Nostradamus Essay, Research Paper

In Regards to Women Physician and prophet Michel de Nostradame lived in the

first part of the sixteenth century. To understand these prophecies one must

first understand the position of women in the sixteenth century. During the

sixteenth century there was very little a woman could do. Men dominated most

aspects of women?s social, political, and religious lives. Women were treated

as if they were inferior to men. They were treated like possessions. In religion

the Catholic Church was the dominant force in the Renaissance. The Church was,

of course, run by the Pope, a man. Women were burned as witches ?for

?crimes? that could be as minor as a local act of feminine healing, or even

the choice made by a single woman to live alone (9).? The Reformation brought

no relief for women. In fact the Protestant Reformation may have actually harmed

women. Catholic leaders took it upon themselves to start Inquisitions in France,

Italy, and most notably, Spain. Any kind of deviant behavior could be defined as

a crime during this time. Women were considered ?flawed? to begin

with?They not only used their sexuality to entice men from the path of God but

they also were the daughters of Eve, the originator of sin. Also many passages

in the Bible were mistranslated to be anti-women. Some believe that this

?mistranslation? was a deliberate attempt by the Catholic Church to keep the

society male dominated. Michel de Nostradame was born in 1503 in St. Remy,

Provence, France. His family were originally Jewish until they converted to

avoid persecution from the Catholics. Although they converted, they, along with

many other Christian ?converts?, were viewed with suspicion. From early

childhood Nostradamus was exposed to ?pagan? studies of the occult, alchemy,

and astrology. He understood that he had to be careful because the Catholic

Church didn?t approve of these studies. He studied to be a doctor at the

University of Montpellier. After he was done with his studies he decided to try

to find a cure to the dreaded bubonic plague that continually swept across

France. This may have been of interest to him because of the early death of his

first wife, who is thought to have died in one such wave. While he didn?t cure

the bubonic plague, he did further medicine with the discovery of natural

remedies such ?as dried and crushed rose petals in capsules placed under the

tongue of the sufferer to release Vitamin C into the blood (15).? He wrote a

collection of ?prophetic rhymed quatrains, written between 1555 and 1558

(15)? called Centuries. Nostradamus predicted the rise and fall of modern

Communism and other key events in the future including the twentieth century. He

named some individuals such as Napoleon and Hitler. But the real subject of the

paper would have to be how Nostradamus predicted the change of circumstance for

women. Many of Nostradamus? ?prophecies are obscurely written and heavily

camouflaged with ancient languages, strange references to contemporary events,

which act as metaphors for future significance, as well as anagrams (16).?

This was mostly done to avoid detection in his own lifetime and probably to

sound more profound. ?New law to occupy the new land Towards Syria, Judea, and

Palestine: The great barbarian empire of men to decay, Before the Moon completes

its cycle (47).? -Century 3:97 It is told to us in the book ?Nostradamus-

Prophecies for Women? that the term ?new land? refers to the Americas. The

?new law? can be related to the ?barbarian empire of men? as that it

could represent that men will have a different place in the Americas. The

moon?s cycle can be construed to have a ?feminine? connection. Phrased a

bit more simply: The Americas could be a source of a lunar rising of

consciousness at a time when the male dominated religion and law is at its all

time peak. The rule of men will start to crumble before the evolution of woman

is complete. Nostradamus also predicted that democracy would replace the

autocracies of his time. He also thought that women would start to slowly take

their place in these new democracies and that would influence a new order. These

women would change the laws to be more equal in gender. ?With a name so timid

will she be brought forth That the three sisters will have the name of destiny:

Then she will lead a great people by tongue and deed, More than any other will

she have fame and renown (75).? -Century 1:76 During Nostradamus? time until

the earlier part of the twentieth century womankind was associated with weakness

in the eyes of men. The three sisters could represent, as they sometimes do in

classical myth: the virgin, the mother and the old woman. Possibly Nostradamus

refers to the cycles of womanhood in that way as to say that, in the future, all

women will have more power. This specific person could refer directly to

Princess Diana, of Great Britain, for there seems to be no woman in history to

be so well loved and well known as Princess Diana. It could also refer to

Margaret Thatcher, the previous Prime Minister of Great Britain or even Hillary

Clinton, the first lady of the United States. ?Before long all will be

rearranged, We can hope for a very sinister century, The estate that was masked

and alone will change, Few will wish to stay as they were (155).? -Century

2:10 This can be viewed as the twentieth century as the ?sinister? century.

When women started off that century with almost no power and at the end had the

beginnings of equality. This verse is almost calling to women to become the

leaders of this new twenty-first century. While we have many women in many

countries with power we still have to continue the ?fight? for equality

worldwide. These above selections were carefully chosen to illustrate a point.

That point being that, while women have come a long way they still have not

reached true equality in most places. Women still are considered a

?minority? in the United States government even though they make up more

than half of the population. In some Middle Eastern and African countries women

are not even allowed to work outside the home.

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Lorie, Peter, and Manuela Dunn Mascetti. Nostradamus: Prophecies for Women.

London: Bloomsbury, 1995.