|
In the
April-issue of and the May-issue of volume 1940 of the magazine Astrologische
Wereldschouw (tr.: Astrological view on the world), a magazine for
astrology and related sciences, two articles were published, dealing
with Nostradamus and the Centuries. These articles were written
by one Van der Willigen and were discussed in favourable reviews in the
editions of April 12, 1940 and May 8, 1950 of the Dutch newspaper Het
Vaderland.[1]
Unfortunately, the issues of Astrologische Wereldschouw
in which Van der Willigen's articles were published, are not at the
disposal of www.nostradamusresearch.org. The points of contact in the
reviews permit a discussion of these articles.
"De
Profetieën van Nostradamus" (Het Vaderland, April 12,
1940 [Astrologische Wereldschouw, April 1940])
The section Tijdschriften
(tr.: Magazines)
in the evening-edition of Het Vaderland of April 12, 1940
contained a review of the April-issue of volume 1940 of Astrologische
Wereldschouw, in which Van der Willigen had written an article about
the Centuries. The review does not contain the title of his
article. On this website, the title "De Profetieën van Nostradamus"
is used.
The review shows that Van der Willigen had written that the time span of
the Centuries was hundreds of years and that they were founded,
according to Nostradamus, upon biblical prophecies. On the question if
the Centuries contained information about the circumstances in
1940 and the war which was going on, Van der Willigen's answer was
affirmative. He seemed to have been quite sure of this, since he wrote
that the outlook of the Centuries was confirmed by the horoscope
of Hitler.
In his article, Van der Willigen emphasized that the Maginot-line was
quite clearly described in one of the Century-quatrains: a belt
of subterranean buildings close to the Rhine, consisting of fifteen
segments. Further, he argued that it was predicted in numerous quatrains
that Germany would manage to invade France by Switzerland instead of by
crossing the Maginot-line. Geneva would be destroyed. France, facing a
caputulation, would be able to defeat Germany in heavy battles near
Chambéry and Poitiers and next would invade Germany and dictate a peace
treaty.
Van der Willigen did not know in which year German troops would invade
France. It seemed to him that the period 1940-1942 was at stake. The
battles he described would last for seven months. At the time of the
issue of his article, it should be clear if Nostradamus meant that the
described events would take place in 1940.
Summary: the review in Het Vaderland shows that Van der
Willigen expected a seven month lasting war betweeen France and Germany
in the near future, which at first would be successful for Germany and
eventually would result in a smashing defeat and a dictated peace
treaty. If Germany as a result of this peace treaty would withdraw
itself from occupied countries such as Poland, is something which is not
discussed in this review.
The critic considered Van der Willigen's article as very interesting.
"De
Profetieën van Nostradamus" (Het Vaderland, May 8, 1940
[Astrologische Wereldschouw, May 1940])
In a review on page 3 in the evening edition of Het Vaderland of
May 8, 1940, the May-issue of volume 1940 of Astrologische Wereldschouw
was discussed. The critic wrote a small note regarding Van der
Willigen's second article about the Centuries.
The review shows that according to Van der Willigen, the Centuries
will result in a great, lovely peace. In his opinion, the Centuries
were not clear about the future of England. Van der Willigen argued that
the decline of the British empire was predicted in the Centuries.
He stated that in 1940, the effects of this process were quite
noticeable, but this did not mean by definition that England itself
would fall. According to Van der Willigen, a great sea battle was
predicted in the Centuries, in which the British fleet forcefully
would strike back and would crush the enemy.
Summary: the review in Het Vaderland shows that for the near
future, Van der Willigen expected a wealthy peace and the decline of the
British empire. There is no indication in the review that according to
Van der Willigen a large-scale European conflict or a world war was
predicted in the Centuries. The opionion of the critic was that
the May-issue of Astrologische Wereldschouw contained lots of
interesting articles, an appraisal which also was meant for Van der
Willigen's article.
The
outlook for the Netherlands
Basing himself upon the Centuries, Van der Willigen communicated
that soon or within a couple of years, France and Germany would be at
war with each other for seven months, resulting in a victory for France
and a dictated peace treaty for Germany, whereas slowly the British
empire would decline.
