This article summarizes the thematic contents

The medieval mystics had divergent ordinations for the Paths and it doubtful that any of them mirror their order of appearance in the Book of Light. This article will therefore present the Paths in their order of appearance within Nostradamus' published book. Internally, the prophecies point to authorship by a fish (that's the correct word) who was capable of time travel, and in the first draft of this article the phrase 'the alien' was present in each description. This has now been changed to 'the Prophet' so that people who wish to deny that these prophecies were known in medieval times may now continue to believe that Nostradamus used his psychic powers to write them.

The Paths of Wisdom were written in elementary code, requiring only one decoding key (for the given dates). The Prophet also employed classical poetic devices and a variety of psychological divergence techniques whereby readers fail to recognize the interdependency of the thirty-two Paths.

Path of Wisdom #1 [I-53] The prophecy of the Andeans under Spanish rule, 1571. The Prophet expresses grief for the descendants of his Andean friends at the hands of the Spanish in the 16th century. He refers to the enactment of unjust laws and to forced labor in the new mines of gold and silver.

Path of Wisdom #2 [I-62] The story of The Book of Light in the hands of Nostradamus, 1566. The Prophet expresses grief over the burning of his original work, and he complains that to the surviving prophecies there was added a great flood of false prophecies.

Path of Wisdom #3 [I-81] The story of the astronomical arrows. The Prophet provides details of a star arrow and insinuates that this, together with a planetary arrow, will point to the galactic coordinates of his home planet.

Path of Wisdom #4 [II-99] The prophecy of Russia, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler, 1812, 1942. The Prophet refers to Russia, to the attack of Napoleon in 1812, and to the attack of Hitler in 1942. He attributes the defeat of the Napoleonic and Nazi armies to cold of winter.

Path of Wisdom #5 [III-57] The prophecy of Ireland under British rule, 1689-1979. The Prophet refers to the efforts of the Irish to free their island of English control, covering the period from James II in 1689 up until events of the year 1979. He also refers to Afghanistan and Poland.

Path of Wisdom #6 [III-77] The prophecy of the fall of the Shah of Iran, 1979. The Prophet refers to the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and his escape to Egypt. He also refers to the Pope John Paul II, to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and to the New York City.

Path of Wisdom #7 [IV-89] The secret history of the Glorious Revolution of England, 1689. The Prophet informs us that there were thirty conspirators in the Glorious Revolution of 1689. He also refers to the Falkland Islands War of 1982 and to the use of American satellites in that war.

Path of Wisdom #8 [V-35] The prophecy of the Falkland Islands War, 1982. The Prophet here speaks exclusively of the war between Argentina and Great Britain for the Falkland Islands in 1982. He refers to the islands by their Spanish name, and to Puerto Argentino by its English name.

Path of Wisdom #9 [V-81] The prophecy of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945. The Prophet refers to the atomic explosions over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, noting that this resulted in a rapid end to the Second World War.

Path of Wisdom #10 [V-92] The prophecy of six popes of the Catholic Church, 1922-1978. The Prophet creates a spinning cross to refer to six popes: Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. He adds that the last-named, John Paul II, was not in conformity with the Russians.

Path of Wisdom #11 [VI-2] The prophecy of the proliferation of atomic bombs, 1945-1964. The Prophet alludes to the start of the golden age of Tiwanaku, to the start of the technological age, and to the start of the nuclear age. He refers to nuclear explosions in the atmosphere by five nations.

Path of Wisdom #12 [VI-5] The story of Andean Sky God during the Ice Age. The Prophet insinuates that his first visit to Earth occurred during the Ice Age and he refers to widespread hunger among the humans in those days. The Prophet also informs us that he resided in space at a distance of one hundred leagues above the Earth.

Path of Wisdom #13 [VI-11] The secret history of the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers, 1963, 1968. The Prophet refers to the Kennedy family of the United States and its three brothers, adding that the two older brothers will be assassinated by conspirators.

Path of Wisdom #14 [VI-37] The secret history of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 1963. The Prophet refers to the murder of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas, 1963, and he indicates that Kennedy's vice-president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, was behind the murder.

Path of Wisdom #15 [VI-49] The secret history of the attempted assassination of John Paul II, 1981. The Prophet refers to the great Polish Pontiff, John Paul II, and to the attempt to kill him at Vatican City in 1981. He indicates that the Russians paid to the Bulgarians more than 100,000 rubles to assassinate the Pope.

Path of Wisdom #16 [VI-54] The prophecy of the Arabs and North Africa, 1859, 1982. The Prophet refers to the French invasions of North Africa in the 19th century and to the efforts of King of Morocco to combat them. Via a time leap from one prolonged lunar eclipse to anther, he carries the history of the Arabs to Lebanon, 1982.

