The following guest sermon was submitted by ULC minister Cassidy Trevors. All ULC Ministers are invited to contribute their own sermons for consideration/publication. To submit a sermon, please email it to sermons@ulc.org.
I don’t think anyone will argue with me when I say that 2023 has been quite a year.
From a very real war in the Middle East, to incendiary culture wars here at home, most of us are probably hoping that 2024 will bring peace, and an end to the constant stream of negativity shoved straight in front of our faces by news outlets and politicians.
Unfortunately, we’re in for a rocky 2024 – that is, if Nostradamus’ predictions come true.
Last year I examined some of Nostradamus’ predictions for 2023, now let’s take a look into the crystal ball to see what Nostradamus says will happen in 2024.
What Does the Future Hold?
Before we get into Nostradamus’ predictions, it’s worth examining who the man was, and why we still listen to his predictions centuries after his death. Nostradamus was a physician and apothecary in 16th century France, who became increasingly interested in astrology and the occult following his travels to Italy.
His magnum opus is widely considered Les Prophéties, a collection of some 6,338 prophecies published in 1555.
Nostradamus wrote in quatrains, sets of four rhyming verses, with each set of 100 quatrains corresponding to a century. In life as in death, Nostradamus was a highly desired soothsayer and diviner, and was even invited to provide horoscopes for the children of Catherine de’ Medici, wife of King Henry II.
In death, it is said he predicted numerous global events with bizarre accuracy, including everything from the assassination of JFK to the French Revolution to World War II.
Here’s what he says 2024 holds for us.
Famine
If you thought the climate crisis was bad now, just wait until next year. Nostradamus predicts that “the dry earth will grow more parched, and there will be great floods when it is seen,” and “very great famine through pestiferous wave,” potentially indicating a tsunami wiping out farmland or crops. Things are off to a great start, aren’t they?
War in China
“After combat and naval battle,” his prediction reads, “Red adversary will become pale with fear, Putting the great Ocean in dread.”
Some have interpreted the "red adversary" waging a "naval battle" as China, with their red flag and massive navy.
A New Pope
Out with the old, in with the new... pope? Apparently, according to Nostradamus.
“Through the death of a very old Pontiff, A Roman of good age will be elected,” Nostradamus writes. “Of him it will be said that he weakens his see, But long will he sit and in biting activity.”
A New King
Speaking of new world leaders, King Charles is apparently going to have a very short tenure. A “King of the isles” will be “driven out by force,” and “a new King shall be anointed.”
If this prediction comes true, poor King Charles waited decades to take the throne, only to get driven out in a year’s time. Rejection hurts!
Prophecy for Profit
Does anyone else ever wish we lived in less interesting times? If Nostradamus is to be believed, we’re in for yet another eventful year. But that's a big "if."
After all, we may want to examine why Nostradamus is the ultimate soothsayer to begin with. In his own time, his prophecies earned him a place in Queen Catherine’s royal court, and he was the private physician and counselor to her son, the future King Charles IX. Not exactly a bad gig.
Was he actually psychic, though? That part is unclear.
Most of Nostradamus’ predictions are vague doomsday prophecies that can be interpreted in any number of ways, which of course expands the ability for them to "come true."
One could look at some modern doomsday prophets much the same way.
How many times have we heard from religious doom-and-gloomers that the apocalypse is coming any day now? Wasn’t that supposed to happen in 1999? And 2007? And 2012? And 2020?
And yet, Nostradamus is often said to have predicted every major world event since his death. Is it possible he really was different, and possessed unique future-reading abilities?
What do you make of Nostradamus’ predictions for 2024?
36 comments
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Michael Holland
More crap to scare us into submission or worse suicide!
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Warren Calvin Wall
Prophets are just trouble makers. Name one good thing that was prophesied that came about. Where are the prophecies that speak of the coming of the glory of man? The fine, harmonious, peaceful society that we should be living today? Where are the prophecies for the good of mankind? All prophecy is disastrous.
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Daniel Gray
And just WHAT does this failed "seer" say that has any meaning here?
