NOSTRODAMUS’ LOST QUATRAINS
Hot news from the paleography desk here at M2!
French scholars tidying up their libraries for the Olympics have stumbled upon some lost Nostrodamus predictions. These are the infamous quatrains numbered between 43 to 100 long missing from the legendary seer’s Century VII.
Of course, there have been many theories over time as to why the quatrains previously couldn’t be found: That 16th century politicians had deliberately withheld them as they didn’t like what the All-Seeing-Eye had to say about their campaign donation sources; or that old Nostrodamus himself didn’t want to give future clowns like Hitler fuel to spin conspiracy theories from.
Turns out the real reason they got ‘lost’ was that they were about New Zealand – and the European scholars of the time had not an inkling about Aotearoa, let alone New Zealand yet – as Abel Tasman hadn’t even been born. So, the quatrains were just filed under ‘S’ for ‘Scire nolo’ which means: ‘Stuffed if I know!’ in Latin.
But with the help of Wikipedia, and some young Kiwis working bar nearby whilst on OE, the scholars’ 21st century descendants have a far clearer idea about what old Nostrodamus was rabbiting on about:
One quatrain seems to be making a definite prediction about the March 1, 2022 completion of Wellington’s Transmission Gully highway project, (ironically the construction of which was rumoured to be first mooted in Nostrodamus’ time, if not earlier):
When Tawa’s shade meets winds both fresh and bright,
A path of stone shall pierce the land’s deep night,
From roots of old, a roadway shall appear,
To bridge the way, and draw the travellers near.
Another seems to be about Winston Peters – who may actually have been a drinking buddy of Nostrodamus, as he was just starting out in his political career around the same time these quatrains came out:
In lands where shadows dance with fortune’s whim,
Winnie shall steer where others’ hopes grow dim,
With voice of storm and wisdom’s ancient gleam,
He charts the course to guide a nation’s dream.
Then there’s another that seems to be about an eventual end to Auckland’s Biblical plague of roadworks across the city:
Beneath the sails where the twin harbors meet,
The city’s veins shall finally be complete,
In years of toil, the roads shall find their end,
The distant isle’s peace, through labor, mend.
Whilst the above has been penned in Nostro’s usual cryptic hand, when taken in tandem with the quatrain that immediately follows it, the pair leave no doubt about the subject of his predictions:
Beneath the sky tower’s shadow tall and grand,
A sea of orange covers the fair land,
Where cones do mark the paths of endless toil,
‘Til roads at last reclaim the native soil.
Obviously the colossal glare of the plethora of Fluro orange cones across Auckland was so blindingly offensive to Nostrodamus’ ancient and uncomprehending eyes – as it is equally to ours. But frustratingly, he doesn’t seem to give a date for this miracle to finally eventuate, or if he does, it is too mysterious for even the most powerful computers in the world to decipher. So, we wait impatiently on – but at least now with renewed hope…
Then there is some really good news – that the All Blacks are looking good to scoop up the Rugby World Cup again:
When stars align in the month of the scorpion’s grace,
And Saturn’s ring completes its fated trace,
The warriors clad in black will seize their day,
A world of glory in their grasp shall sway.
Quite when the ‘month of the scorpion’s grace’ and/or ‘Saturn’s ring completes its fated trace’ is, no one seems to know.
So, gee, cheers for that bunch of inconclusive predictions unfettered by any sort of reliable timeframe, Nostro! Ever considered a career with the Met Service?