This section lists and comments the quatrains that explain the Centuries encoding. The criteria for regrouping the quatrains are based mainly on logic.
How to read the Centuries
H010 Foreword
Indeed, someone, who would do well to blow his nose, may reply that the rhythm is as easy as the sense is difficult. That, O Most Humane king, is because most of the prophetic quatrains are so ticklish that there is no making way through them, nor is there any interpreting of them.
Posted by: Laury
Nostradamus must have been hurt by some attacks that pertain to the quality of his rhymes. And he is aware of the near impossibility to interpret many of his quatrains. He explains that it was not easy for him because of some particular writing constraints that are greater than for ordinary poets.
H028 Foreword
But the danger of the times, O Most Serene King, requires that such secrets should not be bared except in enigmatic sentences having, however, only one sense and meaning, and nothing ambiguous or amphibological inserted.
Posted by: Laury
His verses are not ambiguous, and they have only one meaning, he says. But this assertion requires an interpretation. As a matter of fact, all the seer contends is that the quatrains have a precise meaning - but the reader may be misled because of several possible interpretations. Enigmatic sentences are necessary because some events must remain secret until the time has come to reveal them. He also affirms that the astrology he uses cannot be criticized and that his calculations are accurate.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Le phénomène de "l'injure du temps" requiert de ne s'exprimer qu'à mots couverts car le roi se sentirait personnellement insulté par la révélation des événements futurs. Et à regarder l'histoire en perspective, cela paraît certain. Ses vers n'ont rien d'ambigu, écrit-il, et ils n'ont qu'un seul sens - mais il ne faut pas prendre ces propos au pied de la lettre - ND signifie certainement qu'il ne faut retenir qu'un seul sens parmi tout ceux que les quatrains permettent. Les calculs astrologiques n'ont rien de reprochable écrit-il aussi.
H009 Foreword
Most of them have been integrated with astronomical calculations corresponding to the years, months and weeks of the regions, countries and most of the towns and cities of all Europe, including Africa and part of Asia, where most of all these coming events are to transpire. They are composed in a natural manner.
Posted by: Laury
Most of the quatrains were dated according to some astrological calculations that were adapted according to the geography. The prophecies concern Africa, Europe and a part of Asia. America is forgotten although it is explicitly named in Quatrain 10-66. The Christians space is Nostradamus' major preoccupations.
Posted by: YahnAmar
La plupart des quatrains est datée selon des calculs astrologiques ajustés en fonction des éphémérides et ils sont composés au fur et à mesure des calculs. Cette révélation n'implique pas que les quatrains ont été initialement disposés selon l'ordre de leur déroulement mais seulement selon la séquence des calculs astrologiques qui n'est pas forcément chronologique.
Les prophéties se rapportent à l'Afrique, l'Europe et une partie de l'Asie. L'Amérique oubliée joue pourtant un rôle majeur en occident depuis 150 ans mais elle n'est citée dans les Centuries qu'au Quatrain X-066. L'espace chrétien d'Europe, est donc au centre de ses préoccupations. On peut ainsi voir que sa vision est conditionnée par la situation de son époque. Le poète n'a pas tout vu ni tout prévu, et il serait erroné de le prendre pour un dieu.
Posted by: MarcusLerr
Si Nostradamus n'avait pas voulu consigné les lieux et le temps, alors pourquoi écrire ?
H011 Foreword
Nevertheless, I wanted to leave a record in writing of the years, towns, cities and regions in which most of the events will come to pass, even those of the year 1585 and of the year 1606, reckoning from the present time, which is March 14, 1557,
Posted by: Laury
Nostradamus wants to leave a trace of the years, cities and regions, he says - and this is very legitimate and natural - otherwise, why write? With an attentive reading and a deep thinking over the meaning of this sentence, one may find that it contains a "decodating" (decoding of dates) key.
H013 Foreword
I have calculated and composed all during choice hours of well-disposed days, and as accurately as I could, all when Minerva was free and not unfavorable.