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Elizabeth D'Onofrio Halladay
Unfortunately he isn't far off on what is actually going on right now. I don't know about the King, but nothing is surprising when it comes to Great Britain. I wish he was more accurate as to where this Tsunami will actually hit. I live on the West Coast of Florida and most of the Farmland is inland in Florida. So that would mean that the Coast will be wiped out also. That's scary! Especially since we are still recovering from the Wrath of Hurricane Ian. Florida doesn't have much of a chance anymore anyway. Also, China? So possible with the way things are headed now. The Pope? He doesn't seem in bad health, but after a certain age health deteriorates fast. I just hope the new one is just as openminded.
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Scott Roman
He really wasn't wrong about the King, King Charles is in his first year of his rein as king. I think that counts.
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Theresa C. Marquess
I never have put much stock in these predictions. All I can say is that time will tell! In the meantime I hope your holidays meet all of your expectations for them!
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Ellen B. Wentzel
I have read and studied Nostradamus. If you do the same, you might think this does make sense. All this, coming from a very spiritual person.
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Harold Washburn
i have been fallowing hin since 1962 and if you remember a while back we had a real bad earthquake which took the earth off its axis 3 degrees and this is why you are having all this bad weather and if he says there will great drought coming you best beware and stock up on can goods an other things cause your in for a hell of a year in 2024
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John Casillo
ye of so little faith
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Lionheart
I predict 2024 will continue to see a decline in those who want believe they are being guided by some sort of deity where the need for logic, reason, and critical thought, will finally start to sink in.
🦁❤️
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Catherine
Australia comes to mind, specific to floods and 35%-ish being parched land.
Michel de Nostredame was highly respected among peers, and royals as long as what he said pleased the right ears. The vagueness attributed to his work might first be due to political hot spots during his lifetime. Same as operas and plays and music conveyed messages to the people, portrayed as entertainment to avoid dire consequences of speaking plainly.
Second, even mundane astrology is about POTENTIALS and INFLUENCES. Humans generally reserve the right to make more or less better choices. Human action dictates outcomes. How predictable is human nature?
What is in an individual's natal chart, can be specific enough to justify attention. However, any of us can willfully ignore a potential.
Personal preference for subjectively meaningful details is an insolent expectation. The majority of people do not question professional terminologies, though perhaps we should at least as much as astrology is questioned.
Here is a fair attempt of extrapolating what might be from Nostradamus' writings:
https://sacred-texts.com/nos/oon/oon14.htm
To respond to questions about old writings, those that are legible today were not written on crappy paper we've become accustomed to.
And examples of how well unwritten information can persist accurately is early astronomy and astrology, or astrometry. It's been said when a thing cannot be explained clearly to a five year old, it hasn't been learned well enough. Imagine learning and teaching something well enough that information remains accurate through repeated tellings.
https://sci.esa.int/web/gaia/-/53196-the-oldest-sky-maps
"Archaeological records show that astronomy is one of the first natural sciences developed by early civilisations all over the globe. ... Curiosity alone did not inspire the earliest astronomers: astronomy and astrometry were practical sciences too. Monitoring the motions of stars and planets in the sky was the best tool to track time, which was fundamental for agriculture, religious rituals and navigation.
The first documented records of systematic astronomical observations date back to the Assyro-Babylonians around 1000 BCE."
When did that knowledge originate?
If early astronomy and astrology had not been learned and taught so well, written and unwritten, efficacy and accuracy could not be so remarkably repeatable and worthwhile.
Among all else he accomplished, at age 17 Benjamin Franklin began calculating and writing ephemerides yearly for several decades. If you know of Poor Richard's Almanac or the Farmer's Almanac, you are are at least somewhat familiar with Benjamin Franklin's astronomy skills. Farmers still use the almanac to determine first frosts, when to plant, grow, harvest, timing to castrate pigs before consumption, and for other purposes.
Though astronomy can stand alone, astrology cannot be done without astronomical calculations, and integrates observed human interests and behaviors with astronomical skills. Astrology is not comprised of visionary predictions or intuited (trendy these days), and does not require psychic ability. Event-oriented mundane astrology, sidereal and precession corrected, and seasonal tropical astrology are what most of us have been exposed to, consciously or not. Each serves a different purpose.
