Secrets to Nostradamus' Code Mechanism -the Sephirot revealed

Nostradamus' work holds many conundrums designed to limit access to the content of his prophecies. This true to an extent where most people believe his work is the deliberate shambles of a charlatan. Yet there is direct evidence in his prose writings that show he had a pre-thought plan which guided his work.

His preface to the first batch of prophecies published in 1555 clearly indicates he already knew the content his prophecies would cover. He wasn't making it up as he went but took already recorded events in what seems a random order and placed them in a new sequence which he called his ten Centuries. The following quotations provide the evidence of these claims.

The first deals with his self-belief in the validity of his visions and the mechanisms he felt bound to use to protect its value for people of a future time.

.....kingdoms, sects, and regions will change to the diametric opposite of that seen in the present day. If I had drawn up events as they will happen the people of that realm, sect, religion and faith, would find it so bad that they would listen to fantasies and come to damn that which future centuries will know through seeing and perceiving....

....Now I want to reach out and declare happenings of common interest through incomprehensible and perplexing sentences about future causes. The most urgent are those in which I perceive some human mutation and for which I must find a way that is inoffensive to the weakest ear so all must be written under a more nebulous figure than that of the ancient prophets Preface to Cesar 1555 (PCE4)

But in order, my son, that I may not wander too deeply for the future capacity of your mind, and also because I find that letters shall undergo such a huge and incomparable loss, I find that so many deluges and such deep floods shall befall the world before the universal conflagration that there shall not be scarcely any land. And this will be for such a long time that except for enographies and topographies all would be lost. Also, both before and after these floods, the rains in many countries shall be so slight, and there will be so much fire and white-hot rock shall fall from the sky, that nothing shall remain that is not consumed. And all this to occur, in a brief period before the final conflagration. Preface to Cesar 1555 (PCE8)

The third reference hints at the core event motivating Nostradamus. It involves a war unlike any before since it deals with the resolution of a religious divide by a means not available until that future time. And it had to be through hints because its nature placed him at risk from those powerful long-standing institutions of his own time which he foresaw being the greatest losers in the distant future.

The time comes my son, to hear that it is by my revolutions, which accord to revealed inspiration, that we know the mortal sword approaches with plague and a war due to the lives of three men that is more horrible than there has ever been. And the famine, which will fall to Earth, will return whilst the stars agree with the revolution. Preface to Cesar 1555 (PCE11)

In order to keep control over his writings Nostradamus needed a scheme that would tell him which topics he had already covered and it is likely he did this by relying on a coding device well known in the sixteenth century. It is part of the Cabala but the reasons for its use don't necessarily require that he believed in the mystical principles at the heart of its source. He needed a scheme that a person in a later time would be able to associate with the time of his writing. The Tree of Life also known as the Sephirot, Sefirot or Sephiroth was such a device.

The assumption that Nostradamus used such a means also provides a powerful decoding device since it provides a disciplined structure by which our era can identify links between verses based on their text, poetry and lettering.

It is probable that he drew up charts based on these trees in which he placed ten verses and then used the ciphers traditionally linked to the ten spheres of the tree to guide the content, wording and lettering in each verse.

It is the purpose of this paper to present examples I believe show that he used this device for his current needs and as a guide for the future.

In order to do this I, unlike Nostradamus, must use a deductive method. I have found patterns in his work that can, when correctly assembled, mirror his intent. However because I am compelled to use a deduced form my charts can only ever be an approximation to the original. This not a disproof the concept but a realistic recognition of what was always intended. The charts are  a guide to how the Prophecies were written.

Nostradamus stated he used a coding scheme and since his epoch was a time when coding mechanisms were popular and rapidly evolving it is probable his scheme drew upon one of those published in the 16th century. However in doing this it is likely he differed from his 16th century contemporaries such as Agrippa, who took the physical aspects of the Cabala and transformed them into mystical reference points for magic. Nostradamus' usage was the exact reverse; his interest in it was much more as a key to his code. In practice this means he started with the idea of the mystical and transformed these images into a precise definable set of ciphers that would be his code.

And he needed to use a device that made sense to associates in his own time, people whom it was possible to personally instruct in its use. But at the same time he needed to provide guides for those far removed from his time whose only tool for finding the mechanism would be deduction. For both groups he could leave relevant clues suited to their training but in neither case could the mode of using these tools be obvious.

