Nostradamus Quatrains

The Nostradamus quatrains are four line stanzas written by the famous seer and apothecary, Michel de Nostredame. He is known to have written around 1000 prophecies (942 to be precise) in the form of quatrains. The quatrains by Nostradamus are grouped into 'Centuries' and each of them contains on an average, 100 quatrains. 'The Centuries' were published in the year 1555. The essence or core of what Nostradamus had to say (according to some people) is that the course of events in the future can be changed with informed decisions. The knowledge of multiple-travel lines that humanity treads along and awareness regarding consequences/results of this journey can help prevent many of the disasters and tragic events. The predictions should however, be taken as subjective. Different people can derive various meanings from these quatrains. Believing every word of these quatrains, deriving some meaning and associating it with tragic events of the present wouldn't be sensible.

Explanation of Nostradamus' Prophecies
The original quatrains by Nostradamus were written in French. The noteworthy Nostradamus prophecies, that have been translated into English are presented below.

The year 1999 seven month,
From the sky will come a great King of terror:
To bring back to life the great King of Angolmois, (the Mongols),
Before after Mars to reign by good luck
(Century X, Quatrain 72)

This quatrain from the Century X gives hints about the doomsday prediction of July, 1999. As we are in the year 2010, obviously, his predictions about the World War 3 didn't come true. However, let's understand more about this quatrain. The 'king' that is referred to in the quatrain is considered as the Third Antichrist named 'Mabus'. The name, Mabus has occurred in the 62nd quatrain of Century II. He is considered the same as 'North African Terrorist' mentioned in 30th quatrain of Century II. Genghis Khan who inflicted terror and massacred millions of people can be tagged as the great king of Terror.

At forty-five degrees, the sky will burn,
Fire approaches the great new city,
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up
When they want to have verification from the Norman
(Century VI, Quatrain 97)

The above quatrain points to a city in the New World. The words, 'forty-five degrees' indicates latitudes and New York fits well in this description.

Fabrication of Nostradamian Quatrains
The prophecies were fabricated in many cases and presented before readers as true/original content. These fabrications are similar in nature to the hoaxes pertaining to Nostradamus predictions about 2012 end of the world. One of the best examples of this fabricated/false prophecy is that of September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Given below is the fake Nostradamus quatrain.

In the city of york there will be a great collapse,
2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos
While the fortress falls; the great leader will succumb;
Third big war will begin when the big city is burning.

The quatrains of Nostradamus were printed in the year 1568, couple of years after he passed away. There have been many attempts thereafter, to use his quatrains for future predictions or simply as prophecies. The following quatrain is one such piece of literary works produced by Nostradamus that (apparently) refers to Adolf Hitler the German dictator.

Beasts ferocious from hunger will swim across rivers:
The greater part of the region will be against the Hister,
The great one will cause it to be dragged in an iron cage,
When the German child will observe nothing.
(Century II, Quatrain 24)

The quatrains should be looked upon as brilliant pieces of poetry. Any attempt of deriving meanings from the Nostradamus prophecies and predictions would only lead to regression and it would be a total loss of time. Instead, we should appreciate the quality of literature produced by Nostradamus and move on.