Essay/Term paper: Nostradamus and a grim future

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Term Papers

Nostradamus and a Grim Future
by
Mookypj
English II pre-AP period 1
11/4/96

Outline
I. Introduction
A. Thesis sentence
B. Marc Hopkins opinion on the validity of Nostradamus's predictions
II. Background information on Nostradamus
A. Source of Nostradamus's education
B. Nostradamus's trip to Montpellier
C. Tragedies strike Nostradamus
1. Plague comes to town and kills Nostradamus's family
2. Nostradamus's late wife's family sues him
3. Comment to workman results in the alarm of the Church
D. Nostradamus moves to Salon
E. Nostradamus remarries
F. Nostradamus begins work on the "prophecies"
G. The queen of France sends for Nostradamus
H. Nostradamus flees back to Salon
I. Nostradamus becomes ill from Dropsy
J. Nostradamus makes out his will
K. Nostradamus dies
III. Technological issues arising before the Times of Trouble
A. Technological disasters
1. Weather modulator accident
2. Nuclear meltdown near mountain city
3. Joint space venture leads to biological scare
4. Earth field rupture
5. Time warping incident
B. Technological weapon advances before and during the Times of Trouble
1. Planetary climate disrupter
a. Effects of the planetary climate disrupter
b. Countermeasures to the planetary climate disrupter
2. Laser and nuclear combined radiation weapon
a. Effects of the laser/nuclear/radioactive weapon
b. A cure for the effects of the laser/nuclear/radioactive weapon
3. Earthquake triggering weapon
4. Radio wave weapon
5. Eugenics project
IV. The Times of Troubles
A. Missile scare leading to the Times of Trouble
B. A crazed world leader's gain of an atomic bomb
1. European and western countries intervene
2. Crazed leader bombs Europe
3. The stage for the Antichrist is set
C. The wargame mishap
D. Alien crash resulting in plagues
V. World War III
A. Nuclear confrontation in the Middle East
1. Radioactive fallout and its effect
2. Political boundaries redrawn
B. Current president's involvement in War
C. New York bombing
1. U.S. spots a bomb sent by the Antichrist and his ally
2. France retaliates for the U.S.
VI. Conclusion
A. Can the future be changed?
B. The validity of Nostradamus himself

mookypj

Nostradamus and a Grim Future

Various translated prophecies predicted by the great Nostradamus will give you a deep insight into the possible and most widely recognized apocalyptic future filled with extremely advanced technology that cannot be controlled, thus causing physical, social, and political catastrophes leading ultimately to the third world war. But who is Nostradamus? This is a frequently asked question today. Some say Nostradamus is a witch, others say he is a master of the stars. Regardless of these proposals, Nostradamus must be looked upon as a scholar and recognized as an important figure in past, present, and future history. Some believe that Nostradamus and his so-called prophecies are all nonsense that can be explained by a simple technique, as Marc Hopkins describes:
Why do "all those prophecies" seem to match our events of today? I think it's obvious: because there are universal laws of history that dictate the course of events during times of great changes (including ours) which therefore will conform to an archetype. All you have to do is spell out the archetype in a "prophecy", and then every time the Big Discontinuity hits again it will look just like the "prophecy" said. In particular, in a time of discontinuities there is always great dislocations: an increase in

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wars, in diseases even, and a lowering of living standards
(maybe temporary but still...). (5)
With the astronomical size of evidence supporting and directly pointing out the past and future events, it is hard to not give at least a little credit to Nostradamus; after all, Nostradamus was born in 1503, and you can still presently find ongoing research and criticism surrounding this individual. The mysteries surrounding Nostradamus and his predictions never end. Perhaps past information on Nostradamus's predictions is more factual than information pertaining to the future. What excites the crowds more than the unknown or unexplained? Definitely not gray, drab, and boring presentations of the forgotten past, but those concerning the future, virulent activity, far-fetched technology, and the stuff movie magic is made from. Before one can truly understand Nostradamus and what he and his extended years of predictions and prophecies sum up to, one must first be given a minimal amount of background information on the man who knew the world was round thirty years before Galileo conjured up his theory (Nijweide 4).
Nostradamus, or his full name, Michel de Nostredame, was born on the December14, 1503 in St. Remy de Provence. His parents were of common people. Nostradamus was the eldest son and had four brothers. Nostradamus's
intelligence became apparent while he was still very young, and his

