The Date of The North Korean Nuclear Attack

BACKGROUND: In 2003 I interpreted several quatrains of Nostradamus related to current evolving events in the Middle East, Osama bin laden, global warming, a prediction regarding a nuclear attack by North Korea against oil producing countries in the Middle East, and the current world-wide economic crisis. All these interpretations were posted at http://www.currentpredictions.org/ in 2003. Since then I interpreted several more quatrains. The new interpretations are being posted here, and they are basically a continuation of what I posted in 2003. These Nostradamus quatrains with their related interpretations and comments are cited herein.

Interpreted on 07-13-2006; Revised on October 2008

Century X, Quatrain 74
The year of the great seventh number accomplished, it will appear at the time of the games of slaughter, not far from the age of the great millennium, when the dead will come out of their graves.

Interpretation with Explanatory Remarks
In this quatrain Nostradamus uses his usual convoluted way to give us an approximate date of the North Korean nuclear attack, as well as, to describe the circumstances under which mankind will gradually enter the period of “trials and tribulations” cited in Saint John’s Apocalypse. In other words, the word “games” is used as a chronological reference point to mark the turning point between the previous era of prosperity (and irrational euphoria) and the new era we are entering, marked by economic deterioration, higher unemployment, diminishing food supplies, higher food and energy prices, increased social and geopolitical unrest, and constant turbulence and uncertainty.

The expression “The year of the great seventh number accomplished” refers to the end of 2007. Then he says, “… it will appear at the time of the games of slaughter…” The “games of slaughter” refer to the Beijing summer Olympic Games, scheduled for 8 - 24 August 2008. He then qualifies this date by saying that it is “not far from the millennium…”, which is also correct.

The expression “games of slaughter” may be a reflection of the grueling nature and intense competition characterized by the various sport events.

The critical portion of the prediction remaining to be interpreted is, what does the expression “… it will appear at the time of slaughter” mean? The expression is, unquestionably, very ambiguous, and there is no way I could have interpreted it without the help of everything else Nostradamus has told us in other quatrains. (His quatrains are like a 1000-piece puzzle, and unless one is able to piece together a few related pieces together, only then we can get a glimpse of the whole picture he wants to portray.)

The interpretation of the expression is threefold:
The first part relates to the current on-going world-wide economic crisis which started to show its scope and depth of impact around August 2008. Nostradamus is insinuating that the current economic crisis will continue until North Korea’s nuclear attack, when conditions deteriorate even further.

The second part relates to North Korea’s refusal to cease their nuclear development program – a condition which enhances the probability of a nuclear attack in the future. North Korea’s refusal to open the country to foreign nuclear inspectors was announced around the time of the Olympic Games. (Note that even though North Korea has ceased its plutonium reprocessing, we don’t know what they are doing with their uranium enrichment program. In addition, they are progressing unabated with their long-range missile development program. So, all the ingredients for a potential future conflagration are still totally in tact. In fact, as they are strengthening their nuclear posture, their potential capability to inflict greater damage increases exponentially.) Nostradamus tells us that the third antichrist is Kim Jong Il and that he will attack oil producing countries in the Middle East unexpectedly. Nostradamus does not give us a precise date of the attack, but he is implying we are getting close to this event.

The third part of the interpretation infers that the current worsening world-wide economic conditions will gradually transition into the period when the effects of global warming will start impacting mankind with elevated seas, decreased food production and famines, serious climate changes, and mass migrations.

So, what is Nostradamus really telling us? He is basically telling us: Our life styles will begin to deteriorate initially due to worsening and protracted world-wide economic conditions, and later on, due to North Korea’s nuclear attack and upcoming global warming events.

The very last expression “…when the dead will come out of their graves.” vividly and succinctly portrays the gravity of what is waiting for mankind. The most important symbolism in the quatrain is that Nostradamus ties the “2008 benchmark” to the beginning of the Apocalypse[1].
[1] The Apocalypse will not result from the North Korean attack, but from the ensuing global warming, which Nostradamus describes in vivid detail. This subject will be addressed in a future posting.

General Comment: Let us now examine this prediction to determine its validity and probability of happening. We will, first, validate the information he is giving us in this quatrain in reference to information given in other quatrains. The second type of validation will be a comparison of the information in this quatrain in relation to current evolving events vis-à-vis North Korea. In other words, does “what he tells us in this quatrain” make sense in terms of current ongoing events?

First validation –
Century II, quatrain 30: In this quatrain he describes the horror, the state of extreme depression and fear the people will experience. He tells us “never more horror nor the papers tell of worse in the past, …”. This is precisely the way people will feel when they see millions of people die, or getting sick from the long-term effects of radioactivity, other illnesses, and hunger.

