A rare look at a small subset of the Nostradamus prophecies as seen through the eyes of playwrights Wm Shakespeare and Chris Marlowe.
On William Shakespeare and the time travel prophecies WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND THE NOSTRADAMUS CONNECTION 中文 Baidu Microsoft Translate On William Shakespeare and the time travel prophecies INTRODUCTION Here's a citation of something I once read in Wikipedia: "Frances Yates relates the story of a lively dinner party at Whitehall Palace at which Florio translated to the assembled company, which included Sir Philip Sidney and Oxford professors, Bruno's theories about the possibility of life on other planets." Frances Yates was a noted historian of the Renaissance. Wikipedia has more to say about her: "She stated that the vexed question of the relationship between John Florio and Shakespeare required a fresh new consideration and declaring to start working on a new book about Florio-Shakespeare relationship. Inexplicably, she decided to abandon this project and she didn't publish the planned book." Anyway, what was it that caused the philosopher Giordano Bruno to think that there could be life on other planets? It's not unusual to have such thoughts today, but here we are in 16th century. In my research I have traced the source of that belief to thirty-nine prophecies that lie heavily masked and scattered among the 942 prophecies of Nostradamus. In this essay we will take a look at all thirty-nine of those prophecies through the eyes of two of the greatest of the English playwrights: Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. The first section covers major historical events from the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on through the terrorist attacks of September 11. Later sections relate those prophecies to diverse themes. Readers with an interest in time travel (a feat currently only within the technological reach of extraterrestrials) may wish to read this essay with a history book at hand. In the 16th century, people sometimes used the letter "y" for an "i" and the letter "z" for an "s" while the letter "i" could stand for a "j" and the letter "u" for a "v" or vice versa. By keeping those exchanges in mind it should be possible to find most of the French words in a modern dictionary. The translation equivalences between Nostradamus' French and Shakespeare's English are highlighted in bold. PROPHETIC THEMES Nostradamus: L'oiseau royal sur la cité solaire, Sept moys deuant fera nocturne augure: Mur d'Orient, cherra tonnerre esclaire, Sept iours aux portes les ennemis à l'heure [1, V-81]. The royal bird over the city of the Sun, Seven months beforehand shall make nocturnal augury, The wall of the Orient shall fall, thunder illuminated, Seven days to the ports the enemies to the hour [168 hours?]. Note that Nostradamus decided to use and frenchify the Latin word "portis" (dative case), which can mean either gates or seaports. Elsewhere we will find "port," seaport, in unambiguous context. Shakespeare: Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow [2, Ham.]. Shakespeare: And with my hand at midnight held your head; And, like the watchful minutes to the hour [2, Jn.]. Theophilus de Garencières, who made the first English translation of the Nostradamus prophecies in 1672, tells us "By the Royal Bird is meant an Eagle" [3], but Shakespeare considers other possibilities, here the sparrow. However, it is the word fall that seals the correlations with Nostradamus, adding one more component to take us beyond the realm of coincidence. Note that Nostradamus uses fall in the sense of the fall of an empire and Shakespeare uses it to refer to the descent of a bird, but nevertheless the terms equate for the purpose at hand. Nostradamus: Des sept rameaux à trois seront reduicts, Les plus aisnez seront surprins par mort [1, VI-11]. Of the seven branches to three (they) shall be reduced, The oldest [plural, the two oldest of the three] shall be surprised by death. Shakespeare: Or seven fair branches springing from one root. Some of those seven are dried by nature's course, Some of those branches by the Destinies cut [2, R2]. Shakespeare's words seem to indicate that the death applies to only some of the seven (the three?) and not to the seven as a whole. Dried by nature's course alludes to aging branches (the two oldest?) and cut branches are branches that are quickly killed (surprised by death?). We will now repeat the second line and join it with the last two lines. Nostradamus: Les plus aisnez seront surprins par mort, Fratricider les deux seront seduicts, Les coniurez en dormans seront morts [1, VI-11]. The eldest [more than one] shall be surprised by death, To kill the two brothers (they) shall be seduced, The conspirators [conjures] in sleeping shall die. So now we learn that the three of the first line were brothers and, presumably, the remaining four (to bring the total up to seven) were their sisters. Shakespeare: And may ye both be suddenly surpris'd By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds! [2, 1H6]. In Nostradamus, the conspirators die of natural causes, i.e. are never caught for their crime, but Shakespeare would prefer another outcome; he also wishes he could help: "To rescue my two brothers from their death" [2, Tit.]