by Robert A. Nelson

1. Prophecy as a Historical Force

PROPHECIES are memories of possible futures, echoing across time and space. Prophecy is a proven talent of the human mind --- one that baffles our notions of time, fate, and free will. The future is revealed to us through dreams, drugs, religious epiphany, magical rituals and the mantic arts. If a predicted event does not occur, then the seer has misinterpreted the psychic impression or was hallucinating. But false prophecies do not disprove or discredit the many that have been fulfilled. Indeed, many major events have been foretold with astonishing accuracy. Prophecy has exerted a powerful influence on the course of history. Many great persons, such as Alexander the Great, Julius and Augustus Caesar, and George Washington, were gifted with prophecy.

Hundreds of ancient and modern prophets have given accounts of their visions. Many of them are concerned with global catastrophes in the "near future". Although no prophet has been 100% accurate, many of the seers represented here have made short-and long-term predictions that were fulfilled during and after their lifetimes. Considering the established credibility of these visionaries, their warnings of impending doom deserve our close attention. It behooves us to know the signs of the times, to recognize the shadows that great events cast before them. Prophecies can help guide some of us out of harm's way when "insanity will attack the spirit of man and unrestrained hate shall rage." In any event, with grace, courage and love, some of us will survive to live in peace at long last.

Time is running out for these prophecies to be fulfilled or annulled. It is not too late to heed the warnings and prevent some disasters. The outcome of events can be modified by right action, unless and until it is too late. Prophecies also can be misunderstood and misused, and yet prove to be historically effective, though not in the ways we might expect. Prophecies often tend to be self-fulfilling, a kind of deathwish that derives power from feedback between people and circumstances. The Delphic Oracle of Apollo is an excellent example of this process.

1a. The Delphic Oracle ~

The utterances of the Greek Oracles of Dodona and of Apollo at Delphi were gospel in their time, and guided the course of Greek and Roman history for several centuries. The Delphic Oracle was located on Mount Parnassus. There the virgin priestesses, called Pythia, uttered ecstatic prophecies during an elaborate ritual that included chewing the leaf of a sacred bay tree and drinking from the holy fountain Kassotis that flowed from Omphalos, "the navel of the the earth." The Pythia sat on a tripod over a fissure in the cavern Adyton, and breathed the vapors arising from the abyss. The fumes induced a trance in them, and they proceeded to pronounce (or more often mumble incoherently) messages that were interpreted by attendant priests, who conveyed their translations to the supplicants. Socrates declared:

"Such prophecy is akin to madness, but it is a madness which is the special gift of heaven, and the source of the chiefest blessings among men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses of Dodona, when out of their senses have conferred great benefits to Hellas, both in public and private life, but when their senses were few or none."

The Oracle at Delphi was enriched with gifts from grateful supplicants who worshipped and propitiated Apollo and his oracle with beautiful temples and fountains, a theater and stadium, thousands of marble, bronze and gold statues, and many other gifts of exquisite workmanship. The Roman author Cicero wrote, "Never could the oracle of Delphi have been so overwhelmed with significant presents from all kings and nations had not the ages proven the truth of its oracle."

Heraclitus wrote, "The god of Delphi neither revealeth, nor concealeth, but hinteth." However, while most of its advice was given in ambiguous terms, the Delphic Oracle also gave exact answers on occasion. Both types of response were exemplified in the case of Croesus, King of Lydia (6th century BC). The immensely wealthy monarch was concerned about the threat posed by Cyrus the Elder, King of Persia and Babylon. Seeking divine counsel, King Croesus tested several of the most eminent oracles of his time: Zeus Ammon in Libya, Dudyma near Miletus, Amphiarus and Trophonia in Boeotia, Zeus Dodona in Epirus, and Abae and Delphi in Phoeis.

Only the Delphic Oracle correctly answered the test question posed by Croesus: What was King Croesus engaged in at the moment of the query (which was on the hundredth day since they had departed from Sardis)? The Phytia answered thus: "I can count the sands and I can measure the Ocean, I have ears for the silent, and know what the dumb man meaneth. Lo, on my sense there striketh the smell of shell-covered tortoise, boiling now in fire with the flesh of lamb in a cauldron, brass in the vessel below and brass the cover of it."

The messengers returned to Sardis and reported the Pythia's answer, which was completely correct and satisfactory to Croesus. The king then made a huge sacrificial offering to Apollo and presented the Oracle with many priceless gifts. He asked, "Whether Croesus should march against the Persians, and if so, whether he should join himself with any army of men as his friends."

