Nostradamus was a French astrologer born in 1503. He published a collection of prophecies in 1555. Each of the four-line verses (called quatrains) is said to foretell a world event at some time in the future.
Of course, ever since that time, the works of this man have been claimed to have foretold just about everything, including wars, the rise and fall of empires, assassinations and disasters, as well as just about anything else.
Anyone who has ever really read these prophecies will immediately realize that they are written in such a vague way that they could mean almost anything. Nostradamus was purposely vague in his writings, as he was constantly being harassed and watched by the church.
Naturally, there are many people who claim right away that Nostradamus predicted the September 11th disasters. In fact, the following "prophecy" circulated within hours of the attack.
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
It's interesting to note how stupid some people are - Nostradamus died in 1566. If you are going to make a hoax at least get your facts right! By the way, this actually was created by a student at Brock University in Canada in the 1990s, appearing on an essay on Nostradamus. He was trying to show how anyone could make something that looks like a prophecy.
Someone obviously mistook this for a real prophecy and added a few lines of his own.
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
On the 11th day of the 9 month, two metal birds will crash into two tall statues in the new city, and the world will end soon after.
I received another with a slight variation. Note that Nostradamus is misspelled and that New York is at the 41st degree of latitude, not the 45th (the email author pointed out the 45 was the latitude of New York). By the way, none of these lines has anything to do with anything that was written by Nostradamus, except that someone went to some trouble to mix and match a few lines here and there.
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
-NOSTRIDAMUS
and yet another variation:
In the City of Apples there will be a great thunder, Two tall brothers torn apart by chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb, The third big war will swiftly begin from the city of burning(Nostradamus 1654)
Yet another variation showed up in emails all over the internet.
Earth-shaking fire from the center of the earth. Will cause the towers around the New City to shake, Two great rocks for a long time will make war, And then Arethusa will color a new river red.
This actually comes from a real verse, below.
Volcanic fire from the center of the earth will cause trembling around the new city: Two great rocks will make war for a long time. Then Arethusa will redden a new river.
You will note the correct translation does not include anything at all about towers.
Some hoaxer played the numbers game (another favorite pastime of the followers of Nostradamus). The attack is no exception.
The flights that were hijacked were from United and American Airlines, they were numbered as follows: 11, 93, 175, and 77
11= Today's' Date (Sept. 11) 9+3=12 = Tomorrow (Sept. 12) 1+7+5=13 = Thursday 7+7=14 = Friday
I'm not sure what this is supposed to prove, but it's pretty darn silly. A hoax, of course.
The flights were chosen for specific reasons. The numbers meant nothing.
- Destination (large amount of fuel on board), - Origin (large amount of fuel remaining at time of impact), - airport security (or lack thereof), - and time of departure (for a loosely coordinated attack)
There is a real passage from Nostradamus which is similar to the one above (although nothing matches the attack facts).
When 1999 is seven months o'er Shall heaven's great King -- albeit a dread host, he -- Restore the King from Angoumois once more, Ere -- after March -- he'll reign propitiously.
This verse has been used to predict everything (almost literally) from comets to disasters.
So what's the bottom line? The prophecies of Nostradamus may or may not be valid. But they have nothing to do with the terrorist attack on September 11th. Nothing at all.
Additional Information
Nostradamus FAQ http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/faq.aspl Good information about Nostradamus. Excellent resource.
False Prophecys www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/predict.asp A rationale, factual debunking of the various Nostradamus prophecies floating around the internet.
About Urban Legends http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa091101b.asp Good and short explanation of the facts.
Nostradamus Homepage http://run.to/nostradamus Want the straight scoop? Check out this page.
Nostradamus: A critical Analysis http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/info/analysis.asp Very good article on the Nostradamus prophecies. Also the origin of the "prophecy" on the September 11th disaster.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.