YES MA AM The Delphic Oracle is one of the earliest stories in classical antiquity of prophetic abilities The Pythia the priestess presiding over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was believed to be able to deliver prophecies inspired by Apollo during rituals beginning in the 8th century BC 11 It is often said that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapors rising from the ground and that she spoke gibberish believed to be the voice of Apollo which priests reshaped into the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature Other scholars believe records from the time indicate that the Pythia spoke intelligibly and gave prophecies in her own voice 12 The Pythia was a position served by a succession of women probably selected from amongst a guild of priestesses of the temple The last recorded response was given in 393 AD when the emperor Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation Recent geological investigations raise the possibility that ethylene gas caused the Pythia s state of inspiration 13 One of the most enduring historical references to what some consider to be psychic ability is the prophecies of Michel de Nostredame 1503 1566 often Latinized to Nostradamus published during the French Renaissance period Nostradamus was a French apothecary and seer who wrote collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide and have rarely been out of print since his death He is best known for his book Les Propheties the first edition of which appeared in 1555 Taken together his written works are known to have contained at least 6 338 quatrains or prophecies 14 as well as at least eleven annual calendars Most of the quatrains deal with disasters such as plagues earthquakes wars floods invasions murders droughts and battles all undated Nostradamus is a controversial figure His many enthusiasts as well as the popular press credit him with predicting many major world events Interest in his work is still considerable especially in the media and in popular culture By contrast most academic scholars maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations sometimes deliberate or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power 15