Problem, however, is that most contemporary studies remain on the most visible level: prophecies, dates, visions of catastrophes, wars, and great historical events. Much more rarely does one encounter analyses of the structure of these texts themselves — the manner in which meanings are constructed, recurring conceptual patterns, semantic displacements, or mechanisms for concealing information.
And yet Nostradamus himself repeatedly suggests that his message cannot be read literally. In many places he emphasizes that meaning has been hidden, obscured, and dispersed. He writes of “misty obscurity,” of the necessity of darkening the message, of content that cannot be expressed directly. These are not accidental remarks. They recur too often to be dismissed merely as a rhetorical habit of the age.
For this reason, these letters are not treated in this book as ordinary prefaces to the Centuries. They are something more. It is possible that they function as instructions — a concealed introduction to the method for reading the entire system of Nostradamus’s texts. Officially, they are only letters. Officially, we are dealing with a Renaissance astrologer describing his visions in the language of his era. Officially, they are merely introductory texts to the main work. But this is only the surface layer.
The true content of these documents lies not in what they state openly, but in the manner in which they were constructed. In repetitions. In apparent contradictions. In hidden relations between fragments separated by many pages. In words whose meanings shift depending on context. In a structure that resembles a mechanism of encoding more than an ordinary literary text.
It is precisely this question — what was truly concealed within these letters, and according to what principles it was encoded — that constitutes the central subject of this book.
Letter to César
Letter to César
The Letter to César is one of the most important texts left by Nostradamus and at the same time one of the most enigmatic documents connected with his work. Officially, it serves as the preface to the first edition of the Centuries and was addressed to the author’s son — César Nostradamus. According to historians, it was intended to function as an introduction in which Nostradamus explained the sources of his visions, his working methods, and the nature of his prophecies.
The text was written in the middle of the sixteenth century — an era marked by religious conflicts, political instability, and the strong influence of astrology and symbolic perceptions of history. In the letter, Nostradamus repeatedly refers to astrology, historical chronology, the Bible, and the idea of cyclical historical events. There are also suggestions concerning future catastrophes, social transformations, and great conflicts destined to affect Europe.
Official studies focus primarily on the distinctive style of the text. The sentences are long, ambiguous, and often deliberately obscure. Nostradamus himself emphasizes that his message was “obscured” and cannot be read literally. According to some researchers, this was intended to protect the author from accusations of heresy or political activity within the highly dangerous realities of the sixteenth century.
However, even a superficial analysis reveals that the Letter to César differs significantly from an ordinary preface or family letter. Recurring motifs include concealment, encoded knowledge, ambiguity, and a message intended not merely for a single recipient.
Particularly significant is the famous expression concerning the “hereditary word of hidden prophecy,” which for many interpreters has become one of the most important keys to the entire work of Nostradamus.
Officially, then, this is a text introducing the Centuries. In my view, however, its significance is far greater. Much suggests that the Letter to César may serve as a kind of interpretive key — a text that not only precedes the prophecies but also conceals the principles according to which they were constructed.
For this reason, in the following sections of this book I will attempt a detailed study and decoding of this text. Not as a simple preface to the Centuries, but as a document that may contain a hidden structure of meanings — perhaps the most important for understanding the entire communicative system of Nostradamus.
The source text used in this study is the version of the Letter to César published on the website: cura.free.fr — Lettre à César.
1. TON TARD advenement CESAR NOSTRADAME mon filz, m’a faict mettre mon long temps par continuelles vigilations nocturnes reserer par escript, toy delaisser memoire, apres la corporelle extinction de ton progeniteur, au commun profit des humains, de ce que la Divine essence par Astronomiques revolutions m’ont donné congnoissance.
1. “Your late arrival into the world, César Nostradame, my son, caused me, through long periods of continual nightly vigils, to commit to writing that which is to remain after the bodily death of your father as a memory for you and for the benefit of humankind — all that the Divine Essence has allowed me to know through astronomical revolutions.”
Ad 1. The most important elements of this first fragment are the highlighted expressions: “TON TARD” and “CESAR NOSTRADAME.”
Their very placement at the beginning of the text suggests that they may serve a function far more significant than a simple familial reference or formal address to the author’s son.
Officially, “CESAR NOSTRADAME” obviously refers to Nostradamus’s son — César — to whom the entire letter is addressed. However, in the case of a text operating so strongly through ambiguity, it is difficult to assume that the meaning of this name is limited solely to a single historical individual.
The name “Caesar” carries a very powerful symbolic and historical charge. Since the time of the Roman Empire, it has signified supreme authority, sovereignty, empire, and the figure of one who stands above others. “Caesar” is therefore not merely a name — it is also a title, a symbol of supremacy and central position within a political or spiritual order.
Use of this name is both semantic and symbolic. Nostradamus deliberately employed the double meaning of the word: on one level addressing his son, and on another pointing toward the figure of a future recipient — “the one who will be capable of understanding.”
Even more intriguing is the phrase “TON TARD” — “your late arrival” or “your delay.” Officially, it refers to the late birth of the author’s son. Yet within a broader context it may signify something far greater: the delayed arrival of the true interpreter.
Thus, the reference would not concern merely the birth of a child, but the appearance of someone in the future — a person capable of genuinely deciphering the hidden message. In this interpretation, the opening line of the letter ceases to be a personal address from father to son and instead begins to resemble an encoded announcement of the future deciphering of the entire system of prophecies.
This changes the meaning of the entire text. If “CESAR” is a symbolic figure, and “TON TARD” signifies a distant moment of understanding, then the very first sentence of the letter already suggests that the true recipient of this message does not belong to Nostradamus’s own era. He is to appear later — much later. Perhaps only when the proper time arrives.
2. Et depuis qu’il a pleu au Dieu immortel que tu ne soys venu en naturelle lumiere dans ceste terrene plaige, & ne veulx dire tes ans qui ne sont encores accompaignés, mais tes moys Martiaulx incapables à recepvoir dans ton debile entendement ce que je seray contrainct apres mes jours definer:
2. “And since it has pleased the immortal God that you have not yet come into the natural light upon this earthly plain, and I do not wish to speak of your years, which are not yet complete, but rather of your martial months, incapable of receiving within your weak understanding that which I shall be compelled to define after my days are ended:”
Ad 2. This is a continuation of the first segment of the letter, which may be regarded as a coherent opening structure of the text. In this fragment there clearly appears a motif that transcends the level of an individual, familial reference and enters the realm of a higher order — something that may be described as a dimension of transcendence encompassing and organizing the totality of events.