Horoscopes determined through use of precession correction with focus on planets, other objects, ascendants and moon signs, further defined with sabian symbols and decans, are quite accurate. Far more than only using sun signs. Most anything imaginable is comprised of more than one thing. Why expect the sun, a single object, to be the begin and end all of any astronomical or astrological conclusion?
Because astrology could be used to advance one's self. Rulers used ignorance to reduce competition and keep folk more manageable. Even the Catholic church and popes still use astrologers, though they call them mathematicians.
The science of astrology is being re-established, explained throughout this website:
https://www.positiveastrology.com/theory-of-astrology
"Here is a theory of astrology arrived at after twenty-two years of experimentation into progressed synastry:
Consciousness is separate or different to and does not necessarily emanate directly from physical matter; astrology is the science that enables us to describe and measure events in consciousness and horoscopes for people begin at the moment of birth but they do not end then, they continue for up to four months and change at the rate of a day for a year.
From this model, we can make predictions about future data populations using the experimental pre-requisites arrived at via research into progressed synastry."
https://www.positiveastrology.com/the-history
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James Mounts
Anyone who believes this tripe would not benefit from anything I say. So, why bother.
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Russel A. Kester
What a fun and enjoyable sermon. Thank you. I'm very interested to see if indeed the red adversary will turn pale with fear. The predictions about the Pope and, possibly, King Charles were also as juicy as good gossip. Now we'll just have to wait and see. Literally.
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Nicholas J Page
If Nostradamus was true then how could his paperwork last all these centuries I personally don't believe in astrology because it never happens and if you read the many papers and magazines.Every horoscope give different readings.No one is accurate so how did Nostradamus foresee the future and as I said earlier how did his paperwork survive all these years When it couldn't be preserved.I visited a fortune teller once just out of curiosity she was wrong.On all counts.
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Beth
Nearly all of Nostradamus' prophecies are so general they can fit into any time period. So long as there are Popes, they will die and new ones will be selected. Some will like him, some will hate him. Kings have been a major thing for a long time. People centuries ago were looking for scandal in their royal families - and they usually found it. Even if it wasn't real, (anonymous) story tellers would make up things that would get told and retold. Wars, rumors of wars, famine, tsunamis are a danger of living on this planet with a civilization.
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Donald Wilson Duval
How did the Holy Bible last so long?
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Lionheart
It's due to a psychological condition of those that like to believe in things that are not really there, having convinced themselves they are. It's actually a form of psychosis, which has been accepted as being okay by the medical profession as long as you say it's a God that you believe in. 🤷🏼
🦁♥️
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Jennifer Louise Kemper
Nicholas, you are all over the P age with this answer. It has nothing to do with astrology and lots of old texts have survived the ages.
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John W
Interesting read, but nothing to freak out over. A new Pope, well, given the age of the current Pontif, it is plausible. A rift in the British Royal Family causing the overthrow of the current King Charles is highly unlikely. Famine and a tsunami is within the realm of possibility, however, the continent it will strike is a crap shoot. It may not be the United States. It way effect Asia, Africa or Australia or even South America. All of which border the Pacific. An Atlantic tidal wave or something originating in the Gulf of Mexico, I find hard to believe. War??? Well, that is a monster of a different color. It is no secret that China has ambitions akin to what the Japanese once had in the 1930s and 40s of the Pacific being controlled by them. Countries like Japan, the Philippines and Australia along with the United States are watching the actions of China from their building of bases on coral atolls and intimidating Taiwan and the Philippines.
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Beth
Atlantic tidal waves are quite possible. Remember the BIG earthquake that devastated Haiti a few years ago? That could have caused a damaging tsunami. So could anything along the mid-Atlantic ridge.
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Colleen McAllister
Last year's predictions did not happen, nor will this year's. Generally vague and couched in poetic language these predictions are nothing more than a bunch of crap.
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Robin Anne Hannon
I don't see how focusing on vague prophecies in this case brings anything edifying. These predictions are nebulous and can fit numerous situations. As well scripturally we are not supposed to listen to soothsayers. In the Old Testament one could be stoned for that, and the test was 100 percent accuracy.
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James
I don't need Nostradamus to tell me what's going on in the world today. Unless you live under a rock we all should be knowing to the fact...yes fact that no matter how much or how many....this world is doomed.....and we're doing it....humanity
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Debra Seeley
This is very true and sad unfortunately! And the blame belongs to humanity!
