At the dawn of the new year, it’s time to talk about the apocalypse, my children, and no one grabs us with gloom like Nostradamus.
Michel de Nostredame, Nostradamus or Nos if you’re ugly, was a 16th-century bearded astrologer, doctor, enemy of the church and soothsayer who was credited with predicting the Great Fire of London, Hitler’s rise to power, the 9/11 attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, the powerful earthquake of Queen Elizabeth II, and the powerful death of Queen Elizabeth II and the earthquake Japan. Year Day 2024 to name a few.
Known as the “prophet of doom,” Nostradamus’ decidedly dark worldview was shaped by a steady diet of Old Testament gunpowder and the trauma of losing his wife and young children to the plague. Unable to heal those he loved the most, he apparently set out to warn the rest of us with his revelations of ruin.
Nostradamus predictions
Nostradamus is known as the prophet of doom. AkuAku – stock.adobe.com
Sometimes even on the money, but most of the time missing the mark, our man’s prophecies lean toward conflagration and catastrophe.
With the publication of his famous book “Les Prophéties” in 1555, Nostradamus gifted the world and future generations with a quasi-poetic volume predicting wars, plagues, natural disasters, civil unrest, political assassinations and other such light plays.
Heavy on language like “rain of blood,” the book is an enduring classic, and with 2026 on the horizon, we’re looking at what fury and hellfire is in store.
But first, a look back.
In 2025, Nostradamus predicted the end of the conflict in Ukraine, a giant asteroid hitting the Earth, the flooding of the Amazon and the rise of an aquatic empire.
Sometimes right on the money, but mostly missing the mark, Nostradamus’s prophecies lean toward conflagration and catastrophe. Thiago – stock.adobe.com
How did he do it?
The war is still raging in Ukraine, and while Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly in the midst of a peace plan with US help, there has so far been no ceasefire.
As for doomsday asteroids, NASA reports that as of December, 191 asteroids have passed dangerously close to Earth in 2025, but so far, no annihilation.
In February and March of this year, following a prolonged drought, the Ene River in the Amazon Basin experienced severe rainfall and destructive flooding that devastated indigenous Asháninka communities.
While there hasn’t been an explicit aquatic kingdom coming for the crown, we could call the controversial rise of AI, fueled by aquatic centers that use water for cooling and humidification, a branding empire and an environmental blight.
Nostradamus predictions 2026
Nostadamus never explicitly wrote predictions for the year 2026. However, true believers in bats do not look to quatrains numbered “26” to see what disasters lie ahead.
A popular figure struck by lightning
Nos predicted the fall of a “great man” by lightning. Wilda – stock.adobe.com
According to the 26th verse of the 1st Century, “The great man will be struck down in the daytime by lightning.”
We could interpret this line as the assassination of a prominent male figure or perhaps a political coup that shakes a political regime.
Thunder indeed.
The blood flows
Could blood flow be linked to stem cell technology? Eduard Muzhevskyi – stock.adobe.com
In the quatrain, II:26, Nostradamus writes: “Because of the favor the city will show, Ticino will shed blood.”
For the uninitiated, Ticino is an Italian-speaking region in southern Switzerland dotted with lakes and alpine peaks.
While the aforementioned overflow sounds bleak AF, blood doesn’t necessarily mean bad news, as this prediction could reflect a potential increase in stem cell conservation.
As of 2025, cord blood stem cells from mothers giving birth in Ticino can now be stored for private family use and solidarity donations.
High seas, high stakes
Experts suspect the war in question will involve China, which has controversially claimed large swaths of ocean off its southern coast. Peter Hermes Furian – stock.adobe.com
In quatrain VII: 26, Nos turns nautical, writing: “Flyers and galleys around seven ships, a mortal war shall be waged.”
For the non-sailors among us, schooners are ships with light sails and galleys are ships propelled by oars. This prediction seems to refer to a naval melee.
Experts suspect the war in question will involve China, which has controversially claimed large swaths of ocean off its southern coast.
China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines have overlapping claims to these islands, reefs, and waters, forming a collection of seven countries, or, if you’re the poetic type, “ships,” primed for coastal conflict.
the biblical bees
Will a fascist swarm continue to bring the black cloud of hive mind thinking? easybanana – stock.adobe.com
In quatrain I:26, our man writes: “The great swarm of bees shall arise… in the night ambush…”
Conspiracy theorists link the image of the bee to politics. In this sense, the hive mind of certain ideologies could continue to rise and rage.
Since black is the favorite color of fascists and swarming insects, it’s even more safe to say that regimes with totalitarian tendencies will join their rancid ranks in 2026.
Astrologer Play Wigle irreverently researches and reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.