Text suggests the existence of a superior plan within which both the moment of birth and subsequent events are not accidental. Everything is inscribed into a broader structure that precedes individual human life and grants it meaning only within a longer temporal perspective. From this point of view, the prophecies of Nostradamus are not addressed solely to his contemporaries, but are intended to be understood only after many years — perhaps after centuries.
Within this interpretation there also emerges the idea of a superior “determining order,” which may be understood as a transcendent factor. It would determine not only the content of the message, but also the moment of its decipherment and the appearance of the proper recipient. In other words: it is not man who decides the understanding of the text, but rather understanding itself is “activated” at a specific time according to a higher logic governing the whole.
Particularly significant is the fragment speaking of those “incapable of receiving within your weak understanding this.” Nostradamus clearly points here to the limitations of human cognition — especially in the early stages of life or intellectual development. Knowledge is not immediately or obviously accessible. On the contrary: it remains beyond the reach of “weak understanding” until certain conditions have been fulfilled.
This may be read as an emphasis upon the deterministic nature of the message. Man does not so much arrive at understanding by himself as he is led toward it. There appears here the suggestion that the moment of knowledge is in some sense “appointed” and dependent upon factors external to the individual.
Within this framework, an important role is played by what may be called the impulse of transcendence — a factor initiating the process of understanding. Yet this is not a purely intellectual process, but rather something akin to a sudden “flash” or unveiling of meaning that had previously remained concealed. Man does not create this knowledge independently; he receives it as the effect of a higher order in operation.
Thus, this fragment may be interpreted as part of a larger construction in which time, knowledge, and the possibility of deciphering it are closely interconnected and subordinated to the overarching logic of the entire system.
3. veu qu’il n’est possible te laisser par escript ce que seroit par l’injure du temps obliteré: car la parolle hereditaire de l’occulte prediction sera dans mon estomach intercluse:
3. “I see that it is not possible to leave in writing that which would be obliterated by the injury of time, for the hereditary word of the hidden prophecy shall remain enclosed within my innermost being (within my ‘stomach,’ that is, within my depths).”
Ad 3. Third fragment of the Letter to César constitutes the culmination of the preceding motifs, particularly the idea of the “late arrival” and the figure of “Caesar” as the potential recipient of the text. Nostradamus writes: “…car la parolle hereditaire de l’occulte prediction sera dans mon estomach intercluse…” — “for the hereditary word of the hidden prophecy shall remain enclosed within my innermost being.”
Previously analyzed elements of the letter point toward a coherent structure: “TON TARD” as the motif of delayed revelation, and “CESAR” as the figure of a recipient who is not accidental but functional — one possessing the capacity to decipher the hidden message.
In this context, the third fragment is no longer merely a reflection upon the impermanence of writing, but an element completing the entire construction. The “hereditary word of hidden prophecy” does not function as an explicit content, but rather as a layer of meaning not fully written down, only suggested.
Within the interpretive method I adopt, this entire structure finds an additional reflection in the segmentation of the name “Nostradamus” as N-ostr-adamus, where — in my interpretive hypothesis — particular significance is attributed to the middle element “ostr,” treated as a potential carrier of a hidden semantic layer.
Under this interpretation, all three elements form a single coherent structure:
— TON TARD — an indication of the delayed unveiling of meaning,
— CESAR — the figure of the interpretive recipient,
— “the hereditary word” — a hidden layer of meaning not fully inscribed in the text.
In my reading, this structure may additionally open a field of associations connected with the surname “Ostrowski,” understood here as a “hereditary word” in the interpretive sense — that is, an element appearing as a possible result of segmentation and linguistic structural analysis rather than as a literal textual reference.
4. consyderant aussi les adventures de l’humain definement estre incertaines: & que le tout est regi & guberné par la puissance de Dieu inextimable, nous inspirant non par bacchante fureur, ne par lymphatique mouvement, mais par astronomiques assertions, Soli numine divino afflati praesagiunt, & spiritu prophetico particularia.
4. “Considering also that the fortunes of human life are uncertain, and that all is ruled and governed by the immeasurable power of God, we are inspired neither by Bacchic fury nor by melancholic agitation, but through astronomical assertions; inspired solely by divine illumination, they foresee and in the prophetic spirit perceive particular things.”
Ad 4. The key element of the fourth fragment is the Latin sentence: “Soli numine divino afflati praesagiunt, & spiritu prophetico particularia.” — “inspired solely by divine illumination, they foresee and in the prophetic spirit perceive particular things.”
In my interpretation, this sentence constitutes the fundamental key to understanding the entire fourth point because it shifts the source of knowledge from the human level to the level of transcendence.
It is no longer a matter of emotional, intellectual, or even “astronomical” inspiration in the technical sense, but rather the action of a higher, non-human order.
Within this framework there emerges the idea of a deterministic will of transcendence, which not only organizes the message but also determines its revelation at a specific moment and before a specific recipient. This means that knowledge is not accessible randomly — its unveiling is subject to a superior logic in which both timing and the receiving individual play an essential role.
In the context of the earlier fragments (TON TARD, CESAR, the “hereditary word”), the Latin sentence adds that the capacity to “perceive particular things” is not the result of ordinary analysis, but stems from inspiration originating at the level of transcendence. Thus appears the figure of the non-accidental recipient — the “inspired” individual who becomes incorporated into the process of deciphering hidden meaning.
5. Combien que de longs temps par plusieurs foys j’aye predict long temps au-paravant ce que depuis est advenu & en particulieres regions, attribuant le tout estre faict par la vertu & inspiration divine & aultres felices & sinistres adventures de accelerée promptitude prenoncées, que despuis sont advenues par les climats du monde,
5. “Although for a long time, on many occasions, I have predicted long beforehand that which afterward came to pass in various regions, attributing all to divine power and inspiration, as well as other fortunate and unfortunate events of sudden and accelerated nature which, having been foretold, later truly occurred throughout the regions of the world.”
Ad 5. This fifth fragment of the Letter to César may be read as the moment in which the text passes from the level of methodological declaration to the level of the essential meaning of the entire message.
Nostradamus emphasizes here that he repeatedly predicted events that were to occur in different regions of the world, attributing their source to “divine inspiration” and to a higher causal order. At the same time, he notes that these concern both fortunate and disastrous events, whose common characteristic is their suddenness and accelerated manifestation within historical time.
This fragment completes the earlier image of the letter as a text that is not so much personal as structural — referring to history as a whole rather than to a single fragment of reality. It is a statement addressed to a concrete recipient in the biographical sense — the one who will later perform the reading and reconstruction of the text’s meaning.
