Short answer — neither. At least not in the way popular culture portrays him. Long answer — Michel de Nostredame, known as Nostradamus (1503-1566), was a Renaissance man in the broadest sense of the word. A physician, apothecary, amateur astrologer, poet, literary compiler, and court consultant. He used astrological calculations (often erroneous, by his contemporaries' judgment) as one of many tools. He wrote prophetic quatrains that were not revelations in the sense of a religious prophet, but poetic compilations of older prophetic traditions. He skillfully balanced science, mysticism, and literature, making it impossible for authorities of his time to classify him unequivocally.
This is not a criticism of Nostradamus. It's a more accurate description of what he actually did — a description that allows us to understand why his name is the most famous astrological name in popular culture, even though serious 20th-century astrologers (Jung, Rudhyar, Arroyo, Green) almost never mention him.
In this article, we will trace his life and work, explain what a "prophet" actually was in his era, analyze the role of astrology in his practice, explain why his prophecies "come true," and see how the myth of Nostradamus evolved over five centuries from antiquarian interest to a global phenomenon.
This is not an article about the latest "2026 prophecies." These articles appear every year at the same time, repeating the same quatrains, and saying nothing new. This article answers a more serious question — who was Nostradamus, and what remains of him.
Who Was Michel de Nostredame
Let's start with the facts.
Michel de Nostredame — Latinized as Nostradamus — was born on December 14, 1503, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a small town in southern France. His family was of Jewish origin, converted to Catholicism one generation earlier — around 1502, when Louis XII issued an edict requiring all Jews in Provence to convert to Christianity within three months or leave the country.
This dual heritage — publicly Catholic, privately maintaining a Jewish identity — shaped Nostradamus's future work. The Kabbalistic and Hermetic traditions he would later use in his quatrains came from his Jewish heritage. The Latin and Greek he learned in childhood came from his Renaissance Catholic education. Both are present in his prophetic texts.
His education began at home — his great-grandfather, a doctor, taught him Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and astrology. This was not unusual for a family of Jewish origin at the time — astrology was then considered a legitimate academic discipline, taught in universities.
At 15, he entered the University of Avignon (1518) but soon left due to a plague epidemic. After eight years of travel, he enrolled in the medical faculty of Montpellier (1529) — one of Europe's most renowned medical universities. He was soon expelled when it was discovered he was working as an apothecary (which was forbidden for medical students by university rules). The decision for his expulsion is still preserved in the faculty library.
Nevertheless, he continued to practice medicine — in an era when disciplinary boundaries were not strict. He treated plague patients in southern France and northern Italy. He became famous for creating a "rose pill" — a strengthening preparation with claims of protection against the plague. Results were mixed, but his reputation as a doctor grew.
Family tragedy struck in the late 1530s — his wife and two children died of the plague in Agen. Nostradamus, a "plague doctor," could not save his own family. This shook his life and led him on a ten-year wandering across Europe. He returned to Salon-de-Provence around 1545, married the widow Anne Ponsarde, and began the period of his prophetic work.
The first almanac with monthly forecasts was published in 1551. The first edition of "Les Prophéties" — "The Prophecies," the collection of quatrains that would make him immortal — was published in 1555 in Lyon. By his death in 1566, Nostradamus was famous throughout Europe, court astrologer to Catherine de' Medici and Henry II, and an object of both admiration and suspicion.
The Era of Renaissance Hermeticism
To understand Nostradamus, we must understand his era.
The sixteenth century was a time of intellectual upheaval. Renaissance humanism rediscovered ancient texts that the Middle Ages had forgotten. But not only Plato and Aristotle — also Hermetic, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, and Neoplatonic texts containing metaphysical and magical elements. Marsilio Ficino's translation of the "Hermetic Corpus" (1471) — which we wrote about in the article on Islam and medieval Europe — opened up the entire world of "occult philosophy."
The Renaissance man lived in several intellectual modes simultaneously. He was a scientist — studying medicine, physics, astronomy. He was a humanist — reading Plato and Aristotle. He was a magician — practicing astrological and Kabbalistic techniques. He was a Christian — attending liturgies, acknowledging the Pope. These modes did not exclude each other in his consciousness. They were simply different levels of intellectual activity.
Nostradamus lived precisely in this mode. He was a doctor (scientific mode), a humanist (reading classics), an astrologer (magical mode), and a Catholic (religious mode). He did not choose between the four. He combined them.
