Nostradamus and 2012

March 17, 2015 · updated February 15, 2022

Nostradamus lived in 16th century France and wrote what some believe are prophecy’s about the future, including December 21, 2012.. His followers credit him with predicting events such as World War II, the Kennedy assassinations, and September 11, 2001. Nostradamus' most well-known book is titled “The Prophecies.” The book is divided into subsections called “Centuries,” which refers to the amount of verses in each section - 100. Nostradamus wrote in four-line stanzas called Quatrains. Most scholars find it difficult to decipher what his descriptions mean, let alone see their alleged fulfillment in world events beyond the Frenchman’s time. Nostradamus lived during the time of the bubonic plague, also called “The Black Death,” which killed one-third of Europe’s population. Scholars believe this explains the mood of his writings and the scenes of destruction that fill it. ## The Lost Book of Nostradamus

A so-called Lost Book of Nostradamus was found in 1994. It dates to the year 1629 and is supposedly an unpublished manuscript, which was inherited by his son at the time of the seer’s death. The book doesn’t contain verses or Quatrains, but numerous images, which some believe are prophetic. Some believers in the December 21, 2012 Mayan apocalypse believe the images, in part, reflect the Doom’s Day event. Here is a representative example of the images.

On some 2012 websites authored by adherents of the prophecy, the middle image of the sun is turned upside to suggest that Nostradamus drew it falling to Earth, in an attempt to corroborate their apocalyptic theories.

Nostradamus' writing, and now his drawings, have been the subject of many Internet hoaxes. The most famous fable involved September 11, 2001 when some widely-circulated emails alleged that Nostradamus predicted the terrorist attacks, including the collapse of the Word Trade Center buildings. The stanzas that were used in the emails, however, were merely distortions of, or additions to, real Quatrains.

While Nostradamus did mention specific years in the future, such as 1999, he never wrote about 2012, and according to most people who have viewed the above images, he didn't draw about the year either.