Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566), more commonly known as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, physician, and seer (a person with supernatural insight who can see what the future holds).
He is best known for his work published in 1555 called “Les Propheties,” a collection of 943 quatrains (stanzas of four lines having alternate rhymes).
Most scholars and academics view Nostradamus through jaundiced eyes. They maintain his predictions are vague, can be applied to anything, and are useless in determining whether he had any genuine prophetic powers.
His supporters, however, have over the years credited him with predicting many major world events such as the Storming of the Bastille In1789, the rise of Adolph Hitler in the 1930’s, the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001.
Nostadamus’ parents were Jews who converted to Catholicism before he was born. This raises the question as to how much credibility should we subscribe to a Catholic astrologer?
My progressive Facebook friends who are Bernie Sanders cult members lovingly refer to me as “Nostradamus” because of the many predictions I make concerning the negative political outcomes of a Sanders nomination and Democrats running on a progressive platform. But they’re using the wrong allusion.
They should be referring to me as CASSANDRA.
Cassandra was a woman in Greek mythology who was cursed to make prophecies that were true but that no one believed.
She was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. She was admired by the god Apollo who was extremely attracted to her, and he offered her the gift of seeing into the future in order to win her heart and her body.
But after she received this gift, she reneged on her promise and refused to give him sex.
Apollo was angry and wanted to take back the gift, but because divine powers that were granted couldn’t be revoked, he placed a counter curse on her. She could predict the future accurately, but no one would ever believe her prophecies.
This was a harsh punishment, but it was well-deserved. Even a god like Apollo can get extremely frustrated when the carnal pleasure he was looking forward to is taken away from him.
Everyone should have read “The Illiad” and “The Odyssey” of Homer while in high school. In the Fall of Troy, Cassandra tried to warn her people that Greek warriors were hiding inside the wooden Trojan Horse and not to bring it inside the walled city. They refused to believe her, and they called her names and showered her with insults.
What happened? The Trojans thought they’d won the war, got drunk and celebrated, and in the middle of the night the Greeks climbed out of the horse and slaughtered the Trojans. They shoulda listened to Cassandra.
All during the summer of 2016 this Keen Observer wrote, “It’s the Supreme Court, stupid.” I warned the Sanders people that bashing Hillary could result in Trump’s election and the installation of two right-wing Supreme Court justices.
What happened? Neil Gorsuch and Bret Kavanaugh. They refused to believe me then, and their reaction now to anything I predict regarding how their desires to nominate a socialist candidate and run on a far-left wing platform will ensure Trump’s re-election and two more right-wing justices by 2024 is met with scorn.
This results in their calling me names and showering me with insults. They call me a “corporate Democrat” and even the lowest of blows, “a Republican.” Oh, the humanity.
I sincerely doubt that my progressive friends know anything about Nostradamus or Cassandra, but once a teacher, always a teacher.
Will they thank me for what they learned in this essay? Not bloody likely.
Call me Cassandra, not Nostradamus.
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