[Centurie III]  Centurie         [index]      Centurie V  [Centurie V] III                         Nostradamus index.   This is the fourth century by Nostradamus. The first 53 quatrains were first published in 1555. The complete century appeared for the first time in 1557.     CENTURIE IV   I.   CELA du reste de sang non espandu, Venise quiert secours estre donné. Apres auoir bien loing têps attendu, Cité liuree au premier cornet sonné.   That of the remainder of blood unshed: Venice demands that relief be given: After having waited a very long time, City delivered up at the first sound of the horn.   II.   Par mort la France prendra voyage à faire, Classe par mer, marcher monts Pyrenees. Espaigne en trouble, marcher gent militaire: Des plus grands Dames en France emmenees.   Because of death France will take to making a journey, Fleet by sea, marching over the Pyrenees Mountains, Spain in trouble, military people marching: Some of the greatest Ladies carried off to France.   III.   D'Arras & Bourges, de Brodes grans enseignes, Vn plus grand nombre de Gascons battre à pied, Ceux long du Rosne saigneront les Espaignes: Proche du mont où Sagonte s'assied.   From Arras and Bourges many banners of Dusky Ones, A greater number of Gascons to fight on foot, Those along the Rhône will bleed the Spanish: Near the mountain where Sagunto sits.   IV.   L'impotent prince faché plaincts & querelles, De rapts & pillé, par coqz & par Libiques: Grands est par terre par mer infinies voilles, Seule Italie sera chassant Celtiques.   The impotent Prince angry, complaints and quarrels, Rape and pillage, by cocks and Africans: Great it is by land, by sea infinite sails, Italy alone will be chasing Celts.   V.   Croix, paix, soubs vn accomply diuin verbe, L'Espaigne & Gaule seront vnis ensemble: Grand clade proche, & combat tres accerbe, Coeur si hardy ne sera qui ne tremble.   Cross, peace, under one the divine word accomplished, Spain and Gaul will be united together: Great disaster near, and combat very bitter: No heart will be so hardy as not to tremble.   VI.   D'habits nouueaux apres faicte la treuue, Malice tramme & machination: Premier mourra qui en fera la preuue, Couleur venise insidiation.   By the new clothes after the find is made, Malicious plot and machination: First will die he who will prove it, Color Venetian trap.   VII.   Le mineur fils du grand & hay Prince, De lepre aura à vingt ans grande tache, De dueil sa mere mourra bien triste & mince, Et il mourra là où tombe cher lache.   The minor son of the great and hated Prince, He will have a great touch of leprosy at the age of twenty: Of grief his mother will die very sad and emaciated, And he will die where the loose flesh falls.   VIII.   La grand cité d'assaut prompt & repentin, Surprins de nuict, gardes interrompus: Les excubies & veilles sainct Quintin, Trucidez gardes & les portails rompus.   The great city by prompt and sudden assault Surprised at night, guards interrupted: The guards and watches of Saint-Quentin Slaughtered, guards and the portals broken.   IX.   Le chef du camp au milieu de la presse: D'vn coup de fleche sera blessé aux cuisses, Lors que Geneue en larmes & detresse, Sera trahie par Lauzan, & Souysses.   The chief of the army in the middle of the crowd Will be wounded by an arrow shot in the thighs, When Geneva in tears and distress Will be betrayed by Lausanne and the Swiss.   X.   Le ieune Prince accusé faussement, Mettra en trouble le camp & en querelles: Meurtry le chef pour le soustenement, Sceptre appaiser: puis guerir escroüelles.   The young Prince falsely accused Will plunge the army into trouble and quarrels: The chief murdered for his support, Sceptre to pacify: then to cure scrofula.   XI.   Celuy qu'aura gouuert de la grand cappe, Sera induict à quelques cas patrer: Les douze rouges viendront soüiller la nappa, Soubz meurtre, meurtre se viendra perpetrer.   He who will have the government of the great cope Will be prevailed upon to perform several deeds: The twelve red one who will come to soil the cloth, Under murder, murder will come to be perpetrated.   XII.   Le champ plus grand de route mis en fuite, Guaires plus outre ne sera pourchassé: Ost recampé & legion reduicte, Puis hors des Gaules du tout sera chassé   The greater army put to flight in disorder, Scarcely further will it be pursued: Army reassembled and the legion reduced, Then it will be chased out completely from the Gauls.   XIII.   De plus grand perte nouuelles rapportees, Le raport le camp s'estournera. Ban les vnies encontre reuoltees, Double phalange quand abandonnera.   News of the greater loss reported, The report will astonish the army: Troops united against the revolted: The double phalanx will abandon the great one.   XIV.   La mort subite du premier personnage Aura changé & mis vn autre au regne: Tost, tard venu à si haut & bas aage, Que terre & mer faudra que on le craigne.   The sudden death of the first personage Will have caused a change and put another in the sovereignty: Soon, late come so high and of low age, Such by land and sea that it will be necessary to fear him.   XV.   D'où pensera faire venir famine, De là viendra se rassasiement: L'oeil de la mer par auare canine Pour de l'vn l'autre donra huyle, froment.   From where they will think to make famine come, From there will come the surfeit: The eye of the sea through canine greed For the one the other will give oil and wheat.   XVI.   La cité franche de liberté fait serue. Des profligez & resueurs faict asyle. Le Roy changé à eux non si proterue: De cent seront deuenus plus de mille.   The city of liberty made servile: Made the asylum of profligates and dreamers. The King changed to them not so violent: From one hundred become more than a thousand.   XVII.   Changer à Banne, Nuy, Chalons, & Dijon, Le duc voulant amander la Barree Marchât pres fleuue, poisson, bec de plongeon Verra la queüe: porte sera serree.   To change at Beaune, Nuits, Châlon and Dijon, The duke wishing to improve the Carmelite [nun] Marching near the river, fish, diver's beak Will see the tail: the gate will be locked.   XVIII.   Des plus lettrez dessus les faits celestes Seront par princes ignorans reprouuez: Punis d'Edit, chassez, comme scelestes, Et mis à mort là où seront trouuez.   Some of those most lettered in the celestial facts Will be condemned by illiterate princes: Punished by Edict, hunted, like criminals, And put to death wherever they will be found.   XIX.   Deuant Roüan d'Insubres mis le siege, Par terre & mer enfermez les passages: D'haynaut, & Flâdres de Gâd & ceux de Liege, Par dons laenees rauiront les riuages.   Before Rouen the siege laid by the Insubrians, By land and sea the passages shut up: By Hainaut and Flanders, by Ghent and those of Liége Through cloaked gifts they will ravage the shores.   XX.   Paix vberté long temps lieu loüera: Par tout son regne de sert la fleur de lys: Corps morts d'eau, terre là l'on aportera, Sperans vain heur d'estre là enseuelis.   Peace and plenty for a long time the place will praise: Throughout his realm the fleur-de-lys deserted: Bodies dead by water, land one will bring there, Vainly awaiting the good fortune to be buried there.   XXI.   Le changement sera fort difficile, Cité, prouince au change gain fera: Coeur haut, prudent mis, chassé luy habile, Mer, terre, peuple son estat changera.   The change will be very difficult: City and province will gain by the change: Heart high, prudent established, chased out one cunning, Sea, land, people will change their state.   XXII.   La grand copie qui sera deschassee, Dans vn moment fera besoing au Roy. La foy promise de loing sera faussee, Nud se verra en piteux desarroy.   The great army will be chased out, In one moment it will be needed by the King: The faith promised from afar will be broken, He will be seen naked in pitiful disorder.   XXIII.   La legion dans la marine classe, Calcine, Magnes soulphre, & poix bruslera: Le long repos de l'asseuree place, Port Selyn, Hercle feu les consumera.   The legion in the marine fleet Will burn lime, loadstone sulfur and pitch: The long rest in the secure place: "Port Selyn" and Monaco, fire will consume them.   XXIV.   Ouy soubs terre saincte Dame voix fainte, Humaine flamme pour diuine voir luire: Fera des seuls de leur sang terre tainte, Et les saincts temples pour les impurs destruire.   Beneath the holy earth of a soul the faint voice heard, Human flame seen to shine as divine: It will cause the earth to be stained with the blood of the monks, And to destroy the holy temples for the impure ones.   XXV.   Corps sublimes sans fin à l'oeil visibles, Ob nubiler viendront par ces raisons: Corps, front comprins, sens chefs & inuisibles, Diminuant les sacrees oraisons.   Lofty bodies endlessly visible to the eye, Through these reasons they will come to obscure: Body, forehead included, sense and head invisible, Diminishing the sacred prayers.   XXVI.   Lou grand eyssame se leuera d'abelhos, Que non salutan don te siegen venguddos. Denuech l'êbousq, lou gach dessous les treilhos Ceiutad trahido per cinq lengos non nudos.   The great swarm of bees will arise, Such that one will not know whence they have come; By night the ambush, the sentinel under the vines City delivered by five babblers not naked.   XXVII.   Salon, Mansol, Tarascon de SEX, l'are, Où est debout encor la piramide: Viendront liurer le Prince Dannemarc, Rachat honny au temple d'Artemide.   Salon, Tarascon, "Mausol", the arch of "SEX.", Where the pyramid is still standing: They will come to deliver the Prince of "Annemark," Redemption reviled in the temple of Artemis.   XXVIII.   Lors que Venus du Sol sera couuert, Soubs l'esplendeur sera forme occulte: Mercure au feu les aura descouuert, Par bruit bellique sera mis à l'insulte.   When Venus will be covered by the Sun, Under the splendor will be a hidden form: Mercury will have exposed them to the fire, Through warlike noise it will be insulted.   XXIX.   Le Sol caché eclipse par Mercure, Ne sera mis que pour le ciel second: De Vulcan Hermes sera faicte pasture, Sol sera veu peur, rutiland & blond.   The Sun hidden eclipsed by Mercury Will be placed only second in the sky: Of Vulcan Hermes will be made into food, The Sun will be seen pure, glowing red and golden.   XXX.   Plus unze fois Luna Sol ne vouldra, Tous augmenté & baissez de degrez: Et si bas mis que peu or on coudra, Qu'apres faim peste, descouuert le secret.   Eleven more times the Moon the Sun will not want, All raised and lowered by degree: And put so low that one will stitch little gold: Such that after famine plague, the secret uncovered.   XXXI.   La Lune au plain de nuict sur le haut mont, Le nouueau sophe d'vn seul cerueau la veu: Par ses disciples estre immortel semond, Yeux au mydi, en seins mains corps au feu.   The Moon in the full of night over the high mountain, The new sage with a lone brain sees it: By his disciples invited to be immortal, Eyes to the south. Hands in bosoms, bodies in the fire.   XXXII.   Es lieux & temps chair ou poisson donra lieu, La loy commune sera faicte au contraire: Vieux tiendra fort puis osté du milieu, Le Panta chiona philon mis fort arriere.   In the places and times of flesh giving way to fish, The communal law will be made in opposition: It will hold strongly the old ones, then removed from the midst, Loving of Everything in Common put far behind.   XXXIII.   Iupiter ioinct plus Venus qu'à la Lune, Apparoissant de plenitude blanche: Venus cachee sous la blancheur Neptune De Mars frappee & par la grauee blanche.   