Path of Wisdom #17 [VI-95] The secret history of Edward M. Kennedy and Vietnam, 1969. The Prophet insinuates that U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was innocent in regards to the tragedy of Chappaquiddick in 1969. He also returns to the life of John F. Kennedy and implies that the president was assassinated because of his opposition to the war in Vietnam.

Path of Wisdom #18 [VI-100] The barbarians and the final episode of Henry II of France, 1559. The Prophet provides a brief introduction to his prophetic work. This stanza in the original Latin, however, is not a Path. Surviving only in fragments is an unpublished Path of Wisdom wherein the Prophet refers to the cruel death of King Henry II of France in 1559.

Path of Wisdom #19 [VIII-13] The secret history of the murder of emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, 1821. The Prophet refers to the collapse of the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1813 and to his death on the island St. Helena in 1821, adding that Napoleon was murdered by poison placed in a drink.

Path of Wisdom #20 [VIII-71] The prophecy of the astronomers Johannes Kepler and William Herschel, 1571, 1781. The Prophet refers to the birth of astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1571 and to the discovery of the planet Uranus by astronomer William Herschel in 1781. He also refers to the creation of the Congregation of the Inquisition in 1571 and to the condemnation of his prophecies in 1781.

Path of Wisdom #21 [VIII-76] The story of the beginning of the Book of Light, 580. The Prophet refers to the bloody empire of Penda, pagan king of Mercia, now part of England, adding that the time of the birth of this king roughly corresponds to the time of his arrival on Earth.

Path of Wisdom #22 [IX-31] The prophecy of the Israeli-Palestinian War, Lebanon, 1982, The Prophet refers to the Israeli bombardment of the western half of Beirut in 1982. He also refers to a terrorist attack in Jerusalem prior to the commencement of that war.

Path of Wisdom #23 [IX-49] The prophecy of the execution of Charles I of England, 1649. The Prophet refers to King Charles I of England, sentenced to death by the parliamentarians in 1649. He also refers to the Falkland Islands War between Great Britain and Argentina in 1982.

Path of Wisdom #24 [IX-65] The prophecy of lunar landing, 1969. The Prophet refers to our feat of reaching the Moon in 1969. He also refers to American president Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate scandal that came a few years later.

Path of Wisdom #25 [X-25] The secret history of the discovery of Australia, 1605. The Prophet indicates that Australia was discovered by a Spanish sailor and not by a Dutch sailor as commonly believed. He also refers to an unnamed Spaniard in the Andes and to a specific place in Peru.

Path of Wisdom #26 [X-56] The prophecy of the attempted murder of Ronald Reagan, 1981. The Prophet provides more information on the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II (May, 1981), then refers to the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in London (June, 1981) and to the assassination attempt against president Ronald Wilson Reagan.(March, 1981).

Path of Wisdom #27 [X-76] The prophecy of Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate scandal, 1974. The Prophet expands his coverage of American president Richard M. Nixon and his problems with Congress over the Watergate scandal. In particular, the Prophet refers to the magnetic tapes that led to Nixon's downfall in 1974.

Path of Wisdom #28 [X-79] The secret history of the assassination of Martin Luther King, 1968. The Prophet refers to the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. He also mentions the armaments industry and implies that King, like JFK, was murdered because of his opposition to the Vietnam War.

Path of Wisdom #29 [X-81] The secret history of the great treasure of the Andes. The Prophet refers to a treasure that the Andeans hid inside a temple, implying that this treasure was a gift that he had given to the Andeans.

Path of Wisdom #30 [X-86] The prophecy of the Persian Gulf War, 1991. The Prophet refers to the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and the great coalition of forces led by the United States and Great Britain. He also points to the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as the specific target of that war.

Path of Wisdom #31 [X-91] The prophecy of the end of the serfdom in Russia, 1861. The Prophet refers to the end of serfdom in Russia (early 1861), and to the beginning of the Civil War in the United States (early 1861) to put an end to slavery in that country. He identifies civil war and slavery as the worst evils ever in human society.

Path of Wisdom #32 [X-100] The prophecy of the great British Empire, 1588-1982. The Prophet refers to the British Empire that covered many parts of the world for more than three centuries. He attributes this empire to England's dominance of the seas and alludes to the use of naval power in the Falkland Islands War.

Nostradamus' book contains eleven additional prophecies that come from the Book of Light, with topics ranging from fish identity to September 11. Ten of these, in five pairs of two, correspond to a second set of Sephirot of Nothingness. The eleventh prophecy evidently belongs to neither the Paths nor the Sephirot and may have been a last-minute replacement for the unpublished Path.