|
|
Nostradamus is beside the
mark
|
by Denise
Hoogland
photo: PETER ZONNEVELD
DE
MEERN - Some topics always will catch the eye. How many
articles are written about Nostradamus? How many times were his famous
prophecies investigated? It is not strange at all that the French
phenomenon also caught the attention of Theo van Berkel, for about
twenty years. Because of the 500th birthday of Nostradamus next year,
Van Berkel decided to publish his calculations and research results.
This resulted in a remarkable approach of a very old mystery.
 "It
all began with prophecy I-70. The prophecy deals with a possible coup d'état
in Iran in 1979. A prophecy which, according to my
feelings, became fulfilled with striking exactitude. I was fascinated by
it. And I thought: 'if this one is fulfilled, how about the
rest'", tells the 46 year old Theo van Berkel, who is nurse in
daily life.
So Theo van Berkel, living in De Meern, bought the famous book The
Prophecies. After having put it aside twice, because the contents were
too vague,
according to his feelings, the book finally got his attention,
as he read the introduction. "There it was written that Nostradamus
based his predictions on planetary positions. He was supposed to have
calculated these positions for a period of 2.200 years. This might have
been the fundament of his predictions", Van Berkel says.
"However, the fact that someone could do such a thing for such a long period,
especially in that period, seemed to me so amazing, that I decided to investigate the matter."
|
Dutch
investigation
of French
phenomenon |
It took
him about twenty years to find a calculation key by means of
planetary positions, with which he could bring the astrological predictions back to their roots. A remarkable approach: because in the more
than 600 books that meanwhile are written about the phenomenon
Nostradamus, the prophecies are investigated in entirely different
ways.
Van Berkel: "There has been looked for a geographic key
which Nostradamus might have used. It has been tried to find an
explanation for the 942 predictions, all written in cryptic verses, by
means of Jewish mystical numbers. There have been historic
investigations and numerous suggestions that Nostradamus
used some kind of projection technique, with which he projected events
in his lifetime such as the outbreak of the plague, into the
future."
According
to the approach of Theo van Berkel, not one of the 942 predictions of
Nostradamus can be fulfilled. "Nostradamus uses planetary positions
to determine the date and the place of fulfilment. In other words: where
and when a prophecy will be fulfilled. The crazy thing is - he writes
this in his letters - that actually the prophecies are based on visions. He
would have received a gift from God and would have had 942
visions."
Although, according to Theo van Berkel, the method Nostradamus used is
not so foolish as it looks, there are some essential, weird elements. He
illustrates: "If he really would have used an astrological system,
he would not only have determined date and place of fulfilment, but also
the nature of the event." Did the French scientist used an
astrological system at all? "O sure. In fact: he used two such
systems. They bite each other", he states.
"With the one system he predicts for example that there will be
troubles for the Church, beginning in 1827, with the other system he
predicts that in 1827 troubles will come to an end. Next, he predicts
with the first system that all disasters will occur up till 3797. In the
second system, Nostradamus states that in the last 1000 years of the
world, between 2827 and 3827, there will be sheer prosperity. Next, he
calculates for the existence of the world, from creation till end, 8.000
years. Archeology however proved that the world exists for millions of
years and humanity for more than 40.000 years.
In his
book 'Nostradamus, astrologie en de Bijbel ('Nostradamus, astrology and
the Bible'), for the moment published privately, the planet-theory and
the calculations are explained in detail. "People who want to know
if there will happen anything exciting with Saddam Hussein, I have to
disappoint. My book is meant for those people who want to know why I
think his prophecies cannot be fulfilled."
But
what about prophecy I-70? Or the famous prophecy that is supposed to deal
with the attack on the WTC? "They do not match. As for the WTC:
Nostradamus himself says he writes about the countries surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea, West- and Central-Europe. In his lifetime, America
was not even defined."
| Who in fact was
Nostradamus?
Nostradamus, Michel de
Nostredame, was born on December 14, 1503, in Saint-Rémy de
Provence. In 1520, he began a study at the medical university of
Avignon. In 1521, the university was closed due to a plague
epidemic. Nostradamus travels through the south of France until
1529, in order to get acquainted with herbal healing. In these
years, he earns a great reputation because of his courage in
healing the victims of the plague. He continues his medical
study at the university of Montpellier, where he gets some years
later his masters degree. From 1530, he agrees less and less
with contemporary practice of healing; in 1532 he lays down his
university profession. After two long periods of wandering and
some disastrous years, in which his wife and children die, in
1550 Nostradamus publishes the first of a series of almanacs.
These almanacs contain calendars of saints, astronomical and
meteorological writings and predictions. Pretty soon he becomes
known. More almanacs and publications follow. His reputation
increases, also at the French court of Henry II, where later he
would be appointed as royal physician.
His most famous and most extensive oeuvre are the ten volumes of
the Prophecies, in which he writes predictions about the world's
future in verse.
In 1566, the disputed physician and astrologer dies because of
the complications of gout and arthritis. |
Newspaper De Telegraaf
(the Telegraph),
volume 110, number 35709, December 28, 2002.
|
