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The Sixains are unique among the Prophecies of Nostradamus for several reasons. First, none of them seem to have been publicly published during his life. They were not included in the various Centuries, nor were they published in the various Almanacs, the source of the Presages. Second, they also do not seem to follow the normal pattern that Nostradamus had adhered to in the various quatrains, found in the Centuries and the Almanacs. Finally, unlike the tightly written quatrains, the Sixains seem to be broadly written; fulfillable in several different ways, having multiple interpretations.
Based on what I knew of the timing of their publication, combined with the seemingly vagueness of their interpretation, I was ready to dismiss the Sixains as the work of a charlatan. I would have included them, but would have given a very stern warning about them being the work of a charlatan, even though Sève claimed to have gotten them from Henri Nostradamus, a fact I would have mentioned. I would have translated each of the sixains and presented them without interpreting any of them. But I had the chance to lay eyes on a copy of one of the more significant works of Chavigny, reputed secretary to Michael Nostradamus. In his “La Premiere Face du Janus,” I found several sixains. If he was Nostradamus’ secretary, Chavigny would have reason to know his master’s work, he would not claim a sixain was Nostradamus’ if it was not in fact written by the doctor. Based on this, I reluctantly accepted the Sixains as valid.
In spite of this proof of their validity, I still had reason to doubt the Sixains are ordinary Nostradamus prognostications. As I have stated, the Sixains seem to be fulfillable by multiple events, they seem to be vague and broadly written without any one specific fulfillment to these prophecies, which is very different from the focused approach in the various quatrains, past, present and future. It is, I must admit, a quandary.
Yet there does seem to be one significant factor that may solve the dilemma. A cursory examination of all the possible fulfillments of the Sixains reveals one significant detail. All of the Sixains seem to be fulfillable by focusing solely on the Royal Family of Capet. If this was the case, then the Sixains would deal with issues that the royal house would have to know and deal with.
When one looks at it this way, the Sixains suddenly make sense. According to Vincent Sève, the booklet that contained the works were supposed to go to Henri IV himself. If they were truly meant to deal with issues that the royal house would need to know, it would then not matter if they had other possible interpretations – what would matter would be the interpretation that the royal house would need to know, that would affect the royal house in some way. It would explain why a copy of the book was given to Henri IV by Vincent Sève at the reputed insistence of Henri Nostradamus who died before he could do it. Being the current reigning branch of the House of Capet, the House of Bourbon would naturally assume the mantle. It was therefore important that the current king, Henri IV, the first of the Bourbon line of Capet to rule France, be quickly given the book.
Yet Sève had delayed, procrastinated, and finally given the book to Henri in 1605. This was most likely because he included it in his own Prophecies of Nostradamus, which he wanted to be as complete a compilation as was possible. Besides, the Chavigny work indicates that, as was common for all matters of royalty, the Sixains had already become public by some means beyond the control of both the Capétiens and Nostradamus.
From this and the fact that the Sixains were not publically published for a long time, I have come to the conclusion that they were specifically written as a set of private prophecies for the House of Capet, the line of kings that had ruled France since Hugh Capet was crowned King of the Franks in 987.
This is, of course, only my own theory. But it certainly fits the facts. I am convinced the Sixains were intended to be a private book of prophecies. Read them with this in mind.