Van der Willigen did not expect a large-scale conflict in Europe, but a
bilateral conflict which in short time would result in peace. This seems
to mean that in the eyes of Van der Willigen the Netherlands would
remain neutral and would not suffer from the war or be involved in
battles. In the analysis in the April-issue of Astrologische
Wereldschouw of the horoscope of the Netherlands, a similar outlook
was described. The review in Het Vaderland quoted the closing
line of this analysis:
Is
waakzaamheid geboden en mogen wij de moeilijkheden en spanningen niet
onderschatten, vooral weer in de maand
april, verliest als rustige Hollanders in ieder geval uw
evenwicht niet, want voor Holland zijn de geruchten inderdaad
gevaarlijker en angstwekkender dan de feiten.
(tr.:
If, especially in the month of April, vigilance is requested and it iis
not allowed to underestimate troubles and tenses, one should, as a calm
Dutchman, not lose one's balance, because actually, rumours are more
dangerous and frightening to Holland than the facts.)
In the May-issue of
volume 1940 of Astrologische Wereldschouw, the horoscope of
Mussolini was discussed. In May 1940, his position would hang by a
thread. In June, Hitler would face new disappointments.
According to Astrologische Wereldschouw, the outlook for the
Netherlands remained favourable and were discussed in the section Politieke
omstandigheden (tr.: Political circumstances) as follows:
Wij
kunnen nog steeds geen reden vinden om op onze voor Nederland
geruststellende woorden terug te komen. Men blijve dus kalm.
(tr.:
We still can find no reason to return to our for the Netherlands
comforting statements. Therefore, one should remain calm.)
Van der
Willigen's outlook in the May-issue of volume 1940 of Astrologische
Wereldschouw that a great, lovely peace empire was at hand,
corresponded more or less with the outlook in the section Politieke
omstandigheden.
None of the reviews in Het Vaderland
contested the outlooks, given by Van der Willigen, or the analyses
and outlooks, described in the article about the horoscope of the
Netherlands and the section Politieke omstandigheden.
Source
material
|
Les
Prophéties...
(De Fontbrune, 1939)
|
The literature study upon
which this article is based, has shown that in the April-issue of volume
1940 of Astrologische
Wereldschouw, Van der Willigen copied his outlooks from chapter XV
of the fifth edition of Les Prophéties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus - Expliquées
et commentées (Sarlat, 1939), written by dr. De Fontbrune.[2]
The full title of this chapter shows that De Fontbrune expected e.g. a
German invasion by Switzerland, the destruction of Geneva, battles near
Chambéry, a glorious victory near Poitiers of French troops. According
to De Fontbrune, it was predicted in quatrain 08-34 that in Ulm, Germany
would sign a peace treaty.
De Fontbrune linked quatrain 04-80 to the Maginot-line. He had rephrased
the first two lines of this quatrain (Pres du grand fleuve grand fosse
terre egeste / en quinze parts l'eau sera divisée) in modern-French: Près du grand fleuve
(le Rhin),
un grand retranchement sera creusé dans la terre - divisé en quinze
parties hydrographiques. To this comment, a map was added which
showed the fifteen segments of the Maginot-line, which according to this
map was continued in Luxembourg. According to this map, most of the
segments were separated from each other by rivers.
De
Fontbrune did not clearly mention the year in which German troops would
invade France. As far as he was concerned, the period 1941-1942 was at
stake. Basing himself upon quatrain 02-39, he expected that one year
after a German-Italian war, German troops would invade France and that
the resulting battles would last for seven months.[3]
The review in the evening edition of Het Vaderland of May 8,
1940, does not show if Van der Willigen based his expections about
England and the British empire upon De Fontbrune's
Les Propheties de Maistre Michel Nostradamus - Expliquées et
commentées.
The fortune in Het Vaderland
of the Centuries
|
Hoe zal deze
oorlog eindigen?
|
It is quite plausible
that readers of Astrologische Wereldschouw and Het Vaderland drew
hope for the future from Van der Willigen's articles and the horoscope
analyses and thought that Nostradamus had made some favourable
predictions for the Netherlands for 1940 and the next years. Concrete
information about their attitude is lacking. Concrete information
about their feelings - and those of Van der Willigen c.s. - at the time
of the invasion of German troops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
and France on May 10, 1940 is also lacking. Further , De Fontbrune must
have been quite surprised when German troops invaded France from the
north-east instead of by Switzerland. After the German invasion on May
10, 1940, Het Vaderland did not discuss the outdated outlooks,
published in Astrologische Wereldschouw. I do not know how the
editors of Astrologische Wereldschouw dealt with the new and
unexpected situation.
