A Byron Preiss book
The Secret
A Treasure Hunt
The tale of the fair people – The mystery of their treasure – The whereabouts of their descendants
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Looking for lots of fun and exciting things to do?? Follow along and join the crew. Finding little things that can make every day even better is what this is all about. From taco’s to treasures we will be exploring what my local area has to offer and beyond.
My Blog
Stories and details from some of my adventures. Helping you find and try something is a big part of my vision. By sharing basic tips and tricks I hope to see you out and about making every day more exciting. If you have a story or would like to share a blog post that might help others let me know.
Welcome To The Adventure
If you just started hunting or if you have been searching since 1982 I’m glad you are here. I learned about “The Secret” a few years ago while researching ideas for making some of my own treasure hunts. Like may others I got sucked into the story of the fair people and the treasures that were hidden. Now that I’ve been studying this for a little while, I’m into it on a whole different level. Let me quickly try to explain. After hours and hours of podcasts, YouTube videos, TV shows, Facebook groups and of coarse google maps. I now find myself feeling like part of the “Secret” community. I also feel like I’ve been getting to know Byron the author and the creative team that assembled this great adventure. Some of you understand what I mean and some of you will find out as long as you just keep on searching.
Speaking of searching there is a ton of information out there about The Secret for you to start looking through. Everyday there are more people sharing ideas and joining the hunt. I think we can all acknowledge that the Discovery Channel and Josh Gates might have had a little something to do with that. What some of you don’t know tho is that there are several less famous sources out there, that are putting out some very high quality information. For example the guys running the Secret Podcast do a fantastic job explaining facts and theories that they have come across. With that being said I hope that the information here makes you aware of all the other great content that is out there. I’m just here sharing the stuff that I’ve come across during my searches that I’ve found helpful or interesting. I will be sharing some of my own ideas as will as elaborating on and revisiting some of the most common main stream theories out there. After awhile every thing kinda blends together, I will do my best to link and list the sources and give credit to any past hunters. I am also by no means a professional at any of this and I am not pretending to be. As you will see I have a simple approach to the hunt. I think it is more important to help get you started on your own path than to convince you to come down mine with me. Having many different perspectives on the team is what could help out the most. From every thing I have been seeing, open minds are what finds treasure. If all the information that is out there or my way is so right then all the caques would have be found by now. Even the best explanations are only theories until they produce a casque and a key.
I am how ever super excited about this hunt and look forward to chatting with you about it. The community of Secret treasure hunters is growing and I’m proud to be part of it. No matter your skill level feel free to jump on board as we all work together to uncover the next casque. Let’s get started.
So What Is
The Secret?
The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People – the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures fled the Old World for a new land, seeking haven from the ways of Man. With them came their precious jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls… But then the Fair People vanished, taking with them their twelve fabulous treasures. And they remained hidden until now…Across North America, these twelve treasures, over ten-thousand dollars in precious jewels, are buried. The key to finding each can be found within the twelve full color images and verses of the book. Yet The Secret is much more than that. It’s stories bring awareness of our surroundings. It expands our thoughts about immigration and heritage. It brings a lighter perspective about current society. So come along and learn not only the whereabouts of the Fair People’s treasure, but also the modern forms and hiding places of their descendants: the Toll Trolls, Maitre D’eamons, Elf Alphas, Tupperwerewolves, Freudian Sylphs, Culture Vultures, West Ghosts and other delightful creatures in the world around us. The Secret is a field guide to them all.
Lots of “armchair treasure hunts” have been published over the years, most notably Masquerade (1979) by British artist Kit Williams. Masquerade promised a jewel-encrusted golden hare to the first person to unravel the riddle that Williams cleverly hid in his art. In 1982, while everyone in Britain was still madly digging up hedgerows and pastures in search of the golden hare, The Secret: A Treasure Hunt was published in America. The previous year, author and publisher Byron Preiss had traveled to 12 locations in the continental U.S. (and possibly Canada) to secretly bury a dozen ceramic casques. Each casque contained a small key that could be redeemed for one of 12 jewels Preiss kept in a safe deposit box in New York. The key to finding the casques was to match one of 12 paintings to one of 12 poetic verses, solve the resulting riddle, and start digging.
Since 1982, only three of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of teenagers. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. The 3rd and most recent was found in Boston by a family of Discovery Channel fans. Watching the show Expedition Unknown got them interested in joining the hunt. The show brought the Secret back into the main stream media with an episode airing on January 17 of 2018. By October of 2019 the third caques was being excavated with the family, film crew and adventure host Josh Gates in the north end of Boston. With a whole new generation of treasure hunters now joining the search find number 4 is only a few shovel scoops away.
Where will the next one be found?? Are the other ones still even out there?? Tragically Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005. Many claim he was the only one that could answer these kind of questions and knew the exact spots where the boxes were hidden. Now several decades later the hunt for his casques continues and his adventure lives on.
