Tag Archives: Nostradamus & faith

The Preface: Reigns, Sects, & Religions (Part II)

After Nostradamus made the one-word statement “religion,” he proceeded to write another segment, again set off by the comma ampersand combination, before concluding this line of thought with a period mark.  This stream of thoughts leads to a connecting but separate stream that ends with another period mark.  This second two-segment flow of words ends with four series of words written in Latin, making a Biblical quote attributed to Jesus.  That quote acts to show how one can connect Biblical prophecy to The Prophecies of Nostradamus, and the prophecy of “reigns, sects, & religions.”

This section states, “foy trouveroient si mal accordant à leur fantasie auriculaire, qu’ilz viendroient à damner ce que par les siecles advenir on cognoistra estre veu & apperceu.  Considerant aussi la sentence du vray Savueur: Nolite sanctum dare canibus, nec mittaris margaritas ante porcos, ne conculcent pedibus & conversi dirumpant vos.”  

This Old French translates to state, “faith (or trust, belief in, loyalty, fee simple) could be finding as evil agreeable (or well-fitting, consenting with) their judgment  (or opinion, imagination, image of things conceived in the mind) auricular [of the ear – sense of hearing and the perception of what is heard; but also ear-shaped, and of the auricle of the heart], that they could be coming at to condemn (or to damn, to give judgment against – to death) this which through them centuries to happen one will know to be perceived (or beheld, seen, viewed, heeded, regarded ) & discerned (or perceived, marked, noted, heeded).  Considering (or weighing in the mind, pondering, thinking upon) also there sentence (or saying, decree, 
judgment, advice given in a matter) from the true (or truth) Savior:

The Latin literally can state, “Refuse holy doing dogs, nor give up pearls before swine, indeed will trample under feet & turn around again they destroying you [pl.].”

To place all of this in a poetic presentation for easier comprehension, the entire section reads:

faith could be finding as evil consenting with their image of things conceived in the mind the perception of what is heard,
that they would be coming in to condemn to death this which through them centuries to happen one will know to be heeded,
& discerned.
Weighing in the mind eve as there advice given from him truth Savior:
Refuse sacred doing dogs,
nor give up pearls before swine,
indeed will trample under feet
& turn around again they destroying you.

Relative to the Latin, the words written by Nostradamus are very similar to the quote Jesus made, as found in the Book of Matthew, in chapter 7, verse 6.  The Latin Vulgate translation of the original Greek is said to be, “nolite dare sanctum canibus neque mittaris margaritas vestras ante porcos ne forte conculcent eas pedibus suis et conversi disrumpant vos.”  The exact matches to what Nostradamus wrote are found in the bold type.  Obviously, this is not the same wording, and the inclusion of punctuation makes it have a somewhat different meaning, while clearly intended to highlight that quote from Jesus Christ.

Beginning with the series of words that immediately follows the section referencing “reigns, sects, & religions,” one must understand what was written leading up to that Biblical “paraphrase.”  In a rather lengthy series, Nostradamus wrote, “faith could be finding as evil consenting with their image of things conceived in the mind the perception of what is heard,” where the first word directly points back to the last word of the previous section, meaning “faith” is the core element of “religion.”

The second word of this series, “trouveroient,” is the Old French spelling of the third person plural form of the conditional present, now spelled “trouveraient.”  The third person plural indicates a general grouping of “many,” a non-specific number of multiplicity, with the conditional present making a statement about what should, would, or could occur to “them.”  This is then applied to the root infinitive, “trouver,” which means, “to find; invent, contrive, devise; light on, meet with, take in the manner; and also to obtain, get, and/or procure.”

This means that the matter of “faith would be contriving,” as much as it means, “faith will be meeting with,” and “faith will be obtaining.”  This is then known to be relative to all who fall under the category of “faith,” which means those who claim a particularity of “religion.”  

When this is then related back to the plural number word last introduced, “ceux,” meaning “those of reign,” one sees how this is an important separate series (set off by a comma ampersand combination).  This “stutter” is placing focus on the misuse of “religion,” such that the ones in power will claim to be a mirror of the “religion” the people respect, as if chosen by God to “govern.”  From a sense of “loyalty” to their “religion,” the people will put their “faith, and trust” in “those” common men.  However, “those” people seeking the power of “rule” will have “faith” that “would be contriving,” to get the people’s (“those being ruled”) “confidence.”  After gaining that “trust,” the people “could (and should) be finding” (from the obvious results caused by “those with government”) it all to be a misuse of “faith.”

