For a long time, I have been making many predictions, far in

In the words of Nostradamus—“For a long time, I have been making many predictions, far in advance, of events since come to pass, naming the particular locality. I acknowledge all to have been accomplished through divine power and inspiration.”—we hear the voice of a man who saw himself not as a mere scholar of the stars, but as a vessel of the divine. His gift of prophecy was not claimed as his own creation, but as a flame bestowed from higher realms, a reminder that mortal vision is limited, yet touched at times by eternal light.

The ancients revered such figures, believing that some souls could pierce the veil of time. In Delphi, the Oracle of Apollo sat upon the tripod, breathing the vapors of the earth, speaking in riddles that kings and generals would tremble to hear. She too acknowledged that her power was not her own—it flowed from the god, who used her voice as his instrument. Nostradamus, in the same tradition, confessed that his visions were not of human craft, but of divine inspiration, rising from mysteries greater than himself.

His words reveal also the burden of such a gift. To name a locality, to predict calamities and wars, is not to play with shadows, but to hold the weight of fate in the tongue. The prophet stands between man and destiny, compelled to speak truths that few may understand and many may fear. So it was with Cassandra of Troy, who foresaw the city’s fall yet was cursed never to be believed. Unlike her, Nostradamus claimed that time itself bore witness to his truth, for his predictions unfolded in the lives of nations.

Yet we must see too the humility in his confession. He did not seize glory for himself, but attributed all to divine power. In this he resembles the apostle Paul, who declared that his wisdom was not of men but of the Spirit, guiding him in visions and words. Such humility distinguishes the prophet from the pretender, for the pretender exalts his own mind, but the true seer knows he is but a channel of the eternal.

Thus, let us learn: to foresee is not to boast, but to serve. The predictions of Nostradamus remind us that time is not wholly opaque, and that in rare souls, a glimpse of what is to come is granted as a warning and a guide. Yet the power lies not in the man, but in the source beyond him. And so, when we hear of prophecy, let us not marvel at the prophet alone, but at the eternal mystery that chooses, for its own purpose, to speak through mortal clay.