This is NOT meant as a fearmongering post predicting the end of the world, but you all know that I am fascinated by unusual connections. In looking for information on the comet, I came across this passage from Nostradamus:

This does seem to eerily reflect the execution of Saddam Hussein at the time of the brightest passage of Comet McNaught, and the “death while speaking” could describe the taunts of the Sunni leader by his Shiite captors that is likely to bring down the US-led fledgling Iraqi government.

The proud nation, the United States, does appear to be losing its grip as the world superpower as the Bush Doctrine causes us to lose even our staunchest allies. This has been made painfully clear by Condi Rice’s failure to garner any respect for the US during her trip through the middle east this week. Meanwhile, Jordan and Egypt have announced plans to acquire nuclear technology in order to defend against Iran.

I couldn’t find any explanation that I like for the phrase “the stone in the tree,” but what makes sense to me is a chaotic planetary upheaval where stones from the ground end up in the trees. This could speak to severe weather and climate change. Concurrent with the appearance of Comet McNaught there have been severe winter storms in Europe and the western US as well as Canada, torrential rains in Mozambique, and powerful earthquakes in Scotland, Indonesia, Iran, El Salvador, New Zealand, Panama, and Pakistan.

There’s no doubt that we are transitioning into a new world where the old rules no longer apply. Climate isn’t the only thing that’s changing – old notions of power are fading and the mideast is becoming the central arena for longstanding power conflicts. Pluto’s fingerprints are everywhere, and over the next year as Pluto completes its passage through Sagittarius we will see these theological and philosophical (Sagittarian) power conflicts (Pluto) swept towards completion in one way or another.

update: Rich just suggested to me that the stone in the tree could be a meteorite (stone) or missile that lands in a nation symbolized by a tree. We looked at a page of national flags and discovered that the flag of Lebanon has a tree on it, and further research revealed that the cedar trees of Lebanon were prized in antiquity, so even during the time of Nostradamus Lebanon would have been associated with the tree. He also suggested that “death while speaking” could indicate a comet or meteorite hitting the earth which would cause instant death, even in the middle of a conversation, and vaporize everything causing a “human mist.”

Before we fall into a panic, let’s remember that not everything Nostradamus has predicted has come true, and we can change our own fate and the fate of the world in one moment.