamed by man after great efforts and difficulty begins to speak, is the radio (Nostradamus and the Millennium, John Hogue, page 80). The lightning is the light bulb.

Experts tell us the prophet saw visions of the light bulb and other inventions with such clear illumination, he was more than likely tempted to bring them back from the future into his own time. We are told that he must have been bewildered as he tried to put into his own words what he was seeing in the hereafter, 300 years before that which he was seeing would come to pass.
America actually named in prophecy

The rule is left to two, they will old it for a very short time,
After three years and seven months they will go to war.
Their vessels rebel against them
The victor born on American soil. (C4 Q95)

This is taken word for word from Nostradamus and the Millennium (page 149). Incredibly, America is actually identified in this prediction by the great prophet (in the fourth line). This is clearly the revolutionary war against England. Ships are referred to and there is even an allusion as to who would win the war.

However, there is a small quandary with the quatrain. Here is the same word for word quatrain taken from The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus (page 142):

The reign left to two they shall not keep it long,
Three years and seven months being past,
The vestals shall rebel against them,
The youngest shall be the conqueror of the Armorick country. (C4 Q95)

Let's see if the author picks up that what has become “the Amorick country” in the fourth line is actually Nostradamus speaking of the United States of America:

This signifies a Kingdom that shall be left to two, who shall keep it but a short while. Their title will be challenged by two Nuns.

Here is the same quatrain from Edgar Leoni's Nostradamus and His Prophecies:

The realm left to two they will hold it very briefly,
Three years and seven months passed by they will make war:
The two vestals will rebel in opposition,
Victor the younger in the land of Brittany. (C4 Q95)

Let's see if Edgar sees that what has now become the “land of Brittany” is the United States of America:

…or 'Armenia.' Rather doubtful, unless the quatrain concerns Turkish or Persian princes." (page 249)

The celebrated English medium, Doris Collins maintained that she once made contact with the dead Nostradamus, and the subject came up about his Catholic faith. He told her (probably in English):

I was born a Jew and although I changed my religion, it did not alter the fact that I was born a Jew.

It's a shame she didn't ask him what he was talking about in this quatrain.
The naming of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, and earned a scanty living during his youth as an artist in Vienna. He joined the German army at the outbreak of World War One and served as a corporal in the trenches. When Germany surrendered in 1918, this stirred him enough to become involved in the political arena. He took over a small extremist party called the National Socialist German Worker's party, or the “Nazis.” He failed in an attempt to seize power in 1923, was arrested and placed in prison for five years. This was where he wrote his political philosophy, Mein Kampf (My Struggle).

Hitler held extreme national and racist convictions, with a blazing hatred for the Jews. But after the German economy collapsed in 1929, many German people began to vote for him. In 1932, the Nazis became Germany's largest political party. The following year, Hitler was appointed as the chancellor of Germany, soon eliminated all opposition and established himself as the Fuhrer.

In 1939, after having rebuilt the German military, he invaded Poland and launched his country into World War Two. During the war, he began his “final solution”--the attempted extermination of the Jewish people. He managed to murder six million.

After two years of war, he was the conqueror of most of Europe, but this was short-lived. By 1945, allied forces had defeated his armies. On April 30, 1945, he apparently committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin and the last of the German forces surrendered on May 8 of the same year.

Experts have told us for years that Nostradamus actually named this German dictator in his prophecies. Let's have a close look at what they say (these quatrains are taken directly from The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus, Henry C. Roberts-Occult Edition: "The only unabridged, definitive edition of the authentic words of Nostradamus since 1672"):

In the year that is to come soon, and not far from Venus,
The two greatest ones of Asia and Africa,
Shall be said to come from the Rhine and Ister,
Crying and tears shall be at Malta and on the Italian Shore. (C4 Q68)

This is the foundation upon which the “Hitler” interpretation is built. If you weren't perceptive enough to find it for yourself, Hitler's name is the last word on the third line of the quatrain: Ister.