The words that follow in the series states what “those findings will be,” as they are said to be “so evil,” “as bad,” and/or as a conditional “if so be that sick (harmed, pained, hurtful),” then the cause is “agreeable” or “well fitting unto.”  This is then stating the “mal” (the word has many translation possibilities, all “bad”) condition that would, could, or should be is based on how willing one is to let go of their (plural) “faith” in God and Christ, and turn it over to a “faith” in man.  It says that the degree of “evil” that will set upon the world “would be” equal to the degree that “evil” is “consented with,” or “acceptable.”

Nostradamus then wrote that this acceptance, or “accordance,” will be made easier “with their fantasy.”  Here, the plural word “their” appears to support the plural conditional present, as an explanation that the “contriving” will be through “their imagination,” “their affection,” “their judgment,” and/or “their representation of things conceived in the mind.”  This is then stating how “faith” will be gained through imaginative ways “so wrong” (from “si mal”), or so far from the truth, based on the “Philosophies” of men’s minds (“representations of things conceived in the mind”).  It is a statement that it will be “so sick” that people will fall for such “fantasies,” such as the right of commoners to “govern” themselves without kings or queens.  It will be “so evil” to see them as possessing the right to separate “religion” from the everyday affairs of the people.  It also will be “as harmful” to see the illusion of equality being a right that allows everyone the luxury of achieving to the height of “rule.”  Additionally, it says it “would be found so shrewd” how “those” seeking the right to replace the “Kingdoms” and “Church” “would find” the right of freedom, at all costs, to be the most lasting selling point.

The last word in this series then states “auriculaire,” which in general means, “of the ear,” as the equivalent to the English word “auricular.”  This gives the word a meaning that represents a sense of hearing, and thus it tells that “their representation of things conceived in the mind,” which are “as evil,” are not forced upon the people unwillingly.  It says that “those with reign” quests will use the art of suggestion and persuasion to woo the public to behead kings and queens, while impoverishing the Church through separation.  It even implies how things said to the ear will touch the heart (“auricle”), as increasing a flow of blood to the brain, swelling the head with delusions of grandeur, that “all men are created equal.”

Still, there is a less obvious meaning to “auriculaire,” which relates back to the first word of this series, “faith,” and the last word of the previous section, “religion.”  This meaning directly connects this “evil” as attacking the Roman Catholic Church, where an “auriculaire” is a term used to denote a “confessional.”  In this sense, it shows a “trust” and “confidence” the people  “would be finding so wrong” is one’s adaption to being “agreeable in their representation of things conceived in the mind,” to the point of no longer needing to confess sins.  The placement of “auriculaire” means the people of “faith,” in the future presented in The Prophecies, “would be finding” “those of government” as the “counselor, listener, good advisor” (from acceptable translations of the Latin word “auricularius”), instead of the Church.

This use of “auriculaire” is significant in the sense that Nostradamus wrote versions of the word “ogmion” in three quatrains (V-80, VI-42, and VIII-44), after beginning a section in the letter to Henry with the words, “Le Galique ogmium.”  The word “ogmios” (as well as “ogmius”) is rooted to the name Ogmios, found in Celtic mythology (also in Irish mythology, as Ogma).  Ogmios is said to be similar to the Greek hero Hercules (or Heracles), only older, and much less physically fit.  The power of Ogmios comes from his oration skills, and his abilities to persuade men to follow him to the underworld (Hell, or the diametrically opposite direction from Heaven).  Depictions of Ogmios show an old man walking, with silver chains attached to his tongue and linking to the ears of those following him.  It does not take much imagination to see how political figures are usually the least fit men of older age, while their words send nations to commit deeds of doom.  I believe this is how one should read this last series of words, as “faith” in men, 
versus “faith” in the Church, or more importantly, in God.   

This knowledge allows one to progress to the next series of words, seeing them as addressing this element of “hearing,” while also referring to the plural “they,” or “them.”  This combination is found in the first word, “qu’ilz,” which combines two words as one, through abbreviation.  This says, “that they,” which is a direct reflection back on “that” just stated, while being a direct indication of the plural number associated with “that.”