Fifth fragment indicates that its subject is history understood in its totality — not as a collection of isolated events, but as a sequence of interconnected processes extended across time and space.
In my interpretation, it is also significant that Nostradamus does not present these events as accidental. They are attributed to the action of a higher order — an inspiration and power organizing both their course and their manifestation in time. This means that history is not understood here as chaos, but as a system in which events are elements of a larger, ordered whole.
6. aiant voulu taire & delaissé pour cause de l’injure, & non tant seulement du temps present, mais aussi de la plus grande part du futur, de metre par escrit, pource que les regnes sectes & religions feront changes si opposites, voyre au respect du present diametralement, que si je venoys à reserer ce que à l’advenir sera, ceux de regne, secte, religion, & foy trouveroient si mal accordant a leur fantasie auriculaire, qu’ilz viendroient à damner ce que par les siecles advenir on congnoistra estre veu & apperceu:
6. “Wishing to remain silent and refrain from writing because of the injury not only of the present age but also of the greater part of the future, since kingdoms, sects, and religions will become so altered and opposed — indeed diametrically contrary to the present — that if I were to set down what is to come, those of kingdom, sect, religion, and faith would find it so incompatible with their imagination and beliefs that they would condemn that which future centuries will recognize as having been seen and perceived.”
Ad 6. This fragment constitutes an expansion and clarification of the previous one, in which Nostradamus spoke of foretelling events in various regions of the world and attributed them to inspiration of a higher nature. Here, however, he shifts the emphasis from the act of prophecy itself to the problem of its revelation and acceptance in the future.
Author emphasizes that he deliberately refrains from fully recording that which concerns the future — not only because of the “injury of time,” but also because social, religious, and political structures will undergo such profound transformations that future truths will stand in contradiction to the systems of belief of successive ages.
Within this framework there emerges a key idea: the knowledge contained within the text is neither neutral nor universally accessible. On the contrary, its reception depends upon the historical and mental context of its readers. Nostradamus suggests that future interpretations may be rejected or condemned not because they are false, but because they conflict with the dominant religious, political, and cultural systems of their time.
In my interpretation, this fragment reinforces the earlier thesis that the Letter to César is not directed toward its contemporary audience, but toward a future reader — one who exists beyond the limitations of his own epoch.
The knowledge contained in the letter possesses a layered character and is not intended for the “profane,” that is, for a reader limited by the prevailing system of beliefs.
Nostradamus presents his work as a form of transmission that is not immediately accessible, but instead requires historical distance. The knowledge of which he speaks is selective in nature — not every recipient and not every era is capable of receiving it.
7. Consyderant aussi la sentence du vray Sauveur, Nolite sanctum dare canibus, nec mittatis margaritas ante porcos ne conculcent pedibus & conversi dirumpant vos. Qui à esté la cause de faire retirer ma langue au populaire, & la plume au papier:
7. “Considering also the words of the true Savior: ‘Do not give what is holy unto dogs, neither cast pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn again to tear you apart,’ which has been the cause of restraining my tongue before the people and my pen before the paper.”
Ad 7. This fragment may be read as a clear clarification of the earlier themes concerning the selectivity of the message and the limitations of its reception.
Here Nostradamus refers to the words of the Gospel: “Nolite sanctum dare canibus, nec mittatis margaritas ante porcos” (“do not give what is holy to dogs nor cast pearls before swine”), thereby directly introducing the motif of distinction between knowledge accessible and inaccessible to particular recipients.
In this context, the author suggests that there exists a certain kind of message which should not be revealed in a completely open manner because its recipients may not be capable of properly understanding it.
The issue here is not merely a lack of intellectual competence, but a broader interpretive problem: a mismatch between the level of the message and the level of reception.
Within the realities of Nostradamus’s age, one must also take into account the socio-religious context in which any departure from orthodoxy could provoke misunderstanding, criticism, or even repression from religious institutions. In this sense, the “restraining of the tongue before the people and the pen before the paper” may be understood as a deliberate strategy of limiting the openness of the message.
This fragment fits into the broader structure of the entire letter, in which knowledge is not accessible in an immediate and universal manner. On the contrary — it presupposes the existence of a distinction among recipients: some remain at the literal level, while others are potentially capable of deciphering the hidden layer.
From this perspective, the text does not so much exclude the reader as it selects him. At the same time, it warns that any attempt to reveal the content within an improper context may lead to its rejection, ridicule, or misunderstanding.
Consequently, this fragment completes the earlier observations: the Letter to César appears as a text presupposing the existence of hidden knowledge, requiring an appropriate level of interpretation, as well as a recipient who is not accidental but “proper” in both a cognitive and historical sense.
8. puis me suis voulu extendre declarant pour le commun advenement par obstruses & perplexes sentences les causes futures, mesmes les plus urgentes, & celles que j’ay apperceu, quelque humaine mutation que advienne scandalizer l’auriculaire fragilité, & le tout escrit sous figure nubileuse, plus que du tout prophetique:
8. “Thereafter I resolved to elaborate and explain, for the common future, through obscure and perplexing sentences, the future causes — even the most urgent — and those which I have perceived, regardless of whatever human changes might arise to scandalize the fragility of the ear; and all of it written under a cloudy and obscure figure, rather than in a wholly prophetic manner.”
Ad 8. This fragment may be read as both a summary and a clarification of the entire preceding construction of the letter. Nostradamus states that he resolved to “elaborate and explain” future events for the common good, yet he does not do so in a direct or unambiguous manner. On the contrary, he deliberately chooses a form that is complex, obscure, and difficult to interpret, in which he presents both future causes and those events he regards as urgent or significant.
The very manner of writing possesses a consciously obscured character, since the author assumes that any attempt to reveal the content too plainly may result in misunderstanding or rejection.
Within the context of the preceding sections, one can perceive the coherent logic of the entire letter. The motif of delayed revelation, the figure of the chosen recipient, the concept of the “hereditary word” as a hidden layer of meaning, and the warning against the unprepared reader together form a unified system.
Eighth point introduces no entirely new idea, but instead completes the earlier themes by indicating that the very form of the text — its obscurity, ambiguity, and symbolism — constitutes an integral part of the message itself.
Particularly significant here is the statement that everything was written “under a cloudy figure.” This means that meaning is not directly accessible, but requires reconstruction.
The text does not function as a simple prophecy, but as a structure of signs whose meaning is revealed only through the process of interpretation. Within this framework, obscurity is not a flaw, but a structural element.
