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The Centuries

The Main Prophecies of Nostradamus

The quatrains of the Centuries are the most numerous of the various prophecies of Nostradamus. And they can be some of the most frustrating. This is because of the fundamental nature of the quatrain. A quatrain is a four line poem where at least two words and the end of two of the lines must rhyme. Ideally, there should be two sets of rhyming words, but unless it has one set it is not a quatrain.

With few exceptions, this requirement of making at least two words rhyme made for a very difficult task. Very often Nostradamus altered one or two words just so he could have the rhyming sequence going. Not always, there were often times he was able to find a natural pair of words that not only rhymed but fit the meaning of what he was trying to say. But there were times when he had no other choice.

It is also true that the quatrains have only one meaning and, in general, they were written that way. This is what Nostradamus said in his Epistle to his son Cesar and I have no reason to disbelieve him. This does not mean that in all cases the quatrains can have been fulfilled by one interpretation for there are some quatrains that can be fulfilled in several ways. Nostradamus may not have intended it that way, he definitely had a single vision for each quatrain he wrote, but it is still true. Quatrain 89 of Century 2 is a classic example of a quatrain that could have multiple explanations. And of course there are skeptics who love to be vague in all they say so they can claim that everything Nostradamus said was vague and had multiple interpretations. That said, when one utilizes specific examples and focuses on the details, something that most skeptics refuse to do, most of the possible multiple explanations are usually removed through logic and argument. But this does leave a few times when such is not the case. Therefore, whenever there were multiple explanations, I used a simple and easy rule of thumb to figure out which meaning Nostradamus likely meant: Whenever possible, use the French explanation. Nostradamus was a Frenchman and, being French, would naturally focus on his nation. I found this rule useful a few times.

There are ten centuries that Nostradamus definitely released, each supposedly with a hundred quatrains. Yet even with this certainty one must be cautious. The sixth century has an extra quatrain making the number one hundred and one quatrains, but the extra quatrain is almost certainly a forgery – I include it with a warning in the off chance that it is something that came from the hand of Nostradamus. The seventh century had under fifty quatrains. Finally, the eighth century has six extra quatrains of somewhat dubious origin yet I cannot say with any reasonable certainty that they are forgeries like I can with the extra quatrain of the sixth century.

Thanks to Chavigny, we have reason to believe that he was sketching out two more centuries when he passed away. What little we know of the eleventh and twelfth centuries is listed here.

Be sure to select which century you wish to visit from the menu above.