Four Nostradamus predictions for 2023 from Mars disaster to 'dreadful horrors'

17 September 2023 , 06:32

1012 0

The astrologer and predictor of the future, Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus (Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The French astrologer Michel de Nostradame, otherwise known as Nostradamus, made a series of unsettling predictions about the future in his book Les Prophecies, first published almost 500 years ago.

In the book, which eventually included 941 rhymed, and just one unrhymed quatrain, the philosopher compiled a list of huge predictions he believed would happen on the earth in the future. The majority of these prophecies are not overly optimistic. Most of the quatrains deal with disasters such as plagues, earthquakes, floods, wars and murders, either covering them more generally, or sometimes concerning a single person or a small group of people.

Many people are understandably sceptical about the accuracy of Nostradamus' predictions, but the prophet is said to have made eerily close calls about several of the biggest events in recent history centuries before they happened. Some believe that Nostradamus correctly predicted Hitler's rise to power, John F Kennedy's assassination, and the 9/11 terror attacks.

And in amongst the prophecies the Frenchman published, there are several that could still be in store for 2023.

The cost of living crisis could lead to cannibalism

Four Nostradamus predictions for 2023 from Mars disaster to 'dreadful horrors' qhiddkiruirdinv

Wolverhampton Aldi security tag £3.99 cheese amid cost of living crisis (@Celeste_Tam42)

We may have to resort to cannibalism as a result of the cost of living crisis, Nostradamus has suggested. In one quatrain, he wrote: "So high will the bushel of wheat rise, that man will be eating his fellow man."

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

The verse seems to suggest that food will become so expensive - in his day, 'a bushel of wheat' - that people will have to eat each other to stay alive. This may seem straight out of a nightmare, but given the astronomical jumps in price of many basic food items this year, the prediction may not be outside the realms of possibility, however illegal cannibalism is in the UK.

Photos of supermarkets being forced to lock up Lurpak and cheddar cheese went viral online earlier this year, and at one point food prices overtook energy bills as costs rose rapidly.

A mysterious disaster on Mars

Four Nostradamus predictions for 2023 from Mars disaster to 'dreadful horrors'

The planet Mars (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Nostradamus wrote a cryptic prophecy where he predicted a "celestial fire when the lights of Mars will go out." Some people have linked this to tech mogul Elon Musk's plans to take a manned spacecraft to Mars by 2029.

But any attempts by the owner of X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, to colonise the planet are likely to fail, according to Nostradamus. In his poetic but vague phrasing, the philosopher suggests there will be a major disaster on Mars, to the extent 'the lights' of the planet will go out.

However, it could also be connected to the discovery made earlier this year by NASA after potential alien life was found on a crater on the planet. Nasa's Perseverance rover found diverse organic matter in the Jezero crater, which experts say suggests a more complex system than previously thought may have existed in the past.

Climate change could lead to major droughts and flooding

Many people are understandably sceptical about the accuracy of Nostradamus' predictions

While this is certainly already happening in many countries around the world, Nostradamus saw the whole world being affected by huge changes in the weather. He said: "The dry earth will grow more parched, and there will be great floods when the rainbow is seen."

Even in the UK, we've just suffered through a shock heatwave this month, breaking records for the hottest September we've ever seen. It's not much of a stretch to imagine this becoming an increasingly serious problem in the future, with the whole world suffering from droughts or floods all at the same time.

'Great changes' will lead to 'dreadful horrors'

Political changes could lead to 'great horrors', Nostradamus has suggested (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

This is another poetic but vague prediction from the French astrologer, and people have disagreed on how to interpret it. Nostradamus wrote: "Sooner or later you will see great changes made – dreadful horrors and vengeances."

In our fast-paced world, it seems like 'great changes' are happening all the time - from political shifts to environmental catastrophes. And arguably, both of these things could cause 'dreadful horrors and vengeances'.

In other quatrains, it suggests that the great changes are caused by large-scale civil unrest as he writes about "trumpets shaking with great discord" and "an agreement broken". Only time will tell in this instance.