IN 1979, I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO VISIT WITH A MAN who had the ability and tools to look into every aspect of my life. This man lived in Bombay in India, and was the inheritor of a system that had been passed down, so he told me, from father to son over some 5000 years. During the 20 minute session that he gave me, he guided my attention towards my evolving consciousness during thousands of lifetimes past and brought me right up-to-date in my present lifetime, intimating also towards the days, months and years to come.

The knowledge that he presented to me was so compellingly accurate in terms of the information that he gave me concerning my life up until that moment, that I was riveted in my seat. I was completely amazed as to how anyone who had been a complete stranger 30 minutes earlier, could possibly know my parents names, the religion in which I was raised, the education that I had received and a career that I had put aside.

At the end of the session, while I was trying to absorb all the amazing information I had received, he looked me in the eye and asked me if I would like to come in learn with him, because, he said, I had the gift of being able to read for people. The consideration that I could read for people had never crossed my mind. It was impossible for me to be able to conceive of doing such a thing at that time in my life, and I declined his offer.

It did not matter, he told me, because sooner or later I would find a system that I would feel compelled to work with, and his suggestion was that I should learn any reading systems that appeal to me in order to prepare for the time coming. Years later, in 1987, the Human Design Systems were revealed and gradually introduced to the world.

I have always been fascinated by systems of divination and those who can read them. It is said that all of us have a psychic or clairvoyant attunement but do not always recognize it or receive encouragement to use it. Many times I have met people with the gift to read but without the ability to be able to relay their gift meaningfully to their fellow humans. There is always a fine line between knowing things that others do not know, and recognizing who might be ready to receive that knowledge, and how best that knowledge might serve them.

Perhaps the most famous seer of all time is a man called Nostradamus. In his lifetime, he was a noted physician and astrologer, parent, Jew and Roman Catholic (he was converted at the age of nine to avoid the insane purges of the Christian Inquisition), and court prophet at the French court of King Henry II and Queen Catherine de Medici in Paris. At the age of 52, during his Chiron return, he commenced writing his famous “Quatrains” that were eventually published by his son, Cesar, two years after his death.

In this article we have a look at the design of Michel de Nostradame who was born 500 years ago this December.

A small foot note: part of the wisdom that was allegedly given with the human design systems is that human physiology changed in the year 1781 when we started to evolve from a seven centered being towards a nine centered being. For the sake of our examination into Nostradamus's design chart we shall look at a nine centered design chart.

Michel de Nostradame was born on December 14th, 1503 in St. Remy de Provence in France. He was put in the charge of his grandfather, an eminent physician and astrologer who instantly recognized Nostradamus' quick grasp of his knowledge. It must be understood that in those days, as for thousands of year previously, the comprehension of physical health was recognized to relate very closely with nature and particularly with the placements and movements of the heavenly bodies.

Nostradamus was born into the incarnation called the “Vessel of Love.” Those born into this incarnation bring with them an aura containing a loving presence, which can encourage others to feel honored and embraced, in all aspects of their lives.

What is instantly recognizable in Nostradamus' chart is that he has two definitions activating four Centers within the chart. Three centers are completely open, containing no activations of any kind, and two centers are undefined. Of the four so-called motor centers within the human makeup, Nostradamus has three of them defined implying that he was very rarely short of energy.

Definitions
The definition 34-10, the channel of discovery and following one's own convictions, connects between the sacral Center (the Red Square Center) and the self Center (the yellow Diamond Center). The 34 is the gate of power that comes from the sacral Center, our source of life force energy, and connects into the 10 gate at the self Center, the gate that relates to behavior patterns linked to our survival. Nostradamus has his 34 gate activated by Pluto both consciously in a line of unchangeable power, and unconsciously in a line of power that can be used brashly, eventually getting one into trouble unless one is very watchful. With his conscious Sun activating the 10 gate, he is always watchful for opportunistic behaviors that lead to personal growth beyond survival.

The definition 40-37, the channel of community and being on the lookout for those who relate most closely with us, connects between the heart Center (the Red triangle Center) and the emotional, solar plexus Center (the brown triangle Center). The 40th gate is activated by his unconscious moon in a line that gives him a tendency to attract unhelpful company at times. The 37th gate is activated both consciously and unconsciously by the planet Uranus in the line of leadership by example, giving him an attribute often to take charge in situations while also encouraging others to take responsibility. In the age in which Nostradamus lived the predominant cultures and religions did not encourage anyone to take responsibilities or to presume to think and act for themselves.

Defined Centers
Anyone who has the two red Centers defined in their chart lives their life with an intensity that boarders on perpetual motion. The Red sacral Center, what we call the generator Center in design, once set in motion provides an almost ceaseless resource of energy. Anyone who has a defined sacral Center must be very clear from within themselves that they actually wish to direct their energy towards certain people or projects, otherwise they find themselves dispensing their energy without deriving recognition or personal satisfaction for doing so. The sacral Center interacts in response to whatever life offers but has an inclination to want to engage in just about anything simply because it has the energy to do so.