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education was provided by his grandfather Jean, who taught him the languages and writing skills of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Along with the grammatical skills, Nostradamus learned the theories and systems of mathematics and astrology. When Nostradamus's grandfather died, he ventured into Avigon to study astrology. When Nostradamus was 19, he was forced by religious persecution to go and study medicine at Montepellier in 1522. After three years, Nostradamus obtained his Bachelor's degree with great ease. After obtaining his license to practice, he went out on the countryside to help the victims of the plague (Nijweide 1). After four years, Nostradamus returned to Montepellier to achieve his Doctorate. After receiving his Doctorate, a succession of catastrophes struck. The plague came to Nostradamus's town and killed his newlywed wife and two children. The fact that Nostradamus could not save his own family ravaged the public's view of his career. Nostradamus's late wife's family tried to sue him for money passed down from his wife after her death. Finally, one day, Nostradamus made a comment to a workman casting a bronze statue of the Virgin. Nostradamus told the man he was making devils, which caused alarm, and a trial date was set by the officials of Montepellier. Nostradamus, not wanting to stand trial, fled Montepellier, straying clear of the Church. It was in these six years of wandering that Nostradamus's powers started to appear. In 1554, Nostradamus moved to Salon where he found a town that he decided he would live out the remainder of

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his years. Nostradamus married Anne Ponsart Gamelle, a rich widow. After 1554, Nostradamus converted the top room of his house in Salon into a study where he could work on his prophecies. By 1555, Nostradamus completed the first part of his book of prophecies that would contain predictions from his time to the end of the world. Each book was called a century (not referring to years) because there were 100 quatrains, or four-lined verses in each book (Nijweide 1-2). All the quatrains were written in an obscure style with a vocabulary extending from the French, Provincial, Italian, Greek, and Latin languages. In order to avoid being persecuted as a witch or magician, Nostradamus deliberately confused the time sequence of the prophecies so that their secrets would not be revealed. Nostradamus published his first book in 1555. The book only contained the first three centuries and part of the fourth. On July 16, 1556, the queen of France sent for Nostradamus, hearing of his powers. In his two hour conversation with the Queen, Nostradamus predicted the death of the King to her. Two weeks later the Queen sent for Nostradamus again, this time to foretell the future of her children (Nijweide 3). Nostradamus predicted that all of her sons would become kings. This, however, is inaccurate because one of the sons died before he could inherit. Soon afterwards, Nostradamus was warned that the high powers of Paris were questioning his magic practices. With this news, Nostradamus fled back to Salon. Nostradamus by 1564, suffered from Dropsy, and being a doctor,

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knew his end was near. Nostradamus made his will on the June 17, 1566. On the first of July, Nostradamus sent for a priest to give him his final rites. When the priest was leaving, Nostradamus said he would not see him alive again. Sure enough, Nostradamus's body was found the very next morning. The complete books containing the centuries came off the printing press two years after Nostradamus's death (Nijweide 3). With the given information, one should be able to better understand Nostradamus, his character, and the importance of the written prophecies; prophecies that for instance, describe in uncanny detail, the consequences of our future actions that will spring out of our lust and race for technology.
The roots of technology that will ultimately lead to the Times of Trouble, are foreseen by Nostradamus. The future, if continued on its present path, will be that of secret government cover-ups and the construction of inhumane weapons without the consent or knowledge of a future people (Rodus 4). Nostradamus describes as one of the first major accidents of the future the creation of the weather modulation devices. These devices will go spastic, causing ice and hail storms of immense proportions to occur. The fault of these devices will be that of faulty programming. Weather modulator effects will cause a great deal of damage through the ice and hail. Scientists do not understand the forces they are dealing with. The natural weather pattern, in attempting to attain proper balance, will

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overcome interference. The computers will try to fight the mistakes they have created (Rodus 5). In Century X, quatrain 49, Nostradamus describes that in the U.S. Rocky Mountains a complete city will be built near to underground chambers, blasted into a mountain for the storage of secret records. The water pumped into a nuclear reactor, close in proximity to the city, will not be totally purified, and an element in the reactor will cause a meltdown, unleashing radioactive poisoning (Rodus 17). He also predicts a joint space venture involving France and America that will be behind an accident involving a space shuttle. The ship will host several incompetent scientists on board who will be conducting biological experiments to see the effects of these microorganisms without gravity. An accident and malfunction will occur, causing the ship to lose orbit and burn up on reentry to the earth"s atmosphere. Some of the microorganisms on board will survive the fall, yet they could be potential plague starters (Rodus 34-35). Additionally, In Century I, quatrain 40, Nostradamus tells of a group of research scientists who will be investigating the powers associated with the various energy fields of the earth. They will try to harness the powers for various purposes including warfare. When they begin experiments in an area near the North Sea, they will accidentally rupture one of the earth's fields so that a beam of energy will shoot out into space and cause the fall of meteorites to the earth (Rodus 39). The people will view the falling meteorites as a natural occurrence, but in reality the