Jupiter joined more to Venus than to the Moon Appearing with white fulness: Venus hidden under the whiteness of Neptune Struck by Mars through the white stew.   XXXIV.   Le grand mené captif d'estrange terre, D'or enchainé au Roy Chyren offert: Qui dans Ausone, Milan perdra la guerre, Et tout son ost mis à feu & à fer.   The great one of the foreign land led captive, Chained in gold offered to King "Chyren": He who in Ausonia, Milan will lose the war, And all his army put to fire and sword.   XXXV.   Le feu esteint les vierges trahiront La plus grand part de la bande nouuelle: Foudre à fer, lance les sels Roy garderont Etrusque & Corse, de nuict gorge allumelle.   The fire put out the virgins will betray The greater part of the new band: Lightning in sword and lance the lone Kings will guard Etruria and Corsica, by night throat cut.   XXXVI.   Les ieux nouueaux en Gaule redressez, Apres victoire de l'Insubre champaigne: Monts d'Esperie, les grands liez, troussez: De peur trembler la Romaigne & l'Espaigne.   The new sports set up again in Gaul, After victory in the Insubrian campaign: Mountains of Hesperia, the great ones tied and trussed up: "Romania" and Spain to tremble with fear.   XXXVII.   Gaulois par sauts, monts viendra penetrer: Occupera le grand lieu de l'Insubre: Au plus profond son ost fera entrer, Gennes, Monech pousseront classe rubre.   The Gaul will come to penetrate the mountains by leaps: He will occupy the great place of Insubria: His army to enter to the greatest depth, Genoa and Monaco will drive back the red fleet.   XXXVIII.   Pendant que Duc, Roy, Royne occupera, Chef Bizant du captif en Samothrace: Auant l'assauit l'un l'autre mangera, Rebours ferré suyura du sang la trace.   While he will engross the Duke, King and Queen With the captive Byzantine chief in Samothrace: Before the assault one will eath the order: Reverse side metaled will follow the trail of the blood.   XXXIX.   Les Rhodiens demanderont secours, Par le neglet de ses hoirs delaissee. L'empire Arabe reuelera son cours, Par Hesperies la cause redressee.   The Rhodians will demand relief, Through the neglect of its heirs abandoned. The Arab empire will reveal its course, The cause set right again by Hesperia.   XL.   Les forteresses des assiegez serrez, Par poudre à feu profondez en abysmes Les proditeurs seront tous vifs serrez, Onc aux sacristes n'aduint si piteux scisme.   The fortresses of the besieged shut up, Through gunpowder sunk into the abyss: The traitors will all be stowed away alive, Never did such a pitiful schism happen to the sextons.   XLI.   Gymnique sexe captiue par hostage, Viendra de nuit custodes deceuoir: Le chef du camp de&cced;eu par son langage, Lairra à la gente, fera piteux à voir.   Female sex captive as a hostage Will come by night to deceive the guards: The chief of the army deceived by her language Will abandon her to the people, it will be pitiful to see.   XLII.   Geneue & Lâgres par ceux de Chartres & Dole, Et par Grenoble captif au Montlimard: Seysset, Lausanne, par fraudulente dole, Les trahiront par or soixante marc.   Geneva and Langres through those of Chartres and Dôle And through Grenoble captive at Montélimar Seyssel, Lausanne, through fraudulent deceit, They will betray them for sixty marks of gold.   XLIII.   Seront ouye au ciel armes battre, Celuy au mesme les diuins ennemis: Voudront loix sainctes iniustement debatre: Par foudre & guerre bien croyans à mort mis.   Arms will be heard clashing in the sky: That very same year the divine ones enemies: They will want unjustly to discuss the holy laws: Through lightning and war the complacent one put to death.   XLIV.   Deux gros de Mende, de Roudés & Milhau. Cahours, Lymoges, Castres malo sepmano De nuech l'intrado, de Bourdeaux vn cailhau, Par Perigort au toc de la campano.   Two large ones of Mende, of Rodez and Milhau Cahors, Limoges, Castres bad week By night the entry, from Bordeaux an insult Through Périgord at the peal of the bell.   XLV.   Par conflict Roy, regne abandonnera, Le plus grand chef faillira au besoing, Mors profligez peu en reschapera, Tous destranchés, vn en sera tesmoing.   Through conflict a King will abandon his realm: The greatest chief will fail in time of need: Dead, ruined few will escape it, All cut up, one will be a witness to it.   XLVI.   Bien deffendu le faict par excellence, Garde toy Tours de ta proche ruine: Londres & Nantes par Reims fera deffense Ne passe outre au temps de la bruine.   The fact well defended by excellence, Guard yourself Tours from your near ruin: London and Nantes will make a defense through Reims Not passing further in the time of the drizzle.   XLVII.   Le noir farouche quand aura essayé Sa main sanguine par teu, fer arcs tendus, Trestous le peuple sera tant effrayé, Voir les plus grans par col & pieds pendus.   The savage black one when he will have tried His bloody hand at fire, sword and drawn bows: All of his people will be terribly frightened, Seeing the greatest ones hung by neck and feet.   XLVIII.   Planure Ausonne fertile, spacieuse, Produira taons si tant de sauterelles: Clarté solaire deuiendra nubileuse, Ronger le tout, grand peste venir d'elles.   The fertile, spacious Ausonian plain Will produce so many gadflies and locusts, The solar brightness will become clouded, All devoured, great plague to come from them.   XLIX.   Deuant le peuple sang sera respandu, Que du haut ciel viendra esloigner. Mais d'vn long temps ne sera entendu, L'esprit d'vn seul le viendra tesmoigner.   Before the people blood will be shed, Only from the high heavens will it come far: But for a long time of one nothing will be heard, The spirit of a lone one will come to bear witness against it.   L.   Libra verra regner les Hesperies, De ciel & tenir la monarchie: D'Asie forces nul ne verra peries, Que sept ne tiennent par rang la hierarchie.   Libra will see the Hesperias govern, Holding the monarchy of heaven and earth: No one will see the forces of Asia perished, Only seven hold the hierarchy in order.   LI.   Vn Duc cupide son ennemy ensuyure, Dans entrera empeschant la phalange, Hastez à pied si pres viendront poursuyure, Que la iournee conflite pres de Gange.   A Duke eager to follow his enemy Will enter within impeding the phalanx: Hurried on foot they will come to pursue so closely That the day will see a conflict near Ganges.   LII.   En cité obsesse aux murs hommes & femmes. Ennemis hors le chef prest à soy rendre: Vent sera fort encore les gendarmes. Chassez seront par chaux, poussiere, & cendre.   In the besieged city men and woman to the walls, Enemies outside the chief ready to surrender: The wind will be strongly against the troops, They will be driven away through lime, dust and ashes.   LIII.   Les fugitifs & bannis reuoquez, Peres & fils grand garnissant les hauts puis Le cruel pere & les siens souffoquez, Son fils pire submergé dans le puits.   The fugitives and exiles recalled: Fathers and sons great garnishing of the deep wells: The cruel father and his people choked: His far worse son submerged in the well.   LIV.   Du nom qui onque ne fut au Roy Gaulois Iamais ne fut vn foudre si craintif. Tremblant l'Italie, l'Espagne & les Anglois, De femme estrangiers grandement attentif.   Of the name which no Gallic King ever had Never was there so fearful a thunderbolt, Italy, Spain and the English trembling, Very attentive to a woman and foreigners.   LV.   Quand la corneille sur tout de brique ioincte, Durant sept heures ne fera que crier: Mort presagee de sang statue taincte, Tyran meurtri, aux Dieux peuple prier.   When the crow on the tower made of brick For seven hours will continue to scream: Death foretold, the statue stained with blood, Tyrant murdered, people praying to their Gods.   LVI.   Apres victoire de rabieuse langue, L'esprit tempré en tranquil & repos: Victeur sanguin par conflict faict harangue, Roustir la langue & la chair & les os.   After the victory of the raving tongue, The spirit tempered in tranquility and repose: Throughout the conflict the bloody victor makes orations, Roasting the tongue and the flesh and the bones.   LVII.   Ignare enuie au grand Roy supportee, Tiendras propos deffendre les escripts. Sa femme non femme par vn autre tentee, Plus double deux ne fort ne criz.   Ignorant envy upheld before the great King, He will propose forbidding the writings: His wife not his wife tempted by another, Twice two more neither skill nor cries.   LVIII.   Soloeil ardent dans le grosier coller, De sang humain arrouser terre Etrusque: Chef seille d'eau, mener son fils filer, Captiue dame conduicte terre Turque.   To swallow the burning Sun in the throat, The Etruscan land washed by human blood: The chief pail of water, to lead his son away, Captive lady conducted into Turkish land.   LIX.   Deux assiegez en ardente ferueur: Ce soif estaincts pour deux plaines tasses Le fort limé, & vn vieillart resueur, Aux Genevois de Nira monstra trasse.   Two beset in burning fervor: By thirst for two full cups extinguished, The fort filed, and an old dreamer, To the Genevans he will show the track from "Nira."   LX.   Les sept enfans en hostaine laissez, Le tiers viendra son enfant trucider: Deux par son fils seront d'estoc percez. Genues, Florence, les viendra enconder.   The seven children left in hostage, The third will come to slaughter his child: Because of his son two will be pierced by the point, Genoa, Florence, he will come to confuse them.   LXI.   Le vieux mocqué priué de sa place, Par l'estranger qui le subornera: Mains de son fils mangees deuant sa face, Le frere à Chartres, Orl Roüan trahira.   The old one mocked and deprived of his place, By the foreigner who will suborn him: Hands of his son eaten before his face, His brother to Chartres, Orléans Rouen will betray.   LXII.   Vn coronel machine ambition, Se saisira de la grande armee, Contre son Prince fainte inuention, Et descouuert sera soubs sa ramee.   A colonel with ambition plots, He will seize the greatest army, Against his Prince false invention, And he will be discovered under his arbor.   LXIII.   L'armee Celtique contre les montaignars, Qui seront s&cced;euz & prins à la pipee: Paysans frez pouseront rost faugnars, Precipitez tous au fils de l'espee.   The Celtic army against the mountaineers, Those who will be learned and able in bird-calling: Peasants will soon work fresh presses, All hurled on the sword's edge.   LXIV.   Le deffaillant en habit de bourgeois, Viendra le Roy tenter de son offense: Quinze soldats la pluspart Vstagois, Vie derniere & chef de sa cheuance.   The transgressor in bourgeois garb, He will come to try the King with his offense: Fifteen soldiers for the most part bandits, Last of life and chief of his fortune.   LXV.   Au deserteur de la grande fortresse, Apres qu'aura son lieu abandonné, Son aduersaire fera grand proüesse, L'empereur tost mort sera condamné.   Towards the deserter of the great fortress, After he will have abandoned his place, His adversary will exhibit very great prowess, The Emperor soon dead will be condemned.   LXVI.   Sous couleur fainte de sept testes rasces, Seront semez diuers explorateurs: Puys & fontaines de poisons arrousees, Au fort de Gennes humains deuorateurs.   Under the feigned color of seven shaven heads Diverse spies will be scattered: Wells and fountains sprinkled with poisons, At the fort of Genoa devourers of men.   LXVII.   Lors que Saturne & Mars esgaux combust, L'air fort seiché longue traiection: Par feux secrets, d'ardeur grand lieu adust, Peu pluye, vent chaut, guerres, incursions.   