. The saga continues: Nostradamus: Du toict cherra sur le grand mal ruyne [1, VI-37]. From the roof evil ruin shall befall the great one. Shakespeare: Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate [2, Son.]. Shakespeare draws two correlations from the lines that follow this ruination: Nostradamus: Innocent faict mort on accusera: Nocent caiché taillis à la bruyne [1, VI-37]. Innocent in fact [or of the deed] when dead he shall be accused, The guilty one hidden: "taillis" to the "bruyne" where we note that "bruyne" [1, VI-37] [4, VI-37] stands in sharp contrast to "bruine" [1, V-35] [4, V-35] as seen below. A crossword game with a "y" in the name of the guilty one? Shakespeare: KING. Wherefore hast thou accus'd him all this while? DIANA. Because he's guilty, and he is not guilty [2, AWW]. Shakespeare: To slay the innocent? What is my offence? Where is the evidence that doth accuse me? [2, R3]. The location changes: Nostradamus: Lon passera à Memphis somentree [1, X-79]. One shall pass to [or pass away in?] Memphis somentree. The meaning of somentree is unknown; perhaps it was intended to allude to a place where we find Memphis? Garencières writes "This word Somentrees, being altogether barbarous, is the reason that neither sense nor construction can be made of all these words" [3]. Let's look at what Marlowe has to say about this: Marlowe: Memphis, and Pharos that sweet date-trees yields [5, Ovi.]. Evidently, Marlowe too is unable to figure out what somentree (or somentrees per Garencières) means, but at least he notices that it ends in a recognizable English word: trees! Indeed, the hyphenated spelling date-trees, as opposed to date trees, could be taken as a signal that trees is the ending of a word. These trees are preceded by so, which by itself or as an abbreviation for south or southern is also an English word, and so too with men after that, another English word. Did Marlowe think they spoke English in Memphis? Shakespeare gives us "Than Rhodope's of Memphis ever was" [2, 1H6]. Rhodope is the name of a tree-infested mountain in Bulgaria, so perhaps Somentrees really is a place with lots of trees! This is the next verse of that prophecy: Nostradamus: Le grand Mercure d'Hercules fleur de lys [1, X-79]. The great Mercury of Hercules fleur-de-lys. Mercury was the god of commerce, and Hercules represents force, giving the verse the following sense: the great armaments trade shall flourish. Shakespeare: His foot Mercurial, his Martial thigh, The brawns of Hercules; but his Jovial face- [2, Cym.]. Marlowe's assessment of that verse is far more profound: Marlowe: Besides, there goes a Prophesy abroad, Published by one that was a Friar once, Whose Oracles have many times proved true; And now he says, the time will shortly come, When as a Lyon, roused in the west, Shall carry hence the fluerdeluce of France [6]. We find an allusion to the Pillars of Hercules in the penultimate line (as a lion roused in the west). It combines with the fluer in the last line to give us a correlation. This citation is from Edward the Third, a play that was published anonymously and whose authorship was hotly debated among scholars for centuries. Today, Shakespeare is believed to have written parts of it, and Marlowe the passage that we cite [6]. In Edward the Third, the cited passage was spoken in France, so abroad in the first line implies that the "Prophesy" (phonetic spelling of Prophecy as a book of oracles) is of British origin. Thus, in the third line, the phrase "Whose Oracles" likely refers to the Prophecy and not to the 12th-century Friar (Geoffrey of Monmouth) who published it. Perhaps such confusions explain why neither Shakespeare nor Marlowe wanted to stick their name on the front cover of that play! Nostradamus now takes us to a faraway place: Nostradamus: Dedans le coing de Luna viendra rendre, Ou sera prins & mis en terre estrange, Les fruicts immeurs seront à grand esclandre [1, IX-65]. Into a corner of the Moon he shall come to render, Where he shall be taken and placed on strange terrain, The immature fruits shall be, by great scandal, Garencières exclaims: "But what he meaneth by the Corner of Luna, I must leave the judgement of it to the Reader, for I ingeniously confess that I neither know City nor Countrey of that name" [3]. Shakespeare, for his part, knows that Luna is the Moon and he leaves no doubt about it: "A title to Phoebe, to Luna, to the moon" [2, LLL]. In Greek mythology, Phoebe became a synonym for Artemis, the Greek moon goddess. Marlowe makes a complex correlation out of it: Marlowe: And search all corners of the new-found world For pleasant fruits and princely delicates; I'll have them read me strange philosophy [5, Fau.]