Who was Nostradamus?
The new millennium and the “9/11” attacks have sparked the greatest debate yet about the efficacy of this man and his prophecies. There could be no better time to release a book that reassesses what we know about Nostradamus, the man. The present book is the first complete and full-bodied biography and historical reassessment in over sixty years. This publication celebrates the 500-year anniversary of the birth of history’s most famous and controversial prophet.
Nostradamus, the author of the famous Centuries, was an unusual man for his time. He was a practicing physician, astronomer and astrologer who lived in the mid 16th century (1503 – 1566) who turned his hand to prophecy later in life. As a physician he treated those suffering from the Bubonic plague and then in a twisted irony lost the members of his family to the disease. He was a devout student of pagan methods of divination at night who wore the mask of a devout Catholic during the day to avoid persecution from the Spanish Inquisition. In the end he predicted his own death, and some say also cursed the marauders from the French Revolution that he foresaw would desecrate his own burial tomb. Nostradamus wrote messages from the past to the future in the form of short poems consisting of four lines each called Quatrains. In his lifetime Nostradamus completed a total of 942 quatrains, which he organized into groups of 100 quatrains called Centuries.
What did he really do and write? Did he really predict the future with uncanny accuracy? In The Mask of Nostradamus, the renowned magician and nonsense-basher James Randi critically examines the fact and fiction surrounding Nostradamus and his prophesies. Extensive research and hard work resulted in a story somewhat less than miraculous. ‘Twas ever thus. Unlike the vast majority of Notstradamians, Randi sought out first hand information: the original writings of Nostradamus (in archaic French), contemporary records of his life and of his times. This allowed Randi to construct a picture of Nostradamus, the man and his work, and to discern the layers of mistakes, mythology, and outright forgery that have built his reputation over the years. Nostradamus was a real man (this was not a forgone conclusion!), a physician and astrologer, and was famous in his own day as a prophet. Randi reveals something of the character of the man, including a little suspected inclination to Protestantism-a l
