| The WTC Tragedy: Was It Prophesied? | |
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After the initial shock of the deeply tragic and violent attacks of September 11 on New York and Washington turned to grief, confusion and anger, many who believe in ESP, psychic predictions and prophecy were asking: Where were the psychics? Why didn't they predict this monumental act of terror and loss of human life?
Perhaps the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon were foreseen, but apparently not by Nostradamus:
Nostradamus
Very soon after the
terrorist attacks, Internet e-mail and certain websites were flooded with
"prophecies" that were said to come from the writings of the famed
16th century French astrologer, Nostradamus. Whenever some great tragedy
strikes, it seems, Nostadamus's quatrains (four-line verses) are scrutinized to
see if some significance can be found. Some interpreters of his writings believe
he has successfully predicted the rise of Hitler, the assassination of President
Kennedy and other significant events of the 20th century. Sure enough, a
quatrain widely spread by e-mail was purported to be a clear reference to the
destruction of the WTC:
In the City of God there will be a great thunder,
Two brothers torn apart by Chaos,
while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb,
The third big war will begin when the big city is burning.
The only problem with this prophecy is that Nostradamus never made it. It was entirely fabricated by some Internet prankster whose identity will probably never be known.
David Emery, About.com's Guide to Urban Legends and Folklore, has written an excellent article on this Net hoax, similar false Nostradamus writings and other rumors related to the Sept. 11 event - Rumor Watch: Terrorist Attacks in U.S. As David points out, the circulated quatrains were either completely made up or were highly imaginative and liberally revised translations of actual verses. More about the fake verses can be found on the False Prophecy page at snopes.com.
One actual verse - the so-called "King of Terror" quatrain - has been applied to the WTC disaster, but as you can see, it bears little relevance to the events of that day:
The year 1999, seventh month,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror.
To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.
From the sky came terror, for certain, but the year is wrong and the month is wrong. And what the last two lines might mean with regard to WTC is anyone's guess. The bottom line is that Nostradamus apparently has struck out on this one.
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