The year that Saturn and Mars are equal fiery, The air very dry parched long meteor: Through secret fires a great place blazing from burning heat, Little rain, warm wind, wars, incursions.   LXVIII.   En lieu bien proche non esloigné de Venus. Les deux plus grands de l'Asie & d'Aphrique, Du Ryn & Hister qu'on dira sont venus, Cris pleurs à Malte & costé Ligustique.   In the place very near not far from Venus, The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa, From the Rhine and Lower Danube they will be said to have come, Cries, tears at Malta and the Ligurian side.   LXIX.   La cité grande les exilez tiendront, Les citadins morts, meurtris & chassez: Ceux d'Aquilee à Parme promettront, Monstrer l'entree par les lieux non trassez.   The exiles will hold the great city, The citizens dead, murdered and driven out: Those of Aquileia will promise Parma To show them the entry through the untracked places.   LXX.   Bien contigue des grands monts Pyrenees, Vn contre l'Aigle grand copie addresser: Ouuertes veines, forces exterminees, Que iusqu'à Paulle chef viendra chasser.   Quite contiguous to the great Pyrenees mountains, One to direct a great army against the Eagle: Veins opened, forces exterminated, As far as Pau will he come to chase the chief.   LXXI.   En lieu d'espouse les filles trucidees, Meurtre à grand faute ne fera superstile: Dedans se puys vestu les inondees, L'espouse estainte par haute d'Aconile.   In place of the bride the daughters slaughtered, Murder with great error no survivor to be: Within the well vestals inundated, The bride extinguished by a drink of Aconite.   LXXII.   Les Attomiques par Agen & l'Estore, A sainct Felix feront leur parlement: Ceux de Basas viendront à la mal' heure, Saisir Condon & Marsan promptement.   Those of Nîmes through Agen and Lectoure At Saint-Félix will hold their parliament: Those of Bazas will come at the unhappy hour To seize Condom and Marsan promptly.   LXXIII.   Le nepueu grand par force prouuera Le pache fait du coeur pusillanime: Ferrare & Ast le Duc esprouuera, Par lors qu'au soir sera le pantomime   The great nephew by force will test The treaty made by the pusillanimous heart: The Duke will try Ferrara and Asti, When the pantomine will take place in the evening.   LXXIV.   Du lac Leman & ceux de Brannonices: Tous assemblez contre ceux d'Aquitaine: Germains beaucoup encore plus Souisses, Seront desfaicts auec ceux d'Humaine.   Those of lake Geneva and of Mâcon: All assembled against those of Aquitaine: Many Germans many more Swiss, They will be routed along with those of "Humane."   LXXV.   Prest à combattre fera defection, Chef aduersaire obtiendra la victoire: L'arriere garde fera defension. Les defaillans mort au blanc territoire.   Ready to fight one will desert, The chief adversary will obtain the victory: The rear guard will make a defense, The faltering ones dead in the white territory.   LXXVI.   Les Nibobriges par eeux de Perigort, Seront vexez, tenant iusques au Rosne: L'associé de Gascons & Begorne, Trahir le temple, le prestre estant au prosne:   The people of Agen by those of Périgord Will be vexed, holding as far as the Rhône: The union of Gascons and Bigorre To betray the temple, the priest giving his sermon.   LXXVII.   Selin monarque l'Italie pacifique, Regnes vnis par Roy Chrestien du monde: Mourant voudra coucher en terre blesique, Apres pyrates auoir chassé de l'onde.   "Selin" monarch Italy peaceful, Realms united by the Christian King of the World: Dying he will want to lie in Blois soil, After having chased the pirates from the sea.   LXXVIII.   La grand' armee de la pugne ciuile, Pour de nuict Parme à l'estrange trouuee, Septante neuf meurtris dedans la ville, Les estrangers passez tout à l'espee.   The great army of the civil struggle, By night Parma to the foreign one discovered, Seventy-nine murdered in the town, The foreigners all put to the sword.   LXXIX.   Sang Royal fuis, Monhuit, Mas, Esguillon, Remplis seront de Bourdelois les Landes, Nauuarre, Bygorre poinctes & eguillons, Profonds de faim vorer de Liege glandes.   Blood Royal flee, Monheurt, Mas, Aiguillon, The Landes will be filled by Bordelais, Navarre, Bigorre points and spurs, Deep in hunger to devour acorns of the cork oak.   LXXX.   Pres du grand fleuue grand fosse terre egeste, En quinze pars sera l'eau diuisee: La cité prinse, feu, sang cris conflict mettre. Et la pluspart concerne au collisee.   Near the great river, great ditch, earth drawn out, In fifteen parts will the water be divided: The city taken, fire, blood, cries, sad conflict, And the greatest part involving the colosseum.   LXXXI.   Pont on fera promptement de nacelles, Passer l'armee du grand Prince Belgique: Dans profondez & non loing de Brucelles, Outre passez, detranchez sept à picque.   Promptly will one build a bridge of boats, To pass the army of the great Belgian Prince: Poured forth inside and not far from Brussels, Passed beyond, seven cut up by pike.   LXXXII.   Amas s'approche venant d'Esclauonie, L'Olestant vieux cité ruynera: Fort desolee verra sa Romanie, Puis la grande flamme esteindre ne s&cced;aura.   A throng approaches coming from Slaconia, The old Destroyer the city will ruin: He will see his "Romania" quite desolated, Then he will not know how to put out the great flame.   LXXXIII.   Combat nocturne le vaillant capitaine, Vaincu fuyra peu de gens profligé: Son peuple esmeu, sedition non vaine. Son propre fils le tiendra assiegé.   Combat by night the valiant captain Conquered will flee few people conquered: His people stirred up, sedition not in vain, His own son will hold him besieged.   LXXXIV.   Vn grand d'Auxerre mourra bien miserable. Chassé de ceux qui sous luy ont esté: Serré de chaines, apres d'vn rude cable, En l'an que Mars, Venus & Sol mis en esté.   A great one of Auxerre will die very miserable, Driven out by those who had been under him: Put in chains, behind a strong cable, In the year that Mars, Venus and Sun are in conjunction in summer.   LXXXV.   Le charbon blanc du noir sera chassé, Prisonnier faict mené au tombereau, More Chameau sur pieds entrelassez, Lors le puisné sillera l'aubereau.   The white coal will be chased by the black one, Made prisoner led to the dung cart, Moor Camel on twisted feet, Then the younger one will blind the hobby falcon.   LXXXVI.   L'an que Saturne en eau sera conioinct, Avecques Sol, le Roy fort puissant, A Reims & Aix sera receu & oingt, Apres conquestes meurtrira innocens.   The year that Saturn will be conjoined in Aquarius With the Sun, the very powerful King Will be received and anointed at Reims and Aix, After conquests he will murder the innocent.   LXXXVII.   Vn fils du Roy tant de langues apprins, A son aisné au regne different: Son pere beau au plus grand fils comprins, Fera perir principal adherant.   A King's son learned in many languages, Different from his senior in the realm: His handsome father understood by the greater son, He will cause his principal adherent to perish.   LXXXVIII.   Le grand Antoine de nom de faict sordide De Phthyriaise à son dernier rongé: Vn qui de plomb voudra estre cupide, Passant le port d'esleu sera plongé.   Anthony by name great by the filthy fact Of Lousiness wasted to his end: One who will want to be desirous of lead, Passing the port he will be immersed by the elected one.   LXXXIX.   Trente de Londres secret coniureront, Contre leur Roy, sur le pont l'entreprise: Leuy, satalites là mort de gousteront, Vn Roy esleut blonde, natif de Frize.   Thirty of London will conspire secretly Against their King, the enterprise on the bridge: He and his satellites will have a distaste for death, A fair King elected, native of Frisia.   XC.   Les deux copies aux mers ne pourrôt ioindre, Dans cest instan trembler Misan, Ticin: Faim, soif, doutance si fort les viendra poindre Chair, pain, ne viures n'auront vn seul boucin.   The two armies will be unable to unite at the walls, In that instant Milan and Pavia to tremble: Hunger, thirst, doubt will come to plague them very strongly They will not have a single morsel of meat, bread or victuals.   XCI.   Au Duc Gaulois contrainct battre au duelle, La nef Mellele monech n'approchera, Tort accusé, prison perpetuelle, Son fils regner auant mort taschera.   For the Gallic Duke compelled to fight in the duel, The ship of Melilla will not approach Monaco, Wrongly accused, perpetual prison, His son will strive to reign before his death.   XCII.   Teste tranchee du vaillant capitaine, Seza iettee deuant son aduersaire: Son corps pendu de la classe à l'ancienne Confus fuira par rames à vent contraire.   The head of the valiant captain cut off, It will be thrown before his adversary: His body hung on the sail-yard of the ship, Confused it will flee by oars against the wind.   XCIII.   Vn serpent veu proche du lict royal, Sera par dame nuict chiens n'abayeront: Lors naistre en France vn Prince tant royal, Du ciel venu tous les Princes verront.   A serpent seen near the royal bed, It will be by the lady at night the dogs will not bark: Then to be born in France a Prince so royal, Come from heaven all the Princes will see him.   XCIV.   Deux grands freres seront chassez d'Espaigne, L'aisne vaincu sous les mons Pyrenees: Rougir mer, Rosne, sang Lemand d'Alemaigne, Narbon, Blyterre, d'Agth contaminees.   Two great brothers will be chased out of Spain, The elder conquered under the Pyrenees mountains: The sea to redden, Rhône, bloody Lake Geneva from Germany, Narbonne, Béziers contaminated by Agde.   XCV.   Le regne à deux l'aissé bien peu tiendront, Trois ans sept mois passez feront la guere Les deux Vestales contre rebelleront, Victor puisnay en Armenique terre   The realm left to two they will hold it very briefly, Three years and seven months passed by they will make war: The two Vestals will rebel in opposition, Victor the younger in the land of Brittany.   XCVI.   La soeur aisnee de l'Isle Britannique Quinze ans deuant le frere aura naissance, Par son promis moyennant verrifique, Succedera au regne de balance.   The elder sister of the British Isle Will be born fifteen years before her brother, Because of her promise procuring verification, She will succeed to the kingdom of the balance.   XCVII.   L'an que Mercure, Mars, Venus retrograde, Du grand Monarque la ligne ne faillir: Esleu du peuple l'vsitant pres de Gaudole. Qu'en paix & regne viendra fort enuieillir.   The year that Mercury, Mars, Venus in retrogression, The line of the great Monarch will not fail: Elected by the Portuguese people near Cadiz, One who will come to grow very old in peace and reign.   XCVIII.   Les Albanois passeront dedans Rome, Moyennan Langres demipler affublez. Marquis & Duc ne pardonnes à homme, Feu, sang, morbiles point d'eau faillir les bleds.   Those of Alba will pass into Rome, By means of Langres the multitude muffled up, Marquis and Duke will pardon no man, Fire, blood, smallpox no water the crops to fail.   XCIX.   Laisné vaillant de la fille du Roy, Respoussera si profond les Celtiques, Qu'il mettra foudres, combien en tel arroy Peu & loing, puis profond és Hesperiques.   The valiant elder son of the King's daughter, He will hurl back the Celts very far, Such that he will cast thunderbolts, so many in such an array Few and distant, then deep into the Hesperias.   C.   Du feu celeste au Royal edifice. Quand la lumiere de Mars defaillira, Sept mois grand guerre, mort gens de malefice Roüan, Eureux au Roy ne faillira.   From the celestial fire on the Royal edifice, When the light of Mars will go out, Seven months great war, people dead through evil Rouen, Evreux the King will not fail.  