A week after the beginning of the Battle of Britain, the battles
above the Channel between the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air Force,
totally different outlooks of the Centuries were described in Het
Vaderland. The evening edition of July 18, 1940 contained an article
about the national-socialist brochure Hoe
zal deze oorlog eindigen? which at the beginning of April 1940 was
brought into circulation in the Netherlands. According to the critic,
this brochure was a translation of a book by dr. De Fontbrune and
Nostradamus was exposed as a reliable soothsayer, who a.o. had predicted
the rise of "a Great one, which possibly might be Hitler" and
the threat for England of a smashing defeat. In the summer of 1940, Hoe zal deze oorlog
eindigen?, originally meant to demoralize the Dutch people prior to
the invasion, was used to discourage Dutch resistance by referring to a
success for Hitler, predicted by Nostradamus, in his fight against
England.
Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen? is the Dutch version of a German
propagandistic Nostradamus-text, written in November-December 1939 by
order of dr. Joseph Goebbels, Germany's minister of Propaganda. By means
of specified quotes (containing page numbers and the original French
text) from chapter XXII of the fifth edition of De Fontbrune's Les Prophéties de Maistre Michel
Nostradamus - Expliquées et commentées, this brochure announced
the decline of England. De Fontbrune was called by his name and his
reputation of being a famous French Century-scholar who recently
had given a striking analysis of the situation in Europe. The review in Het
Vaderland of May 8, 1940 does not show if Van der Willigen at the
time of writing his second article on the Centuries studied the
contents of Hoe zal deze oorlog eindigen?
or commented this brochure. In the article in Het Vaderland of
July 18, 1940, Van der Willigen and his articles were not mentioned at
all.
Some facts about the
magazine Astrologische
Wereldschouw
|
Astrologische
Wereldschouw
August 1940
|
The first
issue of the magazine Astrologische Wereldschouw - maandblad
voor astrologie en aanverwante wetenschappen was published in
January 1937. Editor-in-chief was the astrologer Jac. J. Mieremet, born
on December 28, 1905, at the time of issuing living in Voorburg in 5 Van
Gaesbekestraat. In 1940, the editing staff and administration was
seated in The Hage at 110 Van Lansbergestraat. Astrologische
Wereldschouw was printed by City drukkerij NV, Muzenstraat 3-5, The
Hague.
Each issue of Astrologische Wereldschouw was opened with an
astrological analysis of the situation in the world. Next, horoscopes
were discussed of countries, presidents, royalties and politicians. The
magazine also contained predictions about lotteries, gambling and
everyday life. Frequently, as is shown in the articles in Het
Vaderland, attention has been given to the horoscopes of Hermann
Goering, Adolf Hitler, the Norwegian king Haakon, the Czechoslovakian
president Edvard Benes at the time of the Sudeten-crisis, and the
horoscopes of the Netherlands, England and the United States.
Volume 1940 of Astrologische Wereldschouw was numbered as volume
4. The fact that volume 1946 was numbered as volume 6, means that on a
certain moment in World War II, the issue of Astrologische
Wereldschouw was ceased, whether or not by order of the occupying
authorities. It is possible that after the invasion of German
troops in 1940, the issuing was ceased and was reprised after the
capitulation of Germany in May 1945. In August 1940, the eight number of
volume 1940 was issued.
In 1946 Astrologische
Wereldschouw was seated in Amsterdam; later in The Hague.
Mieremet also wrote the books Met wie ben ik getrouwd? Cosmisch
huwelijkslief en -leed, published in The Hague in 1949, and Het
karakter van uw kind.
As editor of Astrologische Wereldschouw, Mieremet was succeeded
by the astrologer Ed Noordman, born on November 16, 1928, who since 1959
practiced astrology. Noordman continued the magazine and changed its
name into Toekomst, astrologisch en occult
maandblad and later into Astro-vizier, astrologisch
maandblad voor politiek en samenleving.
De
Meern, the Netherlands, December 17, 2007
T.W.M. van Berkel Notes
-
See Historische kranten in
beeld. [text]
-
De Fontbrune-1939, p.176-189.
The name Dr. de Fontbrune is the pseudonym of dr. Max Pigeard de
Gurbert. [text]
-
De Fontbrune-1939, p.286-288. De
Fontbrune expected a German invasion one year after a German-Italian
conflict, which he supposed was predicted in quatrain 02-39,
although the first two lines of this quatrain contain a prediction
of a struggle between Germany, France and Spain, one year before the
"Italian conflict". [text]
|
