The 16th century French astrologer and prophet Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, has intrigued and beguiled the world for nearly 500 years with his cryptic predictions of the future. Published in 1555, his magnum opus Les Prophéties is a collection of 942 poetic quatrains that have been credited with foretelling everything from the French Revolution to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As we embark upon a new year, the question arises: what, if anything, did the legendary seer predict for 2023?
The Enduring Allure of Nostradamus
Before diving into his alleged predictions for our times, it‘s worth exploring why Nostradamus continues to captivate our collective imagination nearly five centuries after his death. Born in 1503 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, Nostradamus lived in an age of great upheaval. It was a time of religious warfare between Catholics and Protestants, with plague and famine rampant. The educated son of a notary, Nostradamus originally pursued a career as a physician before turning to the mystical arts of astrology and divination.[^1]
| Major Events in Nostradamus‘ Lifetime |
|--------------------------------------|
| 1515-1547: Reign of Francis I |
| 1517: Start of Protestant Reformation |
| 1519-1556: Rule of King Henry II |
| 1546-1547: First published prophecies |
| 1555: Les Prophéties published |
| 1562-1598: French Wars of Religion |In this era of uncertainty and anxiety, people hungered for signs of what was to come. Nostradamus obliged, using techniques like astrology, scrying, and divine inspiration to peer into the future. But he was always careful to couch his predictions in vague, metaphorical language. This ambiguity allowed him to avoid accusations of heresy from the Church while also ensuring his prophecies could be retrofitted to many possible outcomes.
Indeed, a close examination of Nostradamus‘ quatrains reveals that they are so cryptic as to be essentially meaningless until one knows the events they supposedly predict. Once you know what to look for, it becomes easy to cherry-pick words and phrases that seem to match the specifics of a past event. Scholars refer to this as "retroactive clairvoyance" – the tendency to see uncanny parallels between historical events and earlier prophecies, while ignoring the many predictions that failed to come true.[^2]
Nostradamus‘ Greatest Hits
Nevertheless, Nostradamus has been credited with predicting some of the most momentous events in modern history. For example, consider this quatrain:
From the enslaved populace, songs,
Chants and demands
While princes and lords are held captive in prisons.
These will in the future by headless idiots
Be received as divine prayers[^3]
Many see this as a clear reference to the French Revolution of 1789, which saw the monarchy overthrown and the royals imprisoned. Another quatrain seems to predict the rise of Adolf Hitler:
From the depths of the West of Europe,
A young child will be born of poor people,
He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop;
His fame will increase towards the realm of the East.[^4]
Believers argue the "young child" born to "poor people" is Adolf Hitler, who seduced the German masses with his fiery oratory and led them towards war with the eastern powers of Russia. And then there‘s this infamous prediction of the 9/11 attacks:
In the year of the new century and nine months,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror…
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees.
Fire approaches the great new city…[^5]
If you squint, "the new century and nine months" could be interpreted as September 2001, while the burning sky and "great new city" seem to evoke the sight of the Twin Towers ablaze in New York City.
2023: The Year of Nostradamus?
So what does Nostradamus have in store for 2023? As usual, his predictions are couched in cryptic language that could apply to almost anything. But here are some of the common interpretations making the rounds:
One quatrain warns of soaring inflation and food shortages so severe that people resort to cannibalism:
No abbots, monks, no novices to learn;
Honey shall cost far more than candle-wax;
So high the price of wheat,
That man is stirred
His fellow man to eat in his despair.[^6]
Another speaks of a great war erupting, perhaps even World War III:
Seven months the Great War, people dead of evil-doing.
Rouen, Evreux shall not fall to the King.[^7]
Some have interpreted this to mean the war in Ukraine will dramatically escalate this year, threatening Paris ("Rouen, Evreux shall not fall.") Others believe it may refer to an entirely new conflict.
Nostradamus also seems to predict worsening natural disasters from climate change in 2024:
For forty years the rainbow will not be seen.
For forty years it will be seen every day.
The dry earth will grow more parched,
and there will be great floods when it is seen.[^8]
The increased flooding and droughts Nostradamus describes certainly match scientific projections of what‘s to come as global temperatures continue to rise.
There‘s even a prophecy for anyone fearing that Elon Musk‘s plans to colonize Mars will be thwarted:
The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt.
An evil deed, foretold by the bearer of a petition.
According to some, the "great man" is Musk and the "petition" is an accident report describing a disaster that ruins his Mars ambitions.[^9]
Separating Fact from Fiction
As compelling as these predictions may seem, we must take them with a heaping spoonful of salt. Nostradamus‘ prophecies are so obscure that they can be twisted to fit almost any event after the fact. Countless predictions he made failed to come true, but these are simply ignored in favor of the few that can be made to fit.
The truth is that Nostradamus‘ enduring popularity says far more about the human psyche than it does about his prophetic abilities. In times of great uncertainty and upheaval, people crave a sense of order and predictability. The idea that the course of history is preordained and that someone long ago foresaw the trials we face today offers a strange sort of comfort, even if the predictions themselves are gloomy.[^10]
| Why People Believe in Prophecies |
|----------------------------------|
| Sense of control in uncertain times |
| Confirmation bias (noticing predictions that fit, ignoring others) |
| Retroactive clairvoyance (reinterpreting vague predictions to fit events after the fact) |
| Apophenia (perceiving patterns and connections where there are none) |Moreover, our brains are hardwired to notice patterns and create meaning from randomness. The psychological term for this is "apophenia" – it‘s what allows us to pick a four-leaf clover out of a field or to see shapes in the clouds. But when applied to vague prophecies, it can lead us to twist an author‘s words to fit our preconceived notions while ignoring any contradictory evidence.[^11]
None of this is to suggest that the troubles Nostradamus warns of are not real. The year 2023 is likely to bring continued challenges in the form of high inflation, geopolitical instability, extreme weather events and more. But these are complex issues with material causes, not the result of supernatural forces foreseen by a French mystic five centuries ago.
Ultimately, the events of 2023 will be shaped by the choices we make in the present. No matter what Nostradamus may or may not have predicted, it is up to us to create the future we want to see. As the man himself once wrote, "I had determined to go as far as declaring in abstruse and puzzling utterances the future causes of the "common advent", even those truly cogent ones that I have foreseen. Yet lest whatever human changes may be to come should scandalise delicate ears, the whole thing is written in nebulous form, rather than as a clear prophecy of any kind."[^12]
In other words, don‘t believe everything you read on the Internet. The future is ours to write.
[^1]: Lemesurier, P. (2003). The Unknown Nostradamus. O Books.[^2]: Randi, J. (1993). The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World‘s Most Famous Seer. Prometheus Books.
[^3]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain I.14
[^4]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain III.35
[^5]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain X.72
[^6]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain II.75
[^7]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain VIII.16
[^8]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain I.17
[^9]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Quatrain I.28
[^10]: Shermer, M. (2002). "Shermer‘s Last Law". Scientific American, 286(1).
[^11]: Carroll, R.T. (2014). "Apophenia". The Skeptic‘s Dictionary.
[^12]: Nostradamus. (1555). Les Prophéties. Preface to his son, César.
