# Les Prophéties de M. Nostradamus plus the Rapture **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944 "2011-05-06T09:40:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/1 "2011-05-06T09:40:21Z")
After reading the Preface of his prophecies I’m convinced that the man is totally sane at the time of writing the book. Some people suggest that he was influenced rather from a drug than by God. What do SD medical/apocalyptical experts say? He was burning some older books by the time of his prophecies - could they vaporize psychoactive fumes? Whether or not the day of the Rapture takes place on the 21st, why should Christians have to know about it in advance? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/2 "2011-05-06T10:04:01Z")
> [@komolono](#): > > Whether or not the day of the Rapture takes place on the 21st, why should Christians have to know about it in advance? Probably the most interesting fact about the rapture is that it was invented somewhere in the 1700s in the US. Hardly any non-american christian factions have a concept like it. Also, Nostradamus was long dead by then. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_of_Lucan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/3 "2011-05-06T10:44:12Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Probably the most interesting fact about the rapture is that it was invented somewhere in the 1700s in the US. Hardly any non-american christian factions have a concept like it. Also, Nostradamus was long dead by then. Yes, the concept is almost unknown here, except as something weird which keeps popping up in US films or books. We assume that it’s just another oddity like creationism, which has little public profile outside the US. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/4 "2011-05-06T11:14:15Z")
> [@komolono](#): > > After reading the Preface of his prophecies I’m convinced that the man is totally sane at the time of writing the book. Some people suggest that he was influenced rather from a drug than by God. What do SD medical/apocalyptical experts say? He was burning some older books by the time of his prophecies - could they vaporize psychoactive fumes? > > Whether or not the day of the Rapture takes place on the 21st, why should Christians have to know about it in advance? I am an expert in psychoanalyzing people based on how they wrote letters to their sons, despite my having little knowledge of modern French and no knowledge of how the language was spoken or written in 1555. I conclude that the man known as Nostradamus may not have been barking mad at the time he wrote his prophesies, but was pretty darn close, and he deliberately made them as incomprehensible as possible so that no one could call him on any inaccuracies. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/5 "2011-05-06T11:21:28Z")
I thought Nostradamus wasn’t even pretending to be prophetic, but was writing about the world he lived in. He was just a weird poet, only as nutty as any of the freaks ranting in the Public Squares of the world. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/6 "2011-05-06T11:59:20Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I thought Nostradamus wasn’t even pretending to be prophetic, but was writing about the world he lived in. He was just a weird poet, only as nutty as any of the freaks ranting in the Public Squares of the world. Oh yeah? Then why would he say his prophesies were out to the year 3700 and change? And how could he have been so accurate about the Olsen Twins? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/7 "2011-05-06T12:01:40Z")
Everyone predicted the Olsen Twins. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/8 "2011-05-06T12:29:24Z")
That’s because the emaciated, bug-eyed child-woman is a persistent archetype in Western culture. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/9 "2011-05-06T15:10:07Z")
There is a long tradition of vaticinatory (prophetic) poetry in Wales, and presumably there used to be in medieval Brittany. That genre was rehashing imagined history and making points about contemporary politics rather than literally trying to predict the future. Whether Nostradamus was influenced by this or a parallel tradition I don’t know, but it’s probably a mistake to take him at face value when he says he was recording his visions of the future. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/10 "2011-05-06T15:18:24Z")
Forgot to add—more relevant to Nostradamus is probably all of Merlin’s prophetic poetry. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Merlin propechies are pretty comparable to Nostradamus in many ways, and they’re from the 12th century. ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/11 "2011-05-06T16:21:53Z")
I am currently reading this book - THe Mask of Nostradamus: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Mask\_of\_Nostradamus:\_The\_Prophecies\_of\_the\_World’s\_Most\_Famous\_Seer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mask_of_Nostradamus:_The_Prophecies_of_the_World's_Most_Famous_Seer) Before forming any more theories, I suggest you read this book for a critical look at Nostradamus’ writings and the ways they were interpreted in the centuries since. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/12 "2011-05-06T17:56:45Z")
[The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/45/was-nostradamus-really-able-to-predict-the-future) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/13 "2011-05-06T18:08:31Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Forgot to add—more relevant to Nostradamus is probably all of Merlin’s prophetic poetry. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Merlin propechies are pretty comparable to Nostradamus in many ways, and they’re from the 12th century. Fictional characters do not write poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/14 "2011-05-06T18:10:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Fictional characters do not write poetry. Geoffrey of Monmouth is not a fictional character. ETA: Merlin was certainly believed to be a historical figure in the Middle Ages, and there was certainly poetry attributed to him. “Merlin” (with the -L-) was the creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth, based on Welsh Myrddin and who knows what all else. Myrddin can’t be ruled out as a historical figure though I personally think it’s very unlikely. ETA2: Fictional characters most certainly do write poetry. Apparently, Spike in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” wrote poetry. So there. ---
**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/15 "2011-05-06T18:10:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/45/was-nostradamus-really-able-to-predict-the-future) OK. I almost read it. N still sounds sound to me! ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/16 "2011-05-06T18:52:49Z")
> [@komolono](#): > > OK. I almost read it. N still sounds sound to me! “Almost”? It’s only a few paragraphs… Since you can’t possibly be talking about Nostradamus, can you please be a little more specific? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/17 "2011-05-06T19:04:14Z")
Ok, it occurs to me that you may be claiming that whatever Nostradamus wrote, he might not have been completely insane, just merely under the influence of some kind of narcotic fumes. Might be true, I really have no idea. However, I really, honestly, completely fail to see how that makes him or his predictions “sound”, or how that’s relevant to the American past-time of imagining bible thumpers floating to the heavens mooning the unbelievers. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/18 "2011-05-06T19:28:35Z")
what does Nostradamus have to do with Rapture allegations? Does he make any such allegations anywhere? If he wasn’t insane, it doesn’t make him right. So Europeans always fight other Europeans and sometimes they fight Muslims / Turks? What a profound observation. Live for a future centuries in that place and you will see most of the imaginable combinations. I personally find the “Hister” quatrain that is evocative of armored warfare to be pretty cool. But even there, to come up with this you just need to anticipate the future use of machines in warfare and not any real world history details. Hey, the “front” sometimes turns against Germans, sometimes against French and sometimes against everybody simultaneously. But even prefiguring the war machines is a very weird thing to get from a Medieval literati. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-propheties-de-m-nostradamus-plus-the-rapture/580944/19 "2011-05-06T21:10:31Z")
We still have lots of “psychics”, sayers of sooth or whatever you want to call them, and I doubt many are insane or under the influence of drugs. You can be a con man or persuade yourself that God is talking to you, either one of which\* is a possibility for Nostradamus, the Master of Vague Prophcies. \*or both.