With skinwalkers becoming the subjects of popular books and recently, movies, it is fair to ask about their origins. In August 1996, a team of scientists arrived on a remote ranch in NE Utah to investigate a bizarre litany of phenomena; including unidentified flying objects, animal mutilations, paranormal and poltergeist occurrences that appeared to erupt almost on a nightly basis. The list went on and on. The first piece of information the team learned from local people was that the ranch lay "on the path of the skinwalker". Was the skinwalker responsible for the weird happenings on this ranch? What followed was a multi-year odyssey into the dark unknown as the science team tried to pursue, measure and photograph the elusive "skinwalker". The complete account of the unprecedented research project is published in the book "Hunt for the Skinwalker".

In the religion and cultural lore of Southwestern tribes, there are witches known as skinwalkers who can alter their shapes at will to assume the characteristics of certain animals. Most of the world's cultures have their own shapeshifter legends. The best known is the werewolf, popularized by dozens of Hollywood movies. European legends as far back as the 1500's tell stories about werewolves. (The modern psychiatric term for humans who believe they are wolves is lycanthropy.) The people of India have a were- tiger legend. Africans have stories of were-leopards and were- jackals. Egyptians tell of were-hyenas.

In the American Southwest, the Navajo, Hopi, Utes, and other tribes each have their own version of the skinwalker story, but basically they boil down to the same thing--a malevolent witch capable of transforming itself into a wolf, coyote, bear, bird, or any other animal. The witch might wear the hide or skin of the animal identity it wants to assume, and when the transformation is complete, the human witch inherits the speed, strength, or cunning of the animal whose shape it has taken.

