Nostradamus, the Vitruvian Man, and a Message of Hope

As promised...here is a Nostradamus prophecy that confirms the existence of the Vitruvian Man/Pleiadian star map layout in our nation's capital.

(Perhaps also indirectly reinforcing my theory of the same topology surrounding the location of the Arizona Massacre).

The Original Quatrain:

Feet and hands bound between two boats,
Face anointed with honey, and sustained with milk:
Wasps and flies, paternal love vexed,
Cup-bearer to falsify, Chalice tried.

---Century 6, Quatrain 89, The Book of Nostradamus

Notice that (Feet and hands) = 10 fingers + 10 toes = 20. 

And a visual of a person with their feet and hands tied between two objects looks like Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man figure and a Roman Numeral 'X' (X = 10).

Roman Numeral 'X' illustrated using Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" figure

Putting the numbers 20 and 10 together gives us the year 2010 for this prophecy. 

[UPDATED 1/30/11:]

To confirm the year 2010, Nostradamus also encoded it mathematically both in Binary (Base 2) and Base 13.

In Binary, the Quatrain's first line can be written as 1010 1101 111.  However, Binary is read in sections of four digits from right to left.  So, we would rewrite it as 111 1101 1010 which equals 2010 in Binary.

In Base 13, the phrase "Bound Between two boats", can be written as BB8.  BB8 = 2010 in Base 13.

[END UPDATE]

Nostradamus was also making a reference to Washington, D.C., and his use of the Vitruvian Man imagery indicates that he was well aware of the figure's incorporation into the city's layout (see my post and Wayne Hershel's website). 



 

(CLICK Maps to Enlarge. Photo Credit: Wayne Hershel.)

 

Using Wayne Hershel's maps, we can see the "Face" corresponds to the Washington Monument Obelisk.

The 2nd line of the Quatrain is:  

Face anointed with honey, and sustained with milk

The Face/Obelisk is anointed with honey by means of the line on the map connecting it to the graves of our military heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Via this line, Ganymede, the mythological Cup-bearer to the gods, is symbolically anointing the Face/Obelisk with honey [where "honey" symbolizes the ancient Army of Thebes (Thebes=The Bees)].

The Obelisk is also sustained with milk (milk=MLK). This is a reference to the MLK Memorial, the new monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. located at the edge of the Tidal Basin (literally on W. Basin Drive) that feeds/flows toward the obelisk.

The MLK Memorial does not officially open until 8/28/11.  However, its centerpiece, a massive 28-foot granite "Stone of Hope" sculpture of Dr. King, first became visible to the public in December 2010. 

This event gives us Nostradamus' time frame for the prophecy (12/2010).

The 3rd and 4th lines of the Quatrain are:

Wasps and flies, paternal love vexed,
Cup-bearer to falsify, Chalice tried.

In these lines, Nostradamus uses a trick to let us know which words are important and which words are simply used to fill the sentence. 

The "filler" words in each sentence are actually synonyms of each other: "Lies" means "to falsify", and "Vexed" means "tried".

After the filler words are deleted we are left with:

Wasps and paternal love

Cup-bearer, Chalice

The phrase "Wasps and paternal love" is a reference to the Sacred Band, an army in ancient Thebes (Thebes=The Bees=Wasps) that was comprised of only male lovers.  

"And if there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their beloved, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world." ---from Plato's Symposium

This also relates to Ganymede who, in addition to being the Cup-bearer, was also a Greek symbol for the ideally beautiful youth and homosexual love.





Zeus (in the form of an Eagle) fell in love with Ganymede and took the boy away to live on Mt. Olympus.  Synchromystically, this is a link to the U.S. (the Eagle) and to Jupiter (one of its moons is named after Ganymede).

When the Sacred Band was slaughtered at the Battle of Chaeronea, a Giant Lion Statue was erected as a monument to them in Thebes.

In modern times, this correlates to the Bronze Lions at the Netherlands Carillon in Washington, D.C.  The Lion statues overlook the graves of slain soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The soldiers of the Sacred Band were honored for their heroic service.  This is Nostradamus' way of alluding to the repeal of the U.S. Military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell law (DADT).

President Obama signed the repeal of DADT on December 22, 2010.  This re-confirms the 12/2010 time frame for the prophecy.

As we have learned by now, Nostradamus always embeds multiple meanings into his prophecies.  This one is no exception.

The word "Face" in the Quatrain can also be a reference to the Tarot by alluding to the Face Cards (the Major Arcana/Court cards).

The Tarot de Marseille features the Temperance Card and the Star Card:

The Temperance Card, XIV, depicts a woman with two cups in her hands. She has one foot in the water and one foot on the land.  It is a reminder that a compromise between two seemingly incompatible options is often the best option, i.e. an old saying that relates strongly to our Quatrain---"it's easier to catch flies with honey".

The Star Card, XVII, also depicts a woman with two pitchers in her hands.  It represents a moment of renewed hope for the future, a breakthrough, a new opportunity to rise to higher state of consciousness.  In the Fool's Journey, the Star indicates that we are approaching the goal of Enlightenment.

If we combine the numbers of both Cards we get XIVXVII. 

Note: The middle X is bound between two V's.  The V is the symbol for cups/boats.  Therefore the X (human figure) is bound between two boats.

Based on these Tarot clues, we can re-interpret the last three lines of the Original Quatrain to read as follows:

The Anointed One held two chalice in his hands

And, patient as a loving father,
He sustained the flying wasps

With milk and honey

Dropping the first letters from the words "flying wasps" gives us "lying asps", or lying snakes.  And in previous posts (here and here) I showed how Nostradamus refers to President Obama as "The One".

I believe this is referring to Obama's techniques of patience, moderation, and compromise in dealing with members of Congress (many of whom I personally would characterize as "lying snakes"). 

This was especially true in December 2010 when the President got DADT, the START Treaty, health care coverage for 9/11 workers, and the tax cut bill passed in a lame duck session of Congress.

Overall, I think Nostradamus in this Quatrain is sending us a message of Hope across time. 

He foresaw the strides we would make in achieving equality for ALL, both through the eradication of DADT and in electing a black president---each culminations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s precious dream.

Somewhere, somehow I'd like to think the prophet is cheering us on from the Great Beyond.

Nostradamus believes in us.  Now we just have to believe in ourselves.