Nostradamus

Nostradamus and his "quatrains"

Nostradamus was a physician of the 16th century living in France at the time of the Inquisition. He was recognized as a brilliant physician who knew effective measures against the plague victims of the time, a rarity in his profession. Nostradamus as a seer wrote about "quatrains", or four line poems, about his visions collected over his lifetime. The quatrains are enveloped in deeply obscure, twisted, nested symbolism and encryptions (such as anagrams, different languages, etc.) that is virtually impossible to untangle by a casual observer. Perhaps the greatest difficulty was that he intentionally scrambled them in terms of their historical order. 

Quatrains I have found particularly evocative and masterful in symbolism and interpretation, and serve as examples of Nostradamus' intents and talents, are, Centurie III, Quatrain 13, microchips and electricity, Centurie IV, Quatrain 29, the dichotomy of technology vs. spirituality in the 20th century, and Centurie II, Quatrain 75, a plane lands on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a pivotal moment of WWWIII. 

How did Nostradamus do it? 

Nostradamus was born with an inner "sixth sense", i.e. a strong intuition and great psychic abilities. Secondly he had enormous drive to develop it. His grandfather apparently passed him books on witchcraft that allowed him to experiment with some rituals. He also had access to "lost" manuscripts handed down outside of the libraries of the time. He talks about guides from the astral plane and from other worlds who helped him. Some pointed him in the direction of esoteric plant recipes and mind-enhancing drugs (but he emphasized they only enhanced his powers and were not the source of them). One apparently bestowed on him a mirror during one of his meditations. The mirror was especially important to his predictions. 

Nostradamus also talked of using different crystals to focus on various telepathic frequencies. Occasionally he refers to staring at fire or water (such as in a bowl on a tripod) as a way of focusing his mind. He had access to some lost works of mysticism from his travels (apparently to some Moslem lands). He communicated with other expert astrologers and mystical teachers. However it is possible that some of his notes about and explanations of his techniques were a means of throwing the Inquisition off track. 

One of the most amazing possibilities explored was that in a sort of "twist of time" Nostradamus was tapping into the subconscious of the people from the future who contacted him. 

Some have wondered about Nostradamus' healing capabilities. He talks about a sort of holistic approach to health and reveals that he was skillful in avoiding the shock that was induced in many patients of surgeons at the time using psychic approaches. He talked about the importance of the "aura" of the person in determining the health of the patient and criticized the practice of treating symptoms. He said that a patient will find some other way to make themselves sick if their critical mental attitude is awry. He talked about cancer being caused by deeply ingrained self-sabotaging thoughts. Nostradamus also confirmed what many have speculated, that he was able to see future approaches to treating the diseases he encountered (such as the plague) and adopt key aspects of the techniques. 

"Simultaneous Time" 

"Simultaneous time" is a difficult concept that refers to the illusion of earthly time seen from higher spiritual planes. Between lives, the soul has the capability to review lifetimes free of the constraints of time. This state of consciousness is also achieved in hypno-regression subjects who are highly "somnambulistic", i.e. conducive to deep trance states. They can review not only past lifetimes but future ones. But beyond this, it is as if they are actually living them at the moment they describe them. So, for example, the student of Nostradamus that Dr. Rathford regressed would see himself and Nostradamus as actually living, and Nostradamus would be communicating directly from his own time to ours as a living person. 

Ways to view Nostradamus and the prophecies 

A scathing work of criticism and ridicule has been leveled at Nostradamus by the famous "debunker", James Randi. Nevertheless, buried in the unparalleled close-mindedness and vitriol, Randi makes some reasonable points, the most damning of which, reiterated by the skeptics through the centuries, is that Nostradamus' "predictions" are veiled in such obscure symbolism that they could mean anything, and that interpretations are impossible in the absence of precision in language. He has a very valid point. 

But the works of Dr. Michael Rathford give us a renewed, fresh perspective into the matter. Not only are the past predictions laid bare, but so are all the future ones. This book gives a very *precise* vision of the future, with a rigor bordering on the quality of even scientific papers (which themselves contain speculation and a lack of confidence and absolute specificity at times). Perhaps the skeptics can argue that the "fulfillment" of all his prior prophecies were merely due to the creative interpretations or vivid imaginations of enthusiastic supporters. 