This directly relates to the question in the article's title. "Was he an astrologer?" Yes, he was — but in the sense that any educated Renaissance man was an astrologer. This does not mean he was a "professional astrologer" in the modern sense — that he developed new techniques or had deep astrological insights. He simply used astrology as part of a broader Renaissance practice.
"Was he a prophet?" In the modern religious sense — no. In the biblical sense (a person who speaks on behalf of God) — no. Nostradamus himself never claimed this. He described his quatrains as "prognostication" (Latin prognosticatio) — a technique combining astrological calculation with intuitive interpretation. This is not prophecy in the religious sense. It is divination in the Renaissance sense — a practice that includes astrology, hermeneutics, and literary form.
What "Prophet" Meant in Nostradamus's Era
The word "prophet" in the sixteenth century had a broader meaning than it does today. It encompassed several different roles — religious prophet (like the biblical ones), astrological prognosticator, Hermetic interpreter, apocalyptic compiler. Nostradamus best fits the latter three.
In this era, a whole literary tradition of prognostic almanacs existed — annual publications that predicted astrologically favorable moments, forecast political events, and offered interpretations of natural phenomena. Nostradamus was one of many authors in this tradition — others included Laurence Videl, Gabriel Cabriel, Richard Rousse, and dozens of others. They were not considered prophets in the religious sense, but specialized predictors of the future.
The sources of their work — and here we reach a critical point — were often compilations. Mirabilis Liber (1522) is a collection of medieval and late antique prophecies attributed to Pseudo-Methodius, Joachim of Fiore, Peter Crinithus, and Savonarola. This book was widely used as a source in the sixteenth century. Researchers of Nostradamus — especially the Russian historian Alexei Penzensky — demonstrate that many of Nostradamus's quatrains are reworkings of passages from Mirabilis Liber and from medieval apocalyptic texts.
This is not plagiarism in the modern sense. In the sixteenth century, compiling old prophecies and poetically reshaping them was a legitimate literary practice. Nostradamus did not claim that everything in his quatrains was original. He offered a synthesis — old traditions, reworked for his contemporary audience.
But this has enormous significance for the modern question "did he foresee the future?" Because if his "prophecies" are compilations of old apocalyptic texts, then their "fulfillment" is not a matter of foresight — it is a matter of recurring historical patterns that were described as early as the Middle Ages.
Nostradamus's Astrology — Real or Performative?
Here we come to one of the most uncomfortable questions for modern defenders of Nostradamus. Was he a competent astrologer?
Evidence from his contemporaries suggests — not particularly. Laurence Videl, a famous astrologer of the sixteenth century, wrote in correspondence with Nostradamus — "in true astrology you understand less than nothing." This is not an isolated opinion. Other professional astrologers of the era criticized Nostradamus's astrological calculations as full of errors.
Peter Lemesurier — a former Cambridge linguist and modern translator of "The Prophecies," author of at least ten books on Nostradamus — in "Nostradamus: The Illustrated Prophecies" (2003) concludes unequivocally — "Nostradamus was neither an astrologer nor a clairvoyant. He simply believed that history repeats itself, and compiled old prophecies for his contemporary audience."
This is the academic consensus opinion today. Specialists on Nostradamus — historians, not astrologers — view him as a literary and sociocultural figure, not a serious astrologer.
To reiterate — he used astrology. He claimed an astrological basis for his quatrains. But upon detailed review, the astrological elements in his work are often:
- Incorrect in calculations. P. Brendamour, a researcher of the mathematical foundations of the quatrains, concludes — "I could not find the astronomical source used by Nostradamus."
- Decorative, not determining. Astrological phrases in the quatrains give a sense of scientific basis, but rarely determine the content of the prophecy.
- Borrowed from standard Renaissance astrological tables, not from his own calculations.
This does not mean that Nostradamus misled. It means that he used astrology as part of a broader Renaissance practice, without being a specialist in it. Like many other educated people of his time, he knew basic astrological principles and integrated them into his work — but he did not develop new techniques, did not write specialized astrological treatises, and did not receive recognition from professional astrologers of the era.
'The Prophecies' — A Literary or Astrological Work?
Nostradamus's main work, Les Prophéties (in English "The Prophecies"), was first published in 1555 in Lyon by the publisher Macé Bonhomme. The first edition contained 353 quatrains in three centuries (100 quatrains each) plus 53 from the fourth century. Later editions added more, to a total of 942 quatrains in ten centuries.
