Mother Shipton
And now a word, in uncouth rhyme, of what shall be in future time…
Ursula Southeil (aka Ursula Soothtell “soothsayer”, aka Mother Shipton) was a notorious Yorkshire witch and prophetess who was contemporaneous with that old rogue Nostradamus—in fact, she was born in 1488 (oh—really? Southeil by name Sout-heil by nature, I guess). She was repulsive and ugly, a real old crone (pictured above with her familiar, a monkey).
She was an illegitimate child born in a cave to a 15-year-old girl called Agatha who was said to be possessed by the Devil and so fallen into harlotry (Agatha refused to give up the name of Ursula’s father—was he the Devil himself, as the Devil was Merlin’s father?). Late in life, she retreated to that very same cave (now billed as “England’s oldest tourist attraction”—apart from Stonehenge, I suppose).
She is also said to be the witch that turned the King’s Men to stone at the Rollright Stones—well, perhaps (but surely that happened long before…then again, can’t a witch time travel if she wants?). It’s significant for me because I saw the entities, the gods, at Rollright—and, of course, “Ursula” means “bear” (also my grandmother’s middle name), so it’s another connection to Arktos (the Bear, Arthur). To come across Mother Shipton as I did the other day, synchronously, is another event in the quest for the Grail.
In her lifetime, she correctly predicted these events: “…the dissolution of the Catholic Church under Henry VIII, the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the untimely death of Henry's son Edward VI, the horrific reign of ‘Bloody’ Mary I, and the ascent of Queen Elizabeth to the throne of England.”
Yet there were further predictions….though I have to admit that perhaps these predictions were invented by a Victorian gent in 1860…or perhaps they were discovered in a sealed manuscript section in a south Australian library in the 1970s (copied secretly and the copies smuggled out)…or perhaps they were invented by mischievous Australian pranksters in the 1970s…
Well, perhaps we could say these people channeled Mother Shipton—or perhaps these are the bona fide “Shipton prophecies”….
1. “For in those wondrous far off days, the women shall adopt a craze—to dress like men, and trousers wear and to cut off all their locks of hair. They'll ride astride with brazen brow, as witches do on broomsticks now.” (Means: feminism, decadence)
2. “Then love shall die and marriage cease, and nations wane as babes decrease.” (Means: population crash, feminism, birth control)
3. “And wives shall fondle cats and dog—and men live much the same as hogs.” (Means: “fur babies”, Children of Men scenario—women put cats and dolls in prams)
4. “In nineteen hundred and twenty-six, build houses light of straw and sticks. For then shall mighty wars be planned and fire and swords shall sweep the land.” (Means: predicts the Blitz that is to come, at this time Hitler is in prison in Landesburg planning his career)
5. “And Christian one fights Christian two and nations sigh, yet nothing do. And yellow men great power gain; from a mighty bear with whom they've lain.” (Means: war between Russia and Ukraine-US [two Christian nations], Chinese alliance with Russia [the Bear]—rise of China, “the yellow men great power gain”)
6. “These mighty tyrants will fail to do, they fail to split the world in two. But from their acts a danger bred; an ague, leaving many dead.” (Means: world doesn’t divide between US and Russia-China axis, there’s a new global plague)
7. “And physics find no remedy; for this is worse than leprosy. Oh many signs for all to see; the truth of this true prophecy.” (Means: it’s a bad plague)
8. “And England shall admit a Jew, do you think this strange? But it is true! The Jew that once was led in scorn, shall of a Christian then be born.” (Means: Cromwell readmits Jews to England, rule of Disraeli, domination of England by Judeo-Masonry)
9. “When pictures seem alive with movements free, when boats like fishes swim beneath the sea, when men like birds shall scour the sky—then half the world, deep drenched in blood, shall die.” (Means: TV, cinema, Internet—submarines and aircraft; and then half the world dies)
Yet to occur in the 21st century:
1. “For those who live the century through in fear and trembling this shall do. Flee to the mountains and the dens, to bog and forest and wild fens.” (Means: people will be forced to flee to remote areas—like The Road)
2. “For storms will rage and oceans roar, when Gabriel stands on sea and shore—and as he blows his wondrous horn old worlds die and new be born.” (Means: the Aquarian Age or Aeon of Horus—start of the end of the kali-yuga, destruction of the old world)
3. “A fiery dragon will cross the sky Six times before the earth shall die. Mankind will tremble and frightened be for the Six heralds in this prophecy.” (Means: it could be a comet impact, could be nuclear missiles. “66” refers in Crowleyian thought to the emergence of a new god from the stars, “66. There shall be no sound heard but this thy lion-roar of rapture; yea, this thy lion-roar of rapture.”)
4. “For seven days and seven nights, man will watch this awesome sight. The tides will rise beyond their ken to bite away the shores and then, the mountains will begin to roar and earthquakes split the plain to shore.” (Means: sounds like a comet impact—“77” is a key esoteric number of power for Crowley, and also in other esoteric schools)
5. “And flooding waters rushing in, will flood the lands with such a din—that mankind cowers in muddy fen, and snarls about his fellow men.” (Means: global flood—the Aquarian waters, the fall of Atlantis)
6. “He bares his teeth and fights and kills—and secretes food in secret hills; and ugly in his fear, he lies to kill marauders, thieves and spies.” (Means: it’s The Road, again)
7. “And when the dragon's tail is gone, man forgets and smiles and carries on. To apply himself—too late, too late; for mankind has earned deservéd fate.” (Means: there’s a brief respite from the catastrophe)
8. “His masked smile, his false grandeur, will serve the gods their anger stir; and they will send the dragon back to light the sky—his tail will crack upon the earth and rend the earth; and man shall flee, king, lord and serf.” (Means: the gods will not be pleased by man’s self-satisfaction, the punishment will resume)
9. “But slowly they are routed out, to seek diminishing water spout—and men will die of thirst before, the oceans rise to mount the shore. And lands will crack and rend anew, do you think it strange? It will come true!” (Means: recession of waters, drought, and, finally, reemergence of a new land)
10. “And in some far-off distant land some men—oh, such a tiny band, will have to leave their solid mount—and span the earth, those few to count.” (Means: the small band of survivors begin to rebuild civilisation)
11. “Not every soul on earth will die, as the dragon's tail goes sweeping by, not every land on earth will sink, but these will wallow in stench and stink, of rotting bodies of beast and man, of vegetation crisped on land.” (Means: there will be survivors, but billions will die)
12. “But the land that rises from the sea, will be dry and clean and soft and free, of mankind's dirt, and therefore be—the source of man's new dynasty. And those that live will ever fear, the dragon's tail for many year—but time erases memory, you think it strange? But it will be!” (Means: new lands will emerge for man to build upon—the destruction will be forgotten)
13. “And before the race is built anew, a silver serpent comes to view—and spew out men of like unknown. To mingle with the earth now grown cold from its heat, and these men can Enlighten the minds of future man—to intermingle and show them how.” (Means: return of the gods—the UFOs—reenactment of the Promethean gift of fire, Enochian mixture of men and angels. UFOs [gods] often appear as silver mercurial strands of light)
14. “To live and love and thus endow, the children with the second sight; a natural thing so that they might grow graceful, humble, and when they do—the Golden Age will start anew.” (Means: the Golden Age will start again)
She concludes with the observation that people will call her a blasphemer, but that everything she says will come to pass.