It is by this means that he could deliver names, places, events, locations and calendars. To see how this could be used we can examine the verses containing anagrams based on the Sephirot, the Tree of Life. If this was his mechanism then patterns should be discernible when correctly applied.

However there is another issue; his anagrams can be more multi-lingual than his text since they were intended for people in different eras. At the start of the 21st century in order to resolve this possibility over linguistic variance I performed a computerised study of anagrams found within Nostradamus’ Prophecies.

What my anagram analyses suggest is that his base is modern English. Such a finding seems (and seemed) fundamentally wrong yet there is a unique logic to its being both possible and probable.

Firstly any conclusion that he used modern English for future recipients is false if Nostradamus couldn't see the future. No ability to see the future implies there is no need for future language. That is a valid argument but does the same hold true if he wasn’t a charlatan?

If he did see the future his work couldn't satisfy modern needs unless it was presented in a way that could be recognised. But more than that without a common language it would be impossible to convey ideas that had any relevance. It is therefore mandatory that it contain modern language if he could see the future.

And the reason why the language used in the anagrams is unlikely to be restricted to a single language comes from the practical aspect of Nostradamus’ Prophecies. Not only was it intended to be a hidden vehicle for the future but it was a code telling those who backed his efforts about the immediate future of 16thC France. Selected people of his own time were likely shown how to use the Sephirot method to uncover French or Occitan words from the anagrams.

For example in the verse that tells the fate of Henry II of France there is an anagram for de Lorges (ge d'or les), an alternate name of the soldier who pierced the king’s helmet with his lance thereby causing his death. This presented as an anagram with a French format. Yet in that same passage there are adjacent English anagrams saying casing older eyes (anscaig ed'orl esye) which adequately describes the circumstances of the accident. The latter message is not meant to be prophetic, it is a means of giving credibility to the decoding of Nostradamus’  techniques.

To deny this logic as to the necessity of modern language within the writings of the Prophecies means any investigation into its hidden secrets would fail. If modern language is denied a place in Nostradamus' work then we cannot test the truth of his claim that he had an ability to see the future.  Irrational denial is not a satisfactory basis for investigating that which lies outside of current understanding. History records that many of our modern understandings of science come through the work of those who saw a quirk in their observations of the world and continued to investigate the phenomenon despite its lying outside  current modeling.

And if we presume no living thing will ever be able to see the future we are ignoring that property that characterizes evolution; the ability of living things to utilize aspects not known to earlier life forms. So in order to investigate the claims Nostradamus made we have to begin with a mind that is open to the possibility that he could see the future.

We already assume this possibility of there being something not yet known in everything we research, else there is no point. And so if we seek to find alien life or alien concepts we must be prepared to test patterns other than those with which we are familiar. And conversely if we want other beings to recognize our own existence they too will be on the lookout for unfamiliar inexplicable patterns.

The Voyager Golden Records are two phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977.[1] The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them. The records are a sort of time capsule...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

I have also indicated that this mechanism, independent of Nostradamus’ use, provides a useful means of reconstructing any scattered material.

So this chapter’s purpose is to explain how it works.

Alongside I show the basic tree with one of the (many) Hebraic names of the spheres shown as well as their overreaching attribute/s.

It should be borne in mind all readings taken from the tree are in the Jewish fashion from right to left. There are ten spheres with Keter given the number 1, Hokmah 2, Binah 3, etc. the last is ascribed the number 0. By this means there is the basis for an alphanumeric coding scheme.

Similarly there are twenty two channels linking the spheres to which can be ascribed the letters of the Hebraic alphabet (or equivalent).

I believe the Sephirot given below reflects the starting point by which Nostradamus began outlining and visualizing his coding methods.

Confidence for my assumption arises from the Sephirot shown below having as its crown the first verse in the Prophecies (Centuries I Quatrain 01: C1 Q01).

 In addition the text of the second verse (C1 Q02) has a capitalized BRANCHES in its text, a term higly pertinent to this form of presentation. Taking this into account I place it in the 6th sphere (which is labelled Tifaret) where the two verses then provide the trunk of the tree.

The two verses are also linked by the word emptiness which is found in the text of Q1 and as an anagram in Q2.
The strength of this chart is illustrated well by the verse I place in the 9th sphere called Yesod. It is the sphere for Foundation and it fits this term by the connections it provides. It is by this associative means between content and labeling in the traditional Sephirot that all my earliest examples relating to coding methods are built.