9. combien que, Abscondisti haec à sapientibus, & prudentibus, id est potentibus & regibus, & enucleasti ea exiguis & tenuibus, & aux Prophetes: par le moyen de Dieu immortel, & des bons anges ont receu l’esprit de vaticination, par lequel ilz voyent les causes loingtaines, & viennent à prevoyr les futurs advenementz, car rien ne se peult parachever sans luy, ausquelz si grande est la puissance & la bonté aux subjectz que pendant qu’ilz demeurent en eulx, toutesfois aux aultres effectz subjectz pour la similitude de la cause du bon genius, celle challeur & puissance vaticinatrice s’approche de nous: comme il nous advient des rayons du soleil, qui se viennent getants leur influence aux corps elementeres, & non elementeres.
9. “Although You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent — that is, from the powerful and kings — and revealed them unto the small and humble, and unto the Prophets: through the agency of the immortal God and the good angels they have received the spirit of prophecy, by which they perceive distant causes and come to foresee future events; for nothing can be accomplished without Him, whose power and goodness toward His subjects are so great that, while they remain within them, nevertheless among others, by similarity to the cause of the good genius, that warmth and prophetic power draws near to us, just as happens with the rays of the sun, which cast their influence upon elemental and non-elemental bodies alike.”
Ad 9. In this fragment Nostradamus once again clarifies the principle that runs throughout the entire letter and in fact constitutes its foundation: the message is neither universal nor fully open, but distributed according to the recipient’s capacity for reception. Referring to the biblical quotation, the author emphasizes that certain truths have been “hidden from the wise and prudent” — that is, from those possessing power, status, or formal learning — and revealed to the “small and humble” and to the prophets, meaning those who, in his view, stand closer to intuitive or spiritual understanding.
In my interpretation, this fragment does not so much describe a social hierarchy as indicate the selective nature of the message itself. The knowledge of which Nostradamus speaks is not equally accessible to all recipients because its decipherment requires a particular kind of “interpretive predisposition.” The issue is therefore not a simple division between privileged and unprivileged individuals, but a difference in the capacity to perceive the hidden semantic layer.
In the context of the earlier fragments (TON TARD, the figure of Caesar, the “hereditary word,” and the idea of concealment from the “profane”), the ninth point serves as their direct reinforcement. Nostradamus clearly suggests that his texts are not intended for universal and superficial reading, but instead function as a multilayered structure in which meaning reveals itself gradually and only under specific interpretive conditions.
Within this framework, “concealment” is neither accidental nor merely stylistic, but constitutes a deliberate structural principle of the entire message. Access to the full meaning is restricted not through physical concealment of the text, but through its complexity, symbolism, and the requirement of an appropriate level of interpretation.
As a result, Nostradamus presents his work as a system of selective knowledge in which correct understanding is possible only for a recipient fulfilling specific cognitive conditions.
10. Quant à nous qui sommes humains ne pouvons rien de nostre naturelle cognoissance, & inclination d’engin congnoistre des secretz obstruses de Dieu le createur, Quia non est nostrum noscere tempora, nec momenta & c.
10. “As for us, who are human, we cannot through our natural knowledge nor through the inclination of our intellect come to know the hidden secrets of God the Creator, because it is not ours to know the times nor the moments, etc.”
Ad 10. This fragment may be read as the clear culmination of the entire preceding argument in the direction of the idea that the ultimate source of order and knowledge is a transcendent being remaining beyond the reach of human cognition.
Nostradamus emphasizes here the fundamental limitation of man: regardless of natural intellectual abilities or inclinations of mind, human beings are incapable of penetrating the “hidden secrets of God the Creator.” Knowledge of “times and moments” is explicitly excluded from human cognitive competence and reserved for a higher order.
In my interpretation, this means that the entire system previously described — encompassing concealment of meaning, selectivity of reception, delayed interpretation, and the multilayered structure of the text — is not an autonomous construction of a human author, but an element of a greater order whose source lies beyond man himself.
In this sense, man is neither the ultimate creator nor the final arbiter of meaning.
Rather, he fulfills the role of intermediary through whom knowledge is revealed, while his own capacity for understanding remains limited. The ultimate structure of events, their sequence, and the moment of revelation of meaning belong to the transcendent order.
It may therefore be said that this fragment directly introduces the supreme principle of the entire letter: it is not man who determines history or its unveiling, but the transcendent being who organizes both the course of events and the possibility of their comprehension.
Within this framework, all the preceding complexity of the text is not the result of arbitrary human invention, but a reflection of a higher order surpassing human capacities of knowledge and control.
11. Combien que aussi de present peuvent advenir & estre personnaiges que Dieu le createur aye voulu reveler par imaginatives impressions, quelques secretz de l’advenir accordés à l’astrologie judicielle, comme du passé, que certaine puissance & voluntaire faculté venoit par eulx, comme flambe de feu apparoir, que luy inspirant on venoit à juger les divines & humaines inspirations. Car les oeuvres divines, que totalement sont absoluës, Dieu les vient parachever: la moyenne qui est au millieu, les anges: la troisiesme, les mauvais.
11. “Although even in the present there may appear persons whom God the Creator has wished to endow with revelation through imaginative impressions, showing them certain secrets of the future in accord with judicial astrology, as well as of the past, and through whom a certain power and voluntary faculty manifests itself like a flame of fire, under whose influence one comes to judge divine and human inspirations. For divine works, which are wholly perfect, are completed by God Himself; the intermediate sphere is that of the angels; and the third belongs to evil beings.”
Ad 11. This fragment of the Letter to César is relatively easy to deduce, because it directly presents an ordered model of the functioning of reality without the same degree of ambiguity characteristic of the earlier sections of the text.
Nostradamus suggests that there exist individuals to whom God may grant a special insight into the future through inspirations and imaginative visions rather than through purely rational cognition. Such knowledge therefore does not arise from human initiative, but from a higher source. At the same time, he introduces a simple hierarchy: God as the source and ultimate cause, angels as intermediaries, and lower forces participating in the order of the world yet deprived of complete agency.
Within this context, the fragment organizes the earlier themes of the letter by indicating that inspiration and knowledge are not accidental, but are inscribed within a definite structure of relations in which man fulfills only the role of recipient.
12. Mais mon filz je te parle icy un peu trop obstrusement: mais quant aux occultes vaticinations que l’on vient à recevoyr par le subtil esperit du feu qui quelque foys par l’entendement agité contemplant le plus hault des astres, comme estant vigilant, mesmes que aux prononciations estant surprins escrits prononceant sans crainte moins atainct d’inverecunde loquacité: mais quoy? tout procedoit de la puissance divine du grand Dieu eternel, de qui toute bonté procede.