Explore Each Image
Image #1
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Image #2
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Image #3
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Image #4
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Image #5
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Image #6
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Image #7
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Image #8
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Image #9
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Image #10
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Image #11
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Image #12
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The Images
The Images are listed in order as the are found in the book.
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Image #1
Thought To Be – The San Francisco C.A. Area
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Image #2
Thought To Be – The Charleston S.C. Area
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Image #3
Thought To Be – The Roanoke Island N.C. Area
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Image #4
Used To Solve – Cleveland O.H.
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Image #5
Used To Solve – Chicago I.L.
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Image #6
Thought To Be – The St. Augustine F.L. Area
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Image #7
Thought To Be – The New Orleans L.A. Area
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Image #8
Thought To Be – The Houston T.X. Area
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Image #9
Thought To Be – The Montreal Quebec Canada Area
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Image #10
Thought To Be – The Milwaukee W.I. Area
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Image #11
Used To Solve – Boston M.A.
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Image #12
Thought To Be – The New York City N.Y. Area
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The Verses
The verses are listed in order as the are found in the book.
Fortress north
Cold as glass
Friendship south
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.
Verse #1
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #8
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At the place where jewels abound
Fifteen rows down to the ground
In the middle of twenty-one
From end to end
Only three stand watch
As the sound of friends
Fills the afternoon hours
Here is a sovereign people
Who build palaces to shelter
Their heads for a night!
Gnomes admire
Fays delight
The namesakes meeting
Near this site.
Verse #2
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #7
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If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
With metal walls
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
Feel at home
All the letters
Are here to see
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.
Verse #3
Used To Solve Image #11 In Boston M.A.
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Beneath two countries
As the road curves
In a rectangular plot
Beneath the tenth stone
From right to left
Beneath the ninth row from the top
Of the wall including small bricks
Seven steps up you can hop
From the bottom level
Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
Free speech, couplet, birch
To find casques destination
Seek the columns
For the search.
Verse #4
Used To Solve Image #4 In Cleveland O.H.
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Lane
Two twenty two
You’ll see an arc of lights
Weight and roots extended
Together saved the site
Of granite walls
Wind swept halls
Citadel in the night
A wingless bird ascended
Born of ancient dreams of flight
Beneath the only standing member
Of a forest
To the south
White stone closest
At twelve paces
From the west side
Get permission
To dig out.
Verse #5
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #9
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Of all the romance retold
Men of tales and tunes
Cruel and bold
Seen here
By eyes of old
Stand and listen to the birds
Hear the cool, clear song of water
Harken to the words:
Freedom at the birth of a century
Or May 1913
Edwin and Edwina named after him
Or on the eighth a scene
Where law defended
Between two arms extended
Below the bar that binds
Beside the long palm’s shadow
Embedded in the sand
Waits the Fair remuneration
White house close at hand.
Verse #6
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #2
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At stone wall’s door
The air smells sweet
Not far away
High posts are three
Education and Justice
For all to see
Sounds from the sky
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
Giant pole
Giant step
To the place
The casque is kept.
Verse #7
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #1
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View the three stories of Mitchell
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distance in time
From three who lived there
At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
Step on nature
Cast in copper
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass and reach
The foot of the culvert
Below the bridge
Walk 100 paces
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young birch
Pass three, staying west
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.
Verse #8
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #10
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The first chapter
Written in water
Near men
With wind rose
Behind bending branches
And a green picket fence
At the base of a tall tree
You can still hear the honking
Shell, limestone, silver, salt
Stars move by day
Sails pass by night
Even in darkness
Like moonlight in teardrops
Over the tall grass
Years pass, rain falls.
Verse #9
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #6
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In the shadow
Of the grey giant
Find the arm that
Extends over the slender path
In summer
You’ll often hear a whirring sound
Cars abound
Although the sign
Nearby Speaks of Indies native
The natives still speak
Of him of Hard word in 3 Vols.
Take twice as many east steps as the hour
Or more
From the middle of one branch
Of the v
Look down
And see simple roots
In rhapsodic man’s soil
Or gaze north
Toward the isle of B.
Verse #10
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #12
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Pass two friends of octave
In December
Ride the man of oz
To the land near the window
There’s a road that leads to
Dark forest
Where white is in color
With two maps
After circle and square
In July and August
A path beckons
To mica and driftwood
Under that
Which may be last touched
Or first seen standing
Look north at the wing
And dig
To achieve
By dauntless and inconquerable
Determination
Your goal.
Verse #11
Thought To Be Linked To – Image #3
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Where M and B are set in stone
And to Congress, R is known
L sits and left
Beyond his shoulder
Is the Fair Folks’
Treasure holder
The end of ten by thirteen Is your clue
Fence and fixture
Central too
For finding jewel casque
Seek the sounds
Of rumble
Brush and music
Hush.