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government will be covering up the entire incident. Nostradamus also claims that history books will falsely have commentaries reporting the disasters of "nature." Somewhere in the near future scientists will research how to warp and alter time to help change the outcome of a war (WWIII?). Near the end of a war, after multiple failures coincide with the use of this time device, the research complex is destroyed, because the scientists are once again dealing with powers they cannot possibly control. The vortexes of energy were not fine-tuned enough, and so the project got out of control. The government again covers up the accident, and news of it never leaks (Rodus 43). Nostradamus predicts the manufacturing of several mind-shocking weapons that will be unleashed in the coming times. These weapons, combined with earth-shattering accidents, will produce the correct amount of death and destruction the Antichrist needs to conceal his intentions and whereabouts as he continues to climb the ladder of power, waiting instinctively for the time to strike with full force. The planetary climate disrupter is just one of the many horrifying weapons prophecized by Nostradamus. A type of atomic device, not exactly a bomb, will be created that when set off, can disrupt the planetary climate. It will displace an airmass that will upset the balance of hot and cold, so that a green house effect will get out of balance and run to the extreme, causing drastic changes in the climate. This device will wreak havoc on agricultural production (Resten 67). The earth and the air will freeze as another effect of this

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atomic device. Many counter-measures to the devastating climatic effects will be pursued, but they will not succeed. Marc Hopkins brings up a good point that debunks Nostradamus and his connection of time to famines, plagues, wars ect., when he says, "Another thing to notice is that all throughout the Nostradamus you see constant references to famines, plagues, earth-shaking changes, and wars. I think that the insight is rather predictable given that the shit was literally about to hit the fan (the religious wars of Europe) when Nostradamus was writing his writings. In fact, all hell broke loose literally as soon as his book got into print" (5). A consequence of this weapon is the destruction of crops (Resten 68). A "rain of milk," (as referred to by Nostradamus in Century II, quatrain 181) pertains to nuclear weapons with bizarre effects on the weather, including a "radiation rain." The weapons will represent a combination of the worse aspects on nuclear and laser weaponry. The laser weaponry, when it is released upon the people, will resemble a white substance coming down (Resten 74). This weapon, detonated at night, will cause victims to think they have seen the sun at night. The weapons produce a huge explosion of light. In addition to vast climatic damage, the weapon will produce monstrous birth defects in babies. Scientists will frantically search for ways to alter the effects of the weapon on newborns. A breakthrough will eventually be made, based on an unexpected source originating

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from animals (Resten 87). Another weapon will be developed in secret underground laboratories that can trigger earthquakes at existing fault zones. It will work from a scientific principle recently discovered but not yet developed. An extension of the device is carried in a plane that flies over the area to be attacked and focuses energy waves where the earthquake is to be triggered. The country that develops this weapon will be its sole owner until later in time, when the Antichrist steals it and uses it for his own purposes (Resten 94). A new type of weapon involving radio waves will be developed. At certain frequencies and intensities, the energy can cause severe pain in the nerve endings and damage areas of the brain, or even produce lethal effects (Resten 102). In 1999 (Nostradamus's predicted time) and during WWIII, many areas of research will be pursued, including a eugenics project (breeding humans for selected characteristics). This particular research will have been going on for decades. The scientists attempt to bring back some of the less civilized, fiercer humans, still intelligent, but cunning and strong, for the purpose of infantry soldiers. The governments engage the breeded humans in battles, evaluating their performance (Resten 113). With the continuance of experiments like this, the human race will only plummet downward leading us into the Times of Troubles.
The Times of Trouble are referred to by many as the beginning of the end in which technological stimulation, great disaster, and extreme change occurs. An

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estimated time frame in which the period of economic depression is to begin is 1997-1999, but are these dates correct? According to Marc Hopkins they are not and he states, "As a particular, I am certain his 1999 prediction is totally off-base and is only going to generate unwanted hysteria from fundamentalists and people who act out of their own malevolence and misbegotten ideologies" (6). Proceed further for a better explanation of what prophecized events are going to take place during the Times of Troubles according to Nostradamus. In the southwest quadrant of the Atlantic Ocean, missiles are deployed into the ocean near a partially submerged American ship and a soviet submarine. The soviet commander has secret orders to provoke the American ship (orders unaware to the soviet crew). The American commander has been ordered to defend the U.S. coast but not start a war. In the process of defending his ship from the submarine, he strikes (the American commander), feeling he may have sunk the sub, and thinks the act may be interpreted as starting a war, not an act of defense. This is the event that leads the world into the Times of Trouble (Seine 217). During continuing unrest in the Middle East, one of the leaders will be able to attain the use of an atomic bomb. He will use this bomb over an insignificant quarrel because of his psychotic obsession with deadly warfare. The people he is warring against retaliate with a nuclear weapon. This country has a coast on the Mediterranean. One of the bombs will land in the Mediterranean Ocean instead of