12. “But my son, I speak here somewhat too obscurely to you; yet concerning the hidden prophecies which are received through the subtle spirit of fire, which at times, stirring the mind, contemplates the highest stars as if in a state of vigilance, and even in utterances there appear words written and spoken without fear, free from irreverent loquacity — but what then? all proceeds from the divine power of the great eternal God, from whom all goodness proceeds.”
Ad 12. In this fragment of the Letter to César, Nostradamus now addresses the recipient directly, whom — in the interpretation I adopt — should not be understood solely as the historical son of the author. “César” here functions rather as the figure of the future, “late” recipient, that is, one who appears only at the proper moment for deciphering the hidden layer of the text. It is therefore not merely a historical individual, but a symbolic interpretive addressee emerging from the structure of the message itself.
Within this context, the “hereditary word” becomes a key element of the earlier analysis, since it points toward a hidden semantic layer that was not written explicitly but “enclosed within” the text and its structure. In my interpretation, this also relates to the segmentation of the name Nostradamus as N-ostr-adamus, where the middle element “ostr” functions as a potential carrier of the hidden semantic layer discussed in the third point.
The entire fragment acquires a metacommunicative character: Nostradamus not only transmits content, but also indicates the existence of a recipient who, in the future, will be capable of properly deciphering it. In this sense, the letter is not directed solely toward one “César,” but toward a specific interpretive individual.
13. Encores mon filz que j’aye inseré le nom de prophete, je ne me veux atribuer tiltre de si haulte sublimité pour le temps present: car qui propheta dicitur hodie, olim vocabatur videns: car prophete proprement mon filz est celuy qui voit choses loingtaines de la cognoissance naturelle de toute creature.
13. “Furthermore, my son, although I have inserted the name of prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself a title of such lofty sublimity in the present time; for he who today is called a prophet was formerly called a seer: for a prophet properly, my son, is one who perceives things distant from the natural knowledge of every creature.”
Ad 13. This fragment may be read primarily as a clear gesture of caution and courtesy toward the recipient, but also as an important clarification of the author’s own position in relation to what he creates. Nostradamus explicitly states that he does not wish to ascribe to himself the title of prophet in the sense of an exalted and absolute dignity. Instead, he shifts the emphasis from the category of “prophet” to that of “seer” — that is, a person who does not so much proclaim revealed truth as perceive distant relations and future events extending beyond ordinary natural cognition.
In my interpretation, this fragment is not merely a formula of modesty, but a deliberate distinction between two ways of understanding his own role. “Prophet” would signify a religious or doctrinal authority, whereas “seer” points rather toward a perceptive function — the ability to perceive future events without claiming the right to impose a final interpretation upon them. In this sense, Nostradamus presents himself not as the creator of truth, but as its observer across time.
Within the context of the earlier fragments of the letter, this acquires additional significance. Since the message possesses a hidden, selective, and multilayered character, the author consistently avoids assigning himself the role of an absolute interpreter of reality. Instead, he places himself in an intermediate position — between the source of inspiration and the future recipient who, only at the proper time, may correctly decipher the meaning of the message.
This may also be read as a subtle protective strategy. In the realities of the age, calling oneself a “prophet” could carry theological and institutional consequences, whereas the concept of the “seer” leaves greater interpretive flexibility and does not claim infallibility. In this sense, Nostradamus distances himself from the unequivocal role of authority while simultaneously preserving the status of one possessing access to knowledge surpassing ordinary human understanding.
14. Et cas advenant que le prophete moyenant la parfaicte lumiere de la prophetie luy appaire manifestement des choses divines, comme humaines: que ne ce peult fayre, veu les effectz de la future prediction s’estendant loing.
14. “And in the event that the prophet, through the perfect light of prophecy, clearly perceives both divine and human things, this nevertheless cannot be fully accomplished, seeing that the effects of future predictions extend far into the distance.”
Ad 14. This fragment develops the earlier idea of the “seer” and confirms that the scope of his vision encompasses both the human and the divine spheres — that is, the totality of the order of reality.
Nostradamus emphasizes here above all the temporal distance between the act of vision and the fulfillment of events. The “perfect light of prophecy” signifies the capacity to grasp the entirety of a process, yet at the same time the author stresses that the consequences of these visions extend far into the future, beyond the horizon of his own age.
In this sense, the fragment completes the earlier interpretive line: the Letter concerns not events contemporary to the author, but future ones — often very distant — which only from the perspective of time may be properly recognized and understood.
15. Car les secretz de Dieu sont incomprehensibles, & la vertu effectrice contingent de longue estendue de la congnoissance naturelle prenent son plus prochain origine du liberal arbitre, faict aparoir les causes que d’elles mesmes ne peuvent aquerir celle notice pour estre cognuës ne par les humains augures, ne par aultre cognoissance ou vertu occulte comprinse soubz la concavité du ciel, mesmes du faict present de la totale eternité que vient en soy embrasser tout le temps. Mais moiennant quelque indivisible eternité par comitiale agitation Hiraclienne, les causes par le celeste mouvement sont congnuës.
15. “For the secrets of God are incomprehensible, and the effective power contingent upon the long extension of natural knowledge, taking its nearest origin from free will, makes manifest causes which by themselves cannot acquire such knowledge so as to be known either by human auguries, nor by any other hidden knowledge or occult power contained beneath the vault of heaven, nor even by the present action of total eternity which embraces all time within itself. But by means of a certain indivisible eternity, through a cyclical Heraclitean agitation, these causes are known through celestial movement.”
Ad 15. This fragment may be read as the most “philosophical” culmination of the entire preceding construction, in which Nostradamus once again shifts the center of explanation from the level of human cognition to the level of higher principles independent of man.
Author emphasizes here that the mysteries of reality are by nature incomprehensible to the human mind and cannot be grasped either through augury, hidden forms of knowledge, or any “natural” cognitive abilities whatsoever. All such instruments prove insufficient in the face of an order transcending individual capacities of understanding.
Within this perspective, however, significance lies not only in the unknowability itself, but in the indication of a superior organizing principle. Nostradamus speaks of an “indivisible eternity” and a “cyclical Heraclitean agitation” that reveals the causes of reality through celestial motion. In my interpretation, this is not merely an astrological metaphor, but a concealed indication of the fundamental cyclicality of the cosmos as the principle governing the entire order of events.
Within this framework, transcendence is not merely a passive source of knowledge, but an active causal principle organizing both the course of events and the possibility of their comprehension. It determines the rhythm of history, which is not linear in nature but cyclical and repetitive, inscribed within the structure of “eternal motion.”Consequently, it may be said that Nostradamus once again unites two ideas: on the one hand, the absolute supremacy of the transcendent being as the source of all causality, and on the other, the cyclical nature of reality in which events are not accidental but arise from recurring structures of cosmic order.
