Copyright © 1999 Ed Ladeur,
Copyright © 1999 Ed Ladeur,
Opinions expressed are not those of my internet provider
but are approved by Mikey and Minnie 2Dogs
Well, we've made it! 1999 arrived and the world didn't collapse, although most of us humans came close over the past holidays. The Festival of Lights Tour was a great success, and we seemed to have made a lot of new acquaintances, of which some will turn into friends by all accounts of those who signed my guest book. And also for some of us, the inclement weather afforded us a respite from the web, phone lines down, electricals intermittent. It left me enough time to ponder about the coming millennium. A Chinese wish, good or bad..."may you live in interesting times". Of all the times to be alive, this must be one of the most interesting and least boring, the turn of the millennium, the y2k bug, the 2nd impeachment trial ever in the US, and the imminent settlements with the Canadian Aboriginal population.
My Eddie-Torials for all of '99 will revolve around the year 2000, where we've been, the high points and low points of the one just passing, the optimistic/pessimistic look at the next. Most of the world's population will be prognosticating the future, and most of it will be for sale. The whole psychic phenomenon, the new age cults, the doomsday religions, and the apocalyptic writings all point to the turn of the numbers. Please save your money, for the millennium fever will rise, the scams are heating up, and the gullible will be taken for all their worth.
To understand my view of the world, past and future, I must explain that I am not a millenialist per se...January 1, 2000 is just another day. But what has been made of this by wiser men then me throughout the ages is worth noting. I am a student of Scriptures, not just the Christian, or the Judaistic, but also the other major religions, the prognosticators, and the soothsayers of old. Calling on all this as a reference should be an interesting journey, and as was said by Mick Jagger, "I hope I'm not too Messianic or a trifle too Satanic" in my interpretations.
It is my belief that God has a great sense of humor, just look at us. If we are created in His image, enough said. So from my own viewpoint being human carries with it a 'compulsion' to understand what has been written, its deeper meanings, to try to figure out what may be in my future (other than my own demise).
So, let us set the correct time line. By some accounts next year when the clock turns to January 1, it will be 2004 AD. Ouch, don't hit me (ducking out of the way).
Here is the reckoning. When the Christian era began the years were reckoned from the establishment of the city of Rome, (ab urbe condita). By some chronicles, King Herod died in 750 auc. That means that Christ must have been born about a year before his death, ie: 749 auc. Dionysius, a Roman abbot, set his current year (1285 auc) at 532 AD. By the Roman system, who had no concept of zero as 'nothingness' some people have figured that the time difference would be greater, but the Romans did have a concept of 'tens', 'hundreds' and 'thousands'...as long the the zero was preceeded by another number. (However, straying off the point for a mo')...From that time on for the church the years clicked over from there. But by simple arithmetic subtract 532AD from 1285auc and you come to the year 753auc as Christ's birth. But Herod, as chronicled was dead 3 years before, so Christ was really born in 749auc, making the year of the Christian era at the time of Dionysius in reality 528 allowing that there was no year zero. So in reality the year 2000 clicked over 3 years ago. But it really doesn't make any difference...or does it? Also, at that time the years were calculated according to the Julian calendar, which also had it's faults. So we'll leave this as a bone of contention. In the year 'of our Lord' 1431 the Church set the new dating system for public use other then within the church. All public chronicles, death and births were recorded in the AD format, leaving behind several outdated systems, that of auc, or a king's rule, or from the date of a great battle.
And it came about that a man, a great physician who would have been remembered for his great work during the Plague, could also see into the future, at great peril to himself as the Roman church during those days prosecuted 'witchery'. So he wrote his prognostications in symbols and anagrams. I speak of course of Michel de Nostredame commonly known as Nostradamus. Another old time psychic was the Irish monk Malachi. Both were saintly and very religious men, giving proper due as to where these gifts came from. Other visionaries were Daniel of the Old Testament and St John who was given the "Revelation". Over the next year we will consider all these writers and more, trying to shed some light on the past, and while trying to keep things in perspective, touching on the future.
Until next month, I will leave you with a definitive prophecy (quatrain) by Nostradamus, published in 1558, which has an actual date mentioned...
Translation..Version 1:
Translation..Version 2:
Nostradamos, being well versed regarding the visions of John of Patmos, here tries to give an identity to 'the beast of the apocalypse'. Also note the number of the beast, which is the number of a man, being 666. By inversion, which Nostradamus is famous for, he establishes the 3 sixes as three nines within the date. But he also gives the month. It will be interesting to see how far out this prediction is. Also the following before the end of the Roman church as we know it today...
From Malachi who predicted all the popes from the middle ages up to now and has not been in error, even down to the descriptions of where they came from...that after this pope (Labor of the Sun, this Polish one to have been forced to labour under the sun for the Nazi's) there shall only be two more, and the last one will be known simply as Peter the Roman.
Well, don't know if you agree or disagree, or just find this a bunch of bunk, feel free to respond on the new The Eddie-Torial Message/Discussion Board
So until next month, play safe, surf wisely, and help yourself to a cookie
(make sure your dog gets one too).
*smiles*, Eddie
Previous Eddie-Torials
December, 1998
November, 1998
October, 1998
September, 1998
August, 1998
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Ed Ladeur
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