What are the predictions for 2026 according to Old Moore, Baba Vanga, and Nostradamus?
2026: predictions from Nostradamus, Baba Vanga, and Ireland's Old Moore
Before we give any weight to predictions for 2026 let's see how these 'futurologists' got on with foretelling what was going to happen over the past year...
14th century astrologer, seer and plague doctor, Nostradamus was also known as the 'Prophet of Doom' — which is a good clue as to the type of predictions he's become renowned for.
His book, , was published in 1555 and regularly mentions wars, natural disasters, assassinations, nuclear attacks and revolutions.
- Nostradamus mentioned a dire future for Europe. He talks about "cruel wars" engulfing the continent and the resurgence of an "ancient plague," worse than enemies.
He says the "lands of Europe" will be involved in "cruel wars".
Yes, there has been conflict ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
- "Through long war all the army exhausted, so that they do not find money for the soldiers; instead of gold or silver, they will come to coin leather, Gallic brass, and the crescent sign of the Moon."
We wondered if ‘Gallic brass’ meant a French involvement? And just this week European leaders met to launch an International Claims Commission to compensate Kyiv for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks and alleged war crimes — and France has demanded ‘robust security guarantees’ for Ukraine before territory talks.
We had interpreted the 'crescent sign of the Moon' as referring to Turkey but the coat of arms of the Hungarian Székely community of Romania features a crescent moon. And Russia's energy ally Hungary has just signed a US gas deal — so maybe that's on us for how we interpreted it last year.
Just to be clear, Nostradamus' predictions aren't usually about specific years. He wrote them as collections of 100 stanzas called 'centuries'. So for 2026 we look at the 26th stanza in each collection...
- Century I's 26th stanza tells us that "the great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt". Does he mean someone great will actually be struck by lightning or should we take the more colloquial interpretation of a thunderbold as something very shocking?
- Century I, verse 26 ends with a reference to "pestilence in Tuscany". Italy was the first country outside Asia where COVID was detected. Did verse 26 refer to that event or is there another pandemic on the way?
Old style plagues did involve insects and maybe this pestilence does too. The Italian for Tuscany is Toscana and Toscana virus is a virus that can be transmitted to humans by bites from infected sandflies so maybe it's literal 'pests' he's referring to?
- Century II, verse 26 warns that "the Ticino will overflow / With blood, fires, deaths, drowned by the long-edged blow". Ticino is in Switzerland — does this signify that the famed Swiss neutrality is in jeopardy or is it something more specific?
- Century IV, stanza 26 prophesies: "The great swarm of bees will arise, / Such that one will not know whence they have come."
We've been visited by the Asian hornet last summer so it could be more of those. Or, let's be optimistic — we've had dire drops in bee populations so maybe they're going to recover. Of course Nostradamus may not have had the language to predict drone technology and a swarm of bees could have been his way of alerting us to more drones and drone incursions.
- There's more worrying talk in Century VII, stanza 26 with: "Foists and galleys around seven ships, / a mortal war will be let loose."
Foists and galleys are both types of boats. There have already been concerns about so-called 'shadow fleet' vessels passing through Ireland’s maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Vessels suspected of being part of the Russian 'shadow fleet' have been linked to damage caused to undersea cables in recent months, in particular in the Baltic Sea. So this one seems credible for sure.
Old Moore's Almanac has been around in various forms for 260 years. Founder, Theophilus Moore, ran a classical academy at Milltown which was then a village near Dublin (since that time, it has been incorporated into the city). A teacher of Irish, English, Greek and Latin, he became known as a clever mathematician and a wizard of astrology, and earned the nickname 'The Irish Merlin'.
- Old Moore had mentioned a possibility of 'white smoke'. And, as we all know, white smoke coming from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel signals that a new Pope has been elected. On Easter Monday, April 21 2025 Pope Francis died at the age of 88. And in early May 133 cardinals gathered in the Vatican to elect a new leader of the Catholic Church. So Old Moore was spot on with this one.
The editor of has commented: "In previous years, Old Moore predicted that Kanye would have mental health problems and that Trump would run for president again. He also predicted the rise of Bitcoin over 10 years ago. And of course, he predicted the pandemic, a year before it happened."
- In 2023, he predicted that there would be a “submarine drama” (there was, the Titan submersible).
- "In 2024, the predictions said that Biden would step down before the election, Trump would suffer assassination attempts, and the USA would swing conservative with its voting preferences. It also predicted that many European countries would swing conservative."
- "The Almanac also said that there would be a space drama, and of course, some poor astronauts got stuck in space."
- Ireland will have huge drama at the Eurovision
- An assassination warning around Starmer.
- Irish immigration debate still rages in Ireland, with a new political party forming.
- Germany’s political situation is wild in 2026, with assassination attempts, cheating scandals and controversy.
- Avalanche cluster.
- New replacement for the Big Bang theory.
- Mini ice age pre-conditions are met.
- ‘Wokeness’ to fall out of fashion.
- Cruise ship drama.
- Movies, commercials and video games will be made with AI. No more movie studios.
- Financial incentives for babies all over the world.
- Previously tax-free zones in the Middle East start charging low amounts of tax.
- Free phone and WiFi offered with no bills.
- Biden in the news for non-political reasons, it’s the final performance.
- Modern feminism out, new kind of feminism is in.
- Reproductive problems in young people.
- Cloud seeding scandal.
- Mark Zuckerberg marriage peril.
- Robot romance stories.
Vangelia Gushterova was born in the then-Yugoslavia. When she was 12, she lost her eyesight during a storm when she was tossed into the air and thrown to the ground by a powerful gust of wind. Her family found her close to death several days later. She said she experienced her first vision during the days she was missing.
Baba Vanga (Grandmother Vanga) died at age 85 in 1996 and was known as the Nostradamus from the Balkans.
One of Baba Vanga's 2025 predictions was about religious tensions rising in Europe, possibly leading to clashes between Christians and Muslims. She warned that Europe will go through major changes in the year ahead, experiencing conflicts on a scale not seen since World War II.
And while have always been various religious tensions ranging from the Crusades to the War of Cologne, the Spanish Inquisition and the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, there's no denying that modern day culture wars have religious bases.
- Apparently 2026 is going to be a year of change when old powers fall and new powers emerge. One interpretation is that the global centre of power will shift to Asia in 2026 , and China will emerge as the world's leading military and economic force. Even if you only look at Chinese online shopping sites such as Temu and Shein then this one could be seen as already well underway.
- Another prediction by Baba Vanga for 2026 is that there will be a significant battle, which she believes will be a worldwide struggle.
- Baba Vanga has been fairly big on extraterrestrial life too. One of the more dramatic predictions is that we will come into contact with extraterrestrial life in 2026. This prediction has been made for previous eras too. Whether she was right or not hasn't been definitively proven but maybe this is the year...
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