In the philosophical discipline of Logic, especially when deciphering the meaning of poetry,
since words often have metaphorical applications in poetic verse, the most logical way to
accurately conclude the meaning of a poem is from asking the author. The author is the best
source for the meaning behind his or her words; but sometimes authors die before anyone
reads their works and sometimes authors want to keep people guessing about the meaning.
However, most authors have no problem explaining the meaning of their works.
For instance, the Beatles produced a song entitled, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which used
very surreal wording, such as plasticine porters with looking glass ties, and, where rocking
horse people eat marshmallow pies. This imagery created by the surreal wording, especially
during the drug days of the late 60s, seemed obviously to be a poetic representation of a
psychedelic acid trip. That then led to the assumption that the three capital letters in the song
title, L.S.D., meant the song was John Lennon's marvelous way with words, to sing a song about
a drug the members of the band had recently experimented with.
Reporters went right to the source, to confirm that the meaning of the title was LSD. However,
John Lennon told them that was a coincidence. He told everyone that the title was the same title
as one of his son Julian's finger paintings, which he brought home from school. John had asked
Julian what one of the painting was about; and Julian said, That is Lucy (a classmate) in the sky,
with diamonds around her. John then named the song he was working on the same as Julian's
painting. John Lennon maintained this happening as the meaning behind the title of his song,
up until shortly before his tragic death.
The point of this example is that despite John Lennon repeatedly telling the meaning of the title,
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, there are people that still maintain the title means the song is
about LSD. These people can only be seen as fools, who can only offer conjecture and opinion,
when others can offer proof to the contrary, from the mouth of John Lennon (not to mention visual
evidence, since the painting has been preserved). The same can be said of those who boldly
state that Nostradamus saw glimpses of the future, while staring into a pool of water, boiling
over a flame, in a bowl mounted on a tripod of bronze, while he waved a wand in the air, as
though there was some traditional practice (black magic?) that could make visions appear in
the steam.
We are to believe that Nostradamus followed this procedure each night; and every time he saw
a vision, he then wrote of it in poetic verses that he just constructed on the fly. After he wrote
one down on paper, he would look back at the mystical bowl and a different vision would
appear, in no way related to the previous (nor the following) vision. Some say they have come
to this conclusion because Nostradamus wrote these lines:
Seul repous sus la selle aerain, (line 2 of quatrain I - 01)
Alone thrust upon the stool of brass,
Baston tortu en main, bouche serree. (line 4 of quatrain V - 75)
Staff crooked in hand, mouth closed.
La verge en main mise au milieu de BRANCHES (line 1 of quatrain I - 02)
The wand in hand placed in the middle of BRANCHES
Le tout accord & presag l'vne partie tripode aeneo. (Letter to Henry II)
The whole accorded & prophesied the one distinguished tripod copper.
Now, of these four lines of words, three come from quatrains, which are 4-line poems. That, by
itself, says a line of text is taken out of context, to make some statement of support for a wild
claim of how Nostradamus predicted the future. However, the question: How did Nostradamus
predict the future?, is then answered by what amounts to being his predictions. We would
prefer more of the line that comes from the Letter to Henri II, because that is one of
Nostradamus letters explaining the meaning of the quatrains. To jump to the conclusion that the
quatrains themselves explain the quatrains, would be like someone supposing the lines of Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds explained the title. That supposition is wrong; and likewise we cannot
accept statements made in Nostradamus' poems to be explanatory of all the poems he wrote,
in Les Propheties.
Now, about the statement that comes from the Letter to Henry II, the tripode aeneo is not
something that can be assumed to be real, as much as a historical reference. This possibility of
the words used being designed for such a reference becomes even more possible when we
see the word presage preceding it. When we see this use of the past tense form of the verb
meaning, to prophesy or to foretell, we are then told to look for the one that becomes most
distinguished for such an art. We then find (by actually searching for meaning) that the Oracle of
Delphi, a sibyl or prophetess ceremoniously named Pythia, would sit in a tripod seat, which was
aligned over a fissure in the rock, where vapors rose. The god Apollo would speak the truth
through the oracle, answering truthfully to questions posed by querents, giving the answer that
would be found in the future. The tripod is said to have been constructed of copper or bronze,
with some saying the tripod was made of gold, but the lid (seat) was made of brass.
When this part of the statement in the Letter to Henry II is understood properly, it says, the whole
(experience of prophecy) was accorded to me, meaning it was yielded unto me & by that I mean
not by my design, because I prophesied as though I was in the one distinguished tripod of
copper, with the spirit speaking through me. In other words, this statement is, in fact,
Nostradamus stating his utter and complete lack of personal manipulation of special articles
that would allow him to see the future. He is stating the future was shown to him, merely with him
being a vehicle for the truth to be told.
