When does a prophecy become a prophecy?

[naomi24]

Last night I dreamt that Britain was being invaded by Germany. Hundreds of planes, dropping military tanks, filled the darkened, foreboding, sky. In the unlikely event that this should ever occur, don't forget you heard it here first. ;o)

[Zabadak]

And the answer is...71 years after the event? Not many tanks then, of course!

[Old_Geezer]

I suspect many have already dreamt that one, especially during the last WW.

[naomi24]

Probably, OG, but I wasn't around then, so this is ground-breaking stuff! :o)

[jno]

tanks falling from the sky would indeed be "ground-breaking". However, I suspect you fell asleep in front of the telly while watching It Happened Here.

[ll_billym]

Was there a bloke called Hister in your dream?

[mccfluff]

i dreamt my hair fell out :-(

[sandyRoe]

Toasted cheese before bedtime really isn't to be recommended.

[sandyRoe]

You're lucky, McFluff. My hair has fallen out. :-(

[Old_Geezer]

I dreamt I was eating a giant marshmallow.
When I woke up I couldn't find the pillow anywhere ?!?

[Lonnie]

Hi naomi, I saw a programme last night called 'The Germans are coming', tales from ordinary folk about how they would react if the Germans invaded. If you saw that, coupled with the collapse of the Euro, and the imminent takeover of the Germans and French, it's no wonder you dreampt that, although the way things are going, I reckon your dream has a more than 50% chance of coming true.

[naomi24]

Ha ha! Great answers!

Il_billym, how very dare you?! Nostradamus! I'm no reincarnation! I'm unique!! :o)

Hi Lonnie, lovely to read you. :o) No, I didn't see that programme, so that is not the answer. Forsooth ... should my prophecy come to pass, I shall forsake my biblical nom de plume in favour of she of Greek mythology - Cassandra! (Word has it that one believed her predictions anyway). ;o)

[sandyRoe]

She was always right, as I remember.

[sandyRoe]

Not unlike one or two here on AB.

[naomi24]

Yes exactly.... and as I said, word has it that no one believed her Sandy. ;o)

[mibn2cweus]

What I regret is waking up to discover the custard pie was only a dream, where upon eating the toasted cheese is merely a vain attempt to console myself. Be careful with them prophecies. They tend to be . . . self-fulfilling.

[naomi24]

Only if you believe in prophecies - which I don't. ;o)

[birdie1971]

A prophesy can only be really be called a prophesy when a very specific prediction is made and it comes true. If it fails to come true or hasn't yet come true, or if the prophesy is not specific and/or can be interpreted in numerous different ways then it cannot truly be called a prophesy. Then it's just a prediction, an exercise in wishful thinking or a fantasy.

The 'prophesies' of Nostrodamus are a case in point. His 'prophesies' are so opaque that they cannot be used to predict future events. They only become apparent (and I use the word loosely) after the event which renders them useless as a predictive tool.

One of Nostrodamus' 'prophesies' is this one...

From the human flock nine will be sent away,
Separated from judgment and counsel:
Their fate will be sealed on departure
Kappa, Thita, Lambda the banished dead err (I.81).


This, we are informed by those who believe in such nonsense, describes the Challenger shuttle disaster of 1986 where seven (and not nine) astronauts were tragically killed.

Make of this what you will.

[atrollope]

Sprechen sie Deutsch?

[sith123]

i think as soon as it happens or there is evidence of it happening

[beso]

Birdie //Challenger shuttle disaster of 1986 where seven (and not nine) astronauts were tragically killed. //

Yes but two other people died of heart attacks when they heard the news ;-)

Kappa Theta Lamda is supposed to represent the letters of the company that came to be blamed for the failure. However I can't find anything about that.

Another popular one is his prediction of the 9/11 attacks. In fact none of the passages purported to be describing the prophecy are found in his writings.