This reflection made, the focus is then placed on “what they” (from “que ils”) will cause from “their representation of things conceived in the mind,” by having planted seeds “so evil” into the “ears” of the faithful.  Those actions “would be coming, arriving, approaching, or drawing near unto” the point of condemnation.  This is stated to be “in to damn,” where the preposition “à” is stating that seed is “in, with, at, and to” the listeners, having “come from” (variation of “viendroient à”) those spreading the seeds by mouth.  The word “damner” is the infinitive verb meaning, “to damn, condemn, give judgment against, and adjudge to death,” where “death” is the verdict in all cases.

In essence, those words are making the statement that the most dangerous times told of in The 
Prophecies are conditional.  It states how this future “would they be coming,” under the condition that “those of rule” should act in ways stated to be “so evil” and the people will lose their “faith” in “religion.”  If the people fall for the suggestions of the “new Philosophers” (“their representations of things conceived in their mind”), then at that time the people (in particular those of Christianity) “would be coming with” those bending their ears, as ones “to draw near unto death.”  Thus, the condition makes it dependent on that outcome.

On the other hand, “should” it be that after “that bending of the ear they” (the “new Philosophers”) will propose moving away from “religion,” once becoming “those with rule,” the people can postpone the “condemnation to death” by themselves being the plural number “they,” who “would be coming in to damn to death” “those with rule.”  This becomes a critical point in the storyline of The Prophecies, as the stories told in the quatrains, and reviewed in the letter to Henry, are based on the former (“to condemn to death” everyone) rather than the later (“to condemn to death” the “new Philosophers with rule”).

With this perspective in mind, Nostradamus then stated, “this” (the “damnation”) will be known to be “that damnation,” where such a distinction is made to show it as one of significance.  This is due to the fact that this use of “que” (“which, who, whom; [interrogative] what, how, why; [adverb/conjunction] then, because, unless”) is not referencing some “that” previously stated.  Thus, it becomes “that to damn,” and “that” is historically known because the following states, “by them (a reference to the plural number from above) centuries (reference to multiple periods of 100 years) to happen” (or “to come to pass”).  This is a reference to the previous section’s use of the same word (“advenir,” “to happen”) telling what is ahead, which has been known for “centuries” to be awaiting humanity.  

Due to the length of time known, one can assume (from the previous section ending with the word “religion”) that this “condemnation” is relative to Biblical prophecy of what will “come to pass.”  This is then a connection to biblical eschatology and The Prophecies.  This links The Prophecies to the same divine source that is recognized as the only source knowing what “will come to pass,” relative to “condemnation.”  That source is God, who speaks through Jesus [making one a Christ].

To explain the meaning of what is “to happen,” Nostradamus then wrote that “one will know” (or “will understand, be assured of; be well acquainted with; discern, apprehend, perceive; acknowledge, or avow”) to be seen.”  This is an indication that “one” who has the power “to condemn” is an entity who “would be coming at to damn,” being “one” who “will be known,” and “one” who has been “seen” before.  However, because the time frame for this “coming” will have been “centuries,” this “one” can “be” none other than Jesus Christ.  Jesus has been “seen” as a human, during his time on earth; but Jesus has also been “seen” by John of Patmos (The Revelation), and by Nostradamus (The Prophecies), such that Christians have “known” for “centuries” of the return of Christ.  He will return to open the seals and unleash the four 
horsemen of the Apocalypse, which along with comes Death.

At this point, Nostradamus placed an ampersand, which acts to signal an important statement is to follow; but, unlike the comma ampersand combination, a lone ampersand has a secondary purpose, which is to act like an ampersand and join with the word before it.  This union, as something AND something else, comes after the information following the ampersand is seen in its own light of importance first.

There is only one word that follows the ampersand, before it has another punctuation mark following it.  That one word is similar to the word prior (“veu”), as both share some of the same uses as past tense descriptions of what has been looked upon.  The word “apperceu” bears the translation possibilities of “perceived, discerned, marked, noted, heeded, and spied.”  This means there is a similarity, yet with the intention being to show a level of deeper reflection upon what has been “seen.”  From this understanding, one can see a difference in those who have actually laid eyes upon Jesus (the man) or encountered the presence of Jesus as a Holy Spirit.  

The difference is to show the importance of those who have “faith” (the first important word of this section) in Jesus, without having ever laid eyes upon him or his spirit.  This is not necessarily a belief in Jesus, or a belief in his return, but it is an indication that this is “discerned, marked, and noted” by believers and non-believers alike.  Therefore, as a one-word statement, following a word stating “knowledge” that “will be” (“cognoistra”), it speaks of widespread awareness of the End Times having been long projected.