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the land, poisoning all aquatic life. The trade in this region will be disrupted in a way that people on the other coast will be so desperate for food that they will eat the fish, disregarding the fact that they are all poisonous (Seine 217-218). The atomic weapon dropped by one of the Middle Eastern countries will spark off yet another war on top of that war. European and Western nations will try to interfere to diminish the threat of oil supplies. When the European countries try to interfere, the crazed leader will bring immense destruction to a rather large portion of south Mediterranean Europe, including France and Italy- Italy inflicted upon the worst. The mentally distraught leader is not the Antichrist but this event sets the stage for him (Seine 221). In a wargame maneuver involving Great Britain and European troops, a malfunction circuit in a computer will cause the "real world" situation to play out instead of the simulation. The teams are labeled "white" and "blue". As a result of the error, actual defenses will be activated and real bombs will be dropped on the areas of the game and cause a tragic international catastrophe (Seine 231). Back in the 1900's, aliens (supposedly, according to Nostradamus) tried to contact us. Similarly they will try again to visit the earth. The soviets are doing secret weapon research and have energy fields guarding northern approach corridors. Another spaceship will arrive. When the aliens' space ship enters the atmosphere, the fields will cause it to malfunction and many of the crew are killed. When the aliens crash, soldiers will be on hand to capture

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or kill them. The ship will have contained microorganisms that will react in bizarre ways with the earth's climate, causing plagues. The country, during the war or in the process of joining in a war, will have a paranoid mindset. The soldiers, thinking the crash is the result of enemy weapons, will shoot anything that moves (Seine 248). Political, social, and physical blunders will cause the eventual downfall of "the system" that will play us in to the hands of the Antichrist- leader of our demise and perpetrator of WWIII.
Following the Times of Trouble, WWIII breaks out. A major nuclear confrontation will occur in the middle east. The aggressor will have broken a promise to not to use nuclear warfare. Radioactive fallout and its effect on the people, animals, weather, and erupting volcanoes will turn the water on that part of the ocean a muddy red color; because of blasts and earth changes, rivers will change course and political boundary lines based on them will be redrawn (Seine 263). We will have a democratic president during WWIII. He will be involved with the conflict as a way of trying to stimulate the economy from a depression (Seine 287). In WWIII many existing diplomatic ties between nations will be broken and realigned. One that will continue to hold, however, is the alliance between France and the U.S. A force aligned with the Antichrist will send a bomb aimed at New York City. It will be spotted and tracked as it approaches. The U.S. defense system will concentrate on diverting or disabling the bomb, and the U.S.

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will not be able to retaliate. As proof of their loyalty, the French are asked to retaliate, which they do with several bombs and weapons (Seine 291). This is just the beginning of a downward spiral of prophecies connected with a future holding no prospects, only dead-end dreams and a future broken by the ensuing apocalyptic world which, according to Nostradamus, can be changed (Nijweide 17).
Nostradamus, through his prophecies, lays out a plan for the future of mankind. This "plan" is one of great misfortune. The plan is based on the world's current path and where it is headed. The future, however, is not a set plan. It can be changed by doing the right things now, for instance mass disarmament. The construction and testing of nuclear weapons, if continued, will only lead to a future, as perceived by Nostradamus, consisting of nuclear holocaust. Of course Nostradamus is only a prophet and his predictions might never come true. . . but then again, what if they do?

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Works Cited
Hopkins, Marc. "Nostradamus: The Binary Edition." 2 May 1994 14:59:25 -0500. World Wide Web. Online. AT&T Worldnet Service. 30 Oct. 1996.
Nijweide, Marc. Nostradamus. Toronto: Mansell Books, 1991.
Resten, Jason. Prophecies of Nostradamus. New York: Tancine Books, 1991.
Rodus, James. Nostradamus: Prophet. New York: Pardon Inc., 1982.
Seine, Kieth. Visions of Nostradamus. Trans. Charles Regan. Ontario: Reciprocal Publishing, 1990.