The Oracle replied, "After crossing the Halys, Croesus will destroy a great empire." Croesus also inquired if he would have a long reign, to which the Pythia answered, "Nay, when a mule becometh king of Medes, flee, soft-soled Lydian, by pebbly Hermus, and stay not, nor feel shame to be a coward." This answer did not please Croesus, but since it seemed impossible for a mule to be king, he did not worry about it. Finally, he asked about his deaf-mute son. The Oracle replied: "Son of Lydia, ruler of men, Croesus, thou prince of fools, desire not to hear in thy halls the voice long prayed for of a son speaking. He will speak first on a day that is not propitious."

This last answer disappointed Croesus, but encouraged by the first, he formed an alliance with Sparta and mounted an army against Cyrus the Great. Croesus crossed the river Halys to invade Cappadocia, but withdrew to his own capitol at Sardis after a fierce battle at Pteria. Croesus then disbanded his army, but Cyrus followed him with the Persian army and besieged Sardis, which soon fell.

Pythia's prophecy thus became clear. Croesus did indeed destroy a great empire --- his own. And a "mule" did become monarch of Media insofar as Cyrus was born of mixed parentage, as are mules; his mother was a princess of Media, and his father was a Persian. The third prophecy was fulfilled when a Persian soldier attacked Croesus without recognizing him. Croesus' deaf-mute son suddenly cried out, "Man, do not kill Croesus!"

Soon after becoming Emperor of Rome in 54 AD, Nero killed his mother, then went vacationing in Greece. When he visited the Oracle at Delphi, the Pythia shouted angrily at Nero:

"Your presence here outrages the god you seek. Go back, matricide! The number 73 marks the hour of your downfall!"

Nero was infuriated and had the Pythia buried alive in the sacred cavern, along with the bodies of the temple priests after their hands and feet had been chopped off.

Nero thought the number 73 would be his age at death. He was only 30 years old then, so he did not worry about it. Actually, the number related to Galba, who was 73 years old when he succeeded Nero in 68 AD.

Before he came to rule the Roman Empire, Hadrian visited the Delphic Oracle and drank from the sacred fountain Kassotis. Thus he learned firsthand of his destiny. After he reached the throne, Hadrian ordered the fountain to be plugged up to prevent anyone else from getting the same idea from the same source.

Emperor Julian had the blockage removed during his reign (361-363 AD) because he believed it should be available to everyone. He said: When Alexander's friend Ptolemaeus was wounded in battle by a poison arrow, death seemed imminent. Alexander dreamed that he was watching his wife Olympia feed a fish with roots of strange plants. The fish showed Alexander where the plants could be found. When Alexander awoke he searched out the plants and administered them to Ptolemaeus, who recovered. Later he became Pharoah of Egypt.

Having conquered Egypt, Alexander wanted to build a great city, to be called Alexandria. Again he had a prophetic dream in which an ancient sage quoted certain passages in Homer's writings referring to Pharos. Alexander went quickly to Pharos, where he found an excellent site with outstanding advantages. Alexander ordered that a city be mapped out to fit the site. The Macedonians had no chalk with them so they marked the area with barley. Suddenly, countless flocks of birds of all species flew to the place and ate every grain of barley. This amazing omen disturbed Alexander, but his soothsayer told him it meant that Alexandria would be a nurse and feeder of great men of every race. The library of Alexandria became the greatest in the ancient world.

1d. The Caesars ~

All of the mantic arts, and especially astrology, were widely practiced in ancient Rome. Several astrologers accurately predicted the destinies of the Caesarian dynasty andother emperors. The Romans took dreams so seriously that the citizens of Rome were legally bound to report to the Senate any dreams that could be connected with the security and destiny of the empire.

The astrologer Tyrasyllus accurately figured that Claudius would die when he was "63 years, 63 days, 63 watches, 63 hours old" on October 13, 54 AD. Claudius was murdered by his wife Agrippina, who fed him a dish of poisoned mushrooms when she learned that he might not name Nero as his heir. He died the next day, on October 13.

Claudius and Nero frequently consulted the astrologer Barbillius for advice. He had predicted that Claudius would die in the 14th year of his reign, and he told Agrippina that Nero would reign. "But," he warned her, "if he comes to the throne, he will kill his mother." Her lifelong ambition was to make her son Emperor of Rome; thus she replied, "If he but reigns, I do not care. Let him kill me." And he did.

