I'm all for it. The letter is surprisingly modern in some respects, and is an excellent instruction to Those Who Would Be Psychic:
...for the benefit of all men, of which the divine spirit has vouchsafed me to know by means of astronomy.
"First, portray yourself as a good guy, and invoke both divine and scientific origins for your special knowledge."
The key to the hidden prediction which you will inherit will be locked inside my heart.
i.e. "I know the truth, and you never will."
On numerous occasions and over a long period of time I have predicted specific events far in advance...
Always be ready to hype yourself.
Yet I have wished to remain silent and abandon my work because of the injustice not only of the present time but also for most of the future.
"If the audience is skeptical, blame your disinclination to perform on the negative audience."
...I will not commit to writing. Since governments, sects and countries will undergo such sweeping changes,
"But, you're refraining from performing for the common good, of course."
Do not give anything holy to the dogs...
"They aren't worthy of being your audience anyway." Incidentally, if this section is to be believed, Nostradamus says that he will not leave writings really predicting the far future. But, the temptation was too large...
The whole work is thus written in a nebulous rather than plainly prophetic form.
"If you keep it vague, you can take credit for almost anything that happens."
400+ years later, this trick is still working!
one finds oneself surprised at producing writings without fear of being stricken for such impudent loquacity.
"It's nice work, once you develop the stomach for taking the rubes."
...since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures.
"You can seem to do amazing things through a shrewd understanding of human nature."
...also fearful that several books which had lain hidden for long centuries might be discovered, and of what might become of them, after reading them I presented them to Vulcan.
"I 'burned' some books that I thought up. This way, I can have special knowledge that is too terrible for mere mortals, but is no problem for me."
I cannot fail, err or be deceived...
"Always be ready to hype yourself."
each containing one hundred astronomical quatrains, which I want to condense somewhat obscurely.
"Keep it vague, and remember the rule that the masses use for psychics: 'When I am wrong, no one remembers -- when I am right, no one forgets.'"
The light of human nature makes the philosophers so sure of themselves...
LH: I had to laugh at this one, thinking of some current practitioners...
And now that we are in a republican era, with Almighty God's aid, and before completing its full cycle, the monarchy will return, then the Golden Age.
Is this a pretty good description of the Republican concept today? He predicts it again! Amazing!<g>
...after all calculations, with the world near to an all-encompassing revolution - from the time of writing 177 years 3 months 11 days - plague, long famine and wars, and still more floods from now until the stated time.
And at the stated time, nothing happened. But, it was right on schedule...
Everything is predicted by divine afflatus and thanks to an angelic spirit inspiring the one prophesying, consecrating his predictions through divine unction.
"Always be ready to hype yourself."
...so that despite their obscurities these things shall be understood: When the time comes for the removal of ignorance, the matter will be clearer still.
"Anyone can match a prediction to something that actually happened, if they are gullible enough and you keep it vague enough."
So in conclusion, my son, take this gift from your father M. Nostradamus, who hopes you will understand each prophecy in every quatrain herein. May Immortal God grant you a long life of good and prosperous happiness.
Now, just how many times did N. explain that these quatrains would NOT be understandable to his son, or to mortal man at all, and how many times did he suggest that his son was not up to the task? But, perhaps he's saying that if his son figures out human nature and the "art" of prophecy, his fortune is assured.
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