The Quick 10: 10 Famous Soothsayers

Oh, _flossers, beware the Ides of March!! If only Caesar had heeded the similar warning he received the day he was assassinated (more on that in a second). You don't have to go back to the days of Caesar to find yourself a soothsayer, though "“ there have been many prophets throughout history (some self-proclaimed). Here are a few of them, starting with the Ides of March man himself.

1. Caesar's Soothsayer. Caesar was warned the Ides of March would be an exceptionally bad day for him by an unnamed seer. The Ides came and were nearly gone when Caesar ran into the seer on his way to the Theatre of Pompey. He basically said to the seer, "So, the Ides are here and nothing has happened, don't you feel stupid?" and the seer responded, "They have come, but they are not gone." The seer was right, of course "“ Caesar was murdered almost as soon as he arrived, stabbed 23 times.

2. Joan Quigley. After Ronald Reagan nearly followed in Caesar's assassinated footsteps in 1981, Nancy Reagan sought the advice of psychic Joan Quigley, whom she had met on The Merv Griffin Show several years earlier. According to Time, no Presidential appearance was made without first consulting Quigley to see if stars aligned or not. For instance, "For the Reagan-Gorbachev Washington summit, she cast the charts of both men and determined that 2 p.m. on Dec. 8, 1987, was the most propitious moment for them to sign the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty. At Nancy's behest, the entire summit was built around that hour." When the news broke that the Reagans were using a psychic, the activity was quickly hushed up.

3. The Brahan Seer. This prophet may not have existed at all, but his alleged predictions are legendary in Scotland. Employed by the third Earl of Seaforth, the Seer predicted some pretty bizarre and specific incidents, including that "The day will come when the MacKenzies of Fairburn shall lose their entire possessions; their castle will become uninhabited and a cow shall give birth to a calf in the uppermost chamber of the tower." He also supposedly predicted that the Bonar Bridge would be "swept away under a flock of sheep," and it was washed away in an 1892 flood (the frothy foam-current was said to look like sheep). Another infamous prediction was that when five bridges stretched over the River Ness in Inverness, there would be worldwide chaos. That one was true, too "“ there were five bridges over the river when Hitler invaded Poland. Sadly, one of the Brahan Seer's visions ended up being his undoing. He predicted that his employer, the Earl of Seaforth, was cheating on his wife with numerous women in Paris. Hearing none of it, Lady Seaforth had the Seer burned to death in a spiked tar barrel. Apparently she had never heard of the phrase "Don't shoot the messenger."

4. Nostradamus. No list of soothsayers would be complete without this guy. His prophecies pop up on a fairly regular basis and freak people out when they are able to apply his predictions to current events. Nostradamus himself would probably object to this behavior because he didn't see himself as a prophet and mentioned many times that he didn't guarantee the results of his predictions. One thing he did allegedly get right on the money, though? His death. On July 1, 1566, he is said to have told his secretary, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." He was right "“ the next morning, Nostradamus was found on the floor next to his bed, dead from edema (accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in body cavities). His predictions are far too numerous to mention here, plus, the interpretations and accuracy of each one have been much debated for years. Snopes has a good example of how his predictions get skewed, though.

5. Cassandra. Cassandra is a tragic tale (although most Greek myths are) "“ not only did she have to endure horrific visions of future events, she had to deal with the fact that no one would believe her, even when her visions came true. Word on the street is that when Apollo fell in love with her but discovered she didn't love him back, he exacted his revenge by cursing her with the burden of no one believing her warnings. Those warnings included the Trojan Horse, Agamemnon's death and her own death.

6. Pythia. Pythia was any priestess who manned the oracle at Delphi (you may have seen her brief, nude appearance in 300). Collectively, the Pythia made more than 500 predictions and statements that leaders would believe to the letter. For example, in the ninth century B.C., Pythia stated that "Love of money and nothing else will ruin Sparta." As a result, Lycurgus banned silver and gold money and made Spartans lug around coins made of heavy iron instead. And in 67 A.D., she said to Nero, "The number 73 marks the hour of your downfall." Apparently not liking to hear of his inevitable defeat, Nero had Pythia buried alive. He always thought he would die at the age of 73, but actually ended up committing suicide at the age of 30"¦ after a revolt by Galba, who was 73 years old at the time.

7. Edgar Cayce. Cayce was a renowned seer who made his predictions by lying down and entering a trance-like state. While he was in his trance, people would be invited to ask him questions about their future, specifically about their health. Cayce theorized that the unconscious mind had access to all kinds of information the conscious mind didn't. He made more than 20,000 predictions during the period that he was en vogue, from the early 20th century to his death in 1944. His predictions included things that happened (the Great Depression and Hitler) and things that have yet to happen (California crumbling into the ocean; the discovery of Atlantis).

8. The Amazing Criswell. The Amazing Criswell was"¦ well, maybe he was amazing, but not for the accuracy of his predictions. He ran around with Ed Wood and Vampira; the movie Ed Wood suggests Criswell never believed he was psychic and only made his wild predictions because of the fame they brought him. But at least one source who knew him in real life said Criswell once stated, "I had the gift, but lost it when I started taking money for it." His crazy predictions included a ray from outer space that would cause metal to turn to rubber and cause terrible disasters in amusement parks; that by the time the world came to an end in 1999 we would all have resorted to cannibalism; that Mae West would become President of the United States and take a rocket to the moon; and that JFK wouldn't run for re-election in 1964 because something was going to happen to him. Oh wait"¦

9. The Nechung Oracle. The Nechung Oracle is one of a handful of Oracles still regularly used today. He's the State Oracle of Tibet, in fact, and lives with the Dalai Lama. Perhaps the most famous of the Oracle's predictions dates back to 1947, when he accurately predicted that Tibet was headed for times of trouble. He also predicted that the Dalai Lama would have to flee Tibet in upcoming years, and in 1959, exactly that happened.

10. Madam Marie. Madam Marie made her living telling fortunes on the Asbury Park Boardwalk for more than 70 years. The strongest evidence for her prediction accuracy is that she declared fellow Boardwalk busker Bruce Springsteen would become famous. He returned the favor by immortalizing her in song: in "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," he sings, "Did you hear the cops finally busted Madam Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do." Thanks to Bruce, Madam Marie gained somewhat of a celebrity following and told fortunes for Judy Garland, Diane Keaton, Ray Charles, Elton John and Woody Allen, among others.

Did I leave out your favorite? Psychic Sylvia Browne? Miss Cleo? Or is it all a bunch of crap? Let us know what you think in the comments.