When this stand-alone statement is understood, one can then combine the two words surrounding the ampersand.  The words “veu & apperceu” are then stating a combination of similarities of sight.  Together, they represent the physical sense of the eyes AND the “sixth sense,” which is most relative to a higher feeling, said to be intuition or psychic knowledge.  This is a combination of “religious” dogma “AND” unfounded “faith.”  Still, when read as “seen AND heeded,” the statement is relative to the guidance factor of “religions,” and those of “faith.”  The return of Christ is “perceived” from the words written into the books of the Holy Bible, but to protect the people the Church has made sure the people “heeded” those words.  The words tell what “will be know to come to pass,” should this important (ampersand use) 
element of “discernment” not be in place.  The removal of “religion” as the core of “faith” means the advent (from “advenir”) of “sects” with “reign” will leave this practice of protecting the people voided.  Instead, the “sects” will be “seen” by the common folk as still protecting the masses, “AND” the “sects” will have “noted” how much “faith” the people have in “them,” to do whatever “they” say, to the benefit of “them.”

Following “apperceu,” Nostradamus placed a period mark, which indicates the end of a line of thought.  This line of thought has included the theme to The Prophecies (in the first section reviewed).  That theme is the changing, in the “times future,” to “diametrically opposite” conditions regarding “reigns, sects, & religions.”   In the second section, Nostradamus has addressed how that theme is the same as that found in the Holy Bible.  While the theme of “condemnation” and “return” (the End Times), and is consistent with several Biblical books, it makes a significant statement about The Revelation (a mirror book to The Prophecies, thus a mirror theme).  There, John is told to write a letter to the seven churches [“religions”] and tell them how they will have bent to the will of the common people, rather than stay true to their 
purpose for God and Christ.  These are the main points of these two sections.

This line of thought is then relative to the capitalized first word of the next series of words, which begins a new line of though, relative to the line of thought just stated.  That capitalized word then states the importance of “Considering.”  This is the present participle form of the infinitive verb “considerer,” which means, “to consider, advise upon, think of; examine, ponder, perpend [to consider carefully], revolve [to be held in the mind and considered in turn], or weigh in the mind.”  This is then making the important statement about the condition of Christianity having become a major world “religion” without the vast majority having “seen” Jesus Christ, but having “heeded” his teachings, through the “religion” making that its foremost purpose.  The spread of Christianity was through “Pondering” the words of Christ, as remembered by those who had firsthand “knowledge” of his life.

As the beginning of a new line of thought, one is then asked to realize the previous line of thought, while also taking the time “to Perpend” what is about to be stated.  As such, it is utilizing the future’s penchant for “their representation of things conceived in the mind,” and bringing one’s mind to an important level of thought on this new focus.  

This “Considering” should be done along with the realizing of the themes of The Prophecies, as the word attached to “Considerant” is “aussi,” meaning, “also, likewise, as, and/or even as.”  This means one should “Ponder” this new line of thought “likewise,” and “as” relevant to the past statements of theme.

The remainder of this series, leading to a colon, says, “here judgment from the truth (or true, unfeigned, right, just, certain, undoubted, sure) Savior.”  This translation is based on the word “la” being translated as “là,” meaning, “there, here, or then.”  This is a direction of place, where from Nostradamus’ perspective “there” is the “future times,” while “here” is relative to this point in the themes of The Prophecies when it will be most important to be “Considering” this information, making “then” be that same “time” of the “future.”  The word translated as “judgment” comes from the French word “sentence,” which can be read as that, but not as a statement of grammar.  It is a statement of “judgment,” where a “sentence” is defined as “A penalty meted out.”  This “opinion delivered” (viable alternate translation of “sentence”) is then stated to be “of the truth,” as well as “from the true Savior.”  The capitalization of the word “Savior” is an importance bestowed on the title known by all Christians to be Jesus Christ.

At the end of this series of words, Nostradamus placed a colon, which means that which follows is an example, or a clarification of the “judgment” that must be “Considered,” as coming from the “Savior,” Jesus Christ.  At this time, following the colon, Nostradamus switched languages (as well as the publisher switching fonts to ensure a switch is “seen”).  He began writing in Latin, which must be seen as the official language of Rome, specifically the official language of the Roman Catholic Church.  As the language of the Church, the use of all instances of Latin in The Prophecies (as indicated by the uses of Latin in the preface) is to show a higher perspective, one relative to “religion,” as of divine origin.