When we understand this explanation, which is just one small fragment of the Letter to Henry II,
we can then turn around and see this explanation further explained in the quatrains (the same
ones listed above). As such, being Alone, while also being, thrust upon the stool (or seat) of
brass, indicates an invisible presence with Nostradamus, one with the power to thrust. The
word Nostradamus wrote, pous, is actually a modified form of the Old French word, repouls,
which meant, repulsed; repelled; foiled; thrust; or driven back. Some have transformed this
word to be a form of, repos, making it as though Nostradamus made himself comfortable in a
brass seat, because that word means, peace; rest; and pause. The correct translation shows a
powerful force taking hold of Nostradamus, while he did actually sit on a metal stool.
We can also get a sense that the other two statements are in agreement when the word staff is
used. One refines the other, by a separate word being used, which further describes the staff
as small. We also see that there is nothing indicated that this staff was in the hand of
Nostradamus, which means the hand and staff could have become elements that appeared,
while Nostradamus was alone. Further, when Nostradamus wrote, placed in the middle of the
BRANCHES, there is absolutely nothing that tells us BRANCHES are to be interpreted as the
legs on a tripod.
The Old French translation for the word, branche, indicated primarily the branch or bough of a
tree. This then was the foundation for the use (as in family tree), where lineage; or line of a
pedigree was the translation. As such, that quatrain is stating that Nostradamus was
transported (in one way or another) to a time that was, in the middle of someone major's
lineage. The importance comes from the word, BRANCHES, being written in all upper-case
letters, instead of normal type. That importance would then be related to the La verge in main,
which can translate to state, The single branch upon public authority.
When the word staff is seen as symbolic of a shepherd, the BRANCHES of shepherds would
be the BRANCHES of religions in the world. However, The (capitalized first-word article means
the following noun is emphasized as THE One) single branch upon which public authority would
be placed, as by law, in the middle of all the other BRANCHES of religions. For the Catholic
Christian Nostradamus, that single branch would be the Biblical BRANCHES from Adam to
Jesus, i.e.: Jewish lineage. Nostradamus, as the grandson of a converted Jew, was of this line.
since words often have metaphorical applications in poetic verse, the most logical way to
accurately conclude the meaning of a poem is from asking the author. The author is the best
source for the meaning behind his or her words; but sometimes authors die before anyone
reads their works and sometimes authors want to keep people guessing about the meaning.
However, most authors have no problem explaining the meaning of their works.
For instance, the Beatles produced a song entitled, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which used
very surreal wording, such as plasticine porters with looking glass ties, and, where rocking
horse people eat marshmallow pies. This imagery created by the surreal wording, especially
during the drug days of the late 60s, seemed obviously to be a poetic representation of a
psychedelic acid trip. That then led to the assumption that the three capital letters in the song
title, L.S.D., meant the song was John Lennon's marvelous way with words, to sing a song about
a drug the members of the band had recently experimented with.
Reporters went right to the source, to confirm that the meaning of the title was LSD. However,
John Lennon told them that was a coincidence. He told everyone that the title was the same title
as one of his son Julian's finger paintings, which he brought home from school. John had asked
Julian what one of the painting was about; and Julian said, That is Lucy (a classmate) in the sky,
with diamonds around her. John then named the song he was working on the same as Julian's
painting. John Lennon maintained this happening as the meaning behind the title of his song,
up until shortly before his tragic death.
The point of this example is that despite John Lennon repeatedly telling the meaning of the title,
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, there are people that still maintain the title means the song is
about LSD. These people can only be seen as fools, who can only offer conjecture and opinion,
when others can offer proof to the contrary, from the mouth of John Lennon (not to mention visual
evidence, since the painting has been preserved). The same can be said of those who boldly
state that Nostradamus saw glimpses of the future, while staring into a pool of water, boiling
over a flame, in a bowl mounted on a tripod of bronze, while he waved a wand in the air, as
though there was some traditional practice (black magic?) that could make visions appear in
the steam.
We are to believe that Nostradamus followed this procedure each night; and every time he saw
a vision, he then wrote of it in poetic verses that he just constructed on the fly. After he wrote
one down on paper, he would look back at the mystical bowl and a different vision would
appear, in no way related to the previous (nor the following) vision. Some say they have come
to this conclusion because Nostradamus wrote these lines:
Seul repous sus la selle aerain, (line 2 of quatrain I - 01)
Alone thrust upon the stool of brass,
Baston tortu en main, bouche serree. (line 4 of quatrain V - 75)
Staff crooked in hand, mouth closed.