"The Navajo skinwalkers use mind control to make their victims do things to hurt themselves and even end their lives," writes Doug Hickman, a New Mexico educator. "The skinwalker is a very powerful witch. They can run faster than a car and can jump mesa cliffs without any effort at all."

For the Navajo and other tribes of the southwest, the tales of skinwalkers are not mere legend. Just ask Michael Stuhff. A Nevada attorney, Stuhff is likely one of the few lawyers in the history of American jurisprudence to file legal papers against a Navajo witch. He has often represented Native Americans in his practice. He understands Indian law and has earned the trust of his Native American clients, in large part because he knows and respects tribal religious beliefs.

As a young attorney in the mid-70s, Stuhff worked in a legal aid program based near Genado Arizona. Many, if not most, of his clients were Navajo. His legal confrontation with a witch occurred in a dispute over child custody and financial support. His client, a Navajo woman who lived on the reservation with her son, was asking for full custody rights and back child support payments from her estranged husband, an Apache man. At one point during the legal wrangling, the husband got permission to take the son out for an evening, but didn't return the boy until the next day. The son later told his mother what had transpired that night.

According to the son, he spent the night with his father and a "medicine man." They built a fire atop a cliff and, for many hours, the medicine man performed ceremonies, songs, and incantations around the fire. As dawn broke, the three traveled into a wooded area near a cemetery, where they dug a hole. Into the hole, the medicine man deposited two dolls made of wood. One of the dolls was made of dark wood, the other of light wood. It was as if the two dolls were meant to represent the mother and her lawyer. Although Stuhff wasn't sure how seriously to take the news, he recognized that it certainly didn't sound good, so he sought out the advice of a Navajo professor at a nearby community college.

