When discussing such topics, I usually remember to mention this phrase: "Even a broken clock shows the exact time twice a day."
Michel de Nostrdam was born in 1503 in France. According to various versions, he began to write the surname in the Latin manner, that is, Nostradamus, in 1522, after completing his studies, in 1534, having received his doctorate, or in 1550, after the publication of the first almanac. Michel did not have a piet before the name of his ancestors - the surname Nostrdam is not generic. It was received by his grandfather, nee Gassone, when he converted from Judaism to Catholicism.
Received an excellent education. From the age of 14 he studied at the University of Avignon, and later in Montpellier. The main preferences of the future prophet were medicine and pharmaceuticals, not astrology. True, the fascination with the pharmaceutical business almost cost Michel his diploma. In those years, pharmacists and surgeons were considered artisans unworthy of training in medicine.
He was surrounded by envious people and critics. Piercing epigrams were dedicated to Nostradamus and accused of lying, then of secret Judaism, then of dealing with the devil. An anonymous poet nicknamed him Monstradamus. Michel did not remain in debt, publicly calling the detractors "brutes and ignoramuses."
In 1546 he went as a volunteer to the plague-ridden Aix-en-Provence. For prevention, it gives residents a powder of its own preparation: from iris, cloves, reeds, roses and cypress sawdust. From the point of view of modern medicine, it is a disinfectant. The plague has receded. Nostradamus was given a life pension.
Had eight children. He was well-off: he kept a hotel, received royalties from the publishing house, sold ointments and cosmetics. Shortly before the death of Nostradamus, Charles IX appointed him as royal advisor and physician to the life. He died on July 2, 1566 from complications of gout.
Carried away by astrology, Nostradamus, when he was already over forty. Once a year he published in huge circulations astrological almanacs that have become fashionable. The main work "The Prophecies of Michel Nostradamus" was published in 1555.
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In the preface to the almanac, Nostradamus wrote: "And after death my name will live in the Universe." The rest of the prophecies are written in vague, interpreters cleverly summarize events under them. The son of Nostradamus, Cesar, in his book justifies his father: "Such things cannot be defiled with common language."
In 1559, Henry II organized a knightly tournament. During the fight, the opponent accidentally knocked out the eye of the monarch with a spear. Heinrich died. The courtiers remembered that this is described in the astrological almanac of a certain Nostradamus. And although the prophet himself said that his completely different prophecy points to the death of Henry, they paid attention to Nostradamus at the royal court.
Apologists of Nostradamus give dozens of examples of his successful predictions. He "guessed" the death of Henry II in the knightly tournament, indicating the exotic cause of death (the enemy wounded him in the eye with a spear); predicted the imminent death of the young king Francis II, the childlessness of his wife Mary Stuart and her long-term enmity with the English queen Elizabeth. King Charles IX and his mother Catherine de 'Medici, who highly appreciated the gift of Nostradamus, once specially came to Salon de Provence with a request to draw up a personal horoscope for them. For the work Michel was promised a generous reward - two thousand crowns. However, for some reason this did not arouse any interest in the soothsayer himself, and he proceeded to draw up the horoscope with boredom on his face. But suddenly, in the king's retinue, he noticed an 11-year-old boy. It was a distant relative of the king, Henry of Navarre. Nostradamus persuaded the king to leave them alone and examined the child for a long time, after which he informed the distinguished guests: the boy would become the king of France. This sounded completely implausible: Charles IX had three brothers, and they all had sons. And yet the prediction came true.
Over the years, the name of Nostradamus has acquired legends. For example, he is credited with the prediction of the October Revolution, the long-term Stalinist tyranny, when "a slavish atmosphere will reign under the guise of great love and freedom." Or: “I foresee a war on a planetary scale, the sky is shining with molten gold, a wonderful fire has become a killer of people” - is it not about an atomic disaster? And the most interesting thing: if Nostradamus really had the gift of “guessing” the future, then how did he manage it? There is no answer to this question either.
