Nostradamus and Phosphenism

Nostradamus

Much has been written about the prophecies of Nostradamus (1503-1566). Their interpretation is still difficult and confusing and seems to be a waste of time. Nevertheless, the Centuries (the compilation of Nostradamus’ prophecies) comprise some interesting passages that describe the mode of operation that he used to produce visions. Visions that he not only perceived himself, but that the queen Catherine of Medici perceived too.

We will study the instructions provided by Nostradamus in the light of the discoveries of Doctor Francis Lefebure, a French physician and researcher. He designed a method of personal development based on the systematic use of the phosphenes: Phosphenism. The phosphenes are all the subjective sensations of light, i.e. those which are not directly provoked by light stimulating the retina. The discoveries of Doctor Lefebure in cerebral physiology bring a full understanding of the cerebral mecanisms that are involved in clairvoyance phenomena, and allow to reproduce them at will.

Nostradamus wrote his prophecies at night in his house in Salon-de-Provence (France), by the light of a candle, often facing a silver mirror or a crystal ball. That way, he used to produce phosphenes with polarized light. At other times, he would focus on the reflection of the moon in a silver tray. It is interesting to note that the light reflected by the moon is already polarized.

Any light that is reflected on a surface is polarized. Polarized light develops intuition and eventually clairvoyance, if one practices regularily. Is the moon not supposed to inspire poets? Yes, but only if it is focused on. For a more complete explanation, check Dr Lefebure’s book: The Key to Supernatural Manifestations.

When Catherine of Medici asked Nostradamus to perform a clairvoyance in order to know how long the reign of her heirs would last, she demanded to experience this vision herself. The clairvoyant then practiced focusing on the reflection of the moon on a silver tray. A month later, when he felt ready to comply with the queen’s wishes, he had to perform a mental effort in order to let her perceive characters moving around the tray. The number of laps the characters did around the tray was supposed to correspond to the number of years her sons would reign.

The vision took place within a cloud of light. Obvioulsy, Nostradamus could not focus on the reflection of the moon every night for a whole month. It was much more simple for him to focus on the reflection of the sun during the day, or on the bright sky. In the evening, he could use the flame of candles or, even better, the fire in his chimney.

When this story is commented, authors usually emphasize on the importance of the astrological signs that decorated the silver tray. But, it seems only obvious that an object that belonged to a renowned astrologer would bear a mark of his quality; the same way the knights’ coat of arms would decorate their shields. Before Dr Lefebure, no one showed any interest in the fact that Nostradamus used to focus on the reflection of the moon on a silver tray. If many commentators insisted so much on the decoration of the tray, and on the symbolic interpretation it implies, it is because they were completely ignorant of the physiological reality that underlined Nostradamus’ practices. Though he always explained how he proceeded, Nostradamus ended up shrouded in mystery. Indeed, in the first quatrain of the Centuries, Michel de Nostre-Dame describes the technique he used to produce visions.

The astrological symbols and the “lunar” aspect (wrongly associated to witchcraft) of Nostradamus’ practices have hidden the essential and confused commentators, stuck in would-be occult considerations. Under the guise of a mysterious operation realised with the complicity of a character called Sélénée (actually the greek word for “the moon”), a constant of Nostradamus’ techniques of clairvoyance appears: focusing on a direct or indirect source of light, and thus using the phosphenes.

So, why speculate so much on NostradamusCenturies? If all the books on the subject had dealt with the phosphenes, humankind might have evolved differently.

Exercise: Developing clairvoyance by concentrating on a detail of the visual chaos

The visual chaos is the name of the tiny lights that keep dancing in your field of vision, even if you have remained in the dark for a long time.

After practicing this exercise for 4 or 5 minutes, you will notice that the region you are concentrating on has become brighter, more luminous. This brightness is the third phase of the phosphene: the diffuse glow, that you have produced without focusing on a light source, thanks to this exercise.

If you keep searching for a detail within this glow, it will become more and more precise. On the other hand, if you let your attention spread to the whole of the luminous mass, it will blur.

If you keep “chasing for details”, you perceive something stirring within the glow: maybe a whirling vortex or tiny blots reminding of lightning bolts.

Focus on a detail of this stir, the angle of a bolt or a line within a vortex, for example. Keep concentrating on details, rather than on the glow as a whole.

Suddenly, the cloud turns into a vision. This phenomenon might appear straight away or after practicing this exercise regularily (every day for a few weeks, for example).

The visions that are generated by this process can be prophetic: in this case, they occur a few days later.

When a vision appears, if you focus your attention on the vision as a whole, the process wil stop. If, on the contrary, you concentrate on a detail of this vision, another vision often springs up. By practicing this way, you can engage an incredible inner cinema…