"He told me that the ceremony I had described was very powerful and very serious and that it meant that I was supposed to end up buried in that cemetery," Stuhff says. "He also said that a witch can perform this type of ceremony only four times in his life, because if he tries it more than that, the curse would come back on the witch himself. He also told me that if the intended victim found out about it, then the curse would come back onto the person who had requested it."

Stuhff thought about a way to let the husband know that he had found out about the ceremony, so he filed court papers that requested an injunction against the husband and the unknown medicine man, whom he described in the court documents as "John Doe, A Witch." The motion described in great detail the alleged ceremony. The opposing attorney appeared extremely upset by the motion, as did the husband and the presiding judge. The opposing lawyer argued to the court that the medicine man had performed "a blessing way ceremony," not a curse. But Stuhff knew that the judge, who was a Navajo, could distinguish between a blessing ceremony, which takes place in Navajo hogans (homes), and what was obviously a darker ceremony involving lookalike dolls that took place in the woods near a cemetery. The judge nodded in agreement when Stuhff responded. Before the judge could rule, Stuhff requested a recess so that the significance of his legal motion could sink in. The next day, the husband capitulated by agreeing to grant total custody to the mother and to pay all back child support.

"I took it very seriously because he took it seriously," Stuhff says. "I learned early on that sometimes witches will do things themselves to assist the supernatural, and I knew what that might mean."

Whether or not Stuhff literally believes that witches have supernatural powers, he acknowledges that this belief is strongly held in the Navajo nation. Certain communities on the reservation had reputations as witchcraft strongholds, he says. It is also unknown whether the witch he faced was a skinwalker or not. "Not all witches are skinwalkers," he says, "but all skinwalkers are witches. And skinwalkers are at the top. They are a witch's witch, so to speak."

According to University of Nevada-Las Vegas anthropologist Dan Benyshek, who specializes in the study of Native Americans of the Southwest, "Skinwalkers are purely evil in intent. I'm no expert on it, but the general view is that skinwalkers do all sorts of terrible things---they make people sick, they commit murders. They are graverobbers and necrophiliacs. They are greedy and evil people who must kill a sibling or other relative to be initiated as a skinwalker. They supposedly can turn into were-animals and can travel in supernatural ways."

Benyshek and other scientists do not necessarily endorse the legitimacy of the legends, but they recognize the importance of studying stories about skinwalkers because the power of the belief among Native Americans manifests itself in ways that are very real. "Oh, absolutely," says Benyshek explains. "Anthropologists have conducted scientific investigations into the beliefs in Native American witchcraft because of the effects of such beliefs on human health."

Anthropologist David Zimmerman of the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department explains: "Skinwalkers are folks that possess knowledge of medicine, medicine both practical (heal the sick) and spiritual (maintain harmony), and they are both wrapped together in ways that are nearly impossible to untangle."

As Zimmerman suggests, the flip side of the skinwalker coin is the power of tribal medicine men. Among the Navajo, for instance, medicine men train over a period of many years to become full- fledged practitioners in the mystical rituals of the Dine' (Navajo) people. The U.S. Public Health Service now works side by side with Navajo medicine men because the results of this collaboration have been proven, time and again, in clinical studies. The medicine men have shown themselves to be effective in treating a range of ailments.

"There has been a lot of serious research into medicine men and traditional healers," says Benyshek. "As healers, they are regarded as being very effective in some areas."
But there is a dark side to the learning of the medicine men. Witches follow some of the same training and obtain similar knowledge as their more benevolent colleagues, but they supplement both with their pursuit of the dark arts, or black magic. By Navajo law, a known witch has forfeited its status as a human and can be killed at will. The assumption is that a witch, by definition, is evil.

"Witchcraft was always an accepted, if not widely acknowledged part of Navajo culture," wrote journalist A. Lynn Allison. "And the killing of witches was historically as much accepted among the Navajo as among the Europeans." Allison has studied what she calls the "Navajo Witch Purge of 1878" and has written a book on the subject. In that year, more than 40 Navajo witches were killed or "purged" by tribe members because the Navajo had endured a horrendous forced march at the hands of the U.S. Army in which hundreds were starved, murdered, or left to die. At the end of the march, the Navajo were confined to a bleak reservation that left them destitute and starving. The gross injustice of their situation led them to conclude that witches might be responsible, so they purged their ranks of suspected witches as a means of restoring harmony and balance. Tribe members reportedly found a collection of witch artifacts wrapped in a copy of the Treaty of 1868 and "buried in the belly of a dead person." It was all the proof they needed to unleash their deadly purge.

"Unexplained sickness or death of tribal members or their livestock could arouse suspicion of witchcraft," wrote Allison in her book. "So could an unexplained reversal of fortune, good or bad."

In the Navajo world, where witchcraft is important, where daily behavior is patterned to avoid it, prevent it, and cure it, there are as many words for its various forms as there are words for various kinds of snow among the Eskimos. If the woman thought he was adan'ti, she thought he had the power of sorcery-to convert himself into animal form, to fly, to perhaps become invisible. Very specific ideas. Where had she gotten them?

The Navajo people do not openly talk about skinwalkers, certainly not to outsiders. Author Tony Hillerman, who has lived for many years among the Navajo, used the skinwalker legend as the backdrop for one of his immensely popular detective novels, one that pitted his intrepid Navajo lawmen Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn against the dark powers of witchcraft. The following excerpt is from Skinwalkers:

"You think that if I confess that I witched your baby, then the baby will get well and pretty soon I will die," Chee said. "Is that right? Or, if you kill me, then the witching will go away."
"You should confess," the woman said. "You should say you did it. Otherwise, I will kill you."

Hillerman has been harshly criticized by some Navajo for bringing unwanted attention to the subject of skinwalkers. "No one who has ever lived in the Navajo country would ever make light of this sinister situation," wrote one critic after Hillerman's book was produced as a movie that aired on PBS in 2003.

Anthropologist Zimmerman explains why so little information is available on skinwalkers: "Part of the reason you won't find a lot of information about skinwalkers in the literature is because it is a sensitive topic among the Dine. This is often referred to as proprietary information, meaning it belongs to the Dine' people and is not to be shared with the non-Dine'."

We know from personal experience that is it extremely difficult to get Native Americans to discuss skinwalkers, even in the most general terms. Practitioners of adishgash, or witchcraft, are considered to be a very real presence in the Navajo world. Few Navajo want to cross paths with naagloshii (or yee naaldooshi), otherwise known as a skinwalker. The cautious Navajo will not speak openly about skinwalkers, especially with strangers, because to do so might invite the attention of an evil witch. After all, a stranger who asks questions about skinwalkers just might be one himself, looking for his next victim.

"They curse people and cause great suffering and death," one Navajo writer explained. "At night, their eyes glow red like hot coals. It is said that if you see the face of a Naagloshii, they have to kill you. If you see one and know who it is, they will die. If you see them and you don't know them, they have to kill you to keep you from finding out who they are. They use a mixture that some call corpse powder, which they blow into your face. Your tongue turns black and you go into convulsions and you eventually die. They are known to use evil spirits in their ceremonies. The Dine' have learned ways to protect themselves against this evil and one has to always be on guard."

