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     ¤9¥2THE PROPHECIES¥1

                  ¥2OF¥1

        ¥2NOSTRADAMUS¥1

            ¥2PART II¥1


¤1The   main   source  of  his   magical
inspirations  was  a  book  called  ¤2De
Mysteriis  Egyptorum¤1, a copy which was
published  at Lyons in 1547, and which
Nostradamus      almost      certainly
possessed,  as  he quotes from it line
for line in some of his Prophecies.
  ¤2By  1555  Nostradamus  had completed
the   first   part   of  his  book  of
prophecies¤1   that   were   to  contain
predictions  from  his time to the end
of the world.
  The   Prophecies  was  divided  into
parts   called  ¤2Centuries¤1.   This  had
ð
nothing   to   do   with   years,  but
indicated  that the part contained 100
verses    or   ¤2quatrains¤1   which   the
predictions  are  called.  Nostradamus
wrote  ten Centuries intending to make
¤21000  quatrains¤1  at  all, but for some
unknown reason the ¤2seventh Century¤1 was
never finished.  It merely consists of
42  verses.  The verses are written in
a   crabbed,  obscure  style,  with  a
polyglot    vocabulary    of   ¤6French,
Provencal,  Italian,  Greek and Latin¤1.
In  order ot avoid being prosecuted as
a magician, Nostradamus writes that he
deliberatly confused the time sequence
of   the   Prophecies  so  that  their
sexrets  would  not  be reveald to the
non initiated.
  The  method Nostradamus used  to get
his glimpses of the future was looking
into  a  bowl  of crystal clear water,
and  he  sometimes sat up all night to
do so.
Ð
  ¤4The  first edition of the Prophecies
made   Nostradamus   famous  all  over
Europe  even  if it only contained the
first  three  Centuries  and a part of
the  fourth.   The  Phrophecies became
¤6all  the rage at Court¤4, and one or two
seemed  to invoke a vertain uneasiness
among  the courtiers, particularly the
one  which  appeared  to  predict  the
¤6king's  death¤4.  The quatrain goes like
this:

¤6Le  lion  jeune  le vieux  surmon-
   tera,
En champ bellique  par  singulier
   duelle:
Dans caige d'or les yeux lui crev-
   era,
Deux  classes  une,  puis  mourir,
   mort cruelle.

¤9The  young   lion   will  overcome
the  older  one,  in  a  field  of
ð
combat  in single fight:  He  will
pierce  his  eyes in their  golden
cage;  two  wounds  in  one,  then
he dies a cruel death.


  ¤1In  1559  ¤2king  Henri  II¤1  joined  a
tournament   which  occured  during  a
double    marriage   of   his   sister
Elisabeth  to  Philip II of Spain, and
Marguerite,  his daughter  to the Duke
of Savoy. Henri was  victorius for two
days but on the third day his opponent
splintered  his  lance  and  failed to
pull it up in time, and the splintered
shaft  pierced  the king's gilt helmet
and  entered  his  head just above the
eye.    Some   reports   say  that  he
suffered a second wound in the throat.
Henri's death was cruel indeed, he lay
in  agony  for  ten  days before death
released     him.     His    opponent,
¤2Montgomery¤1,   the   captain   of   the
Ð
¤1Scottish   guard,   was   seven  years
younger  than  the  king,  and finally
Henri  sometimes  used  a  lion as his
emblem.
  Another  famous  quatrain  is  about
¤2Hitler¤1.   In  the  verse  he is called
¤2Hister¤1,  but  Nostradamus  often  used
anagrams of the names.


¤6Bestes  farouches de faim fleuves
   tranner,
Plus   part   du  champ  encontre
   Hister sera.
En caige  de  fer  le grand  fera
   treisner,
Quand   rien  enfant  de  Germain
   observera.

¤9Beasts  wild   with  hunger   will
cross  the  rivers,   the  greater
parts  of the battlefield  will be
against   Hister.   He  will  drag
ð
the  leader  in  a  cage of  iron,
when the child of Germany observes
no law.


¤4And,  as  a last thought this quatrain
about  the  future,  which is the only
one an exact date is given:


¤6L'an  mil neuf  cens nonante  neuf
   sept mois,
Du  ciel  viendra   un  grand  Roi
   deffraieur.
Resusciter  le  grand  Roi
   d'Angolmois.
Avant  que  Mars  regner  par  bon
   heur.

¤9In   the  year  1999,   and  seven
months,    from   the   sky   will
come   the   great  King  of  Ter-
ror.  He will bring  back  to life
Ð
¤9the  great king  of  the  Mongols.
Before   and  after   War   reigns
happily.


¤1The  material  to   this  article  was
mostly  taken  from the  ¤2Prophecies of
Nostradamus¤1 by ¤2Erika Cheetham¤1.
Ð