Nostradamus

Nostradamus, (December 14, 1503 – July 1, 1566) born Michel de Nostredame, is one of the world's most famous authors of prophecies. He is most famous for his book Les Propheties, which consists of rhymed quatrains (4‑line poems) grouped into sets of 100, called Centuries.

Misquotes and hoaxes

Nostradamus' writings have frequently been misquoted and, in some instances, even deliberately altered in order to "prove" that he supposedly predicted various events. Since the advent of the Internet, many prophecies have even been fabricated outright, therefore enhancing the mystique of Nostradamus. For example, after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, the following was circulated on the Internet along with many more elaborate variants:

Related Topics:
Internet - September 11 Terrorist Attacks

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: In the City of God there will be a great thunder,

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: Two brothers torn apart by Chaos,

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: while the fortress endures,

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: the great leader will succumb,

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: The third big war will begin when the big city is burning

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As it turns out, the first four lines were indeed written before the attacks, but by a Canadian graduate student named Neil Marshall as part of a research paper in 1997. Ironically enough, the research paper included this poem as an illustrative example of how the validity of prophecies are often exaggerated. For example, the "City of God" (why is New York City the City of God?), "great thunder" (could apply to just about any disaster), "Two brothers" (lots of things come in pairs), and "the great leader will succumb" phrases are so ambiguous as to be meaningless. The fifth line was added by an anonymous Internet user, showing obvious alteration since Nostradamus wrote his Propheties in four-line verses called quatrains. Nostradamus also never actually referred to a "third big war".

Related Topics:
Canadian - 1997 - New York City - Quatrains

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Sometimes, though, the hoaxes are tongue-in-cheek:

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: Come the millennium, month 12

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: In the home of greatest power,

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: The village idiot will come forth

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: To be acclaimed the leader.

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Referring to the election of George W. Bush as President of the United States.

Related Topics:
George W. Bush - United States

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To verify the authenticity of a purported Nostradamus quatrain, compare the identifying number (e.g.: C1, Q25 means Century 1, Quatrain 25) against an authoritative version of Nostradamus' works — which will likely also contain the original old French. Even the Preface and the Epistle to Henry II have been assigned numbers (i.e., PF50, EP102).

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