To avoid the threat of persecution for witchcraft, and to capture the public’s imagination, Mother Shipton cleverly dressed her more controversial and noteworthy prophecies in the form of poetic rhyme and verse. Some of her poetry foretold significant changes and circumstances that would occur centuries into the future and seem to include our present time, and beyond.
Ursula Southeil was a prophetess who lived during the same era as the famed soothsayer Nostradamus. She was 15 years his senior and although she did not have the same educational opportunities as Nostradamus, she was equally as savvy, and was recognized with distinction.
Ursula was born in 1488 in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, in England. Her mother was a teenage orphan. Shrouded in poverty, it is believed that Ursula and her mother lived away from town in a nearby cave where she was born. It is said that through living so close to nature, Ursula began to commune with the natural world. Her love connection to the Earth, the trees, the plants, the animal-people, and the waterways likely heightened her psychic abilities.
An abbot took pity on the pair, and at the age of 2 years old, placed Ursula into a foster home and placed her mother into a nunnery, where unfortunately she died a few years later.
Ursula keenly studied herbal medicine, and as her knowledge grew, she became a valuable herbalist within her town. This gave her the opportunity to interact with more townspeople. In doing so, she happened to meet her future husband, Toby Shipton, who she married at the age of 24. Upon marriage, she adopted her husband’s surname and hence came to be known as Mrs. Shipton. Two years later, in 1514, her husband’s untimely death occurred. As an easy target for mistreatment, Mrs. Shipton was plagued by gossip, suspicion, and finger-pointing about his death as well as her own idiosyncrasies and her physical abnormalities. So, she moved back to her cave.
Despite the rumors about her, and gossip about her unattractive physical features, the only information that seems accurately recorded is that Mother Shipton had an angled nose and a spinal deformation or hunchback. A more contemporary portrait of her might give us a clearer picture of her appearance.
Her psychic insight was evident at an early age. She foresaw local events which made people realize that she was indeed a soothsayer.
For example: “Water shall come over Ouse Bridge, and a windmill shall be set upon a Tower, and an Elm Tree shall lie at every man’s door.” This came true when a water pipe system was introduced to Yorkshire for the first time, with the pipes made of elm trees. The pipes carried water drawn with a windmill built on a conduit house that went across the Ouse bridge to every house.
“Before Ouse bridge and Trinity church meets, they shall build it in the day, and it shall fall in the night; until they get the highest stone of Trinity church to be the lowest stone of Ouse bridge.” Trinity church was later blown down by a tempest, and parts of Ouse bridge were destroyed by a flood. Although people worked to repair the bridge, the structures fell down in the night until finally, the highest stone of the Trinity steeple was used as the foundation of the bridge.
Mrs. Shipton eventually won the support of the community who realized that she had much to offer the world. She would share her predictions about other people’s lives, and what she knew about herbs and natural healing with those who sought her knowledge and talent. During medieval times, most people didn’t have a chance to see doctors and sought local herbalists, monasteries, and apothecaries to obtain healing herbs. So, herbalists took on the role of doctors, and people flocked to her for remedies as well as consulting for their future.
It is said that when she became an older woman and people had the utmost confidence in her abilities, she came to be known as Mother Shipton.
Mother Shipton became famous for the accuracy of her visions that revealed dramatic changes that would ring with exactness. Predictions such as the disbanding of the powerful Catholic Church by Henry VIII, and the rise of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne of England brought both credibility and whispers of fear of her abilities.
“In London, Primrose Hill shall be In center hold a Bishop’s See.”
“Primrose Hill” is a park in London once owned by King Henry VIII of England. He broke with the Roman Catholic Church and had Parliament declare him to be the supreme head of the Church of England because the Pope wouldn’t grant him a marriage annulment for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This was the beginning of protestant reform in England. Protestants believed people should be responsible for their own faith, not looking to the Catholic Church and its representatives for spiritual salvation and guidance. “See” is a Latin origin word that denotes the seat or chair of a bishop, which means the bishop’s authority. Hence, one could say that the King adopted a role similar to that of a Bishop.
“The Lion fierce being dead and gone, A maiden Queen shall reign anon. The Papal power shall bear no sway, Rome’s creed shall hence be swept away. The western monarch’s wooden horses Shall be destroyed by the Drake’s forces.”
As the Lions were a state symbol of medieval England, the Lion here refers to the fierce Queen Mary I. Soon after her death, the “maiden Queen” or Queen Elizabeth I succeeded the crown in 1558. Queen Elizabeth I was indeed a “maiden” who never married while ruling England for over forty years. Queen Elizabeth supported Protestantism, and hence became the sole head of state and religion of England. During her reign, faith in the Pope and the Vatican were substantially reduced among her subjects and subsequently their power over England was also weakened.
Regarding the wooden horses that Mother Shipton mentioned, this refers to the Spanish Armada. Under the rule of monarch King Philip II of Spain and Portugal, the Armada, with the Pope’s support, attempted to attack England in order to expand the influence of the Catholic Church. However, the English successfully fought against the Spanish fleet. Francis Drake was one of the leading naval commanders who led the victory of England under Queen Elizabeth I.
With special discernment and wisdom that helped her win the support of many in her community, Mother Shipton sustained herself by reading the fortunes of people who visited her to ask what was to come. It is said she was consulted by people from all levels of society as her name spread far and wide, including the King who sent his men to get advice from her. Mother Shipton worked locally, and nationally, for the rich and poor, and presented information on issues relating to everyday and spiritual concerns.
To avoid the threat of persecution for witchcraft, and to capture the public’s imagination, Mother Shipton cleverly dressed her more controversial and noteworthy prophecies in the form of poetic rhyme and verse. Some of her poetry foretold significant changes and circumstances that would occur centuries into the future and seem to include our present time, and beyond.
It is recorded that on one occasion while sharing her visions with an abbot who had great esteem for her, she withdrew abruptly with a deep sigh, her tears began to flow and she was wringing her hands, as if some extraordinary mischance had befallen her. “Ah! Mr. Abbot,” she said, “who can with dry eyes repeat what must next ensue, or but think upon it without a heart full of agony? To see virtue trampled on, and vice exalted; beggars on horseback, and princes on foot; the innocent condemned, and the bloodthirsty go scot free; but since my promise binds me to fulfill your request, I shall proceed from where I left off.” “I know I go - I know I’m free I know that this will come to be. Secreted this - for this will be Found by later dynasty”
In 1561, at the ripe age of 73, Mother Shipton died in Clifton, Yorkshire, five years before Nostradamus’ passing.
Just as Mother Shipton had alluded to, her prophecies were discovered by later dynasties. We will explore her prophecies related to our times in the upcoming episodes …
