So how is the new year going to be?
Michel de Nostredame, the 16th-century French philosopher can probably tell you - if you believe in him, that is.
His followers claim that he has foretold a number of events that turned out to be true, including 9/11, Hitler's rise and fall and Donald Trump's presidential victory.
Trump's election is thought to be predicted in Quatrain 81: "The great shameless, audacious bawler. He will be elected governor of the army: The boldness of his contention. The bridge broken, the city faint from fear."
Hence, will there be a fierce, fiery World War III? Maybe, or maybe not. But the Nostradamus predictions certainly foretell the "demise of human civilization." He is reported to have said:
"The moment of great violence will coincide with the appearance of a comet in the sky. Nuclear combat and natural disasters shall strike our planet when a giant planet approaches Earth."
An economic collapse has been mentioned in Century 1, 40: "The false trumpet concealing madness will cause Byzantium to change its laws. From Egypt, there will go forth a man who wants the edict withdrawn, changing money and standards."
Now if you're wondering what Byzantium is all about, and why it should be mentioned at all, you can rest assured that it is probably the imagination of a number of 'believers'. They think that it refers to the United States, which is now considered to be 'the centre of the world,' as Byzantium once was.
With Trump entering the office, the "current superpower", that is the US, becomes just "increasingly ungovernable and incompetent."
Other predictions include a "Hot War" anticipated over global warming and diminishing resources. The biggest threats will be biological warfare and terrorism, said that savvy soothsayer.
All these predictions are being cited heavily on the Internet: "Nostradamus predicted this outcome. Nostradamus predicted after the trumpet wins, there will be a Great War! He predicted this 400 yrs ago! His prediction have all come true! I'm afraid America is going fall, compare us to Roma, we have too much debt, and we import more than we export, we are in serious trouble."
However, sceptics have just dismissed all the predictions as mere drivel. For instance, Quatrain 67 of Century II is reported to have foretold that "the blonde" would defeat the "fork-nosed one." In Century VIII, Quatrain 15, a "masculine woman" was meant to "exert herself in the north." It did not happen, of course! What were those predictions all about, then?
They may all just be moonshine.
As once social media post sums it up: "Nostradamus predicted everything and nothing. You can twist his words to mean anything from the end of the world to your Uncle Fred's bunion operation."
YouTube/MLordandGod
