Nostradamus Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Origins of ''The Prophecies''== [[File:Dr. Garencières, the Translator of Nostradamus (Robert Chambers, p.12, 1832) - Copy.jpg|thumb|[[Theophilus de Garencières]], the first English translator of the ''Prophecies''<ref name="Chambers">{{cite book |last = Chambers |first = Robert |title = The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character, Volume 2 |year = 1832 |publisher = W. & R. Chambers Limited |location = London |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K0UJAAAAIAAJ&q=Robert+Chambers+1832 |access-date = 19 October 2020 |archive-date = 28 February 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240228154907/https://books.google.com/books?id=K0UJAAAAIAAJ&q=Robert+Chambers+1832#v=snippet&q=Robert%20Chambers%201832&f=false |url-status = live }}</ref>]] Nostradamus claimed to base his published predictions on [[judicial astrology]]—the astrological 'judgment', or assessment, of the 'quality' (and thus potential) of events such as births, weddings, coronations etc.—but was heavily criticised by professional astrologers of the day such as Laurens Videl{{sfn|Lemesurier|2003|p=236}} for incompetence and for assuming that "comparative horoscopy" (the comparison of future planetary configurations with those accompanying known past events) could actually predict what would happen in the future.{{sfn |Brind'Amour |1993|pp=70–76}} Research suggests that much of his prophetic work paraphrases collections of ancient [[eschatology|end-of-the-world]] prophecies (mainly Bible-based), supplemented with references to historical events and anthologies of [[omen]] reports, and then projects those into the future in part with the aid of comparative horoscopy. Hence the many predictions involving ancient figures such as [[Sulla]], [[Gaius Marius]], [[Nero]], and others, as well as his descriptions of "battles in the clouds" and "frogs falling from the sky".{{sfn|Lemesurier|2003b|loc=''passim''}} Astrology itself is mentioned only twice in Nostradamus's ''Preface'' and 41 times in the ''Centuries'' themselves, but more frequently in his dedicatory ''[[Letter to King Henry II]]''. In the last quatrain of his sixth ''century'' he specifically attacks astrologers. His historical sources include easily identifiable passages from [[Livy]], [[Suetonius]]' ''[[The Twelve Caesars]]'', [[Plutarch]] and other classical historians, as well as from medieval chroniclers such as [[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]] and [[Jean Froissart]]. Many of his astrological references are taken almost word for word from [[Richard Roussat]]'s ''{{lang|fr|Livre de l'estat et mutations des temps}}'' of 1549–50. One of his major prophetic sources was evidently the ''[[Mirabilis Liber]]'' of 1522, which contained a range of prophecies by [[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius|Pseudo-Methodius]], the [[Tiburtine Sibyl]], [[Joachim of Fiore]], [[Savonarola]] and others (his ''Preface'' contains 24 biblical quotations, all but two in the order used by Savonarola). This book had enjoyed considerable success in the 1520s, when it went through half a dozen editions, but did not sustain its influence, perhaps owing to its mostly Latin text (mixed with ancient Greek and modern French and Provençal),<ref>Morrison R, Mad, bad and such an awful poet ''The Times T2'' 12 December 2003, pp. 4–5</ref> Gothic script and many difficult abbreviations. Nostradamus was one of the first to re-paraphrase these prophecies in French, which may explain why they are credited to him. Modern views of plagiarism did not apply in the 16th century; authors frequently copied and paraphrased passages without acknowledgement, especially from the classics. The latest research suggests that he may in fact have used [[bibliomancy]] for this—randomly selecting a book of history or prophecy and taking his cue from whatever page it happened to fall open at.{{sfn|Lemesurier|2010}} Further material was gleaned from the ''De honesta disciplina'' of 1504 by [[Petrus Crinitus]],{{sfn|Brind'Amour|1993|pp=100, 233–235}} which included extracts from [[Michael Psellos]]'s ''De daemonibus'', and the ''[[De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum]]'' (''Concerning the mysteries of Egypt''), a book on [[Chaldea]]n and [[Assyria]]n magic by [[Iamblichus]], a 4th-century [[Neoplatonism|Neo-Platonist]]. Latin versions of both had recently been published in [[Lyon]], and extracts from both are paraphrased (in the second case almost literally) in his first two verses, the first of which is appended to this article. While it is true that Nostradamus claimed in 1555 to have burned all of the [[occult]] works in his library, no one can say exactly what books were destroyed in this fire. Only in the 17th century did people start to notice his reliance on earlier, mainly classical sources.{{efn|Anonymous letters to the ''Mercure de France'' in August and November 1724 drew specific public attention to the fact (Anonyme) ''Lettre critique sur la personne et sur les écrits de Michel Nostradamus'', Mercure de France, août et novembre 1724.}} Nostradamus's reliance on historical precedent is reflected in the fact that he explicitly rejected the label "prophet" (i.e. a person having prophetic powers of his own) on several occasions:{{sfn|Lemesurier|2003|p=109}} {{Blockquote|Although, my son, I have used the word ''prophet'', I would not attribute to myself a title of such lofty sublimity.|''Preface to César'', 1555<ref name="prefces">{{cite web |url = http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26:preface-to-cesar&catid=6:other&Itemid=5 |title=Preface to César |publisher=Nostradamus-repository.org |date=24 June 2009 |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928090730/http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26:preface-to-cesar&catid=6:other&Itemid=5 |archive-date=28 September 2011 }}</ref>}} {{quote|Not that I would attribute to myself either the name or the role of a prophet.|''Preface to César'', 1555<ref name="prefces" />}} {{Blockquote|[S]ome of [the prophets] predicted great and marvelous things to come: [though] for me, I in no way attribute to myself such a title here.|''Letter to King Henry II'', 1558<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27:letter-to-henri-ii&catid=6:other&Itemid=5 |title = Letter to Henri II |website = Nostradamus-repository.org |date=24 June 2009 |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110727130736/http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27:letter-to-henri-ii&catid=6:other&Itemid=5 |archive-date = 27 July 2011 }}</ref>}} {{quote|Not that I am foolish enough to claim to be a prophet.|Open letter to Privy Councillor (later Chancellor) Birague, 15 June 1566{{sfn |Lemesurier |2003 |p=109}}}} [[File:npix4.jpg|thumb|right|Detail from title-page of the original 1555 (Albi) edition of Nostradamus's ''Les Prophéties'']] Given this reliance on literary sources, it is unlikely that Nostradamus used any particular methods for entering a [[altered state of consciousness|trance state]], other than [[contemplation]], [[meditation]] and [[Incubation (ritual)|incubation]].{{sfn|Lemesurier|2003|p=98}} His sole description of this process is contained in 'letter 41' of his collected Latin correspondence.{{sfn|Lemesurier|2003|pp=41, 225–229}} The popular legend that he attempted the ancient methods of flame gazing, water gazing or both simultaneously is based on a naive reading of his first two verses, which merely liken his efforts to those of the [[Oracle of Delphi|Delphic]] and [[Didyma|Branchidic]] [[oracle]]s. The first of these is reproduced at the bottom of this article and the second can be seen by visiting the relevant facsimile site (see External Links). In his dedication to King Henry II, Nostradamus describes "emptying my soul, mind and heart of all care, worry and unease through mental calm and tranquility", but his frequent references to the "bronze tripod" of the [[Delphi]]c rite are usually preceded by the words "as though" (compare, once again, External References to the original texts). Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page