Nostradamus

Nostradamus was born Michel de Nostradame in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France in 1503. He studied medicine and became a physician, treating plague victims throughout France and Italy. It’s believed he had a psychic awakening. He began to practice the occult and make predictions of the future, which he published in The Prophecies. Many people today believe his predictions have come true or will in the future.

Astrologer and physician. Born Michel de Nostradame, December 14 or 21 1503. French astrologer and physician known for his prophecies which he published in a book entitled The Prophecies in 1555, which have become famous worldwide.

Michel de Nostradame was born in the south of France in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, one of nine children to Reyniere de St-Remy, and her husband Jaume de Nostradame, a well-to-do grain dealer and part-time notary of Jewish dissent. Nostradame's grandfather, Guy Gassonet, had converted to Catholicism a half century earlier and changed the family name to Nostradame, in part to avoid persecution during the Inquisition.

Little is known of his childhood, but evidence indicates he was very intelligent as he quickly advanced through school. Early in his life, he was tutored by his maternal grandfather, Jean de St. Remy, who saw great intellect and potential in his grandson. During this time, young Nostradame was taught the rudiments of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and mathematics. It is believed that his grandfather also introduced him to the ancient rights of Jewish tradition and the celestial sciences of astrology, giving Nostradame his first exposure to the idea of the heavens and how they drive human destiny.

At the age of 14, Nostradame entered the University of Avignon to study medicine. He was forced to leave after only one year, however, due to an outbreak of the bubonic plague. According to his own account, he traveled throughout the countryside during this time, researching herbal remedies and working as an apothecary. In 1522 he entered the University of Montpelier to complete his doctorate in medicine. He sometimes expressed dissension with the teachings of the Catholic priests, who dismissed his notions of astrology. There are some reports that university officials discovered his previous experience as an apothecary and found this reason to expel him from school. Evidently the school took a dim view of anyone who was involved in what was considered a "manual trade." However, most accounts state he was not expelled and received license to practice medicine in 1525. At this time he Latinized his name—as was the custom of many medieval academics—from Nostradame to Nostradamus.

In 1538, an offhanded remark about a religious statue resulted in charges of heresy against Nostradamus. When ordered to appear before the Church Inquisition, he wisely chose to leave Province to travel for several years through Italy, Greece and Turkey. During his travels to the ancient mystery schools, it is believed that Nostradamus experienced a psychic awakening. One of the legends of Nostradamus says that, during his travels in Italy, he came upon a group of Franciscan monks, identifying one as the future Pope. The monk, called Felice Peretti, was ordained Pope Sixtus V in 1585, fulfilling the prediction of Nostradamus.

Feeling he'd stayed away long enough to be safe from the inquisition, Nostradamus returned to France to resume his practice of treating plague victims. In 1547, he settled in his home-town of Salon-de-Province and married a rich widow named Anne Ponsarde. Together they had six children—three boys and three girls. Nostradamus also published two books on medical science by this time. One, was a translation of Galen, the Roman physician, and a second book, The Traite des Fardemens, was a medical cookbook for treating the plague and the preparation of cosmetics.

Within a few years of his settling into Salon, Nostradamus began moving away from medicine and more toward the occult. It is said that he would spend hours in his study at night meditating in front of a bowl filled with water and herbs. The meditation would bring on a trance and visions. It is believed the visions were the basis of his predictions for the future. In 1550, Nostradamus wrote his first almanac of astrological information and predictions of the coming year. Almanacs were very popular at the time, as they provided useful information for farmers and merchants and contained entertaining bits of local folklore and predictions of the coming year. Nostradamus began writing about his visions and incorporating them into his first almanac. The publication received a great response, and served to spread his name all across France, which encouraged Nostradamus to write more.

Nostradamus suffered from gout and arthritis for much of his adult life. In the last years of his life, the condition turned into edema or dropsy, where abnormal amounts of fluid accumulate beneath the skin or within cavities of the body. Without treatment, the condition resulted in congestive heart failure. In late June of 1566, Nostradamus asked to see his lawyer to draw up an extensive will, leaving much of his estate to his wife and children. On the evening of July 1, he is alleged to have told his secretary Jean de Chavigny, "You will not fine me alive at sunrise." The next morning he was reportedly found dead lying on the floor next to his bed.

Most of the quatrains Nostradamus composed during his life dealt with disasters such as plagues, earthquakes, wars, floods, invasions murders, droughts, and battles. Nostradamus enthusiasts have credited him with predicting numerous events in world history including the French Revolution; the rise of Napoleon and Hitler; the development of the atomic bomb; and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Nostradamus's popularity seems to be due in part to the fact that the vagueness of his writings and their lack of specific dates make it easy to selectively quote them after any major dramatic events and retrospectively claim them as true. Some scholars believe he was not writing to be a prophet, but writing to comment on events of his time and the people in it. Whatever his method or intentions, Nostradamus' timeless predictions continue to make him popular to those seeking answers to life's more difficult questions.