One story told on the Navajo reservation in Arizona concerns a woman who delivered newspapers in the early morning hours. She claims that, during her rounds, she heard a scratching on the passenger door of her vehicle. Her baby was in the car seat next to her. The door flung open and she saw the horrifying form of a creature she described as half-man, half-beast, with glowing red eyes and a gnarly arm that was reaching for her child. She fought it off, managed to pull the door closed, then pounded the gas pedal and sped off. To her horror, she says, the creature ran along with the car and continued to try to open the door. It stayed with her until she screeched up to an all-night convenience store. She ran inside, screaming and hysterical, but when the store employee dashed outside, the being had vanished. Outsiders may view the story skeptically, and any number of alternative explanations might be suggested, but it is taken seriously on the Navajo reservation.

Although skinwalkers are generally believed to prey only on Native Americans, there are recent reports from Anglos claiming they had encountered skinwalkers while driving on or near tribal lands. One New Mexico Highway Patrol officer told us that while patrolling a stretch of highway south of Gallup, New Mexico, he had had two separate encounters with a ghastly creature that seemingly attached itself to the door of his vehicle. During the first encounter, the veteran law enforcement officer said the unearthly being appeared to be wearing a ghostly mask as it kept pace with his patrol car. To his horror, he realized that the ghoulish specter wasn't attached to his door after all. Instead, he said, it was running alongside his vehicle as he cruised down the highway at a high rate of speed.

The officer said he had a nearly identical experience in the same area a few days later. He was shaken to his core by these encounters, but didn't realize that he would soon get some confirmation that what he had seen was real. While having coffee with a fellow highway patrolman not long after the second incident, the cop cautiously described his twin experiences. To his amazement, the second officer admitted having his own encounter with a white-masked ghoul, a being that appeared out of nowhere and then somehow kept pace with his cruiser as he sped across the desert. The first officer told us that he still patrols the same stretch of highway and that he is petrified every time he enters the area.

Once Caucasian family still speaks in hushed tones about its encounter with a skinwalker, even though it happened in 1983. While driving at night along Route 163 through the massive Navajo Reservation, the four members of the family felt that someone was following them. As their truck slowed down to round a sharp bend, the atmosphere changed, and time itself seemed to slow down. Then something leaped out of a roadside ditch at the vehicle.

"It was black and hairy and was eye level with the cab," one of the witnesses recalled. "Whatever this thing was, it wore a man's clothes. It had on a white and blue checked shirt and long pants. Its arms were raised over its head, almost touching the top of the cab. It looked like a hairy man or a hairy animal in man's clothing, but it didn't look like an ape or anything like that. Its eyes were yellow and its mouth was open."

The father described as a fearless man who had served two tours in Vietnam, turned completely white, the blood drained from his face. The hair on his neck and arms stood straight up, like a cat under duress, and noticeable goose bumps erupted from his skin. Although time seemed frozen during this bizarre interlude, the truck continued on its way, and the family was soon miles down the highway.

A few days later, at their home in Flagstaff, the family awoke to the sounds of loud drumming. As they peered out their windows, they saw the dark forms of three "men" outside their fence. The shadowy beings tried to climb the fence to enter the yard but seemed inexplicably unable to cross onto the property. Frustrated by their failed entry, the men began to chant in the darkness as the terrified family huddled inside the house.

The story leaves several questions unanswered. If the beings were skinwalkers, and if skinwalkers can assume animal form or even fly, it isn't clear why they couldn't scale a fence. It is also not known whether the family called the police about the attempted intrusion by strangers.

The daughter, Frances, says she contacted friend, a Navajo woman who is knowledgeable about witchcraft. The woman visited the home, inspected the grounds, and offered her opinion that the intruders had been skinwalkers who were drawn by the family's "power" and that they had intended to take that power by whatever means necessary. She surmised that the intrusion failed because something was protecting the family, while admitting that it was all highly unusual since skinwalkers rarely bother non-Indians. The Navajo woman performed a blessing ceremony at the home. Whether the ceremony had any legitimacy or not, the family felt better for it and has had no similar experiences in the ensuing years.

This disturbing account is not offered as definitive proof of anything, particularly since we have not personally interviewed the witnesses. It is presented only as an illustration of the intense fear and unsettling descriptions that permeate skinwalker lore, and which are accepted at face value by the Native Americans for whom the skinwalker topic is not just a spooky children's story.

So, exactly how and when did the skinwalker legend intersect with the Gorman ranch in northeastern Utah? Retired teacher and UFO researcher Junior Hicks says his friends in the Ute tribe believe the skinwalker presence in the Uinta Basin extends back at least 15 generations. The Utes, described by historians as a fierce and warlike people, were sometimes aligned with the Navajo against common enemies during the 1800's. But the alliance didn't last. When the Utes first acquired horses from the Spanish, they enthusiastically embraced the Spanish example by engaging in the slave trade. They reportedly abducted Navajos and other Indians and sold them in New Mexico slave markets. Later, during the American Civil War, some Ute bands took orders from Kit Carson in a military campaign against the Navajo. According to Hicks, the Utes believe the Navajo put a curse on their tribe in retribution for many perceived transgressions. And ever since that time, Hicks was told, the skinwalker has plagued the Ute people.

The ranch property has been declared as off-limits to tribal members because it lies in the path of the skinwalker. Even today, Utes refuse to set foot on what they see as accursed land. But the tribe doesn't necessarily believe that the skinwalker lives on the ranch. Hicks says the Utes told him that the skinwalker lives in a place called Dark Canyon, which is not far from the ranch. In the early 1980's, Hicks sought permission from tribal elders to explore the canyon. He's been told there are centuries-old petroglyphs in Dark Canyon, some of which depict the skinwalker. But the tribal council denied his request to explore the canyon. One member later confided to Hicks that the tribe denied the request because it did not want to disturb the skinwalker for fear that it might "create problems." The tribe's advice to Hicks: "Leave it alone."

Dan Banyshek suggests that some parts of this account don't add up. He thinks it unlikely that the Navajo would enlist the assistance of a skinwalker to carry out their revenge on the Utes, no matter how much the tribe might want some payback on their enemy. "The skinwalkers are regarded as selfish, greedy, and untrustworthy," Banyshek says. "If the Navajo knew someone to be a skinwalker, they would probably kill him, not ask for his help with the Utes. Besides, even if he was asked, the skinwalker would be unlikely to help the Navajo get revenge, since his motives are entirely evil and self-serving. From the Navajo perspective, this story doesn't make sense."

But from the Ute perspective, it could ring true. "The Utes could very likely have concluded that the curse is real," explains Banyshek. "Different tribes or bands would often tell stories about the evil motives of other tribes they were in conflict with, about how another tribe was in league with witches, or how other tribes were cannibals. The Utes might tell themselves this story as a way to explain their own misfortunes."

Hicks told us that the Indians say they see them a lot. "When they go out camping," he says, "they sprinkle bark around their campsites and light it as protection against these things. But it's not just Indians. Whites see them, too." Like his Ute neighbors, Hicks sometimes uses the terms skinwalker and Sasquatch interchangeably. He says he's seen photographs of the telltale huge footprints often associated with Bigfoot, taken in the vicinity of the Gorman ranch. But whether it was a run-of-the-mill Sasquatch or a far more sinister skinwalker isn't always clear, even to those who accept he existence of both.

"There was an incident 16 years ago where a skinwalker was on a porch in Fort Duchesne," Hicks remembers. "They called the tribal police and tracked it east toward the river. They took some shots at it and thought they hit it because they found blood on the ground, but they never found a body."

We also conducted an interview with a Ute man who worked as a security officer for the tribe. He provided us with details about his own encounter with a Bigfoot or skinwalker. Brandon Ware (not his real name) received his police training at an academy associated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He says he was working the 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. shift, guarding a tribal building near a part of the reservation known as Little Chicago. Between midnight and 1:00 in the morning, Ware walked up to check on the building and noticed that the guard dogs inside were calm but intently staring through a window at something outside. They weren't barking, he said, just looking.

