Nostradamus' 2023 predictions include new Pope, WWIII, Celestial fire on royals & more

The year is ending and everyone is looking forward to the new year and wondering what it will bring. People have already started predicting what may or may not happen next year, some of them competing to make their predictions highly absurd. But when it comes to prophecies and forecasts as such, no one has been able to beat a 500-year-old Frenchman by the name of Nostradamus who has time and again made us question if the world will meet its doom the coming year. 

Michel Nostradame or better known as Michel de Nostradamus, went from being a 16th century French astrologer to 500 years later remaining one of the most recognized fortune tellers in the Western Hemisphere. Shortly before his death, Nostradamus left as a legacy his most recognized book, 'Les Prophéties', a collection of 942 poetic quatrains from which his predictions for the future have emanated. Although they were published in 1555, more than a decade before his death, they are still valid and are reviewed year after year to try to guess what the fate of the planet will bring.

Nostradamus has been credited with foretelling the Great Fire of London, Hitler’s rise to power, Apollo XI moon landing, the September 11, 2001 attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic, directly or indirectly, that is open to interpretation. Among his dozens of obscure prophecies are some that are said to tell exactly how our planet will end.

Nostradamus made the following predictions for 2023:

World War 3

Nostradamus writes that 2023 will find the world embroiled in, “Seven months great war, people dead through evil.” This could apply to the devastating conflict in Ukraine which thus far has been marked by war crimes and a heavy civilian death toll. The prophecy points to the conflict escalating into a full scale world war in the year to come, which, given the nuclear arsenals at stake could equate to apocalyptic levels of destruction.

Fire towards the royals

Nostradamus predicted 2023 will see “Celestial fire on the royal edifice.” Taken literally, this could mean a meteor is headed straight for Buckingham Palace in the UK. On a more metaphorical tip, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who recently released a Netflix series detailing the dark deeds committed against them by the crown, have taken aim with a different kind of fire power, lighting up and tearing down the reputation of the royal family as we know it. Oh and also Britain’s longest serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II passed away this year.

Global warming and dead fish

Nostradamus predicts, “Like the sun the head shall sear the shining sea: The Black Sea’s living fish shall all but boil.” Research suggests many of the most commonly eaten fish species could face extinction as a direct result of climate-change warming which points to global warming. 

Cannibalism amongst humans

With one of humanity’s major food sources in peril, maybe we’ll take to eating each other after all, predicts the soothsayer.

A new pope?

According to Nostradamus, 2023 will bring in a new Pope - but Pope Francis will be the last “true Pope,” with his replacement, Peter, creating a scandal that will bring down the Roman Catholic church. “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will be Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The end,” he wrote.

Failed Mars mission

Nostradamus wrote of the “celestial fire when the lights of Mars will go out.” This sounds pretty dire - does this mean Mars itself is under threat, or perhaps those who endeavour to colonise the planet? Elon Musk might want to take note - the SpaceX founder has said humans could be arriving on the Red Planet by 2029.