Nostradamus' Prophetic Methods and Astrological Techniques

of God. The Horoscope, the chart of the heavens, provides the astrological or natural synthesis of the destiny of a certain place for a certain time according to the law of cause and effect, but does not take into account extra interventions. A very well-known historical example is Michel Nostradamus, who used astrology but made most of his prophecies through otherworldly communications. He would sit on a bronze tripod, before the fire and with his feet immersed in water according to a technique that was described by Iamblichus in "The Egyptian, Chaldean and Assyrian Mysteries":

This is practically a paraphrase of Iamblichus who says: The Delphic Sibyl had two systems for receiving the god: sometimes availing herself of a light spirit of fire gushing from the opening of a cave, other times sitting instead on a bronze tripod, inside the cave, illuminated by fire. It could happen that the fire, coming out of the cave, surrounded her with divine luminosity or that, seated on her bronze seat, ready to receive the god, she was seized by inspiration. The Sibyl was at the mercy of the god, who immediately made himself present to her, not confused with the fire and the mystical apparatus of the place, but well distinguished. Any prophetess either sits on a board or holds in her hand a rod given to her by the god, touching the water with her feet or with her garment, or drinks the vapor formed from a certain water; in doing so, full of the greatness of the god, possessed by him, she prophesies; by these means she adapts herself to the god whom she receives from outside. [...] With this ritual Nostradamus prophesied, then correcting his prophecies through the use of astrology. In this case astrology is not so much useful for understanding the content of the event but for understanding when it is possible to obtain the event.