What is this book, if not a purely astrological work?
A literary work in the Renaissance apocalyptic tradition. The quatrains are written in archaic French with Latin, Provençal, and sometimes encrypted expressions. The style is deliberately vague — specific names and dates are rare, symbols and allegories dominate. The tone is apocalyptic — wars, plagues, political cataclysms, natural disasters.
Why deliberately vague? One reason is protection. In the sixteenth century, specific prophecy of political events (especially the fall of kings) was dangerous. The Inquisition looked suspiciously at such activities. Nostradamus himself was interrogated by the Inquisition in 1538 on charges of heresy. The vague style was a form of self-protection — if the quatrains said nothing specific, you could not be accused of subversive activity.
Another reason is literary. Renaissance poetry valued ambiguity and allegory. Clear, direct language was considered vulgar. An "elegant style" was a veiled style.
A third — and this is critical — is the strategy of semi-prediction. When a quatrain is vague enough, it can be applied to many different events. This is a form of intellectual elasticity that ensures the book will remain "relevant" for centuries.
The result — "The Prophecies" functions simultaneously as an astrological almanac (for contemporaries), as a Hermetic poem (for intellectuals), and as a prophetic bible (for subsequent generations). It is not purely one of these. It is a hybrid that allows for numerous interpretations.
This explains its longevity. A book that says something specific stands or falls with the fulfillment of that specific thing. A book that speaks vaguely can be reinterpreted for each new generation.
Why His Prophecies "Come True"
Here we come to the question most people have — "but why do Nostradamus's prophecies come true?" The Great Fire of London in 1666, the French Revolution, Napoleon, Hitler, September 11, 2001 — all are attributed to his quatrains.
The answer is a combination of three factors, well-known in cognitive psychology.
First — linguistic vagueness. Nostradamus's quatrains are so vague that they allow for multiple interpretations. The same quatrain can be applied to event A if interpreted one way, and to event B if interpreted another. This is not foresight — this is interpretive elasticity.
Second — retroactive interpretation. No one "reads" Nostradamus and predicts what will happen. People see what happens, and then look for a quatrain that matches. This is a standard cognitive error known as cherry-picking or post-hoc rationalization. When you have 942 quatrains, each describing some apocalyptic event in vague terms, you will inevitably find at least a few that seem to correspond to any major historical event.
Third — confirmation bias. People remember the quatrains that seem to match, and forget the hundreds that do not. No one writes articles about all of Nostradamus's predictions that didn't come true. History is written by coincidences, not non-coincidences.
The analogy is this: If I give you a book with 942 ambiguous poetic texts about wars, plagues, royal deaths, and political catastrophes, and you read it in 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2000 — you will inevitably find quatrains that seem like predictions of fresh events. This is not a supernatural skill of the author. It is a statistical inevitability of the genre.
An important nuance. This does not mean that Nostradamus was a liar. He probably believed — like many of his contemporaries — that history repeats itself in cosmic cycles, and that apocalyptic themes (wars, plagues, restorations) reappear again and again. In this sense, his quatrains describe historical patterns, not predict specific events.
This is a more respectful position towards him than either naive admiration or flat skepticism. Nostradamus was doing something interesting — a literary compilation of Renaissance apocalypticism. He was not doing what modern popular culture thinks he was doing.
Ideological Exploitation: From Goebbels to 2026
The history of how Nostradamus's prophecies have been used is more interesting than the history of what he wrote.
In 1939-1940, one of the strangest episodes of propaganda warfare unfolded. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, read Karl Ernst Krafft's book "Mysterien von Sonne und Seele" ("Mysteries of Sun and Soul") — an astrologer who claimed to find predictions of Nazi victory in Nostradamus's quatrains. Goebbels commissioned Krafft to adapt the book for propaganda purposes. The result — the Nazis dropped leaflets over Belgium and France, beginning with the words "Nostradamus predicted...".
The Allies responded. British intelligence and MGM (the Hollywood studio) produced a series of short films about Nostradamus, in which the same quatrains were interpreted as predictions of Germany's defeat. Simultaneously, leaflets with opposite interpretations were dropped over occupied territories.
The result — Nostradamus was cited by both sides of the war, in support of opposite claims, based on the same quatrains.
This is the strongest demonstration of the elasticity of Nostradamus's language. When the same text can prove two mutually exclusive positions, it proves neither. It serves whoever interprets it.