Verse #12
Used To Solve Image #5 In Chicago I.L.
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Find Real Cash & Treasure
Other Great Resources
These are some of the sites and areas I enjoy learning more about this treasure hunt from. This hunt is full of lots of theories and ideas. Viewing all resources with an open mind is my approach. Respect all ideas and sources, people are spending lots of time and energy to add value to this “Secret” community. With that being said unless a key and casque is in their hand take all advice with a grain of salt.
12Treasures.com The Secret Podcast
I have personally listened to every one of their episodes some multiple times. By far one of the best resources when it comes to this treasure hunt. They are linked in with The Secret Community on the highest level. I recommend joining their different Facebook groups and checking out their content.
Quest4Treasure “Q4T”
If you have been searching for awhile then you have probably heard of the message board “quest4treasure” brought up now and then. It was one of the original message boards discussing the hunt. It has some interesting information. Messages from and about the Cleveland find as it was happening can be found here. It’s an older resource and you need to log in to get full access but you can still learn and see a lot by just going to the site.
Expedition Unknown
The Discovery channel has joined the hunt. Josh Gates has brought the hunt back into the limelight on his show Expidition Unknown. The show is doing a good job bringing attension to the book. The last casque was found by a fan of the show that resently just joinded the hunt due to the show sparking the intrest of more hunters. The shows are enjoyable to watch and do a good job introducing you to this adventure.
The Wiki for
The Secret
Another resorce you most likely have heard about when doing research is “The Wiki for The Secret”. There is some diffrent and some contrversal information found here. There are some intresting theroies found on this page and lots of good information. One of the issues that goes around the hunting comunity about this site is the strong sugestions that the information makes. Once again take all information with an open mind and a grain of salt.
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Where to get started??
I’m interested and excited about all the images. I think studying them all in depth is a ton of fun and a valuable part of this adventure. I feel narrowing down 1 or 2 of them to realistically go after is important, if you are planing to take this hunt beyond the comfort of your living room.
This is how I simply got started. By listing the locations of the remaining caques based on the best known theories from closest to furthest from me. I feel this is a good starting point for most of us even tho the internet and modern transportation has made it possible to hunt for any of them easier than ever before.
I think that the evidence linking the images to the most commonly agreed upon geographical areas is strong enough to trust at this point. We will go over this a lot more and I welcome all out side the box thinking as we discus these things later. To be honest I’m not 100 % on board with all the ideas of how the verses match up, so we will have lots of brainstorming to do in the near future. Once again there are no technical rights or wrongs until proof of a box is in hand. So lets’ save these kinds of chats for a little bit later as we go through the details of each image. Now on to a few easy questions so we can find you a good spot to get started.
*What location is possibly the closest to me?
*What location is in a city that I might know something about?
*What location is in a spot that is interesting enough for me to spend hours learning about and visiting often?
*Witch one is calling to you? Seriously tho maybe it’s because of the stone that is linked to the image or maybe it is the art work that you find most interesting. For some reason I feel drawn to the “Montreal” Image. It is one of the ones that is closest to me. It is connected to October and opal which is my birth month. There are a few other things about it, so we can bring those up when we get over to the image #9 page.
Alright hopefully you have answered at least one of the above questions. Now we should have a few starting points to think about and research.
Lets keep walking through this together. I know when I first started I had quite a few questions like.
Does this image really point to there?
How is this verse connected?
Will I be allowed to dig it up?
Can they be found with a metal detector?
And on and on.
Now after doing this for a little while I have found some of those answers. I have also come up with many more questions. So no matter what point you are at in the hunt lets keep working together to learn more. You might be a beginner that needs information on what we are even looking for. Or maybe you are reading this at the next level and you have some of the knowledge that could be useful to share. I’m hoping the pages of my site can provide value for all hunters no matter what your experience is with The Secret treasure hunt.
So let’s work together and try to answer some of the questions that we all have. The next few sections of this page will be going over more of the basics but I have been working on a special separate page for each image. These pages will be focused more on the detailed theories that relate to each individual hunt.
Once again I am by no means a professional on any of this and I’m just looking to collectively share information so that we can all enjoy this treasure adventure. Please interact or contact me with anything that will impact the group in a positive way.
General Q & A
Here we will be sharing some of the most commonly asked questions and looked for answers. Check out the individual image pages for more detailed and specific questions.
Explore Each Image
Image #1
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #2
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Image #3
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Image #4
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Image #5
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #6
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #7
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #8
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #9
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #10
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #11
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
Image #12
Collection Of Information Thought To Be Relevant To This Image.
“Here is what some of the “That Was Exciting” fans and crew have been saying.”
“It’s all about finding the little things that make the memories”
Keep up the great work.
“I had no idea that there where so many cool things to do close by”
Thanks for all the ideas.
“To have someone relatable and real to follow now days is so refreshing ”
I love following along.