Erika Cheetham
Erika Cheetham (7 July 1939 – 3 May 1998)[1] was an English writer, best known for her controversial interpretations of Nostradamus' writings.
Erika Cheetham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 July 1939 London, England |
| Died | 3 May 1998 (aged 58) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Erika McMahon-Turner |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, linguist, medieval scholar |
Early life
Cheetham was born Erica Christine Elizabeth Turner in London. Her parents enrolled her in a convent school, from which she was expelled for positing the non-existence of God. Later while attending St Anne's College, Oxford, she married James Nicolas Milne Cheetham.[1]
After earning her doctorate (in medieval language) at Oxford she worked as a staff writer for the Daily Mail, a London tabloid. She began translating Les Prophéties de M. Nostradamus in 1963, which culminated in the publication of her first book The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow in 1965. This was the basis for the 1980 film of the same title.[1]
Positions on specific prophecies
"Angolmois"
Prophéties 10:72 is one of Nostradamus' most infamous quatrains:
- L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois,
- Du ciel viendra vn grand Roy d'effrayeur:
- Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois,
- Avant que Mars regner par bonheur.
Cheetham interpreted Angolmois as a cryptic anagram for "Mongols", predicting the rise (circa mid-1999) of an Antichrist—ostensibly the third such figure (after Napoleon and Hitler)—a tyrant ("king of terror") of Genghis Khan's calibre. However, other scholars have argued that this is merely a variant spelling of Angoumois, a province of western France now known as Charente, and that d'effrayeur was actually supposed to be deffraieur, i.e. one given to appeasement.[2]
"Samarobryn"
The first word of the third line of Prophéties 6:5 has been variously interpreted as a reference to the USS. Sam Rayburn, a ballistic missile submarine, or even to individual SAMs, i.e. surface-to-air missiles:[3]
- Si grand Famine par unde pestifere.
- Par pluye longue le long du polle arctique:
- Samarobryn cent lieux de l'hemisphere,
- Vivront sans loy exempt de pollitique.
However, Cheetham dissents again from other Nostradamian scholars—and from herself—by proposing that Nostradamus derived the word samarobryn either:
- From the Russian words само and робрин[4]—meaning something to the tune of "self-operated", i.e. a self-operating machine in space, 100 leagues from the hemisphere (or atmosphere), "living without law [and] exempt from politics",[3] or:
- From the trade names of wonder-drugs Suramin and Ribavirin.[3] Pondered Cheetham: "Perhaps the remedy for AIDS will be produced in a sterile laboratory circling the Earth?"[5]
"Pau, Nay, Loron"
Cheetham cited quatrains 1:60 and 8:1 of Nostradamus' Prophéties as a cryptic reference to Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Un Empereur naistra pres d'Italie,
- Qui à l'Empire sera vendu bien cher,
- Diront avec quels gens il se ralie
- Qu'on trouvera moins prince que boucher.
- PAU, NAY, LORON plus feu qu'a sang sera,
- Laude nager, fuir grand aux surrez:
- Les agassas entree refusera,
- Pampon, Durance les tiendra enferrez.
Whilst the uppercase letters (preserved from Nostradamus' original) may suggest a deeper meaning, sceptics will note the mutual proximity of the Aquitainian villages Pau, Nay, and Oloron (in southwestern France), which form a small triangle not 70 kilometres (43 mi) about.[6][7] Though more esoteric interpretations have pegged this region "more fire than blood" as a future nuclear waste site,[8] Cheetham's observation was that the capitalised letters can be arranged to spell something like "NAYPAULORON", i.e. Napoleon. Singer-songwriter and hist-rock pioneer Al Stewart also favoured this interpretation in his 1974 song "Nostradamus", wherein he deliberately pronounces and spells Bonaparte's name in a similar idiosyncratic manner.[9]
- An emperor of France shall rise who will be born near Italy
- His rule cost his empire dear, Napoloron [sic] his name shall be
"Hister"
Prophéties 2:24:
- Bestes farouches de faim fleuves tranner :
- Plus part du champ encontre Hister sera,
- En caige de fer le grand fera treisner,
- Quand rien enfant de Germain observera.
Cheetham interpreted this as a reference to Adolf Hitler, the "child of Germany [who] obeys [no law]". This conclusion disregards Hitler's Austrian heritage and the Latin use of Hister (derived from the Milesian–Greek settlement of Histria in ancient Thrace, and in turn from the Scythian river-god Ίστρος/Istros) to refer to the Lower Danube.[10] Nonetheless this too is preserved in Stewart's lyrics:[9]
- One named Hister shall become a captain of Greater Germany
- No Law does this man observe and bloody his rise and fall shall be
Israel
Prophéties 3:97:
- Nouvelle loy terre neufve occuper,
- Vers la Syrie, Judée et Palestine:
- Le grand empire barbare corruer,
- Avant que Phoebus son siecle determine.
This prophecy, according to Cheetham, predicts the establishment of the modern State of Israel.[11]
Bibliography
- Cheetham, Erika (1965). The Prophecies of Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow. Corgi Books. ISBN 0-399-50345-5.
- Cheetham, Erika (1985). The Further Prophecies of Nostradamus: 1985 and Beyond. Perigee Press. ISBN 0-399-51121-0.
- Cheetham, Erika (1989). The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus. Perigee Press. ISBN 0-399-51516-X.
Notes
- Noble, Holcomb B. (8 June 1998). "Erika Cheetham Dies at 58; An Expert on Nostradamus". The New York Times. p. B-11. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- Wilson, Ian (2007). Nostradamus: The Man Behind the Prophecies. Macmillan & Co. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-312-31791-1.
- Prophet, Elizabeth Clare; Spadaro, Patricia R.; Steinman, Murray L. (1999). Saint Germain's Prophecy for the New Millennium: Includes Dramatic Prophecies from Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and Mother Mary. Summit University Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 0-922729-45-X.
- "Ключи К Спасению Являются С "НебаА"". nostradam.ru. 7 January 2009. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
- Cheetham, Erika (1 July 1989). The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus. Perigee Press. p. 263. ISBN 0-399-51516-X.
- Welch, R.W (2000). Comet of Nostradamus: August 2004 – Impact!. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 232. ISBN 1-56718-816-8.
- See also Google Maps
- Webber, Allan (6 July 2007). "Anagrams, Code in Nostradamus Prophecies + nuclear disaster predictions". Adelaide. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- Stewart, Al (1974). Nostradamus. Past, Present and Future (Media notes). Stewart, Al. Arista Records.
- Carroll, Robert Todd (2003). The skeptic's dictionary: a collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions. John Wiley and Sons. p. 261. ISBN 0-471-27242-6.
- Ovason, David (2002). The Secrets of Nostradamus: A Radical New Interpretation of the Master's Prophecies. HarperCollins. pp. 113–115. ISBN 0-06-008439-1.