This exploitation continues to this day. Every year, around November-December, sensational articles appear — "Nostradamus for 2024," "Nostradamus for 2025," "Nostradamus for 2026." They follow a predictable pattern — vague quatrains, interpreted as predictions for the most current fears of the contemporary audience. In 2020 — for the pandemic. In 2022 — for the war in Ukraine. In 2024-2026 — for artificial intelligence and climate change.
This pattern is not evidence of Nostradamus's foresight. It is evidence of the flexibility of the quatrains and the marketing value of the name "Nostradamus." The headline "Nostradamus Predicted [X]" will always attract clicks because it combines a mystical authoritative name with current fears.
What We Inherit: The Myth of Nostradamus
After five centuries, what remains of Nostradamus?
Not astrology in the serious sense. No 20th-century astrologer works in a "Nostradamus tradition" because such a tradition does not exist. Jung, Rudhyar, Arroyo, Green — none of them mention Nostradamus. The Hellenistic revival, which we wrote about in the article on modern schools of astrology, returns to Ptolemy, Dorotheus, and Vettius Valens — not to Nostradamus.
Not prophecy in the religious sense. No major religion recognizes him. The Catholic Church specifically banned him in the late 17th century (the Vatican included "The Prophecies" in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum). No modern theologian works with him.
What remains is a cultural icon — a name that means, in the popular psyche, "prophet" and "astrologer" simultaneously, even though serious representatives of both disciplines do not recognize him.
This is a remarkable cultural achievement. Nostradamus is more famous than most people who actually contributed to modern astrology. Ask a random person on the street who Nostradamus is — they know. Ask who Dane Rudhyar or Liz Greene are — they don't know. And both answers are indicative.
Why? Because cultural memory works on emotion and history, not technical contribution. Nostradamus has a story — a Jewish family converted to Catholicism; the plague that killed his wife and children; court astrologer to Catherine de' Medici; prophecies used by Goebbels and by the Allies. This story is memorable. The technical work of Rudhyar or Greene — while more important for the field — is less memorable for the general public.
Ultimately, Nostradamus is an archetypal figure — an embodiment of the "wise mystic" who knows the future. He is an archetype, not a person. And that is precisely why he cannot disappear, even when every serious analysis shows that his work is not what popular culture believes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have Nostradamus's prophecies come true?
The answer depends on what you consider "fulfillment." Specific, verifiable predictions — no. Vague interpretations that can be applied to many events — yes. Cognitive psychology explains this through cherry-picking and confirmation bias. People remember coincidences and forget non-coincidences. Out of 942 quatrains, you will always find a few that seem to correspond to a major historical event. This is not a supernatural skill, but a statistical inevitability.
Why don't modern astrologers work with Nostradamus?
Because his work does not meet the standards of modern astrological practice. Jung, Rudhyar, Arroyo, Green — none of them mention him. He did not develop new techniques, did not write specialized astrological treatises, and did not receive recognition from professional astrologers of his own era. Even Laurence Videl — a famous astrologer of the sixteenth century — wrote to him — "in true astrology you understand less than nothing."
What did he actually do in "The Prophecies"?
"The Prophecies" is a literary compilation of Renaissance apocalypticism. Nostradamus reworked older prophetic texts — especially Mirabilis Liber (1522), Pseudo-Methodius, Joachim of Fiore, Savonarola — into poetic form. This is not plagiarism in the modern sense; in the sixteenth century, compiling old prophecies was a legitimate literary practice. But this means that his "prophecies" are not original revelations, but reworkings of existing apocalyptic themes.
Why is he so famous then?
Because his work has unique properties for longevity. First — linguistic vagueness, which allows for endless reinterpretation. Second — a memorable story (Jewish ancestry, plague, court astrologer). Third — political exploitation (Goebbels, Hollywood, modern sensational headlines). These three factors together created a cultural icon that cannot disappear, regardless of the scientific consensus.
What is the best academic reading on Nostradamus?
Peter Lemesurier, "Nostradamus: The Illustrated Prophecies" (2003) — a balanced academic translation with critical analysis. He is a Cambridge specialist, translator, and has written at least ten books on Nostradamus. Alexei Penzensky, a Russian historian, also published a critical edition of "The Prophecies" (1991, 2003) with a detailed analysis of the sources. Both conclude that Nostradamus was neither an astrologer nor a prophet in the modern sense — he was a literary compiler of Renaissance apocalypticism.