We now look at the same quatrain, this time from Nostradamus and His Prophecies (Occult sciences) by Edgar Leoni, 1982, Bell Publishing Company, New York:

In the place very near not far from Venus,
The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa,
From the Rhine and Lower Danube they will be said to have come,
Cries, tears at Malta and Ligurian side. (C4 Q68)

Hitler has now become “the Lower Danube.” But there is more evidence in other quatrains that this is indeed Hitler to whom the prophet is referring:

The great one of Mayence to quench a great thirst,
Shall be deprived of his high dignity,
Those of Cologne shall mourn him so much
That the Great Groppe shall be thrown into the Rhine. (C6 Q40)

There is the Fuhrer once again. He is here cited as the Great Groppe. If you are not a believer yet, there is further confirmation. This time it is an actual prediction that mentions Hitler and Mussolini, as well as Mussolini's flight to Germany after losing his power, then the eventual ruin of both of the dictators:

The year following being discovered by a flood,
Two chiefs elected, the first shall not hold
To fly from shade, to one shall be a refuge
That house shall be plundered which shall maintain the first. (C9 Q4)

Finally, we see the death of Hitler, found here among the more than the one thousand prophecies of Nostradamus:

He who by iron shall destroy his father, born in Nonnaire,
Shall in the end carry the blood of the gorgon,
Shall in a strange country make all so silent,
That he shall burn himself, and his double talk. (C8 Q79)

It seems that the truth has been stretched just a little for some reason. Others have also noticed this inconsistency:

Some of these interpretations seem to involve a wilful ignorance of historical fact. For instance, verses referring to 'Hister' have been translated by some commentators as referring to Hitler; however Hister was simply the Latin name that Nostradamus used for the river Danube. Indeed in one quatrain, the seer refers to the completion of a bridge across the Hister. Visions & Prophecies, page 20 (Time-Life Books).

So if it is the Fuhrer, it seems that a bridge was constructed across his back.
The dropping of the atomic bomb

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. As the bomb detonated, a white cloud like an enormous mushroom, rose 50,000 feet into the sky. There was a blinding burst of light throughout the city. All that remained of Hiroshima was ruins and ashes. More than 80,000 people were killed in the immediate blast.

Many believe that Nostradamus is pointing to this event in the following prophecy:

Near the harbors within two cities,
There will happen two scourges the like of which was never before seen,
Famine, pestilence within, people put out by the sword.
Then cry for help from the great immortal God! (C2 Q6)

Expert John Hogue explains:

The words of this quatrain, numbered six, possibly after August 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was irradiated, capture the prophet's horror while witnessing the two Japanese ports sacrificed on the altar of the dawning Nuclear Age. (page 89, Nostradamus and the Millennium).

However, Jean-Charles de Fontbrune, the author of the "sensational sequel to the best-selling and definitive Nostradamus: Countdown to Apocalypse" interprets the same prophecy (C2 Q6) a little differently:

Clearly predicts the Berlin Wall which divides the city in two. Two cities near the gate. (Brandenberg)
The prediction of the French President Charles De Gaulle (1958-1970):

In his book, Nostradamus and the Millennium, John Hogue directly quotes C9 Q33 (page 93), where the prophet actually mentions de Gaulle by name:

…for three times one surnamed de Gaulle will lead France… (line 2 of the quatrain).

Here now is the same C9 Q33 from The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus by Henry C. Roberts--reprinted in 1982 (page 289):

Hercules, King of Rome, and Denmark,
Of France three Guyon surnamed,
Shall cause Italy to quake and one of Venice,
He shall be above all a famous monarch. (C9 Q33)

President de Gaulle has now become “three Guyon.” Here now is Henry C. Robert's (de Gaulle-less) interpretation of the prophecy:

We believe that the 'Hercules' referred to indicates the powerful and famous Napoleon, before whom all Europe quaked.

President de Gaulle is actually Napoleon.

But Edgar Leoni in his publication, Nostradamus and His Prophecies, translates the same quatrain:

Hercules King of Rome and of “Annemark,”
With the surname of the chief of triple Gaul,
Italy and the one of St. Mark to tremble,
First monarch renowned above all. (C9 Q33)

His commentary on “Gaul” is:

…i.e., the surname of the one-time (58-49 B.C.) ruler of Gaul, Caesar or Imperator, title borne by the (Holy) Roman Emperor. (page 391)

Take your pick: de Gaulle, Napoleon or Caesar.
The landing of man on the moon

He shall come to the corner of Luna,
Where he shall be taken and put in a strange land,
The green fruits shall be in great disorder,
A great shame, to one shall be great praise. (C9 Q65)

Here is what has been called by some, a “remarkable forecast” of man landing on the moon. However, Edgar Leoni, the author of Nostradamus and His Prophecies, comments on Luna:

The possibilities here are numerous. Possibly Lunigiana.
The assassination of President Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy

In 1960, at the age of just 43 years, John F. Kennedy became President of the United States. He was the youngest man ever elected to the office of President. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and served in the United States navy in World War Two, narrowly escaping death when the boat he commanded was fired on and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He served as a democratic representative for Massachusetts, and was later elected to the Senate.