But they will not be able to deny the reality of these explicit visions as (or "if", as the case may be) it unfolds before them. 

However, the ultimate measure of Nostradamus' true talents will be revealed shortly for us all to personally witness and attest to the presence or lack thereof. And even if one ignores the Nostradamus aspect, leaving aside for a moment the question of the "source" of the predictions, this book contains a treasure trove of specific predictions about our near future. Here is something that is not buried in mysticism or obscurity and is open to any one who has an open mind. 

Free will vs. Fatalism 

Nostradamus' preponderance of bleak and horrid prophecies sometimes has the effect of causing people to adopt an attitude of resigned nihilism or fatalism. "What's the use?" But this is precisely the mental attitude that he was fervently attacking. The earth history-flow has a kind of "inertia" that he learned to read through his highly refined and developed mental concentration. If we continue on our present path, i.e. the "course of least resistance", the worst of the horrible, apocalyptic visions will be realized. But through focused thought and determination the most severe scenarios can be avoided. 

Nostradamus repeatedly emphasizes the urgency of his mission and his frustration with man's apathy in the face of his predictions. His psychic abilities were so profound and developed that had he lived in other times he might have been revered almost as a God, but in the Inquisition his talent was wasted. Nostradamus was something like a psychoanalyst for the entire human race, and was quite frustrated with his patient's continual tendency to sabotage and destroy himself in spite of the doctor's--literally--divinely inspired advice. 

Another interesting theme is that Nostradamus seems to indicate that the Antichrist is the embodiment of all evil in mankind since the time of creation. In other words, our own evil thoughts and deeds contribute indirectly and directly to the terrible crescendo his horrible nature. The grisly earthly drama with him in the starring role, foretold for centuries as far back as the Old Testament of the Bible, is actually a lesson of the highest order for us to clean our own mental and bodily temples of the encrusted pollution of ages. The awesome power of our own thoughts will confront us face to face. Just as the atrocities and genocide that Hitler perpetrated under the name of the Reich are the logical conclusion of insane fascism, racism, intolerance, and imperialism, the shrieking crescendo of WWWIII is the embodiment of all our hidden and concealed crimes against our fellow humans. 

I would like to bring out an example of the importance and interpretation that should be attributed to Nostradamus' prophecies. In Centurie VI, Quatrain 34 he correctly foresees the Challenger shuttle disaster. But in his interpretation, he also indicates that NASA would cover-up the source of failure and not reveal it to the general public. This arguably occurred, but because of the dynamic efforts of one man in particular *outside* of NASA, the truth of the disaster has probably in fact been revealed. 

The man is the eminent physicist Richard Feynman, who wrote about his experience on the Challenger investigation committee in his book, "What do you care what other people think, Mr. Feynman?" Throughout his great work one can see very directly the efforts of NASA administrators to put up a smokescreen to the public and defy his determined, heroic efforts to find the truth. Did he indeed thwart one of Nostradamus' many uncanny and depressing predictions? Can this be regarded as a case of the power of an individual to defy the smothering inertia of foretold negativity? Of the power of each one of use to untangle and defy secret conspiracies, and those who derive their power through the concealment of truth, and greedily, madly clutch it? 

Nostradamus refers to many different dark secrets of our times, ranging from the Cabal that manipulates the world economy and military conflicts to the unspeakably horrible secret military weapon researches. Are we to assert that we have no influence over those who attempt to conceal truth from us? Or would the world be a far better place if we all had the dogged determination and curiosity that Feynman embodied? The courage to defy and transcend people who say "you don't know what you're doing and you have no place in this matter"? Or not be bludgeoned into silent submission by keywords like "matter of national security"? as our governments develop the most grisly weapons of destruction ever conceived in the history of (in)humanity? 

Nostradamus' underlying, "golden" message is that every individual contributes to the flow of history, that free will exists and can avert disaster through sensible use--but apathy is perhaps the most negative and lethal contribution of all. 

"There is free will. He wants you to know about them so the worse effects can be avoided." 

"Nostradamus believed, as I do, in the theory of `probable futures', of nexus on the lines of time with many possible courses branching off in all directions. He believed that if man had the knowledge he could see which time line his future was headed down and reverse it before it was too late."