Century II, quatrain 46: Here he says: “After great misery for mankind an even greater approaches when the great cycle of the centuries is renewed. It will rain blood, milk, famine, war, disease”. Once again, he identifies the period of the attack as occurring right after the passing of the millennium, the year 2000. His symbolic expressions of “rain blood”, “milk”, “famine”, and “disease” relate to his expression of “when the dead will come out of their graves”; the predictions relate to nuclear mushrooms, and radioactive rain which will contaminate agricultural products and sicken people. Could the date of the attack be in 2012, a date predicted by many others to be the date of Armageddon?

In order to appreciate Nostradamus’ expressions, you need to recognize that he lived more than 450 years ago. Even though he was an exceptional psychic, he saw, sensed, and heard things that he may haven’t fully understood, or could not relate to the knowledge and living conditions of his time. A nuclear mushroom looked white, so he described it as “milk falling from the sky”. He referred to radioactivity as “rain blood” because radioactivity carried down by rain causes sicknesses, open sores, cancerous lesions, disfigurements, and bleeding. “Famine” refers to hunger and malnutrition resulting from the radioactive contamination of agricultural products, as well as, from the upcoming direct and indirect effects of global warming, which is bound to create serious shortages in agricultural productivity.

Century V, quatrain 5: Here he tells us that at the time of the attack there will be a manned orbiting space station. We do have a manned space station.

Century II, quatrain 29: Here he tells us “…and he will strike everyone with his rod”. “Rod” symbolizes the shape of a missile. It is long and slim, especially an intercontinental missile. This is the most obvious way to describe a missile 450 years ago. But the important information he gives us in quatrain 29 is the fact that Kim Jong Il will have many missiles and many warheads. We will examine this in more detail under the Second Validation, below.

Second Validation –
Now, let us examine the timing he gives us (after 8-24 August 2008).
On July 4-6, 2006 we witnessed the testing of seven North Korean missiles (the Nodong & Taepodong II types). Judging from all public information (Internet, newspapers, radio, TV, etc.), North Korea has a multitude of operational short and medium distance missiles. Results of the July 6, 2006 missile test indicate that North Korea does not currently have operational intercontinental ballistic missiles. Current ongoing events indicate that North Korea is doing its best to attain a long-range missile capability. Nostradamus is telling us that they will have it. At least, they will have adequate capability to devastate the Middle East (the old Byzantine Empire which included the current oil-producing countries) and parts of Europe.

The first pertinent question is: “What could motivate someone like Kim Jong il to attack, and if so, why the Middle East?” (In other words, the first validation we need to make is to assess if Nostradamus’ prediction is credible and relevant to the situation we face in North Korea, as well as, Kim Jong il’s personality.)

The answer to this question is obvious. If external pressures mount to the point that Kim Jong Il feels threatened of being overthrown, as a final act of desperation the North Korean nuclear attack appears very logical and probable. But, there may be another potential reason to attack the Middle East. If the current world-wide economic mini-depression continuous for several years, Kim Jong il may consider it as an opportune time to destroy the world’s economies by striking oil producing countries in the Middle East. What does he have to lose? Isn’t he getting old and sick? How many more years does he have to live? Are any of his three children in a position to succeed him after his death? Certainly not. Does he care for his countrymen? Of course not. Furthermore, considering his, well-known bizarre behavior, the probability of such an attack is, indeed, probable. The North Koreans certainly know they cannot defeat us militarily, but they could devastate us economically. The existing risk factors of our financial institutions and the exorbitant, or rather irrational, national and private debt burdens could bring about an overnight financial collapse. We can be certain Kim Jong Il has not missed the point of the importance of oil.

Other pertinent questions are: “Has North Korea successfully-tested nuclear warheads? Do they have the technology to mount them on missiles? Do they have the trigger devices? And, do they have enough enriched nuclear material?”

The first three questions cannot be answered at this time. They probably don’t have these technologies, but all intelligence reports indicate they are working feverishly on these areas. Regarding the last question, Nostradamus is telling us that they will have a multitude of nuclear warheads. At this point I would like to note that many of the interpretations posted on http://www.currentpredictions.org/ in 2003 regarding Iraq/Middle East/global warming/Osama bin laden and North Korean evolving events are coming true.

The Dreadful Antichrist

Interpreted September 6, 2004

Century X, Quatrain 66
The London premier through American power will burden the island of Scotland with a cold thing. Reb the king will have so dreadful an antichrist who will bring them all into the troubles.

Interpretation with Explanatory Remarks
In her 1986 edition Erika Cheetham wrote: “The Premier of London at the time specified was Harold Mcmillan who had a good relationship with America. It was during his office that Scotland was burdened with the cold thing (the Polaris submarine). Roi Reb sounds strange but links this even firmly with another antichrist to come who will lead them all of them, i.e., Britain and USA, into trouble.”