While functioning as president, he showed great fortitude during the difficult “Cuban Missile Crisis” of 1962. In 1963, he signed a nuclear treaty with the Soviet Union, and in November of the same year, he was tragically assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Experts maintain that the following quatrain is a very clear prediction of President Kennedy and his brother's murder:

The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt,
The evil deed predicted by the bearer of a petition:
According to the prediction another falls at night time.
Conflict in Reims, London, and pestilence in Tuscany. (Cl Q26)

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed shortly after twelve noon in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. His brother was killed a few minutes after one in the morning in California. It is said that Jean Dixon, one of the foremost psychics of modern times predicted his assassination as early as August 1952, 11 years earlier. She maintains that she was kneeling before a statue of the virgin Mary when the vision came to her.

The experts who believe that this prophecy is in reference to the Kennedy brothers also believe that Nostradamus indicated that the third brother, Edward Kennedy, would become President of the United States.

That's one interpretation. Here's another exegesis of the same quatrain from another eminent expert, who says it was:

The taking over of Czechoslovakia by Hitler, the resignation of President Benes, the dissensions over the matter between France and England and the dire warning of the consequences of this betrayal, are all remarkably outlined in this prophecy (Henry C. Roberts, page 17, The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus).
The space shuttle tragedy

Nine will be set apart from the human flock
Separated from judgement and counsel:
Their fate to be determined on departure…
… line unripe fruit will be the source of great scandal
Great blame, to the other great praise. (C 1 Q8 1)

Few can forget the horror of the space shuttle tragedy. Here is the interpretation by John Hogue, the author of Nostradamus and the Millennium (he makes quick reference to the fact that there were seven astronauts in the Challenger tragedy, not nine as stated by Nostradamus):

Except for the mistake in numbers, Nostradamus comes amazingly close in describing the greatest space tragedy to date. On January 28th, 1986, seventy-one seconds after liftoff, seven astronauts of the spaceship Challenger were killed when volatile gases leaking from the left solid rocket-booster enveloped them in a tremendous explosion.

“NASA--the US space agency--endured its own Watergate during the following months of investigation which brought to the world's attention flaws in design and command decisions leading to the launching of Challenger.

The US space effort was scandalized for sending their astronauts on the unripe fruit of faulty rocket-boosters in an effort to cut the budget.

During the same period the Soviet Space program continued to run smoothly with the complete support of its government and people to the other great praise.”

Here now is the exact same prophecy from the pen of Henry C. Roberts (The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus):

Of the human flock, nine shall be set aside,
Being divided in judgment and counsel,
Their destiny shall be to be divided,
Kappa, Theta, Lambda, dead, banished, scattered. (Cl Q81)

Here is his interpretation:

The Supreme Court of the United States, consisting of nine members is here indicated, as well as the Ploituro of the U.S.S.R. More than once has death and dismissal involved both bodies (page 36).
Try your own interpretation

A treasure put in a temple by Hesperian citizens,
In the same hid in a secret place,
The hungry serfs shall cause the temple to open,
And take again and ravish, a fearful prey in the middle.

The explanation:

The treasure (gold) placed in the temple (Fort Knox) by Hesperian (Western) citizens. Economic chaos and uprisings shall cause an attempt to storm Fort Knox (Henry C. Roberts).

In this prophecy Nostradamus is looking far ahead in time and seeing a robbery of Fort Knox take place.

Throw enough black paint on a white wall, and the simple will see the face of Jesus, and light candles in homage.

The interpretations of the prophecies of Nostradamus are fantastic in the truest sense of the word. But despite the imaginations of overzealous interpreters, there are some fascinating prophecies which came from the pen of the French prophet. He predicted submarines, fighter pilots and he even foretold a time when people will travel safely by air:

Pestilence extinguished, the world becomes small
For a long time the lands will be inhabited in peace.
People will travel safely by air, land, seas and wave.
Then wars will start again. (Cl Q63)

How did he get these incredible insights? This we will look into in the next chapter.

Author: Ray Comfort of Living Waters Publications. Edited by Films for Christ. Web page Copyright © 2001, Living Waters Publications, All Rights Reserved—except as noted on attached “Usage and Copyright” page.