Posted by: Laury
Nostradamus has a non-linear system based on astrology. If the "hours of election" mean "those of his choice". It could say that the system is intuitive without an absolute mathematical rigor and exactness.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Nostradamus dispose les quatrains aussi bien qu'il le peut selon un système basé sur l'astrologie. Si "heures d'élections" signifie "heures de son choix", c'est qu'il indique que le système est intuitif et sans rigueur mathématique absolue. C'est aussi ce que l'on comprend au travers de la citation latine.
H014 Foreword
I have made computations for events over almost as long a period to come as that which has already passed, and by these they will know in all regions what is to happen in the course of time, just as it is written, with nothing superfluous added, although some may say, There can be no truth entirely determined concerning the future.
Posted by: Laury
Nostradamus predicts the future as much as he guesses the past. He projects himself in the future according to the past events which, he thinks, start over at predefined intervals because of the planetary cycles. This would not mean that he thinks that everything is perfectly reproduced from one cycle to the next, but the mood is. Even if he says that the entire world is of interest to him, it is mainly the Western World that keeps his mind working. The future can be predicted and modified, he explains This would be the case with unpleasant prophecies that would be avoided.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Le futur peut être prédit, mais il peut aussi être modifié explique-t-il. Ce serait certainement le cas si certaines prophéties désagréables étaient comprises avant leur heure : Elles seraient évitées. Cela peut-être une bonne raison pour crypter les écrits afin de les conserver secrets, car lorsqu'ils se produisent ils convainquent de leur validité. Et si assez de gens y croient, les très grosses catastrophes d'origine humaine peuvent être évitées. Enfin, on pourrait toujours l'espérer. Mais pour l'instant, il n'y a pas assez d'éléments pour établir que les écrits de Nostradamus sont véritablement prophétiques.
H015 Foreword
It is quite true, Sire, that my natural instinct has been inherited from my forebears, who did not believe in predicting, and that this is natural instinct has been adjusted and integrated with long calculations. At the same time, I freed my soul, mind and heart of all care, solicitude and vexation. All of these prerequisites for presaging I achieved in part by means of the brazen tripod.
Posted by: Laury
The method he employs seems to contain a dosage of calm, meditation, relaxation that come on top of an astrological technique that was inspired by the Romans.
Posted by: YahnAmar
La méthode employée pour deviner le futur semble comporter une dose de calme et de méditation qui vient s'ajouter à la technique astrologique inspirée des Romains.
H018 Foreword
Notwithstanding those who cannot contain the malignity of the evil spirit, as time elapses after my death, my writings will have more weight than during my lifetime.
Posted by: Laury
The prophecies will be understood only after the events. The last one goes well beyond his death.
Posted by: YahnAmar
La durée des prophéties s'étend bien après la mort de ND. Et mis à part pour quelques esprits intelligents, les prophéties ne seront comprises qu'à posteriori. La raison du cryptage peut résider dans sa volonté de transmettre ses écrits aux générations futures et ainsi assumer un rôle de prophète. Sans cryptage les Centuries seraient oubliés, censurés, modifiés, et les prophéties évitées .
H019 Foreword
Should I, however, have made any errors in my calculation of dates, or prove unable to please everybody, I beg that your more than Imperial Majesty will forgive me. Would it please your more than Imperial Majesty to forgive me Protestant in front of God & his saints, that I pretend not to have put anything unspecified in writing in this present epistle that would be against the real Catholic faith, conferring the Astronomical calculations that are endorsed to my knowledge.
Posted by: Laury
As he addresses the mysterious king Henry Secundus (mysterious according to many interpreters), he assures him of his authentic faith and admits the possibility that he may have made a few mistakes and approximations. By doing this, he takes a risk, because it was generally admitted In the 16th Century that the devil was responsible for misleading the false-prophets. So what he is doing here is to defend himself from the contentions that he would have been a victim of it. And there can be no doubt on the fact that he was very careful while writing this part - that he weighted each word. It now becomes straightforward that "protestant in front of God and his saints" means that Nostradamus was Protestant. Gratefully, the 21rst Century recognizes that hard work and initiatives give a right to a few mistakes.