The reference to “Reb the King” is interpreted as follows: the word “King” is a reference to “Head of State”. This could apply to a King, a President, or someone in charge of a country. The word “Reb” symbolizes “Johnny Reb”, the Southern Confederate warrior. A more detailed analysis is cited below, and you will see why “Johnny Reb” and President George W. Bush are symbolically identical. They are indeed a perfect match.

In 1986, when Erika Cheetham’s book was published, the interpretation of this quatrain was not possible because prior to the millennium and the historical events of the Bush/Putin “friendship” era, we could not relate this quatrain to President Bush. Now we can, with a high degree of certainty (see Century II, Quatrain 89). Quatrain 89 ties into all the other quatrains relating to North Korea’s future nuclear attack.

Century X, quatrain 66 also implies that President Bush will be re-elected, and it may be during his second term that he will face the dreadful antichrist. The quatrain also refers to Bush’s current problems with North Korea that we are already experiencing.

Don’t the articles below foretell what awaits Bush during his second term? http://www.iht.com/articles/535387.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6135410 Isn’t North Korea stalling for more time to build more nuclear warheads? If North Korea is so hostile now, how will they act when they have built a stronger nuclear arsenal? Aren’t future events predictable based on past or current ongoing events? Didn’t Hitler, prior to World War II, show similar hostile intentions? Do we actually need Nostradamus to tell us that North Korea’s intentions are hostile, and the likelihood is, that they will get worse in the future?

General Comment: “Reb the King” symbolizes “Johnny Reb” who was the Southerner Confederate soldier during the Civil War, when our country was divided into two hostile groups. During the Civil War Johnny Reb symbolized the “Southerner defender”, the “warrior”, the “protector” of the South. George W. Bush is proud of being a Southerner, and during his entire first term he has portrayed himself as a “warrior”, as the “defender” of the country against terrorism. Furthermore, our country is now just as divided, just as polarized. Emotions are just as high, as they were during the Civil War. Are all these similarities accidental coincidences? What about the deteriorating evolving events with North Korea that we are already experiencing? Are they also coincidences? You be the judge. During the National Republican convention on August 31, didn’t Laura Bush introduce her husband as “Reb” the warrior?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040831/D84QDRJ80.html.

To confirm the fact that the symbolism “Reb the king” was by design and not by accident, let us refer to Century V, Quatrain 25. This quatrain describes Osama bin Laden. The expression Nostradamus uses to describe the spread of bin Laden’s ideology is “… true serpent”, in other words, his ideology spreads surreptitiously. Is there a better way to describe the spread of his ideology throughout the Muslim world? Isn’t this what has been happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and many other countries? Isn’t his ideology creeping like a serpent throughout the Muslim societies, in spite of our efforts to stop it? Had we read quatrain 25 prior to 9/11, it wouldn’t make any sense. Following the 9/11 event, as well as, our experiences with al-Qaida, quatrain 25 is clear, factual, precise, and relevant. It is a perfect description. Osama bin Laden couldn’t be described any better.

Interpreted July 5, 2005
At the time of my original interpretation of this quatrain, there was something puzzling me. I could not understand the relationship of “Scotland” and Nostradamus’ comment “ …who will bring them all into the troubles”. In other words, what “Scotland” had to do with “ …them all…”? Who were “them all”? Then, in early July 2005 I heard about the G-8 summit that was convening in Gleneagles, Scotland. Immediately I realized that Nostradamus may be referring to the representatives of the G-8, implying they would all be affected by the North Korean nuclear attack. The expression may also imply that the nuclear attack will take place while Bush is in office, or immediately thereafter. From a chronological perspective, at the time this prediction was made (about four hundred and fifty years ago), the G-8 meeting is considered to be very close to the timing of the North Korean nuclear attack.

The above explanation is worth mentioning because, once again, century X, quatrain 66 demonstrates the accuracy of Nostradamus’ psychic abilities.

The Destruction and Rebuilding of New Orleans and the Downfall of the President

Interpreted December 2005

Century III, Quatrain 40
The great theatre will be raised up again, the dice thrown and the nets already cast. The great one who tolls the death knell will become too tired, destroyed by bows split a long time ago.

Interpretation with Explanatory Remarks
The prediction refers to New Orleans with its theater-like lifestyle of the French Quarter, the Mardi Gras parades and festivities on Bourbon street, and its overall pleasant and outgoing atmosphere. The word “theatre” also refers to the fact that New Orleans is built below sea level, and the area looks like being in a bowl that gives it the appearance of an ancient Greek amphitheater. Nostradamus also tells us that the city will be rebuilt

The “dice” symbolize the Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos where dice are used extensively, together with other gambling games. The reference to “nets” relates to the harbor, its coast, and its very extensive fishing industry/activities.