Perhaps the most famous Roman prophecy was the warning, "Beware the Ides of March" (March 15) given to Julius Caesar by the seer Spurinna Vestritius during a religious sacrifice. The night before his assassination, Caesar's wife Calpurnia dreamt that the turret of her house crumbled and that the corpse of Caesar was carried into their home, and she wept over him. In the morning, she pleaded with Caesar not to go to the Senate, but he would not heed her despite his own suspicions. Brutus argued that a great throng was awaiting his arrival at the Senate and he must not disappoint them. On his way there he met the seer Spurinna and said to him, "The Ides of march are here without any calamity." Spurinna replied, "Yes, they are here, but they have not yet gone." Caesar died that day in 44 BC.

Augustus was Julius Caesar's adopted son and successor. When Augustus went to Philippi in 42 BC to revenge the murder of Julius by Brutus and company, he was too weak to walk and had to be carried in a litter. Cassius' forces overran Augustus' camp and captured many soldiers. But Augustus had been carried away by his doctor and hidden in a marsh until the battle ended. The doctor swore that he had been awakened by a dream telling him to remove Augustus.

The Roman historian Dion Cassius recorded the following prophecy by the astrologer-senator Nigidius Figulus concerning Augustus Caesar, the son of Octavius:

Scarcely was the boy born when Nigidius Figulus prophesied for him the absolute empire of the world. Among his contemporaries, this prophet was held to be the wisest in the knowledge of the stars and constellations... When he saw that Octavius, because of the birth of his son, was somewhat late in getting to the Curia.. He came towards him and asked him why he was so tardy. When he heard the reason, he announced:

"You have given us a master."

Octavius, depressed by this announcement [in those days many Romans still thought they were a democratic nation], wished to have the child slain. But the prophet advised him against it, saying:

"It were impossible for anything of the sort to happen to this child."

Later, when Octavius was leading an army in Thrace, he consulted a local oracle concerning his son. As the priest poured wine over the altar, a flame burst forth, leapt to the roof of the temple, and into the sky. The priests told Octavius that such an omen had occurred only once before --- to Alexander the Great during a sacrifice.

While still a young man and before rising to power, Augustus consulted the sage Theogenes for his horoscope. When Augustus told his birth time to Theogenes, the man knelt before the youth and forecast his ascent to imperial power. The horoscope so impressed Augustus that he had it published and minted a silver coin with the sigil of Capricorn, his Sun sign.

To express appreciation for his great good fortune, Augustus built a temple of peace. He consulted the Delphic Oracle, asking how long the temple would stand and peace last. The Oracle answered, "Until a virgin gives birth to a child and yet remains a virgin." As that seemed impossible, Augustus thought the oracle was predicting eternal peace. He dedicated the temple with a tablet inscribed "Templum pacis aeterna." But at the birth of Christ, the temple collapsed "without warning or discoverable cause."

At the same time Christ was born, Augustus Caesar was consulting the Tiburtine Sibyl to ask if he should accept the title "God of the nations" which the Senate wanted to confer on him. While the Sibyl consulted her sacred books, a brilliant meteor flashed across the sky. The Sibyl took the celestial omen as her answer, saying:

"Look! It is a sign of the future that is revealed to you. One world is ending, and another is beginning. A child has just been born, who is the king of future millenia, the true god of the world. He is of humble birth and of an obscure race. His divinity is unrealized; when he at last makes himself known, he will be persecuted. He will work miracles, he will be accused of trafficking with evil spirits, but I see him victor in the end over death, rising from the place where his murderers entombed him. He will reunite all nations."

2. The Sibylline Oracles ~

The ancient prophecies known as the Sibylline Oracles or Sibyllae are attributed to divinely inspired seeresses who lived in the Greek colonies in the 8th century BC. The earliest reference to a Sibyl was by the philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 500 BC):

"The Sibyl with frenzied lips, uttering words mirthless, unembellished, unperfumed, penetrates through the centuries by the powers of the gods."

The Sibyllae were presented to Tarquin I (The Proud), the fifth king of Rome, by the Sibyl of Cumae in 615 BC. She offered him nine books foretelling the destiny of the Romans with instructions to be followed so that the predicted events would follow their course. The Sibyl demanded a payment of 300 gold philippi, a large sum, but Tarquin refused the offer. The Sibyl then burned three volumes of the set, and again requested 300 philippi for the remaining books. Tarquin again declined the offer, whereupon the Sibyl burned three more of the books, and again demanded the same price. King Tarquin was thus convinced of the value of the books, and paid for the remaining three volumes. Only fragments of one book survive to this day.