Posted by: YahnAmar
L'auteur admet qu'il a pu commettre quelques erreurs et approximations. Ce faisant, il prend le risque d'être accusé de fausse prophétie. Car la loi divine en vigueur de son époque exigeait de ceux qui avaient le tort de formuler des oracles et de se tromper d'être brûlés vifs. Cela dépendait pas mal des besoins de purification de la société lorsqu'elle était affligée par des calamités telles que maladies et malchance.
C016 Foreword
God may bring into being divine works, which are absolute; there is another level, that of angelic works; and a third way, that of the evildoers.
Posted by: Laury
" : " has a special meaning in the Centuries. This is exposed in "Reasons for encoding" on this website.
Reasons for encoding
The "insult of time" explains Nostradamus motives for encoding.
H028 Foreword
But the danger of the times, O Most Serene King, requires that such secrets should not be bared except in enigmatic sentences having, however, only one sense and meaning, and nothing ambiguous or amphibological inserted.
Posted by: Laury
The "insult of time" means that the king would feel insulted by his revelations over the future. And looking back at history, it is a fact.
C002 Foreword
Your late arrival, Cesar Nostradame my son, has made me spend my a lot of time in constant attention at night left in writing, and leave you remembrance, after the body extinction of your parent, for the benefit of mankind what the divine essence has given me to know by means of astronomical revolutions.
Posted by: Laury
Your late arrival only refers to the fact that Cesar is much younger than his father. The child is still in his mother's womb or just an infant. Nostradamus had two children from a first wife, but all were killed by the plague. Nothing enables to give any credit to the hypothesis that he would be addressing some mysterious character of the future. It is only natural for a new father to dedicate his book to his child.
C003 Foreword
And since it pleased the Almighty's will that you were not brought in the natural light and earthly place, & I do not want to tell your years that are not yet several, but of the Martial [March / war] months unable to grasp in your feeble understanding [mind] the works I shall be compelled to persue after my [in my old] days:
Posted by: Laury
The tone seems to lack respect, but it doesn't in any way whatsoever. His son's incapacity to understand astrology will force Nostradamus to continue to work "after his days", meaning while he should have retired. "Feeble brain" points to a fetus or an infant, and it is undoubtedly that of his son Cesar. Some interpreters contend that Cesar is someone else than his son, but they find no justification. The important thing in this passage is that the seer exhorts the reader to be informed about astrology.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Le ton peut paraître irrespectueux, mais il n'en est rien. L'incapacité du destinataire du message à comprendre l'astrologie obligera Nostradamus à poursuivre son travail "après ses jours", c'est à dire pendant sa retraite. "Débile cerveau" désigne l'esprit d'un fétus ou d'un nourrisson âgé de quelques mois, écrit-il. Il s'agit bien sur de son fils César. La thèse selon laquelle la "Lettre à César" serait destinée à quelqu'un d'autre que son fils n'a aucune justification. Rien ici, ni dans les autres écrits comme les correspondances et la préface aux Almanachs ne permet d'affirmer que le message soit personnellement destiné à un futur monarque. Il faut plutôt retenir de ce passage l'exhortation à s'informer sur l'astrologie.
C004 Foreword
because it is not possible to leave you in writing what the insult of time will destroy: Since the inheritable word of the occult prediction will be intermingled inside my entrails. [refers to the Roman practice that consisted in reading the future in animal intestines]:
Posted by: Laury
Aware of the never ending work of his opponents, Nostradamus encoded his writing in order not to provoke censorship - if there exists a unique encoding system, nobody can yet pretend to have found it: But there isn't one, because several. The part on his stomach is quite difficult to grasp. The Romans predicted the future by reading in the entrails of animals: If this is the meaning of it, then he would be saying that he left no other writing but the Centuries. But the term stomach can also symbolize an object. Several hints he left allow thinking that the key is also to be found somewhere else than in the Centuries.
C008 Trends of history
having considered to remain silent & to let go of my commitment to write because of the insult not only of the present time but also most of the future. Since reigns, sects [churches] & religions will undergo such sweeping changes, sometimes diametrically, as regards to the present,
Posted by: Laury
The "insult of time" comes down to a cultural shock. All will be revolutionized. And he was right.
Posted by: YahnAmar
L'injure du temps s'apparente à un choc des cultures. D'autant que tout sera révolutionné. La perception générale du futur semble juste.