Chronologically, Nostradamus ties the New Orleans event with the daily casualty reports President George W. Bush is receiving from the Middle East. The implication is that the casualties will increase and/or the situation overseas will deteriorate to the point that eventually the President’s credibility will be destroyed.

General Comment: Once again, this quatrain uses several symbolic words to depict the place and conditions it describes. The key to interpreting the prediction lies in the success of identifying the symbolism and relating it to what it applies to.

To ensure that the above interpretation pertains to New Orleans and the President, let’s decompose the prediction and re-examine the parts once again. We have:

a). “The great theater will be raised up again.” - For reasons stated above, New Orleans has been known for its theater-like lifestyle. He then ties-up the description of the place with the words “…it will be raised up again”. All indications are that the city, at least part of it, will be rebuilt.

b). “The dice and the nets already cast.” - This symbolizes the dice being cast in the nearby casinos and the nets used for the fishing industry, both of which are well known characteristics of the city. It should be noted that this expression has a dual symbolism. The expression tells us that “Once Bush made the decision to invade Iraq, he will not be able to extricate himself from the mess he got himself into”. Note the word “already”. This is what gives the expression its dual symbolism.

c). “The great one who tolls the death knell …” - This describes the appalling daily reports of military and civilian casualties reaching the President through the news media. We are already experiencing the impact of these daily horrific scenes and roadside explosions on the President’s reputation and approval ratings, which are deteriorating daily. The word “knell” is described in Webster’s dictionary as “to ring, especially for a death, funeral, or disaster”. Isn’t this exactly what is happening, day-after-day, when American families are notified that their loved ones have perished? How much more precise could Nostradamus have been? Aren’t TV programs, newspapers, and magazines continuously referring to the “toll” of dead and/or wounded?

d). Chronologically, the destruction and rebuilding of New Orleans coincides with the daily reports of death and destruction that are adversely impacting the President’s reputation and credibility. Furthermore, Nostradamus is telling us that events will deteriorate to the point the President’s position will be destroyed. The frequent poll reports on his standing clearly confirm that his position is weakening. The expression also infers that conditions in Iraq will deteriorate and may become unattainable.

e). “… destroyed by bows split long time ago.” - In addition, Nostradamus implies that the President’s decision to invade Iraq was made prior to his ascendancy to the Presidency, a fact suspected and/or believed by a good percentage of people.

This quatrain is awesome! One single quatrain provides a plethora of current on-going events. It identifies New Orleans as a theatre, as a seaside city with a fishing industry and as a place of gambling. All these have been salient characteristics of New Orleans. This is how New Orleans has been known. This is how it has been marketed in all tourist advertisements. It confirms that the city will be rebuilt. It also ties the New Orleans event with the President’ predicament, as well as, his decision to invade Iraq. The quatrain also infers that the outcome of the Iraq invasion will not be positive. Factually and chronologically this is an amazing quatrain. Finally, he resolves the puzzle of the Iraq invasion by telling us that the President' credibility will be destroyed because of the decision he made long ago, insinuating his decision to invade Iraq was conceived prior to his ascendancy to the presidential position. The only unanswered question is why did he decide to invade Iraq?

Appended on January 24, 2007
On January 21, 2007 The Washington Post had an article on the Outlook Section titled “What Would Jeb Do?” The article was written in reference to the upcoming 2007 State of the Union address and it talked about the time George W. Bush was growing up. A noteworthy and relevant statement in the article was: “Yet contrary to the best-laid plans of the Bush family, it won’t be John Ellis “Jeb” Bush addressing the nation this week, all because of that disastrous November Tuesday a dozen years ago. That was the day Jeb – the articulate and handsome workaholic, the one who as a boy spoke of his White House ambitions, and the one the Bush family counted on to avenge the Great Usurpation of 1992 – narrowly lost his bid to be governor of Florida.”

Doesn’t the above quotation of The Washington Post article support Nostradamus’ description “. … destroyed by bows split long time ago”? Can anyone imagine the psychological impact of those growing years on George W. Bush when he was deemed inferior to his siblings? Could his current persistent stubbornness and total disregard to logic be the result of an acute inferiority complex? Could his actions be motivated by a blind or irrational determination to prove to his parents or to himself that he is better than he is perceived? Furthermore, in Century X, quatrain 66, Nostradamus refers to George W. Bush as “Reb the king”, a metaphor for Johnny Reb, the Southern Confederate rebel/fighter. Aren’t both descriptions complementary of each other and don’t they portray an accurate picture of his character and behavioral pattern? Brace yourselves. There will be more on this subject at a future posting.