The Sibyllae were very popular with the Romans, who installed them in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, guarded by a special priesthood. The Sibyllae were consulted during crises of the Republic and upon the appearance of unusual omens. The books were destroyed in 83 BC when Rome burned during a civil war. The Senate assigned three senators to reconstruct the remaining book as much as possible. Emperor Augustus later collected all available Sibylline verses from Greece and other Roman colonies and edited them into about 200 spurious oracles. The books were destroyed by the Vandal General Flavius Stilicho "in order to cause the ruin of the Empire by getting rid of its guarantee of eternal life." (3-6)

The Sibylline Oracles were well respected by the Jewish and early Christian Fathers, who quoted them frequently and even published their own revised editions containing Judaeo-Christian prophecies and teachings for dissemination amongst the pagans. The Sibylline Oracles (1:381-388) include this prediction of the birth of Christ:

"And then the child of the great God to men

Shall come incarnate, being fashioned like

The mortals on the earth. And he shall bear

Four vowels, and the consonants in Him

Are twice told; and the whole sum I name:

For eight ones, and as many tens to these,

And yet eight hundred will the name reveal

To men who are given up to unbelief."

In the Greek language in which this prophecy was written, Jesus is spelled Iota, Eta, Sigma, Omicron, Upsilon, Sigma. The gematrial values are: Iota, 10 (vowel 1); Eta, 8 (vowel 2); Sigma, 200 (consonant); Omicron, 70 (vowel 3); Upsilon, 400 (vowel 4, line 384); Sigma, 200 (consonant, "twice told", line 385); total, 888 (lines 386 and 387).

The Tiburtine Sibyl, composed ca. 500 AD, includes a description of the legendary Final Emperor, who will be succeeded by the Antichrist:

"At that time the Prince of Iniquity who will be called Antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan. He will be the Son of Perdition, the head of pride, the master of error, the fulness of malice who will overturn the world and do wonders and great signs through dissimulation. He will delude many by magic art so that fire will seem to come down from heaven. The years will be shortened like months, the months like weeks, the weeks like days, the days like hours, and an hour like a moment. The unclean nations that Alexander, the Indian king, shut up will arise from the North. These are the 22 realms whose number is like the sand of the sea. When the king of the Romans hears of this he will call his army together and vanquish and utterly destroy them. After this he will come to Jerusalem, and having put off the diadem from his head and laid aside the whole imperial garb, he will hand over the empire of the Christians to God the Father and to Jesus Christ His Son. When the Roman Empire shall have ceased, then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of Olives"

The Vaticinium Erythrian Sibyl was composed in the 12th century. Part III contains this Catholic Sibyl's view of apocalypse:

" There will arise another king from Heliopolis and he will wage war against the king from the East and kill him. And he will grant a tax-exemption to entire countries for three years and six months, and the earth will bring forth its fruit, and there is none to eat them. And there will come the ruler of perdition, he who is changed, and will smite and kill him. And he will do signs and wonders on earth. He will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. And after that the springs and rivers will dry up, and the Nile will be transformed into blood. And then there will appear two men who did not come to know the experience of death, Enoch and Elijah, and they will wage war upon the ruler of perdition. And he will say: "My time has come," and he will be angered and slay them. And then he who was crucified on the wood of the cross will come from the heavens, like a great and flashing star, and he will resurrect those two men. And he who was hung on the cross will wage war with the son of perdition and will slay him and all his host. Then the land of Egypt will burn twelve cubits deep, and the land will shout to God: "Lord, I am a virgin." And then the son of God will come with great power and glory to judge the nine generations. And then Christ will rule, the son of the living God, and his holy angels. Amen, so be it...

Nor footsteps be on ear; for all wild beasts

Shall perish, voices of men, beasts and birds

Shall be no more. The world, being disarranged,

Shall hear no useful sound, but the deep sea

Shall echo back a mighty threatening voice,

And swimming, trembling creatures of the sea

Shall all die; and no longer on the waves

Will sail a freighted ship. The earth shall groan

Bloodstained by wars; and all the souls of men

Shall gnash their teeth --- the souls of lawless men,

Wasted by lamentations and by fear,

By hunger, thirst and pestilence and murders ---

And they shall call it beautiful to die,

And death will flee from them, for death no more

Nor night shall give them rest. And many things

Will they in vain ask God who rules on high,

And then he will turn openly his face

Away from them... All these things to my mind did God reveal

And all that has been spoken by my mouth

Will be fulfilled...

No more will treacherous gold and silver be

Nor earthly wealth, nor toilsome servitude,

But one vast friendship and one mode of life

Will be with glad people, and all things

Will common be, and equal light of life.

And wickedness from earth in the vast sea

Shall sink away. And then the harvest-time

of Mortals is near. Strong necessity

Is laid upon these things to be fulfilled.

Nor then will any other traveler say,

Recalling, that men's perishable race

Shall ever cease. And then o'er all the earth

A holy nation will the sceptre hold

Unto all ages with their mighty sires..."

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