The Prophecies is a collection of prophecies by French physician Nostradamus. The book begins with a preface, in the form of a message to his son César, followed by the Centuries themselves. The predictions do not follow chronological coherence and were written combining French, Greek, Latin and Occitan. It is believed that it contains anagrams, mythological and astrological references, in a subjective language that makes comprehension difficult. Some scholars claim that this was a resource used by Nostradamus to evade the Holy Inquisition, for fear of being persecuted for heresy.