Trying to see the mirror reflection of real life in the tangled lines of poetry, we forget about the main thing, - says Vadim Speransky, one of the leading researchers of the heritage of Nostradamus, professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University. - According to Karl Jaspers, “the meaning of any forecast is to bring us into the realm of the possible, open up distant horizons and enhance the feeling of freedom with the consciousness of the possible”. In other words, the forewarned is armed. Nostradamus in a figurative form provides us with various options for the possible development of events, and we choose which path will be "come true". Actually, it is not so important whether he is a prophet or a genius poet. It is important that he created a genre of poetic political prophecy. This genre, enthusiastically adopted by contemporaries, retains its attractiveness to this day.
Nostradamus was criticized by priests and nobles, politicians and scientists, astrologers and opponents of astrology, Protestants and Catholics. He was accused of intercourse with fallen angels and evil spirits, charlatanism, corrupting the minds of the people and the royal family, secret adherence to Judaism, arrogance and arrogance, alcoholism and unprofessionalism. In the spring of 1561, Nostradamus almost fell victim to fanatical peasants who accused him of secretly belonging to Lutheranism. He fled to Avignon.
On December 16 of the same 1561, when another almanac appeared on the book market, the Governor of Provence, Claude of Savoy, Count de Tand, passing through the Salon, arrested Nostradamus and captured him in his castle. This is what he wrote to the king: “As for Nostradamus, I ordered him to be seized and taken with me, forbidding him to make almanacs and predictions. Deign to give me the order to do with him what you please. Judging by the fact that Nostradamus survived and continued his publications, the king's answer was not very harsh.
Nostradamus died of complications of gout on July 2, 1566. By that time, he was a fairly wealthy and respected man, confidant of the Queen Mother and the King's physician. And immensely lonely, who until the end of his life suffered from misunderstanding, from the intrigues of envious people and the hatred of enemies. The circle of his friends was very narrow, and in 1552 he complained: "In the Salon, where I live, I find myself … among cattle and barbarians, mortal enemies of literature and venerable education."
The epitaph, carved on a slab leaning against the wall of the temple in an ancient Roman manner, reads: "Here lies the ashes of the famous Michel Nostradamus, who was recognized as the most worthy of mortals to describe the events of the future with his almost divine pen, following the movement of the stars and the entire Universe."
The first researcher of the astrologer, his student Jean-Aimé de Chavigny, claimed that the prophet predicted the day and hour of his death. But historians warn: Chavigny deified the teacher, not all data are reliable.
"Prophecies of Master Michel Nostradamus" immediately became, as they would say now, "the book of the year" and "bestseller", and a little-known doctor from Provence suddenly found himself in the role of a living classic. However, the great predictor wrote the "history of the future" in such a confused manner that no one could unambiguously decipher it either during his lifetime or in our time. As befits a self-respecting prophet, Nostradamus preferred to express himself in a high, pompous and extremely vague syllable, full of allegories and omissions.
In addition, Nostradamus almost never indicated exact dates. His typical prediction looks like this: "Mars threatens us with military force, it will make us shed blood seventy times." You don't have to have too much imagination to fit this into almost any confrontation - from a family fight to a world war. From the point of view of those who consider Nostradamus to be something like the current sorcerers and "high magicians" who fool people's heads, there is no sense at all in his mystical visions. And yet he has incomparably more fans.
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Well, just in case for those who believe:
In 2019, Nostradamus predicted that the third world war would begin. This is how the French bloggers decoded the text of the famous scientist.
The confrontation will be long. According to the predictions, the war will last for 27 years! This will ultimately lead to a weakening of the West.
Also, Nostradamus wrote that in 2019 extremist ideas will spread, which will cause many terrorist attacks.
"The enemies of the Lord blaspheme and wish to challenge the holy laws," wrote the fortuneteller in the 43rd quatrain (4th century).
In addition, he spoke about information warfare, when "a word will be sharper than a sword."
Nostradamus predicted a change in worldview in many European states. He also pointed out that Christian values will decline in the West in 2019 and Islam will spread.
The foreteller noted that it could be the greatest natural disaster in American history.
The researchers deciphered that the earthquake will be located between California and Vancouver Island (Canada).
The predictor also predicted that the rivers and lakes of France will be heavily polluted in 2019. In 2019, Nostradamus predicted a dramatic climate change. The reason for this, he said, will be an unusual parade of planets.