In Nostradamus' chart, there is a defined emotional Center implying that he has a feeling nature that is prone to emotional mood swings. Anyone having a defined emotional Center needs to grow very conscious in how they use their emotional energy, particularly becoming aware that their feelings can swing from one extreme to another over any single issue in their life. Emotionally defined people will often find that their personal expectations are doomed, but that their feeling clarity can embrace and encompass all extremes of human experience. The channel 40-37 can bring a very close and supportive energy into the lives of one's family, friends, and associates, often providing a real center of community for all concerned.

In his defined Self Center, Nostradamus has all the gates of the Vessel of Love activated (the 10, the 15, the 46 and the 25) and he also has the gate of the Creative, 1, with his conscious moon in the line of sustaining creativity, and with his unconscious Venus in a line making it easy for him to attract the attention of other people through the work that he does. Nostradamus would have found that it would be very difficult to stop people looking over his shoulder all the time at the things that would come naturally for him to do. In the time of the Inquisition, when everyone was terrified of anything outside of the so-called "norm," he would constantly have been at pains to convince others that what he was doing was pure science and not witchcraft.

The Open Centers
Centers that are open have a special significance in that they can be totally absorptive or alternatively, are completely reflective energetically. In Nostradamus' chart, there are three open centers; the Ajna, the mental awareness Center, the Throat, the Center of _expression and manifestation, and the spleen, the Center of intuitions, instincts and fears of survival.

An open Ajna Center has the ability to absorb and thereby read everyone's thinking processes, and also has the ability to reflect back to other people the concepts and ideas that stream through their minds.

An open Throat Center has the ability to express to others whatever it is that they want to hear in what ever the way they want to hear it. It also has the ability to bring about manifestation in the lives of others some things that they cannot manifest for themselves. In modern parlance, it can be said that an open Throat Center has the facility to “channel” words and expressions.

An open spleen Center has the ability to energetically absorb all sicknesses and discomforts in other people's immune systems, even to the point of becoming sick itself. Also, an open spleen can take on every conceivable fear for physical survival that other people are carrying. Alternatively, an open spleen can attune to illnesses and be able to diagnose them instantly. Also, an open spleen can attune intuitively, instinctually and psychically to the nature of fears, reading them clearly for any real concerns and relate back to others the true nature of the situations confronting them.

The presence of these 3 open Centers in Nostradamus’ design indicates the potential to channel and objectively relate many things that might be completely outside the scope of “normal” human access. When coupled with his deep comprehension of astrology and the laws of human nature it becomes evident how Nostradamus had the gift to sense, see and divulge situations that were thoroughly concelaed from others.

The Undefined Centers
The center at the top of the chart, the Crown Center, and the center at the bottom, the Root Center, are both what are termed "pressure centers." Anyone who has an undefined Crown or Root Center must be aware of the pressures brought by other people having those centers defined in their designs. An undefined Crown Center has the ability to attune to mental concepts as a potential reality in our world. In Nostradamus' design, he has unconscious mercury in the 64 gate with the sixth line giving access to a powerful mental acuity to make sense out of the almost-incomprehensible. He has Neptune both unconscious in the 61 gate and the first line giving a natural attunement to occult sciences, and conscious in the 61 gate and the third line in which there is a conscious attunement to the inter-relatedness of all aspects of the universe.

All his life, Nostradamus would have felt an intense pressure to be able to explain the workings of the universe. He would also have known about himself that he had the means to explore and make sense out of situations that would appear completely indecipherable to others.

In the undefined Root Center at the bottom of the chart, Nostradamus will have found a recognition of an assuredness to deal with any situation life could offer him, provided that he allowed himself to interact within the world from a place of inner calm. Having space, quiet and time apart from other people, his three open centers and two undefined centers would be able to attune to the movements of the universe.

In conclusion
It is said that in his lifetime Nostradamus saved the lives of many people through his unorthodox approaches to medicine in a time when the great Plague was ravaging Europe and most people were reacting to it superstitiously without really appreciating that it could be cured. Early brushes in life with the Roman Catholic authorities warned him to be very alert about who he could really trust. Despite being highly favored by the Queen at the Royal court of France, he had to flee fearing for the safety of his own life.

The great openness in his design and the knowledge that he accrued, first from his grandfather and later in his medical practise, allowed him to attune very closely to the movements of the world within the context of the universe. At the time of his Chiron return in his early fifties, he commenced working on his quatrains, the encoded manuscript that foretold the future destinies for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years to come. Many have attempted to decipher his writings, few have had the stillness to be able to access the profound level of comprehension that Nostradamus attained. He was canny enough to know what it took to survive in the world and also to know who it was that could absorb and benefit from many of the profoundly disturbing statements that he would make about future times. Nostradamus was a very brilliant and wise man indeed. He continues to remind us all of our mortality and need to apply our attention to spiritual growth within the apparently set patterns of the world.

© 2003 Chetan Parkyn

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