C010 Foreword
Bear in mind also the real Saviour's words, Nolite sanctum dare canibus, nec mittatis margaritas ante porcos ne conculcent pedibus & conuersi dirumpant vos [Do not give anything holy to the dogs, and do not throw pearls to pigs, in fear that they trample them and, as they turn against you, tear you apart]. This was the reason for me to keep my tongue away from the audience & my pen from paper:
Posted by: Laury
The prophecies should not be put in everyone's hands.
Posted by: YahnAmar
La compréhension des Centuries n'est pas à donner à ceux qui ne s'en serviraient qu'à charge.
C011 Foreword
Then I wished to spread my words fo the common's advent the future causes by means of ambiguous and enigmatic sentences, as well as the most immediate ones, & those that I perceived [saw], whatever the human mutations to come must not outrage the auricular's fragility [not be considered as a lack respect], & on the whole written in a nebulous form, rather than with a prophetic style.
Posted by: Laury
The success of the prophecies is only a secondary motivation for the prophet. It is the king's and queen that he addresses. The future changes, if they were known, would come to scandalize the king and pope.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Le succès populaire des Centuries n'est qu'une motivation secondaire car c'est le roi, la reine et la cour qui en sont les destinataires. Les changements futurs, s'ils étaient connus du roi, le scandaliseraient.
C012 Foreword
to the extent that, Abscondisti hæc à sapientibus, & prudentibus, id est potentibus & regibus, & enucleasti ea exiguis & tenuibus [You have hidden these things from the wise and the circumspect, that is from the mighty and the rulers, but you have revealed them to the small and weak] & to prophets by the means of immortal God, & good angels have received the spirit of divination, by which they see the distant causes, & come to foretell the future events,
Posted by: Laury
It may be wiser to inform the people on the times to come than the rulers.
C015 Foreword
So much so that persons of future times may be seen in present ones, because God Almighty has wished to reveal them by means of images, together with various secrets of the future vouchsafed to orthodox astrology, as was the case in the past, so that a measure of power and divination passed through them, the flame of the spirit inspiring them to pronounce upon inspiration both human and divine.
Posted by: Laury
Some have the ability to predict, others don't. That's all there is to it.
C016 Foreword
God may bring into being divine works, which are absolute; there is another level, that of angelic works; and a third way, that of the evildoers.
Posted by: Laury
The prophecies are not clear because of the bad usage that can be made of them. But what strikes the most in this part is that the "3rd the evil one" makes no sense at all and apparently refers to nothing. A "second" should precede the "third", and to find it requires to go back far upstream in the text. This is a good occasion to start some heavy thinking about the punctuation marks in the Centuries. The special characters " : " and " & " have a peculiar meaning. " : " means "to be followed" like in some data processing languages that use it as an instruction for a subroutine. It is only necessary to determine the logical origin of the sentence which is sometimes placed just before, and others far before. Inversely, "&" states that two propositions are strictly bound to one another.
H032 Foreword
It is much like seeing in a burning mirror, with clouded vision, the great events, sad, prodigious and calamitous events that in due time fall through the principal worshippers. First, through (by / of) the temples of God; secondly, through (by / of) those who, sustained by the earth, approach such a decadence. Also a thousand other calamitous events which will be known to happen in due time.
Posted by: Laury
In a way that is completely opposite to the previous one, this part seems not to be finished. It would require a "third". Nostradamus explains where and how his visions come to him. They arrive like in a mirror, through the eyes of religious people of distant future times, and from the ordinary people of times of decadence. The term "seeing like in a burning mirror" conceals a meaning that the code consists in inverting the sequence of the reading from right to left. Although, this is one of many possibilities only.
Posted by: YahnAmar
Le passage LH032 précédant n'avait pas de début identifié tandis qu'à l'inverse, celui-ci accepterait volontiers un "troisième". Nostradamus explique comment ses visions lui viennent : Comme dans un miroir, au travers de prêtres et de gens ordinaires des temps futurs décadents. La troisième provenance de ses visions serait les "mauvais" du paragraphe précédent. Une telle révélation à l'époque lui aurait valu le bûcher à coup sûr, et on comprend les raisons du codage. Les motivations religieuses de ND font l'objet d'un thème à part entière.
