Conflit Reims, Londres, Etrusque Pestifere (1Q.26)

Hogue takes this passage as follows: "The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt, the evil deed predicted by the bearer of a petition: according to the prediction another falls at night time, conflict in Reims, London and pestilence in Tuscany."

In addition to the utter vagueness of this passage, two major problems with Houge's interpretation present themselves. First, who is the "bearer of a petition?" No doubt one would expect a character similar to the intrepid Artemidorus in Julius Caesar, who stands outside the Senate waiting to give the doomed Caesar a written warning of his demise. But whom does Hogue submit? "Jeane Dixon, one of the foremost prophets of modern times" who claims to have predicted the Kennedy assassination. A little shaky,no?

And what about the last line's "conflict" in the three locales? Hogue suggests that they refer to various disturbances around the time of Robert Kennedy's assassination in 1968. But, at a loss for a problem in Reims at that time, he simply concludes that "Reims is a synecdoche [part-for-the-whole] for France." Funny how that works, since London isn't used as a synecdoche for England and Tuscany is mentioned instead of Florence.

Lastly, consider the famous Hitler prophesy:

Bestes farouches de faim fleuues tranner,

Plus part du champ encontre Hister sera.

En caige de fer le grand fera treisner,

Quand rien enfant de Germain observera (2Q.24).

Here Hogue takes one too many liberties: "Beasts ferocious, with hunger will cross the rivers, the greater part of the battlefield will be against Histler. Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn, when the child of Germany observes nothing." But "Hister" or "Ister" is simply the Latin name for the Danube; all the second line says is "the greater part of the field will be against (or along) the Hister." But facts don't get in Hogue's way--just slap the "L" in to make "Histler" and you're cooking.

Hogue employs a "seek and ye shall find" method of prophesy-hunting. Nostradamus wrote 1,000 quatrains, so anything has got to be in there somewhere. As for Nostradamus's prophetic powers, we'll be able to judge better in three years. But I for one won't be holding my breath waiting for Genghis Khan to come back. I am confident that the Class of 2000 will be welcomed into "the community of educated men and women" on a sunny June day in Harvard Yard.

Eric M. Nelson's column appears on alternate Mondays.