Ep. 138: Nostradamus – Top 5 Predictions
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode is on history’s original soothsayer Michel de Nostredame.
Born in France in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Nostradamus was one of at least nine children of Renee de Saint-Remy and grain dealer and notary Jacques de Nostredame.
From an early age Nostradamus showed skill in a range of disciplines which included mathematics, astrology, language, medicine, and of course prophecy. Both of his grandfathers were court physicians and helped educate Nostradamus in the discipline of medicine along with the forbidden arts of Kabbalah and alchemy.
By day he would be practicing his medicine and saving lives as he did especially during the bubonic plague, and by night delving into prophecy and the darker arts. Ironically and tragically Nostradamus was unable to save both his wife and two children who died during the plague outbreak in 1534.
As his fame grew, he was sought after by the rich and famous to prepare their horoscopes, notably a favourite of Queen Catherine de Medici. He wrote and published books with his most famous Les Propheties published in 1555 containing a collection of 942 poetic quatrains.
Today’s mnemonic will be on Nostradamus’s top five predictions.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566[1]), usually Latinised as Nostradamus,[a] was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book Les Prophéties (published in 1555), a collection of 942[b] poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events.
Nostradamus's father's family had originally been Jewish, but had converted to Catholic Christianity a generation before Nostradamus was born. He studied at the University of Avignon, but was forced to leave after just over a year when the university closed due to an outbreak of the plague. He worked as an apothecary for several years before entering the University of Montpellier, hoping to earn a doctorate, but was almost immediately expelled after his work as an apothecary (a manual trade forbidden by university statutes) was discovered. He first married in 1531, but his wife and two children died in 1534 during another plague outbreak. He worked against the plague alongside other doctors before remarrying to Anne Ponsarde, with whom he had six children. He wrote an almanac for 1550 and, as a result of its success, continued writing them for future years as he began working as an astrologer for various wealthy patrons. Catherine de' Medici became one of his foremost supporters. His Les Prophéties, published in 1555, relied heavily on historical and literary precedent, and initially received mixed reception. He suffered from severe gout toward the end of his life, which eventually developed into edema. He died on 1 or 2 July 1566. Many popular authors have retold apocryphal legends about his life.
In the years since the publication of his Les Prophéties, Nostradamus has attracted many supporters, who, along with some of the popular press, credit him with having accurately predicted many major world events.[7][8] Academic sources reject the notion that Nostradamus had any genuine supernatural prophetic abilities and maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains are the result of (sometimes deliberate) misinterpretations or mistranslations.[9] These academics also argue that Nostradamus's predictions are characteristically vague, meaning they could be applied to virtually anything, and are useless for determining whether their author had any real prophetic powers.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostradamus]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nostradamus_1555.jpeg
Mnemonic
Nostradamus – Top 5 Predictions Mnemonic – All Knowing Nostradamus Gives Divination
(Picture the all-knowing Nostradamus giving his divination to thousands of people in the centre of Paris)
1. The Adolf Hitler Rise
2. The Kennedy Assassination
3. The Nagasaki and Hiroshima Bombs
4. The Great Fire of London
5. The Death of Henry II
Five Fun Facts
1. The Rise of Adolf Hitler. Nostradamus’s words were and I quote:
‘From the depths of the West of Europe,
A young child will be born of poor people, (yes, his parents were poor)
He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop; (yes, Hitler did talk and yell a lot)
His fame will increase towards the realm of the East.’ (Took over Poland)
‘Beasts ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers, (invasion of countries)
The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister. (Hitler could be misspelled, but it could also be an archaic name for the Danube, though Hitler was born only a few miles from the Danube)
Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn (use of tanks),
When the child of Germany observes nothing.’ (could refer to the holocaust which occurred outside of Germany).
