Body+Paragraphs

Who is Nostradamus? And why are people so fascinated by him? Well to start, Nostradamus was a French man living around the sixteenth century (1501-1600). He was born in December 1503, and was originally Jewish but converted to Catholicism. Under the wing of his grandfather, Nostradamus studied old languages which at the age of 14, led him to study in Avignon where he often went against the teachings of the Catholic Priests because the rejected the idea that the sun was the center of the Earth since it contradicted with the idea of a heaven. In 1525, he graduated from the University of Montpellier where he studied astrology and medicine which would soon help him gain fame from the public. After graduation, he traveled to several towns and villages where the Bubonic Plague ravaged the lives of thousands living in that time when infection was not understood and where it was unknown that one could get sick from unsanitary conditions. The Bubonic plague was a deadly bacterial disease that killed half of its victims and gave them black cankers all over their body. Nostradamus would go to these villages and towns and give the sick patients new bedding and new low fat diets that would help the towns recover. He would also give a herbal remedy made from rose hips which were high in vitamin C which would help the patient. Because of his treatments and because of recovery rates, Nostradamus began to become famed in his work which however, only lasted shortly. After becoming famed, he married and had two children but his wife and two children became ill of the Bubonic plague and died shortly after. This made many upset because the healer they famed could not even save his own family from the disease he claimed to cure. Because of this he lost much of his popularity and many began to break off from him. He ending up fleeing because he was got into trouble with the law for making a remark against the Catholic religion. During this time he went throughout Europe helping stop the spread of the Bubonic Plague and once again become renown for his healing abilities. It is thought that during this time of fleeing, Nostradamus became aware of his “powers” and started making predictions that he would predict to come the following year, often doing this while under the influence of drugs that would put him in a hypnotic state where his visions were most clear. After remarrying, he started to write a lot of 4 line stanzas often called quatrains. After realizing that the public really like reading these, he decided to put all of his predictions in a book that would span all the way to the year 7074 where he predicts the end of man kind. He decided to put all of his workings into one book called Centuries where he wrote prophesies and put them into 10 different centuries. Each century contained 100 quatrains but did not have a date to them so anyone could make these specific to any topic which is a huge factor in why there is doubt in his prophesies. All over Europe he was famed for his predictions, because it was believed he had a gift, or maybe a curse. He was liked by many and even invited to many royal events where he would share his prophecies with royal families. Several coming true, one more important one was about the death of King Henry II. Nostradamus told him that he should stay away from jousting for that year because a terrible accident would happen to the king, but without thinking about it he participated in it and his prediction came true, the king was killed in the exact same way that Nostradamus described, a joust through the head. With this many became intrigued by his predictions because they were coming true and they did not know whether to think of him as a man of god or a demon sent by Satan. Nostradamus died at the age of 63 from gout, a condition where there is too much uric acid (a waste product of the body), is in the blood stream which can cause joint pain and arthritis and if kept untreated, may even cause death. Nostradamus still lives on today through our believes that his predictions hold some truth and that he has predicted many events such as the rise of Hitler, or 9/11 or even predicting the end of man kind later on. But one important question is why do people believe that his predictions exist. What are his major prophecies of the events that many of us know about. Well to start off, a event that every American knows all to well, the 9/11 terrorist acts. It is said that Nostradamus had made predictions that were closely related to this: "Earthshaking, a fire from the center of the earth; Will shake the towers of the New City; Two great rocks will fight a long war; Until Arethusan springs bloody the rive afresh". This is the famous quote by Nostradamus thought to be talking about the Twin Towers that were crashed into and destroyed by two planes controlled by terrorist. To start, it is important to break this down into a literal meaning instead of just a poem. The first stanza could be related to the fire that was set by the fuel from the Boeing's. The next stanza is the most relevant. This is the line that directly connects the quatrain to the twin towers. It says the towers of the New City as in the Twin Towers of New York City. The 3rd line is showing that two immovable forces are fighting a war and are very stubborn. This could be talking about the war between Israel and Afghanistan or the U.S. and Iraq where either side is showing no chance of stopping. The last line is the most confusing because not many know who Arethusan is. There Is a myth about her springs of Ellis, which many directly relate to Ellis Island. In this quatrain it is easy to see why many had made the connection but although it is closely related, it was also very vague and it could possibly be relating to any event throughout the course of time. Though this quatrain is similar to its accepted meaning, other quatrains are not, but must be broken down into several elements that most people would not even consider. Here is an example of a important event, the rise of Adolf Hitler, "Where all is good, all is well with the sun and moon; The abundant east, its ruin approaches; Advancing from the sky to alter your fortune; In the same state as the 7th rock". This quote is much much harder to understand then the last one because this gives the reader little to no clues about what it means. The only clue that is somewhat helpful is the east, which gives us all of Europe and Africa and Asia. According to historians, Nostradamus used what is Kabbalism to predict his rise to power. Kabbalism is the teaching that God is neither matter or spirit but created both. The historians state that the number 7 represents all that is holy because there were 7 days in the creation of man, seven deadly sins, seven graces and more. The opposite of 7 is said to be evil and goes against world peace. Hitler's party became the largest party in the Reichstag, the German parliament building, on the 7th month. Hitler also had 7 major death camps, 7 doctors, 7 disciples and his name added up to 7 under Kabbalism. This is extremely difficult to understand because the quatrain is so vague that you can connect it to almost anything. When I interviewed Kevin Crathern, a senior at Springfield Township High School, he responded what this could possibly mean. His remark: Was Asia some day bombing us with nuclear weapons or be attacked by missiles. This is completely different then the answer thought up by Mario Reading the Author of the book The complete Prophecies of Nostradamus. Also when asking if he believed any of this he said no because he believed that many people could make predictions like these because of how vague they really are. Another prediction is also very vague but does reveal some clues about it. It is said that Nostradamus predicted the assassination of president John F. Kennedy is 1963. Here is Nostradamus' prediction: "The ancient task will be completed; From on high, evil will fall on the great man; A dead innocent will be accused of the deed; The guilty one will remain hidden in the mist". This is much easier related to what it is supposed to mean. The second line can be connected to where the shooter was related to Kennedy,on a roof and the fall of a great man would be Kennedy because he was going in a new direction with the U.S. The next line is connected to Lee Harvey Oswald who was at the time innocent but was killed before he could go to trial so it was unknown if he really did the killings. And the last line says that there was another killer who framed Oswald and no one knew. This is supported by the many conspiracy theories about the grassy knoll and 2 shooters. When interviewing Jake Bakavosky, he contributed a much different answer but just as valid none the less. Jake stated that “The ancient task is mans ability to adapt to the high climate changes, since that is what we have been doing since our beginnings. The evil that will fall is severe weather that damages property and endangers lives and the great man is ourselves. The dead innocent are the people who made little contribution to the climate problems while the guilty one, or those who created the problems, hide behind lies and are protected” (Bakovsky). Even if it has no relation to the accepted theory, it is just as valid because there is no real evidence of the true meaning of this prediction. One more prediction out of the hundreds he made is one that is supposed to be the end of the world. Although it is believed the Nostradamus predicted the world would end in 2012, that is false and did not predict the end of the world for several thousand years: "When the Great number 7 completes itself; Games will begin at the Tom side; Not far from the turn of the Millennium; The dead will rise out of their grave". This is supposed to mean the end of it all. The world will end in an Armageddon. The first line is supposed to show how the holy number 7 is representing life, the beginning and end. It is said that when the number 7 completes itself, then man will have completed his life on earth and be no more. This shows that life of man will end here even if it is unknown how that will exactly happen.

