Synopses & Reviews
From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de' Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascination-and commercialization-in the West. Today, many search his elliptical "centuries"-or collected verses-for new truths about 9/11 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncements.
What is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of history's most peculiar figures.
This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's work. Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said. In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy.
Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.
Review
“Forgiveness liberates the soul. Here is a book that covers just about every aspect of forgiveness. It is beautifully written, clear, and practical.
Read it and leave it in a public place so that everyone else can read it.”
—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul
“Many books claim to be challenging, but Richard Smoleys The Deal truly is so. Following its simple yet radical premise could change your life.”
—Eben Alexander, M.D., author of Proof of Heaven
“The Deal is concise, compact—and powerful. If people would simply learn these principles, so clearly and simply articulated here, they could transform the world. I am going to get copies for friends and family. Because I care about my friends and family.”
—John Shirley, author of Doyle After Death
“I have a standing rule: I read anything Richard Smoley writes.”
—Larry Dossey, M.D.
“Smoley…is adept at unknotting the paradoxes of spiritual traditions and making new connections across centuries and languages.”
— Library Journal
“One of the liveliest, most intrepid, and most gifted explorers of the spiritual landscape writing today.”
—Ptolemy Tompkins, author of Paradise Fever
"Always provocative, Smoley asks importnat questions."
—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
A handsome, compact new edition of the singularly reliable translation of the writings of history's most famous seer-now published with a new afterword on Nostradamus and 2012. The prophecies of Nostradamus have ignited intense fascination throughout the West since they were first published in the sixteenth century. These enigmatic quatrains have gained special meaning for many during our current countdown to the year 2012. The relationship between Nostradamus's prophecies and the Mayan prophecy of 2012 is hotly debated over the Internet and is the focus of today's most popular television documentaries.
Now The Essential Nostradamus-the definitive literal translation of his key verses-is redesigned, reset, and repackaged in an affordable and beautifully produced Tarcher Cornerstone Edition. This volume features a brand-new afterword from translator/commentator Richard Smoley, critiquing the Nostradamus legacy in light of the Mayan prophecies about 2012. Smoley is one of today's most respected writers on esotericism, and his new afterword fully (and realistically) assesses the question of Nostradamus's prophecies in relation to 2012, engaging readers who are hungry to learn more and want help sorting fact from fiction.
Perfect for any who are curious, and for scholars and students who want to understand the real content of these haunting verses, The Essential Nostradamus is the key sourcebook of its kind.
Synopsis
Here is the greatest deal” you will ever find: This concise, deeply practical guide shows how to forgive anyone who has ever hurt you and to receive a payback of enormous personal satisfaction and inner peace.
What I am offering you in this book is the best deal you have ever gotten in your life, or ever will. Even though I know nothing about you, Im willing to make this claim with complete certainty.”
With elegance and absolute persuasiveness The Deal explains how forgiveness rather than being a squishy, eat-your-vegetables virtue is actually the key, perhaps the sole key, to a happy life.
If you perform the one simple but vital forgiveness exercise in The Deal, you will forgive and be forgiven. You will be free. You will enter a new phase of life.
A widely respected spiritual writer and thinker, Richard Smoley doesnt hand you the standard promise that this book will change your life. When you finish it, he concludes: It already has changed your life.”
This is the simple, radical truth of The Deal.
About the Author
One of todays most highly regarded writers on esoteric topics,
Richard Smoley is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Oxford. He was a longtime editor of the venerated spiritual journal
Gnosis. Smoleys books include
Inner Christianity. He is editor of
Quest: Journal of the Theosophical Society in America and of Quest Books.