C019 Foreword
And so once again, my son, if I have eschewed the word prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer; since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures.
Posted by: Laury
Nostradamus is certain that he will attain after his death the statute of a prophet. And if this is a prophecy, it is now close to being completed. Some Americans and Europeans refer to him as "The Prophet", which is the way Moslems refer to Mohamed. But the term does not have here the same religious connotation.
Posted by: YahnAmar
S'adressant à son fils, Nostradamus parait certain qu'il atteindra après sa mort le statut de prophète. Cette prophétie semble s'être déjà partiellement réalisée si l'on en croit des sources américaines qui font volontiers référence à lui en tant que " The Prophet ". Mais le terme de prophète n'a pas à l'égard de Nostradamus la connotation religieuse que lui donnent les Musulmans et les Chrétiens. Du moins pas encore car le décryptage pourrait livrer aux générations futures le témoignage durable des causes divines, ce qui ferait mériter à ND au moins une canonisation. Pour mémo Nostradamus était officiellement catholique d'origine juive, mais on lui prête aussi d'avoir été protestant et Grand Prieuré des Templiers. Et si 'on se base sur le canon 36 du concile de Laodicée (345), son activité d'astrologue n'est pas très en accord avec la "bonne foi" des premiers catholiques. C'est aussi l'opinion plus récente de Luther pour l'église protestante.
6.61 Foreword
The great carpet folded will not show
But by halved the greatest part of history:
"Driven far out of the realm he will appear harsh,"
So that everyone will come to believe in his warlike deed.
Posted by: John
The "great folded carpet" ("grand tappis plié"in French) may refer to the Centuries as if they were laid down on a table (Senators have access to the "Prophecies Table" on this website). This consists in an encoding system based on symmetry. There remains the question to determine how many parts the table should be folded in, and according to what rule. Doubling the letter p in the French word tappis, which is not its usual spelling, may reveal a message. The dots after "history" could point to an explanation in the x-061 series. We should look for a symmetrical system right to left and left to right.
Posted by: John
Le grand tappis plié se référerait aux Centuries mis à plat sous forme de tableau comme un tapis. Il s'agit d'une organisation des quatrains qui prend en compte le siècle et le cycle astrologique. Le doublement du "p" est l'indication d'une sorte d'effet miroir ou de symétrie. Idem "plié".
8.61 Foreword
Never by the revelation of daylight
will he attain the mark of the scepter bearer.
"Until all his sieges are at rest,"
bringing to the Cock the gift of the armed legion.
Posted by: John
The first two verses that have a mysterious meaning may be linked to the "decodating" system as they follow the explanation contained in the VI-061. The VII-061 is an actually missing quatrain. But it is not impossible that it is contained in the existing Centuries to be determined according to a key. The meaning seems to say that once the date is discovered, the 7th millennium should be ignored. More simply, it could state that the number 7 should be cancelled altogether. Or, it may refer to the planet Neptune. And it may also mean that the quatrains were numbered according to two independent chronological series.
The second part of the numbering concerns the quatrain, and the first refers to the Century. The sentence seems to point to the 7th Century to mean that 12 of the missing quatrains, from 7-53 to 7-64, describe the 7th millennium. The French word "Sceptrifere" spelling refers not only to number 7 (sept in French) but also 3 (tri) and metal (fer). There is a hidden meaning which translates into "Seven-Tri-Iron-Rod". The special meaning refers to the age of Neptune with his metal trident ruling rod. Starting the count from the sign of the Virgin (virgo) and going counter clockwise, as is done for astrological eras, leads to the era of Fish (Pisces) which is precisely that of Neptune (year +-0 to +-2000): Virgo, Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries,Pisces ...etc. There are some missing clues that must be found in other quatrains. These can be identified easily since they are not historical or prophetic. (to be followed).
Posted by: John
Le terme sceptrifere se réfère au nombre 7, à sceptre et à fer. Il s'agit de Neptune qui préside au grand nombre 7, qui correspond à l'ère des poissons en astrologie.