2. The Kennedy Assassination. The reference is as follows: 'From on high, evil will fall on the great man'. (Which could possibly refer to the fact he was shot from above and at distance.) 'A dead innocent will be accused of the deed'. (Which screams Lee Harvey Oswald.) To add to this Nostradamus assures us the true guilty party will ‘remain in the mist’. (thus, the real killer remains a mystery)
3. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombs. Nostradamus writes: 'Within two cities, there will be scourges the like of which was never seen. (Certainly, applies to Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombs.) ‘Famine and plaque’ (can refer to radiation and the general effects of war.) ‘People put out by steel’ (which could refer to the planes that dropped the bombs.)
4. The Great Fire of London. It goes as follows: 'The blood of the just will commit a fault at London, (so London is directly mentioned) Burnt through lightning (it wasn’t started by lightning rather a spark in the bakery) of twenty threes the six: (20*3+6) equal 66 which is the year that it occurred) The ancient lady will fall from her high place, (maybe London itself) Several of the same sect will be killed.' (6 humans died)
5. The Death of Henry II of France. This is an interesting one because Nostradamus was actually a personal acquaintance of Henry II. The quatrain says 'the young lion will overcome the older one', (Henry was jousting with one of his young soldiers) that he will 'pierce his eyes through a golden cage', (yes, the lance splintered and went through Henry’s eye and skull) and that 'two wounds' will ensure a 'cruel death'. (A slow and painful death from sepsis did follow)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nostradamus_Gaultier.jpg
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. Nostradamus' predictions are written in four-line verses called what?
Q.2. The following quatrain refers to who?
"An Emperor will be born near Italy,
Who will cost the Empire very dearly.
They will say, when they see his allies,
That he is less a prince than a butcher."
Options are: Benito Mussolini or Napoleon Bonaparte
Q.3. What did Nostradamus claim to use as a basis for his prophecies? Options are: The Bible, History, or Astrology
Bonus Q. What was Nostradamus’s final prediction? Options are: The end of the world, Man walking on the moon, or his own death
Mnemonic Recap
Nostradamus – Top 5 Predictions Mnemonic – All Knowing Nostradamus Gives Divination
(Picture the all-knowing Nostradamus giving his divination to thousands of people in the centre of Paris)
1. The Adolf Hitler Rise
2. The Kennedy Assassination
3. The Nagasaki and Hiroshima Bombs
4. The Great Fire of London
5. The Death of Henry II
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. Nostradamus' predictions are written in four-line verses called what?
A. Quatrains
Q.2. The following quatrain refers to who?
"An Emperor will be born near Italy,
Who will cost the Empire very dearly.
They will say, when they see his allies,
That he is less a prince than a butcher."
Options are: Benito Mussolini or Napoleon Bonaparte
A. Napoleon Bonaparte who was born in Corsica
Q.3. What did Nostradamus claim to use as a basis for his prophecies? Options are: The Bible, History, or Astrology
A. Astrology
Now, just speaking of Nostradamus. I was at the fair a few weeks back. Anyway, I was walking around, I just happened to hear a carnie shouting "Step right up, step right up and spin the Wheel of Nostradamus and win a prize!" So, I was intrigued so I approached the man and asked him how much for a spin. The carnie replied "Only ten dollars per spin Sir". Anyway, I was outraged and asked him why it was so expensive? To which he replied “Yeah, fair enough, I’m just trying to turn a profit!”
Bonus Q. What was Nostradamus’s final prediction? Options are: The end of the world, Man walking on the moon, or his own death
A. His own death, telling his assistant, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." He died that evening.
Word of the Week
preponderant
[ pri-pon-der-uhnt ]
adjective
superior in weight, force, influence, numbers, etc.; prevailing.
Example
The preponderant evidence is lacking to definitively say that Nostradamus predicted events such as the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs, the Great Fire of London, and the Death of Henry II.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
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References
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/nostradamus-which-of-his-predictions-came-true
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/did-nostradamus-really-predict-the-rise-of-adolf-hitler
https://upjoke.com/nostradamus-jokes
https://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nostradamus