16. Je ne dis pas mon filz, affin que bien l’entendes, que la cognoissance de ceste matiere ne se peult encores imprimer dans ton debile cerveau, que les causes futures bien loingtaines ne soient à la cognoissance de la creature raisonable: si sont nonobstant bonement la creature de l’ame intellectuelle des causes presentes loingtaines, ne luy sont du tout ne trop occultes ne trop reserées:
16. “I do not say this, my son, so that you may understand well, that the knowledge of this matter cannot yet be impressed upon your weak mind, because the future and very distant causes are not fully accessible to the knowledge of the rational creature; nevertheless, the good and rational nature of the intellectual soul may grasp the distant causes of present things, which are neither entirely hidden from it nor excessively concealed.”
Ad 16. This fragment may be read as a further clarification of the relationship between the limitations of human cognition and the possibility of its “opening” toward a higher level.
Nostradamus clearly states that the recipient is not yet capable of fully assimilating the knowledge contained within the letter because his mind remains limited by natural cognitive faculties. Yet this does not constitute a complete closure of access to meaning, but rather an indication of its gradual and staged character.
Particularly important here is the distinction between ordinary, limited cognition and the “intellectual soul,” which — despite the remoteness of causes and the complexity of future events — may nevertheless grasp their meaning in a partial manner. In my interpretation, this signifies that the capacity for understanding does not arise solely from human intellectual effort, but depends upon a broader, almost transcendent order granting access to deeper levels of meaning.
In this sense, Nostradamus once again suggests that the clarity of the recipient’s mind is not merely his own attribute, but remains in relation to a higher cognitive order which either “permits” or restricts the possibility of understanding the hidden causes of reality.
17. mais la parfaite des causes notice ne se peult aquerir sans celle divine inspiration: veu que toute inspiration prophetique reçoit prenant son principal principe movant de Dieu le createur, puis de l’heur, & de nature. Parquoy estans les causes indifferantes, indifferentement produictes, & non produictes, le presaige partie advient, ou à esté predit.
17. “However, perfect knowledge of causes cannot be attained without divine inspiration, since all prophetic inspiration receives its primary moving principle from God the Creator, then from fortune and from nature. Therefore, when causes are indifferent, they may either come into being or not, and part of the prophecy comes to pass, or has been foretold.”
Ad 17. This fragment can be interpreted as yet another confirmation of the same idea running throughout the entire letter: complete knowledge of the causes governing reality is inaccessible to man and depends upon divine inspiration.
Nostradamus indicates that the source of prophetic knowledge is God, while nature and chance come only afterward, though they do not act independently but within a higher order. This means that even what appears random remains subordinated to a superior principle.
In this interpretation, the author once again suggests that transcendence organizes both the course of events and the possibility of understanding them, while man has access to this knowledge only in a limited way.
18. Car l’entendement creé intellectuellement ne peult voir occultement, sinon par la voix faicte au lymbe moyennant la exigue flamme en quelle partie les causes futures se viendront à incliner.
18. “For the intellect created in an intellectual manner cannot perceive hidden things except through the voice coming from the limbus, by means of a small flame through which future causes begin to incline toward revelation.”
Ad 18. In this fragment Nostradamus once again returns to the supreme role of transcendence as the only force capable of revealing the hidden order of reality to mankind. The “intellectual mind” by itself is incapable of perceiving concealed things. What is required is a “voice coming from the limbus” and a “small flame,” which should be understood as impulses originating beyond ordinary human cognition.
In my interpretation, the word limbus is especially significant here — abyss, depth, an intermediate state. However, this should not be understood solely in the religious sense of the afterlife, but rather as something far more primordial and metaphysical. It closely resembles the Gnostic concept of Bythos — the bottomless depth, the primordial abyss of possibility existing before time and matter.
In this understanding, the “voice from the limbus” signifies contact with the transcendental source of all order and all information.
It is from this “abyss of potentiality” that the impulse enabling the perception of future events emerges. The “small flame” symbolizes a fleeting flash of consciousness — a moment in which the mind of the recipient is touched by higher inspiration.
This fragment connects very clearly with earlier sections of the letter, in which Nostradamus repeatedly emphasized that history does not unfold randomly, but according to a higher hidden order. Man does not create this knowledge independently — he can only receive fragments of it through the influence of transcendence.
In this sense, the limbus becomes not so much a place as a state of contact with the primordial depth of existence, from which both the causes of future events and the possibility of perceiving them originate.
19. Et aussi mon filz je te supplie que jamais tu ne vueilles emploier ton entendement à telles resveries & vanités qui seichent le corps & mettent à perdition l’ame, donnant trouble au foyble sens: mesmes la vanité de la plus que execrable magie reprouvée jadis par les sacrées escriptures, & par les divins canons: au chef duquel est excepté le jugement de l’astrologie judicielle: par laquelle & moyennant inspiration & revelation divine par continuelles veilles & supputations, avons noz propheties redigé par escript.
19. “And also, my son, I beg you never to direct your mind toward such fantasies and vanities that dry out the body and lead the soul to ruin, bringing confusion to the weak mind — especially toward the vanity of that most execrable magic long condemned by the sacred scriptures and divine canons. The exception, however, is judicial astrology, through which — and by means of divine inspiration and revelation, through continual vigils and calculations — we have committed our prophecies to writing.”
Ad 19. In this fragment Nostradamus once again addresses — in my interpretation — not merely his own son Caesar, but rather the future reader of his texts, the same “late” interpreter whose presence had already been suggested in earlier segments of the letter. It is to this individual, symbolically hidden within the structure of the “hereditary word” and — as I suggested earlier — within the segmentation of the name N-ostr-adamus, that the warning concerning the search for hidden meaning is directed.
Nostradamus clearly warns against “fantasies,” “vanities,” and magic understood as an artificial or forceful attempt to obtain hidden knowledge. He emphasizes that true understanding does not come from magical practices or attempts to force access to mystery, but from inspiration originating from a higher order.
This fragment may therefore be interpreted as an important methodological clue: the future interpreter should not seek the meaning of the prophecies through esoteric or magical practices, but rather through patient reading of the structure of the text and complete trust in the higher order that — according to Nostradamus — governs both history and the possibility of understanding it.
20. Et combien que celle occulte Philosophie ne fusse reprouvée, n’ay onques volu presenter leurs effrenées persuasions: combien que plusieurs volumes qui ont estés cachés par longs siecles me sont estés manifestés.