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Edward Hamilton Calhoun
Its all myth and fiction to me - - I tend to go with science - agnostic views - facts - truth and LOL at this BS - - Shalom
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James Terrence Gelsomino
Nostradamus is entertaining....he has his 'general visions', but nothing is nailed down....but it is interesting, since the Aztec's, Mayan's, Egyptians.....all had connections with the 'stars' and believed in specific movements, that led to 'events' meaning 'famine', 'wars', leadership changes, etc......The Latin Americans (Mayans), sacrificed, as we know today, which probably put them 'over the top' believers, in the 'SUN' gods.....take it all with a 'grain of salt', and draw your own conclusions.....be ready or not, it's your choice.....survive or perish, it's still all a 'day to day' duty to 'do your best'.......
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Rev. Rory
Interesting article but there is always famine, war, and a new Pope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events
"Little research has been done into why people make apocalyptic predictions.[4] Historically, it has been done for reasons such as diverting attention from actual crises like poverty and war, pushing political agendas, and promoting hatred of certain groups; antisemitism was a popular theme of Christian apocalyptic predictions in medieval times,[5] while French and Lutheran depictions of the apocalypse were known to feature English and Catholic antagonists respectively.[6]
According to psychologists, possible explanations for why people believe in modern apocalyptic predictions include mentally reducing the actual danger in the world to a single and definable source, an innate human fascination with fear, personality traits of paranoia and powerlessness and a modern romanticism involved with end-times due to its portrayal in contemporary fiction.[4][7]
The prevalence of Abrahamic religions throughout modern history is said to have created a culture which encourages the embracement of a future that will be drastically different from the present.[1][8] Such a culture is credited with the rise in popularity of predictions that are more secular in nature, such as the 2012 phenomenon, while maintaining the centuries-old theme that a powerful force will bring the end of humanity.[8]"
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Wayne Edward Kilmer
War and rumors of war, pestilence and famine, common and repeating. Out on a limb ; a super nova in Orion maybe this year, USA convert to digital money maybe this year, riots this year after the election ( if we make it that far) terrorist attacks on the power grid. All discernible from the news and the Bible
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Thomas William Cornfield
opps you can take any perdiction for Nostro and bend it into what you want. The Creator of the universe does not follow cheep phony suth sayers. Our man kind will decide what will happen and as I can see 2024 is gonna be a great year for everyone.. Oh NO me a suth sayer lol lord bless all of the world and be safe and please don't believe in all the nuclear bull I was in the nuclear field in the US Army. and we had a saying when one flys everybody dies. where was the nastro predictions when the world scientices told the world to quit doing underground testing because of the shock wave hitting the planets core. The creator of the universe will decide what will happen here not manking or suth sayers or the bull peopl take in from nostro lol as I said Lord bless your way and be safe. you can be hit by a car quicker that a nostro prediction lol Ministor Tom Cornfield
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Susan D Jordan
As a great man once said "The only thing to fear is fear itself." If you want to believe in Nostradamus then that's your choice , I myself don't what to be afraid everyday, To live in fear is not living at all. You must have faith in the choices you make, trust yourself. Tomorrow will come and whatever happens trust you will be ready.
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Tod Lewis Michel
I don't spend a lot of my time thinking on predictions. I want remain in God's will And His will for me is to not be fearful of things to come but to Glorify his name today. So fear not if the Lord is your Sheppard.
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Franklin Kerr Lewis Jr
Hey family! It’s all entertainment to me. god is an artist. Good ole Nos , he was blessed. A spiritual individual like us all. Oh, there are more coming and the Universe has it rightful leader on the thrown. Making the intangible , now tangible. The Messiah is here! Its all of US ! I love yall man. Unconditional love. If anyone needs me I am here ok!!! Love you…… there are no strangers, not with me. Stay Amazing all !! ❤️🇺🇸🧠🎭🌎
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Jeffrey Charles Harvey
Naaaa!..Jesus is the one for me!..I go by the bible..Only God knows!..Amen?..Amen!
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Keith Allen Steele Eash
Nostradamas was an idiot.
We only remember the hits, not the misses.
So true!