The Essential Nostradamus
From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de' Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascination-and commercialization-in the West. Today, many search his elliptical "centuries"-or collected verses-for new truths about 9/11 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncements.

What is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of history's most peculiar figures.

This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's work. Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said. In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy.

Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.
1100359752
The Essential Nostradamus
From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de' Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascination-and commercialization-in the West. Today, many search his elliptical "centuries"-or collected verses-for new truths about 9/11 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncements.

What is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of history's most peculiar figures.

This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's work. Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said. In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy.

Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.
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The Essential Nostradamus

The Essential Nostradamus

by Richard Smoley
The Essential Nostradamus

The Essential Nostradamus

by Richard Smoley

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Overview

From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de' Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascination-and commercialization-in the West. Today, many search his elliptical "centuries"-or collected verses-for new truths about 9/11 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncements.

What is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of history's most peculiar figures.

This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's work. Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said. In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy.

Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781585424603
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 01/19/2006
Series: Tarcher Cornerstone Editions
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 6.09(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.85(d)
Age Range: 18 - 14 Years

About the Author

Richard Smoley was a longtime editor of the respected spiritual journal Gnosis and is the author of Inner Christianity and coauthor of Hidden Wisdom.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsIX
Introduction1
A Prophet's Life9
Map of Europe in 156040
Historical Note41
The Prophecies47
A Note on the Translation49
Century I51
Century II77
Century III98
Century IV115
Century V134
Century VI157
Century VII181
Century VIII187
Century IX211
Century X231
Nostradamus and the Uses of Prophecy255
Notes279
Suggestions for Further Reading283
Selected Bibliography285
Index289
About the Translator303
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