Nostradamus was born in December of 1503 in a small town in southern France according to The Book of Bizarre Truths. He became a successful apothecary and even created a pill that could supposedly protect against the plague.
It is believed that at some time in the 1540s, Nostradamus began taking interest in the occult, particularly in ways to predict the future. His preferred method was scrying, or gazing into a bowl of water or a mirror and waiting for visions to appear.
He published a highly successful almanac for the year 1550, which included some of his prophecies and predictions. The almanac was so successful that Nostradamus wrote more, perhaps even several a year, until his death in 1566.
In addition to creating his almanacs, he began compiling his previously unpublished prophecies into a massive volume. Released in 1555, Les Propheties (The Prophecies) contained hundreds of quatrains (four – line poems). It became one of the most controversial and perplexing books ever written.
Nostradamus worried some might see his prophecies as demonic, so he encoded them to obscure their true meanings. To do this, Nostradamus did everything from playing with the syntax of the quatrains to switching between French, Greek, Latin, and other languages. Over the years, it became a common practice in the aftermath of a major historical event for people to pull out a copy of his book to see if they could find a hidden reference in his quatrains. It is a practice that has continued to this day and only gets more and more common.
Soon after the Twin Towers fell, an e-mail started making the rounds that claimed Nostradamus had predicted the events, quoting the following quatrain as proof:
“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”
Some thought Nostradamus is describing September 11, the Twin Towers (“Two Brothers”) falling, and the start of World War III. Pretty chilling, except Nostradamus never wrote it. It was nothing more than an Internet hoax that spread like wildfire.
First, Nostradamus wrote quatrains, which have four lines. This one has five. Also, the date Nostradamus supposedly penned this, 1654, was almost 90 years after he died.
Nostradamus might have been able to see the future, but there’s no mention of him being able to write from beyond the grave.
Famous Okie information: James Gordon “Bo” Gritz was born January 18, 1939 in Enid, Okla. He is a former United States Army Special Forces officer who served for 22 years, including in the Vietnam War. He was the most decorated Green Beret officer during Vietnam. His activities in retirement, notably attempted POW rescues in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, have been controversial.
Keep going on New Years resolutions: Be brave and do something that scares you.
Made me laugh: Working in a mirror factory is something I can totally see myself doing.
See you on the bricks, soon! Stay safe. Prayers for all those affected by COVID.