. On the immature fruits, Shakespeare writes "Then it will be the earliest fruit i' th' country; for you'll be rotten ere you be half ripe" [2, AYL]. Shakespeare also takes a look at the third line combined with the last line: Nostradamus: Les fruicts immeurs seront à grand esclandre, Grand vitupere à l'vn grande louange [1, IX-65]. The immature fruits shall be, by great scandal, Great vituperation, to the one, great praise. Shakespeare: Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit, But ne'er till now his scandal of retire [2, 3H6]. In Nostradamus, the praise (louange) is in pursuit in the sense that it follows the scandal (esclandre) of the preceding line, but as events the great scandal comes after the new-found Moon! Around the same time, the surviving brother (as we saw, his two older brothers were killed) runs into some trouble of his own: Nostradamus: Par detracteur calumnié à puis nay [1, VI-95]. The youngest brother slandered by a detractor. The "puis nay" is the after born of male siblings. Shakespeare: To do in slander. And to behold his sway, I will, as 'twere a brother of your order [2, MM]. Shakespeare links the French verb "calumnié" with the English noun "slander," and next he reuses this correlation, changing "slander" from a noun back into a verb: Shakespeare: your brother incensed me to slander the Lady Hero [2, Ado]. Marlowe employs a word not found in Shakespeare: "An eare, to heare what my detractors say" [5, MP]. In the next prophecy, Nostradamus reveals himself to be a devout Catholic: Nostradamus: Apres le siege tenu dix- sept ans, Cinq changeront en tel reuolu terme: Puis sera l'vn esleu de mesme temps, Qui des Romains ne sera trop conforme [4, V-92]. After the (Holy) See held for seventeen years, Five shall change in such revolved term [perhaps a spinning of the numbers ten, seven, five, one: papal designations?], Then the one shall be elected of same time, Who of the Romans shall not be very conformable. Variant: dixsept [1]. By of same time, it is implied that the non-Italian Pope of the last line is the last of the five Popes who follow the Pope that reigned for seventeen years. Marlowe: That doth assume the Papal government Without election and a true consent [5, Fau.]. Marlowe: POPE. Welcome, Lord Cardinals; come, sit down.-- Lord Raymond, take your seat [5, Fau.]. Popes are elected to the Chair (seat, "siege" in French) of Saint Peter by Cardinals. Shakespeare: At all times to your will conformable [2, H8]. After the election of the new Pope, the action moves from Italy to the Middle East: Nostradamus: Le Roy de Perse par ceux d'Egypte prins [1, III-77]. The King of Persia by those of Egypt taken. Persia is the old name of Iran. Marlowe: SECOND MERCHANT … Of Persian silks, of gold, and orient pearl. BARABAS. How chance you came not with those other ships That sail'd by Egypt? [5, JM]. Marlowe fails to perceive that taken was used in the sense of being accepted or taken in (given refuge) rather than in the sense of being carried or captured, which doubtless explains why he ends with a question mark. Nostradamus now takes us from Iran to neighboring Afghanistan: Nostradamus: Aries doute son pole Bastarnan [1, III-57]. Aries doubts its Bastarnan pole. Marlowe: MEPHIST. All jointly move from east to west in twenty-four hours upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motion upon the poles of the zodiac [5, Fau.]. The French Arie was the old name of Afghanistan but Marlowe sees the Aryans as something in the zodiac! The Bastarnae were a people who occupied Poland and the Ukraine during Roman times. Note that, contrary to legend, Marlowe originates the great Tamburlaine in Scythia (an ancient land covering the Ukraine and parts of Russia). Later, perhaps just a few years later, the newly-elected Pope has transformed himself into a great Pontiff: Nostradamus: De la partie de Mammer grand Pontife, Subiuguera les confins du Danube: Chasser la Croix par fer raffé ne riffe, Captifs, or bague plus de cent mille rubes [4, VI-49]. From the part (or party) of Mammer, great Pontiff, (It) will subjugate the frontiers of the Danube, To chase the Cross by iron, by hook or by crook, Captivated: gold, bag more than one hundred thousand red things. Variants: les croix, bagues [1]. The partie can refer to a region or to a political party while the fer can represent any type of weapon made of iron. The raffé ne riffe is an Italian expression, suggesting that Italy is the scene of action. Nonetheless, Marlowe associates this attack on the great Pontiff (represented by the Cross in the third line) with the country of Bulgaria since he ends a line with Bulgaria immediately below a line ending with the Danube: Marlowe: Betwixt the city Zula and Danubius; How through the midst of Varna and Bulgaria [5, 2Tam]. Zula, a bay at the southern end of the Red Sea, makes no sense in the given context. More likely than not, Marlowe wishes to allude to the famed city of Zara (see below) on the Adriatic Sea, on the opposite side of the Balkans and which fits the context