Richard Smoley is editor of Quest: The Journal of the Theosophical Society in America. He is also former editor of Gnosis Magazine. His books include Hidden Wisdom: The Guide to the Western Inner Traditions, Inner Christianity: The Guide to the Esoteric Tradition, Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism, The Essential Nostradamus, Conscious Love: Insights from Mystical Christianity, The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe, The Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History, The Deal: A Guide to Radical and Complete Forgiveness, and How God Became God: What Scholars Are Really Saying About God and the Bible.
Here he points out that prophecies concerning the destruction of the world date back to the time of Jesus. He suggests that such prophecies are a strategy for softening the existential fear of personal death. He also notes that there has always been a market for such dramatic prophecies. The various prophetic utterances in the western tradition, he claims, are best understood as comments on the political and social climate at the time – rather than as statements about the future. In reviewing the extensive quatrains of the famous seer, Nostradamus, Smoley was unable to uncover any pattern of accurate prophecies.
(Recorded on August 6, 2016)
Published on September 2, 2016