20. “And although this occult philosophy was not condemned, I nevertheless never wished to present its unrestrained doctrines and persuasions, even though many volumes hidden for long centuries were revealed to me.”
Ad 20. This fragment forms a very important completion of the entire earlier interpretive structure.
Nostradamus once again emphasizes that he possesses access to an “occult philosophy,” that is, knowledge inaccessible to ordinary understanding, yet he deliberately refrains from transmitting it in a direct and open manner.
In the context of the earlier fragments of the letter, it becomes clear that this concerns reserved knowledge, concealed from the profane and intended only for the few capable of properly interpreting the message. Hence the constant emphasis on transcendence, divine inspiration, and the “late” recipient who will appear only at the appropriate historical moment.
Particularly significant is the sentence concerning “volumes hidden for long centuries.” In my interpretation, this does not necessarily refer solely to real manuscripts or secret treatises. It may instead refer to the very idea of knowledge preserved and transmitted in coded form through the centuries — knowledge that reveals itself gradually only to those capable of perceiving its hidden structure.
This fragment aligns closely with the earlier motif of the “hereditary word,” the “late arrival,” and the idea of the future interpreter symbolically concealed within the structure of the text. Nostradamus thereby suggests that his writings are not merely a literary form of prophecy, but part of a larger, centuries-spanning transmission whose full meaning may only be revealed after a very long passage of time.
21. Mais doutant ce qui adviendroit en ay faict, apres la lecture, present à Vulcan, que pendant qu’il les venoit à devorer, la flamme leschant l’air rendoit une clarté insolite, plus claire que naturelle flamme, comme lumiere de feu de clystre fulgurant, illuminant subit la maison, comme si elle fust esté en subite conflagration.
21. “But fearing what might result from them, after reading them I delivered them to Vulcan (fire), and while the flames were consuming them, the fire licking the air gave forth an unusual brightness, brighter than a natural flame, like the light of a flashing fire, suddenly illuminating the whole house as though it had burst into sudden conflagration.”
Ad 21. The motif of books being burned and “offered to Vulcan” does not necessarily need to be understood literally. Since antiquity, fire has symbolized not only destruction but also purification and transformation. In this context, the burning of the texts may signify an attempt to conceal knowledge from a world not yet prepared to receive it.
Most important, however, is the extraordinary image of the flame itself. Fire becomes something more than a physical phenomenon here — it transforms into a symbol of sudden revelation, illumination, a fleeting unveiling of the hidden order. The “unusual brightness” and “flashing light” may be interpreted as metaphors for contact with knowledge transcending ordinary human understanding.
In the context of the earlier fragments of the letter, this scene once again leads to the same idea: there exists hidden knowledge concerning history and the future of the world, but its complete revelation would be too dangerous or incomprehensible for the author’s contemporaries. Therefore it must remain partially encoded, concealed, and gradually disclosed.
This fragment also reinforces the earlier motif of transcendental inspiration. The light appearing during the burning may be understood as a sign of the action of a higher force — a momentary breakthrough of “hidden reality” into the material world.
22. Parquoy affin que à l’avenir n’y feusses abusé prescrutant la parfaicte transformation tant seline que solaire, & soubz terre metaulx incorruptibles, & aux undes occultes, les ay en cendres convertis.
22. “Therefore, so that in the future you would not be deceived while investigating the perfect transformation both lunar and solar, and the incorruptible metals beneath the earth and the hidden powers of the waters, I reduced them to ashes.”
Ad 22. This fragment is a direct continuation of the previous thought and once again contains a warning addressed — in my interpretation — to the future reader and interpreter of Nostradamus’ texts. The author clearly suggests that one should not seek the meaning of his prophecies in material or esoteric practices connected with alchemy, magic, or secret rituals.
The “lunar and solar transformation,” the “incorruptible metals,” and the “hidden powers of the waters” are classic alchemical and hermetic symbols. Nostradamus indicates, however, that precisely these kinds of paths may lead to error and false understanding. Therefore he “reduces them to ashes,” symbolically rejecting the possibility of attaining true knowledge through material or magical means.
In the context of the earlier fragments of the letter, the meaning of this warning becomes very clear. The true key to deciphering the prophecies is not found in occult practices, but in the transcendental order that organizes history and the possibility of understanding it. Access to this knowledge is not the result of technique or ritual, but of inspiration coming from a higher source.
This fragment therefore once again reinforces the central idea of the entire letter: man should not attempt to seize hidden knowledge by force, but rather patiently read the signs left within the text while remaining open to the action of a higher, transcendent causal force.
23. Mais quant au jugement qui se vient parachever moyennant le jugement celeste cela te veulx je manifester: parquoy avoir congnoissance des causes futures rejectant loing les fantastiques imaginations qui adviendront, limitant la particularité des lieux par divine inspiration supernaturelle accordant aux celestes figures, les lieux, & une partie du temps de proprieté occulte par vertu, puissance & faculté divine: en presence de laquelle les troys temps sont comprins par eternité, revolution tenant à la cause passée, presente, & future: quia omnia sunt nuda & aperta & c.
23. “But as for the judgment which is accomplished through the celestial judgment, this I wish to reveal to you: so that one may have knowledge of future causes, rejecting far away the fantastic imaginations that shall arise, determining the particularity of places through divine supernatural inspiration in harmony with the celestial figures, the places, and a part of time possessing hidden properties through divine virtue, power, and faculty; in the presence of which the three times are encompassed by eternity, their revolution bound to the past, present, and future cause: because all things are naked and open.”
Ad 23. This passage constitutes one of the most important summaries of the earlier ideas contained in the Letter to Caesar. Nostradamus clearly emphasizes that the knowledge he wishes to convey is not of a fantastical or mythical nature. On the contrary, future events must be understood by rejecting “fantastic imaginations” and false interpretations.
In my interpretation, this means that the entire message of Nostradamus concerns real history and actual historical processes, rather than metaphysical fantasies. The “celestial judgment” and the “celestial figures” are not merely astrological symbols here, but expressions of a higher order organizing time, places, and events.
Most important, however, is the ending of this passage, where Nostradamus speaks of the “three times encompassed by eternity” — past, present, and future connected within one causal movement. This is a very clear reference to the idea of cyclical history and the existence of a timeless order in which all events remain interconnected.
In this sense, Nostradamus’ message is not “fantasy,” but an attempt to describe a material and historical reality governed by the cyclical law of the universe. History does not unfold randomly or linearly — it remains part of a greater mechanism that transcendence merely reveals to chosen individuals capable of perceiving the hidden relationships between the different dimensions of time.