La verge en main mise au milieu de BRANCHES (line 1 of quatrain I - 02)
The wand in hand placed in the middle of BRANCHES
Le tout accord & presag l'vne partie tripode aeneo. (Letter to Henry II)
The whole accorded & prophesied the one distinguished tripod copper.
Now, of these four lines of words, three come from quatrains, which are 4-line poems. That, by
itself, says a line of text is taken out of context, to make some statement of support for a wild
claim of how Nostradamus predicted the future. However, the question: How did Nostradamus
predict the future?, is then answered by what amounts to being his predictions. We would
prefer more of the line that comes from the Letter to Henri II, because that is one of
Nostradamus letters explaining the meaning of the quatrains. To jump to the conclusion that the
quatrains themselves explain the quatrains, would be like someone supposing the lines of Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds explained the title. That supposition is wrong; and likewise we cannot
accept statements made in Nostradamus' poems to be explanatory of all the poems he wrote,
in Les Propheties.
Now, about the statement that comes from the Letter to Henry II, the tripode aeneo is not
something that can be assumed to be real, as much as a historical reference. This possibility of
the words used being designed for such a reference becomes even more possible when we
see the word presage preceding it. When we see this use of the past tense form of the verb
meaning, to prophesy or to foretell, we are then told to look for the one that becomes most
distinguished for such an art. We then find (by actually searching for meaning) that the Oracle of
Delphi, a sibyl or prophetess ceremoniously named Pythia, would sit in a tripod seat, which was
aligned over a fissure in the rock, where vapors rose. The god Apollo would speak the truth
through the oracle, answering truthfully to questions posed by querents, giving the answer that
would be found in the future. The tripod is said to have been constructed of copper or bronze,
with some saying the tripod was made of gold, but the lid (seat) was made of brass.
When this part of the statement in the Letter to Henry II is understood properly, it says, the whole
(experience of prophecy) was accorded to me, meaning it was yielded unto me & by that I mean
not by my design, because I prophesied as though I was in the one distinguished tripod of
copper, with the spirit speaking through me. In other words, this statement is, in fact,
Nostradamus stating his utter and complete lack of personal manipulation of special articles
that would allow him to see the future. He is stating the future was shown to him, merely with him
being a vehicle for the truth to be told.
When we understand this explanation, which is just one small fragment of the Letter to Henry II,
we can then turn around and see this explanation further explained in the quatrains (the same
ones listed above). As such, being Alone, while also being, thrust upon the stool (or seat) of
brass, indicates an invisible presence with Nostradamus, one with the power to thrust. The
word Nostradamus wrote, pous, is actually a modified form of the Old French word, repouls,
which meant, repulsed; repelled; foiled; thrust; or driven back. Some have transformed this
word to be a form of, repos, making it as though Nostradamus made himself comfortable in a
brass seat, because that word means, peace; rest; and pause. The correct translation shows a
powerful force taking hold of Nostradamus, while he did actually sit on a metal stool.
We can also get a sense that the other two statements are in agreement when the word staff is
used. One refines the other, by a separate word being used, which further describes the staff
as small. We also see that there is nothing indicated that this staff was in the hand of
Nostradamus, which means the hand and staff could have become elements that appeared,
while Nostradamus was alone. Further, when Nostradamus wrote, placed in the middle of the
BRANCHES, there is absolutely nothing that tells us BRANCHES are to be interpreted as the
legs on a tripod.
The Old French translation for the word, branche, indicated primarily the branch or bough of a
tree. This then was the foundation for the use (as in family tree), where lineage; or line of a
pedigree was the translation. As such, that quatrain is stating that Nostradamus was
transported (in one way or another) to a time that was, in the middle of someone major's
lineage. The importance comes from the word, BRANCHES, being written in all upper-case
letters, instead of normal type. That importance would then be related to the La verge in main,
which can translate to state, The single branch upon public authority.
When the word staff is seen as symbolic of a shepherd, the BRANCHES of shepherds would
be the BRANCHES of religions in the world. However, The (capitalized first-word article means
the following noun is emphasized as THE One) single branch upon which public authority would
be placed, as by law, in the middle of all the other BRANCHES of religions. For the Catholic
Christian Nostradamus, that single branch would be the Biblical BRANCHES from Adam to
Jesus, i.e.: Jewish lineage. Nostradamus, as the grandson of a converted Jew, was of this line.
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