Throughout human history, in times of trouble, famine, conflict, people have always looked for signs from above, and for centuries, Nostradamus has been their go-to clairvoyant (or conman, depending what you believe). Whether you believe him or not, one thing that is certain: through his vague prophecies, the legendary purported seer has created a brand identity that’s endured for 500 years and is still being quoted, featured, and blogged about to this day.
In isolation, critics of Nostradamus argue that eventually with his 6,300+ prophecies, he was bound to make at least a few plausible guesses, simply by mentioning random cities, or predicting disaster would strike at an unknown date. In that way, he also supposedly predicted everything from the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, to Princess Diana’s death, to 911.
So what would he foresee for 2022? Given the turmoil of the last few years, a lot of Nostradamus-whisperers are seeing connections and reading into his prophecies.
Vladimir Putin Killed by Lightning?
The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt
An evil deed foretold by the bearer of a petition
According to the prediction, another falls at night time
Conflict at Reims, London and a pestilence in Tuscany.
Some claimed this referred to JFK’s assassination in 1963, but Nostradamus pundits now think it means Vladimir Putin will be killed in 2022, literally, by a lightning strike. They’ve made that leap based on the phrase “great man” – which would probably imply a leader with a cult of personality, eg. Kim Jong Un, Nicolas Maduro, or Putin.
And while it wouldn’t portend pestilence in Tuscany, a power-vacuum in Russia would potentially complicate things in Europe, be it Reims or London. Arguably, it could also mean Donald Trump, as he always claims he’s great. He also golfs a lot, and an average of 21 golfers per year are killed in the US by lightning strikes, making it just as plausible as Putin.
Political Turmoil in the US and the end of the Republican Party
One year before the Italian conflict
Germans, Gauls, Spaniards for the fort
The republican schoolhouse will fall
There, except for a few, they will be choked dead.
Some believers have, unsurprisingly, taken this to refer to the US, which prior to the January 6th coup attempt (by Trump supporters), would have seemed implausibly far-fetched even by Nostradamus’ loose standards.
While EU members Germany, France (Gauls), and Spain won’t likely be joining any Italian conflict either, the US Republican Party’s future is somewhat in doubt – due to infighting between right-wing Trump supporters and more moderate Republicans, and 2022 is a bi-election year which could see Congressional power change hands.
Global Inflation and the collapse of the bond market and US Dollar?
The copies of gold and silver inflated
Which after the theft were thrown into the lake
At the discovery that all is exhausted
And dissipated by the debt
All scripts and bonds will be wiped out
Many believers claim this predicts the current spate of global inflation, and somehow, the impending collapse of the bond market and the US Dollar in 2022. Several Crypto-Nostradamus bros (yes, it’s a thing), have even asserted this is a 500-year old predication to buy and hodl bitcoins.
Admittedly, many bonds are denominated in US Dollars, so if you think of printed money as “script” and take “bonds” literally, a collapse of one would lead to a collapse of the other. But if you also take it literally, the US abandoned the Gold Standard in 1971, after which its money wasn’t “a copy of gold” – it became a paper-based show of faith, when accepted by people at face value, in the US government’s own solvency.
There’s been thousands of studies, articles, and pseudo-scholars dissecting Nostradamus’ prophecies, and trying to find meaning where there is seemingly none. It’s a condition coined in 1958 by German neurologist Klaus Conrad as apophenia (often associated with schizophrenia) – unknowingly imbuing something with artificial meaning (ie. conspiracy theories, numerology, etc).
So whether or not these predictions come true, it’s all up to your own interpretation.