perfectly. Since the Danube is a river, the mysterious Mammer of the first line may also be a river. Indeed, there's even another prophecy that refers to two different rivers. Allowing for manipulation to minimize chances of offending someone (a great Pontiff might not be expected to come from such a place), it could be the Memel (elsewhere Nostradamus writes it as "Mammel" [1]), a major river of Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Shakespeare gives us the unique name "Mamillius" [2, WT] which would not be the only instance where vowels are changed for camouflage. At the end of the Nostradamus citation, the rubes is an adjective employed as a noun (red things), but Garencières sees them as rubles: "A Ruble is a piece of Gold of the great Mogul, worth two or three pound sterling" [3]. Marlowe: A hundred thousand crowns [5, JM]. Shakespeare: The payment of a hundred thousand crowns; [2, LLL]. Shakespeare views the hundred thousand as a payment [to the Bulgarians?] for services rendered [to hunt down the great Pontiff?]. Marlowe and Shakespeare each employ the hundred thousand in relation to a currency (the crowns), so perhaps Garencières was not far off in concluding that the rubes refer to rubles. The attack on the Pope is again mentioned: Nostradamus: Prelat royal son baissant trop tiré, … Le regne Anglicque par regne respiré [1, X-56]. Royal prelate his baissant all shot up [with bullets?], … The Anglican reign by reign breathes anew. This prophecy indicates that the attack on the Pope will occur around the time of an English royal wedding. The meaning of baissant is unknown. Shakespeare likewise is unable to figure out what baissant means: Shakespeare: I cannot tell vat is baiser en Anglish [2, H5]. It is, however, somewhat mysterious where the Project Gutenberg found these words because the First Folio reads a bit different: "I cannot tell wat is buisse en Anglish," which is preceded by the words "baisee" and "baisant." Directly above buisse in the printed layout of the First Folio we find the word "Interpreter" which quickly leads us to the true meaning of baissant: "Interpretez seront les extipices" [1], from where we conclude Royal prelate his extispicy (intestines) all shot up. Was Shakespeare afraid of offending the Papacy? This brings us to the last line of that prophecy: Nostradamus: Long temps mort vif en Tunis comme souche [1, X-56]. Long time dead alive in Tunis like a stump. The expression dead alive like a stump could refer to someone who became a human vegetable. Shakespeare asserts: "Not he which says the dead is not alive" [2, 2H4]. And elsewhere: "And so in spite of death thou dost survive, In that thy likeness still is left alive" [2, Ven.]. Marlowe and Shakespeare were both impacted by the stump: Marlowe: Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight [5, Fau.]. Shakespeare: And though we leave it with a root, thus hack'd [2, H8]. The meaning of Tunis is unknown because Nostradamus clearly uses the spelling Tunes for the city of Tunis in another prophecy and in unmistakable context. Tunis, therefore, is likely to be an acronym, contraction, or abbreviation of the name of some country. Regardless, the event of the human vegetable apparently occurs around the time of the attack on the Pope which, as we just saw, occurs around the time of an English royal wedding It was noted that Nostradamus writes Tunis as "Tunes" and we will now look at that: Nostradamus: Ceulx de Tunes, de Fez, & de Bugie: Par les Arabes captif le Roy Maroq [1, VI-54]. Those of Tunis, of Fez, & of Bougie, By the Arabs the King of Morocco enticed. Marlowe and Shakespeare both refer to Tunis [5, 2Tam] [2, Tmp.] and to Bougie (Argier [5, 1Tam] [2, Tmp.]). For the king, Marlowe goes directly with the King of Morocco [5, 1Tam] while Shakespeare gives us the Prince of Morocco [2, MV], but only Marlowe mentions Fez: Marlowe: I here present thee with the crown of Fez [5, 2Tam]. The crown more or less equates with king to give us a correlation. Fez is a city in Morocco, so perhaps that is where the King of Morocco is captivated by the Arab cause. Besides North Africa, Arabs also live in the Middle East, and therein this passage may connect with another prophecy: Nostradamus: Cassich sainct George à demy perfondrez: Paix assoupie, la guerre esueillera, Dans temple à Pasques abysmes enfondrez [1, IX-31]. Encircled, Saint George to one half, demolished, Peace soporific, the war shall be awoken, Within the temple on Easter-day, abysses opened up. The war appears to be in full swing in the first line, but in the next line it is just beginning, so the Easter abyss likely precedes, and perhaps inspires, the war. Shakespeare: Saint George, that swing'd the dragon [2, Jn.]. By legend, Saint George killed the dragon near the city of Beirut, where today we find Saint George Bay. Twice more Shakespeare correlates on these lines: Shakespeare: Throng our large temples with the shows of peace, And not our streets with w… truncated (50,209 more characters in archive)