24. Parquoy mon filz, tu peulx facilement nonobstant ton tendre cerveau, comprendre que les choses qui doivent avenir se peuvent prophetizer par les nocturnes & celestes lumieres, que sont naturelles, & par l’esprit de prophetie:
24. “Therefore, my son, you may easily — despite your young and immature mind — understand that the things which are to come may be prophesied through the nocturnal and celestial lights, which are natural, and through the spirit of prophecy.”
Ad 24. In this fragment Nostradamus once again suggests that the possibility of knowing the future does not arise solely from human reason, but from the union of the “celestial lights” and the “spirit of prophecy,” that is, from the action of a force transcending ordinary cognition. The “nightly and celestial lights” symbolize the cosmic order and cyclical structure of the universe, while the “spirit of prophecy” points toward a transcendent source of inspiration.
Nostradamus is not addressing only his biological son here, but rather a future successor and interpreter of his work — the one who, centuries later, will be capable of properly understanding the hidden meaning of the prophecies. This is another passage confirming that the Letter to Caesar is not merely a father’s dedication to his child, but a multilayered message directed toward a future recipient possessing the appropriate capacity for interpretation.
25. non que je me vueille attribuer nomination ni effect prophetique, mais par revelée inspiration, comme homme mortel esloigné non moins de sens au ciel, que des piedz en terre, Possum non errare, falli, decipi: suis pecheur plus grand que nul de ce monde, subject à toutes humaines afflictions.
25. “Not that I wish to attribute to myself the title or power of a prophet, but through revealed inspiration, as a mortal man no less distant in spirit from heaven than with feet standing upon the earth, I may neither err, nor be mistaken, nor be deceived; I am a sinner greater than any in this world, subject to all human afflictions.”
Ad 25. This fragment serves as a direct continuation of the previous part of the letter. Nostradamus once again emphasizes that the source of his knowledge is not any personal “prophetic power,” but revealed inspiration originating from a higher, transcendent order. He clearly distances himself from the classical image of the prophet endowed with superhuman power and instead presents himself as an intermediary — a man who merely receives and records what has been revealed to him.
Particularly significant here is the phrase describing a man “more distant in spirit from heaven than with feet upon the earth.” It points to the author’s dual nature: on one hand, he remains an ordinary mortal subject to suffering and error; on the other, he participates in a reality exceeding ordinary human understanding. In the context of the earlier passages of the letter, this becomes another confirmation of the supreme role of transcendence as the governing force directing both history and the possibility of its understanding.
Nostradamus does not present himself as the creator of prophecy, but as an instrument of a greater order that, through inspiration, reveals the hidden structure of future events to selected individuals.
26. Mais estant surprins par foys la sepmaine lymphatiquant, & par longue calculation rendant les estudes nocturnes de souefve odeur, j’ay composé livres de propheties contenant chascun cent quatrains astronomiques de propheties, lesquelles j’ay un peu voulu raboter obscurement: & sont perpetuelles vaticinations, pour d’yci a l’an 3797.
26. “But being at times, several times a week, seized by inspiration (a lymphatic ecstasy), and through long calculations and nocturnal studies filled with gentle fragrance, I composed books of prophecies, each containing one hundred astronomical prophetic quatrains, which I deliberately sought to smooth and obscure somewhat; and these are perpetual prophecies extending until the year 3797.”
Ad 26. This fragment forms a highly important complement to the entire Letter to Caesar, because here Nostradamus refers explicitly and directly to his Centuries for the first time. He admits that he intentionally “obscured” and “smoothed” the quatrains, making them difficult to interpret unambiguously. This alone is an extremely significant interpretive clue — the author openly acknowledges that the structure of his prophecies was deliberately made complex.
I believe that Nostradamus intentionally directed the attention of future researchers toward the Centuries, creating around them an immense, almost endless space for interpretive disputes. For centuries countless commentators attempted to match the quatrains with successive historical events, yet in most cases this led only to chaos and mutually contradictory interpretations.
This mechanism resembles the case of Plato’s Atlantis. The existence of Atlantis itself was not the most important element there, but rather the hidden information encoded within the structure of the narrative. Most researchers, however, remained at the level of literal interpretation and spent centuries searching for the material traces of the island, failing to perceive the deeper meaning of the message.
Similarly — in my view — the same phenomenon occurs with the Centuries of Nostradamus. The author consciously constructed them like a labyrinth or a scattered puzzle meant to absorb the attention of future interpreters. Meanwhile, the true key to his prophetic system lies elsewhere — primarily within the Prognostications and Almanacs, which are far less known, but far more ordered and easier to decipher.
It is precisely there that the essential layer of historical gnosis was hidden — a vision of history encompassing both the times close to Nostradamus and events of the distant future. The Centuries therefore function, in a sense, as a veil and a mechanism designed to divert attention away from the true source of knowledge.
27. Que possible fera retirer le front à quelques uns en voyant si longue extension, & par souz toute la concavité de la lune aura lieu & intelligence: & ce entendent universellement par toute la terre, les causes mon filz. Que si tu vis l’aage naturel & humain, tu verras devers ton climat au propre ciel de ta nativité les futures avantures prevoyr.
27. “This may cause some to lose confidence upon seeing so vast an extension, and beneath the entire concavity of the Moon there shall be place and understanding; and this shall be universally understood throughout all the earth, the causes, my son. And if you live to the natural and human age, you shall see within your own climate, beneath the proper sky of your nativity, the future events foreseen.”
Ad 27. Nostradamus once again suggests the existence of a future recipient who, only after many centuries, will be capable of properly understanding the meaning of his texts. Therefore the words addressed to the “son” may be interpreted not literally, but as a form of address directed toward a future interpreter of the prophecies.
The final sentence indicates that this recipient himself will become a witness to the events previously written down and encoded by Nostradamus, living already in the time of their actual fulfillment.
28. Combien que le seul Dieu eternel, soit celuy seul qui congnoit l’eternité de sa lumiere, procedant de luy mesmes: & je dis franchement que à ceux à qui sa magnitude immense, qui est sans mesure & incomprehensible, ha voulu par longue inspiration melancholique reveler, que moyennant icelle cause occulte manifestée divinement, principalement de deux causes principales qui sont comprinses à l’entendement de celui inspiré qui prophetise, l’une est que vient à infuser, esclarcissant la lumiere supernaturelle au personnage qui predit par la doctrine des astres, & prophetise par inspirée revelation: laquelle est une certe participation de la divine eternité: moyennant le prophete vient à juger de cela que son divin esperit luy ha donné par le moyen de Dieu le createur, & par une naturelle instigation:
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