One major problem with these prophecies is that Nostradamus did not give these a specific date, or even a clue to when it is. This leaves people such as historians the grueling task of matching up his predictions to events that have happened, however many historians interpret them differently. This causes wide spread confusion in his predictions and this shows how difficult it is interpret something correctly. The basic meaning of this is that his predictions cannot be held as truthful because it is unknown when he predicted them to occur so each prediction can be from any day or event in time after he made the prediction. Also a huge problem is that they are so vague and could mean so many thing. If someone were to make a prediction now saying an event will happen such as "a bomb will fall in the east and several will fall". This example is made up, but should be as acceptable as that of Nostradamus's quotes because this could happen but when it will happen is unknown an s anyone could place a time and event on it.

Here is the big question, do you believe in these prophecies? Well many people do and many begin to wonder why? Why is it that some believe that some guy who lived prepared 500 years ago could make predictions about the future? Well to answer this question it is best to get a insight from people who do believe in these kinds of things. However in order to stay away from a bias answer it is important that the question was changed from Nostradamus to a question about psychics, because after all they do predict the future. From asking several people I found out one main thing, that people want to what they will be like in the future financially and emotionally. Common questions people would ask were if they would be happy or how they would be living and what they would be doing. This is because people want to be in a better situation then they are currently in and are often bored with their current lives, hoping that something better will come along. In the case of Nostradamus, people believe that his predictions are right because they want something more out of life, something they can look forward to and be ready for it.