"I could see this big ol' round thing, you know, in the patio over there," Ware recalls, " and the hair started raising on my neck and I kinda got worried a little bit trying to figure out what things were. I stood there and watched it for a few minutes, then it came over the top and headed down the road. But I could smell it. Even after it was gone, you could smell it."

Ware says that when the creature realized it was being observed, it briefly looked over at Ware, then vaulted over a short wall that surrounded the patio area outside the building. He says it took off running toward the Little Chicago neighborhood, crashing into garbage cans as it moved past the homes, and generating a cacophony of loud barking by every dog in the immediate area. Ware says he then went into the building and telephoned another on-duty officer who was nearby. By the time Ware left the building, the other officer had pulled up in his patrol car.

Ware told the other officer to turn off his engine so they could listen to the hubbub that was still unfolding among the nearby homes. "We listened a little bit and we could hear it. Then we jumped in and took off. We headed down the hill to see if we could catch up to it."

The two officers didn't see the creature again that night, but had no trouble tracing its path through the cluster of homes because they were able to follow a noticeable trail of scattered garbage cans. "It must have gone straight on through, " Ware recalls. "We could see where cans---people usually tie up their cans---they were all off. I told the other officer, 'hey man, maybe it picked up them cans and was throwing them at those dogs'."

Ware provided us with further details about what he had seen. His initial impression was of something dark and round. But he says that when the creature stood erect to vault over the patio wall, it appeared to be "huge." Ware was carrying a large flashlight at the time of the encounter. He says he was using the flashlight just minutes before the encounter while checking the doors of the building, but when he tried to use it to illuminate the creature, the light wouldn't turn on. When the creature took off running down the hill, the flashlight clicked back on.

"He moved quick," he told us. "Whatever it was, it moved---I called him a 'he'---it could have been a she. It could have been whatever, but he moved quick going down through there. But it was kind of cool. It was neat. I never knew it....it was something I've never seen before. I've heard about them. I heard the old people talking about some of these things."

Just a few nights later, Ware got a chance for a second look. He and another officer, "Bob", were patrolling a back road that emerges at a spot known as Shorty's Hill. They emerged from the road to a pasture area that is punctuated by a large rock. "I don't know if it was the same guy or not," Ware says. "It was a big ol' black hairy thing hanging there, and when it turned around, it had big ol' eyes on him about yea big. We'd just passed it and I told Bob 'there he is,' and then he come to a screeching halt and we backed up. By the time we got out, it was gone."

Ware described the creature's eyes as being "coal red" and unusually large. He isn't sure whether the headlights of the patrol car might have affected his perception of the beast's eye color, but tends to doubt it. He has no doubt about the presence of the beast itself. "We got out there to go look and we had shotguns and pistols and everything. We were going to blow him away," Ware admits.

When pressed for his opinion of what he had seen, whether it might have been a Sasquatch or even a skinwalker, Ware's response seemed to draw a distinction between the two, but the distinction became blurry as the conversation progressed and Ware explained his understanding of tribal lore.

"Sasquatch, he's an old man, an old man that lives on a mountain," he explained. "He just comes in and looks at people and then he goes back out again. He just lives there all his life, never takes care of himself, and just smells real bad. Almost like, almost like that guy, like he is dirty, dirty human being smell is what it smelled like...a real deep, bad odor....It smelled like dirty bad underarms...The closer I got, the worse the smell got." Could the creature he saw have been a skinwalker?

"Nope," said Ware. "A skinwalker's smaller. A skinwalker is the size of humans, six foot and under. They don't come in most of the time to where the animals are at. They come in where people are at. They can come right here and you'd never know he was standing here looking at you in the middle of the night...they can take the shape of anything they want to take the shape of. Like I said, they're medicine."

Ware said that skinwalker sightings among the Utes are not uncommon. He told us of an encounter with two shapeshifters near the Gorman ranch. The figures he described are so unusual, so far outside our own concept of reality as to be almost comical, like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon. One local who saw them in the road in Fort Duchesne described them as humans with dog heads smoking cigarettes. But Ware was perfectly serious in his description. He certainly did not bare his soul for comic effect and we have no interest in making light of his story. For him, and for many others, skinwalkers are as real as the morning sun or the evening moon. They are a part of everyday life, and they most certainly are integral to the story of the Gorman ranch.

Could the Utes have used the skinwalker curse as an all- encompassing explanation for their assorted tribal misfortunes, as Banyshek asks? Or are they relying on the legend as an umbrella explanation for the wide range of paranormal events that have been reported in the vicinity of their lands for generations--in particular, in the vicinity of the ranch?

If a skinwalker really is a shapeshifter, capable of mind control and other trickery, might it also have the ability to conjure up nightmarish visions of Bigfoot or UFOs? Could it steal and mutilate cattle, incinerate dogs, generate images of monsters , unknown creatures, or extinct species, and could it also frighten hapless residents with poltergeist-like activity?

At the very least, the skinwalker legend might be a convenient way for the Utes to grasp a vast menu of otherwise inexplicable events, the same sort of events that might stymie and confuse a team of modern scientists.

One thing is sure, by summer 2007 it is obvious that the legend of skinwalkers is entering popular culture in ways not seen before.

Colm Kelleher and George Knapp
Authors: Hunt for the Skinwalker
http://www.huntfortheskinwalker.com

This is the Season 2 Premiere of Animal Planet's "The Haunted." After having unusual experiences in their home, a family calls upon a paranormal team and demonologist to help. When they try to banish the entity from the home, it violently possesses one of the family members, and literally enters her body. This episode features the Oklahoma paranormal team OKPRI, many members of which are now Society of the Haunted (www.societyofthehaunted.com). Featured in this episode are investigators Chris Borthick, Christy Clark, Cathy Nance, and Mike Ricksecker, demonologist Carl Johnson, and additional investigative footage that included Logan Corelli, Dustin Cupit, and Taylor Nance.

A person who was placed under hypnosis, "receives" messages from an alien entity claiming to be here to help man, and even commenting on Jesus, as being insignificant, and how that all people how the power of Jesus. Man has misinterpreted the meaning of Jesus's life on Earth. He was no different than any other man, and was simply able to remember certain principles. These principles can be reached again at any time as long you submit yourself to the practice of mediation to reach us so that we can help you understand the truth of your creation and the truth of your position in it. The topic chosen for the message, is weak, and not thought out very well to those who scrutinize with independent thought. This is obvious deception. Beings from another world would have no immediate comment on Jesus, or even know of him. They would be seeking resources to perpetuate their growth throughout the universe. It is similar to the idea that grandma is haunting her home after she has died because she loved it so. This is not the case at all. Demons gain great pleasure in fooling people to believe such things. It brings them an opening into people's lives. Some become addicted to tarot cards, horoscopes, the EVP phenomena, and Ouija boards. To the point where they are unable to make a move without consulting those mediums first. Prince of the Powers of the Air. Lord of That which Flies. The Great Deceiver. Satan. This is all part of the End Time Delusion. Revelation speaks of demons that look like FROGS causing false wonders and miracles in the sky. The Grays certainly look like frog like creatures.

Random Number Generators around the world that were taking part in the Global Consciousness Project (GCP) at Princeton, became less random as the moment approached for the first plane to hit the World Trade Center towers on the morning of September 11 2001. Is this a sign of interconnected consciousness among human beings?