Recently, there have been a lot of “Nostradamus predictions” circulating online and in tabloid publications that assert Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine would spark a third world war.
Having previously “predicted” a worldwide famine in 2022 that would be so severe that people would begin eating one another (“No abbots, monks, no novices to study; Honey shall cost considerably more than candle-wax. Wheat is so expensive that the man is alarmed. In his desperation, he fed his fellow man. Seven months of world conflict apparently have more in store for mankind, according to Nostradamus.
The Nostradamus line that makes people uneasy reads “seven months into the Great War, bad deeds claimed lives. Rouen and Evreux won’t be taken by the king “.
The Daily Star, a British tabloid, speculates that this “could be seen to allude to a larger World War 3 conflict stemming from the troubles in Ukraine arising next year,” adding that while the conflict’s seven-month timeline may initially seem like a reason for celebration, it may be wiser to err on the side of caution given the terrifying nuclear arsenals of nations like America and Russia.
Another prediction claims that a famine is coming in which wheat prices would rise to such an extent that people will begin to devour one another, which you might relate to World War III if you were into that sort of thing.
There will be no novices, monks, or abbots; honey will be much more expensive than candle wax. Wheat is so expensive that the man is alarmed. In his desperation, he ate his fellow man.
Was Nostradamus really a strong magician afflicted with the ability to foretell the future?
No.
The beautiful thing about making future predictions is that you may appear to be right about a wider range of subjects the more hazy you are. The reason horoscopes avoid using phrases like “look out for that Lego brick little Daniel left on the stairs on Tuesday or you’re in for a world of pain” in favor of statements like “the Sun in the harmonic aspect will make you experience great changes,” which is incredibly ambiguous and unhelpful in the case of the Lego situation.
Nostradamus was particularly adept at making prophecies that were so vague that someone would finally be able to link them to a not-too-dissimilar real-world occurrence. In that, you could not reasonably fathom what he was forecasting before the event occurred, but after the occurrence, you can locate a line that makes it seem like he had known all along, these are what are known as “postdictions.” Even then, their accuracy is questionable.
For example, a sentence that is cited as foretelling Hitler’s ascent would not in any way alert you to Hitler himself:
“A newborn child of poor people will be born from the depths of Western Europe; He who by his mouth shall seduce a huge troop; His fame shall increase into the realm of the East.”
You might be able to infer, if you had read it earlier, that he meant a prominent person would be born in Western Europe, but that’s about it. Because of this highly ambiguous line, people believed that Nostrodamus must have been alluding to Hitler once he came to power and once more hailed him as a phenomenal prediction wizard.