A discipline imposed in my reconstruction is that the verses in these charts must have links that conform to the direction of the channels used in the traditional Hebraic scheme. To provide those links the words and anagrams found in the linked verses must share matching properties. However in later Sephirots because European alphabets have two more letters than the Hebraic version I put a channel between spheres 7 and ten and another from sphere 8 to sphere 10. This enhances the discipline for showing links in the bottom third of the Sephirot.

This being the first of my series it is appropriate that the placement of verses in individual spheres relies on the traditional properties of that sphere and its channels. However I bring topical relevance to those connections through content related to Nostradamus’ Prophecies. Hence links are shown for terms such as Centuries, Prophecies, Nostradamus and quatrains.

The verses are also linked by distinctly code relevant terms such as ciphers, emblems and labelling.

With these in place a common set of threads can be seen in the story lines of the text and anagrams. The importance and cohesive nature of these threads will be established by later Sephirots.

All of these aspects and connections are consistent with a clue left by Nostradamus:

"the hereditary word of the occult prediction will be shut inside my stomach: whereby the defined adventures become uncertain. " Preface to Cesar 1555 (PCE1)

Many of the anagrams also provide a powerful hint that Nostradamus used a device based on code. Episteme for understanding, Etymic for word formation style and epigram are but a few and then there are coding words and the enigmatic sequence in line 3 of the verse given below that say Nostredame trees hides best use (amonſtred etres hide use best). Nostredame is the original form of Nostradamus name.

This sequence is but one of many found spectacularly personal references found throughout the prophecies. And their inclusion is supported by their relevance to other anagrams in the verses and to the wording of the text.

It is the second line of this same verse that holds an anagram for Sephirot (Si fort e) but it also has near-adjacent anagrams for governing  (rgongne Vi) and labour (la Bour). The anagram for governing only occurs here while there are a number of other places for both Labour(5) and Sephirot(11). Labor is another cipher applicable to the fifth sphere while governing is linked to the fourth sphere through it being a means of providing common law.

So not only is there the enigmatic allusion to Nostradamus usage of the Hebraic Tree of life there are accompanying references to the Sefiot / Sehirot and its purpose in guiding his writing of the Prophecies.

They were Nostradamus’ tool and they are also mine.

Below is the first of my Sephirot trees and in this chart as outlined above I have tried to highlight the many connections between the verses in ways useful to the reader.

It should be noted that C1 Q01 as presented in this analysis breaks a self imposed rule governing the source of the lettering. I use only one version of Nostradamus’ Prophecies in order that statistical probabilities can redress any variance from Nostradamus’ intent.

The version I use is that presented in Erika Cheetham’s 1990 publication called The Final Prophecies of NOSTRADAMUS (Warner Books). In that volume for the French text of the quatrains Cheetham reproduces as closely as possible the original edition of the prophecies published in 1568 (Benoist Rigaud, Lyon).

Many of the anagrams also provide a powerful hint that Nostradamus used a device based on code. Episteme for understanding, etymic for word formation style and epigram are but a few and then there are coding words and the enigmatic sequence in line 3 of the verse given in the image to the left that says Nostredame’ trees hides best use. Nostredame is the original form of Nostradamus’ name. This sequence is but one of many spectacular personal references found throughout the prophecies. And their inclusion is supported by their relevance to other anagrams in the verses and to the wording of the text.

All publications have flaws and the further back in time we go for our material the more numerous are likely to be the variations in verse content, phrases, words and spelling. However by choosing just one text for my base I don’t enhance the chance of finding anagrams, especially ones that conform to the meaning of the text from which they come. So by choosing one version for 941 of 942 verses I give statistics its best chance to work without corruption by biased choices.

I make this exception for C1 Q01 because it is the cornerstone of Nostradamus’ work. In the 1568 edition C1 Q01 has significant distortions that create uncommon wording. The last line for instance has fait psperer q n’est a croire vain. Other editions offer variations which when analysed for anagrams produce a surprising but consistent result. From their slight variances in lettering they generate words such as quatreins, centuries and properties. These do not appear in the text only the anagrams. This clarity fits with the cornerstone nature of the verse and their inclusion doesn’t alter the results for the anagrams in a substantial way. Hence in this Sephirot I show a version with the closest publication date to that of Nostradamus’ creation of the quatrains. It is based on the Bonhomme edition 1555 as presented by Edgar Leoni (1982).

For access to my analyses of the verses in this table go to Quatrain Verses.

To see all Sephirots on my site click here for all Sephirots

Access to the individual verses and the original paper where these analyses first appeared can be gained via the links below

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