Terrorist Attacks on U.S.
Did Nostradamus Predict the Tragedy?
by David Emery
Nostradamus, the French astrologer born in 1503,
published his barely scrutable collection of prophecies, the Centuries, in
1555. Each four-line verse, or "quatrain," purported to foretell
world events far into the future, and ever since Nostradamus' time devotees have
claimed the work has accurately predicted wars, disasters, and the rise and
fall of nations and dynasties. But with all due respect to true believers,
Nostradamus composed his "prophetic" verses in such vague language
that his words can be — and have been — interpreted to mean almost anything.
Without a doubt, ponderous tracts will be written in the
coming weeks and months asserting that Nostradamus really did foresee the World
Trade Center and Pentagon attacks (such exegeses-in-hindsight have followed
virtually every modern catastrophe), but in the meantime there are already a
number of "spooky quatrains" circulating by email that are
demonstrably fake. It isn't a question of whether or not they accurately
predict anything — Nostradamus simply didn't write them.
The first was circulating by email within hours of the
WTC attack. It said:
"In the City of God there will be a great thunder,
Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress
endures, the great leader will succumb",
The third big war will begin when the big city is
burning"
- Nostradamus 1654
Unfortunately, Nostradamus died in 1566, so it's rather
unlikely he wrote this passage in 1654. The quatrain is not to be found in his
published oeuvre. It's a hoax.
As far as we know, the passage originated on a Web page
(deleted by its host due to overwhelming traffic soon after the email hoax went
into circulation) entitled "A Critical Analysis of Nostradamus,"
written several years ago by a college student named Neil Marshall. Marshall
made up the quatrain above to demonstrate — quite ironically, in light of how
it is now being misused — that the writings of Nostradamus are cryptic enough
to be interpreted to "predict" almost anything.
'Two metal birds would crash into two tall statues'
An interesting variant of the same faux prophecy was
posted September 12 in the newsgroup soc.culture.palestine under the heading
"They followed his prediction":
In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two
brothers torn apart by Chaos,while the fortress
endures, the great leader will succumb''The third big war will begin when the
big city is burning'- Nostradamus 1654 ...on the 11 day of the 9 month
that...two metal birds would crash into two tall statues...in the new city..and the world will end soon after" "From the book of Nostradamus"
Again, while the text has all the musty vagueness of
Nostradamus' actual writings, it cannot be found anywhere in the Centuries. It,
too, is a hoax.
• Part 2: 'Rivers Will Flow with Blood'
third
variant is perhaps the spookiest:
Century 6, Quatrain 97
Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the
Metropolis. The sky will burn at
forty-five degrees
latitude. Fire approaches the
great new city
[New York City
lies between 40-45 degrees] Immediately
a huge, scattered flame leaps
up. Within months,
rivers will flow with blood. The
undead will roam
earth for little time.
This, it turns out, is an imaginative revision of an
actual verse by Nostradamus. The authentic passage is usually translated from
the French as follows:
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude,
Fire approaches the great new city
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up
When they want to have verification
from the Normans.
As you can see, Nostradamus made no mention of "two
steel birds," nor did he write that "the undead will roam the
earth." New York City lies at
exactly 40 degrees, 42 minutes, 51 seconds north latitude, and while it isn't
false, therefore, to say it lies "between 40-45 degrees," it is
imprecise, misleading and an obvious ploy to make what Nostradamus actually
wrote — "The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude" — seem
applicable to the events of September 11.
'Third big war will begin'
Specimen #4, also circulating by email, is a variation on
the above:
Nostradamus' prediction on WW3:
"In the year of the new century and nine months,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror...
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees.
Fire approaches the great new city..."
"In the city of york there will be a great
collapse,
2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos
while the fortress falls the
great leader will succumb
third big war will begin when
the big city is burning"
- NOSTRADAMUS
He said this will be bigger than the previous two. 2001
is the first year of the new century and this is the 9th month. New
York is located at the 41st degree Latitude.
Again, a very few words actually written by Nostradamus —
lines drawn from two different quatrains — have been taken out of context and
supplemented with made-up lines by person(s) unknown to make them seem relevant
to the World Trade Center catastrophe. The end result: again, pure bunk.
Anyone else want to have a go?
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