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.
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.
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.
American Page / Japanese Page
Acrostic: ITALIAN FENWAY
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.
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.
Acrostic: ABBOT/CABBOT
American Page / Japanese Page
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.
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.
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.
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.
Acrostic: SELOY
American Page / Japanese Page
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 mans soil
Or gaze north
Toward the isle of B.
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.
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.
Image 7 / Verse 2:Â New Orleans
Painting Name: Unknown
Painting Inspired by: Unknown
Latatude Longitude 29 / 90
Month: December
Birthstone: Turquoise
Time: 12 o’clock
Flower: Narcissus
Nation: France
Line tying verse to image: None
Litany quote: “Turquoise the Fays of France keep: stone Rare as a blue midsummer’s day. “
Parks Department: New Orleans Parks and Parkways
Official Contact: None
Dig Status: None
New Orleans 1974 1 of 2 – 11Mb
New Orleans 1974 2 of 2 – 11Mb
New Orleans 1975 1 of 2 – 7Mb
New Orleans 1975 2 of 2 – 8Mb
New Orleans 1979 1 of 2 – 15Mb
New Orleans 1979 2 of 2 – 12Mb
New Orleans 1983 1 of 2 – 16Mb
New Orleans 1983 2 of 2 – 12Mb
Japanese Keywords and HInts:
Line 1: Jewels abound
Line 2: Fifteen rows
Line 3: twenty-one
Line 4: end
Line 7: Fills the afternoon hours
Fills the afternoon hours literally translates to (Japanese: “fill the afternoon hours” [“find
things to do in the afternoon?”]), but if you fix this to a more easy, direct expression…?
Line 8-9:Â This is a quote from a famous book. Now, go through a dictionary of quotations!
Line 11: Gnomes
Line 12: Fays
Line 13: namesakes
Stephen Bryant’s Focus Crop
Common Verse Matches to City
Here is a sovereign people
Who build palaces to shelter
Their heads for a night!
Common Image Matches to City
Common Maps or City Name in Image
Japanese Pages
Regarding numbers in the corners with lower l missing…the right are no doubt longitude and latitude. The left is a year…I believe it maybe 1906. I was thinking about the Mardi Gras Fountain and the Krewe plaques. The Mystick Krewe of Camus was the oldest I believe. Their first meeting Jackson and Picayune. I read something about them meeting in a room above the defunct Gem Saloon. In 1906 it was The Masque of Camus..The book The Mystick Krewe the Chronicles of Camus and Kin looks very much alike. The Masque of Camus is hiding 06…🌬🍀🌬🍀 gl
In 1906 the theme was The Masque of Camus is what I meant to add.
I did not see the gem Turquoise mentioned in the book so that right there is misleading. I do, however, see Aquamarine, I’m guessing that would be the gem for this picture.
Just throwing this out there try digging at three little pigs
I see it says pig instead of dig.. And the seconds clock hand points points to 3 and little being that it is the seconds counters for little. I also am getting that wolf vibe cuz of the ragaroo
Sirs:
Looks like you found a chunk of the New Orleans casque. It is identical to the Chicago casque. You should make a deal out of it and…I don’t know… contact Josh Gates. You could beat the drum for your show while recovering the key and meet the crew.
Just saying.
Those chunks of stone are likely just that — stone. Unless they found some plexiglass nearby, the casque would still be mostly white, as we saw with the Boston casque, and there’s no definition in what the carvings would have been. They look way more like natural ridges in stone than manmade carving. The picture that wonders if there’s paint on it is also inconclusive, because stones often naturally have areas of discoloration like that.
I just listened to the podcast on New Orleans, and I really enjoyed it. Your potential solve involving Gallier Hall does line-up and it’s likely the spot. I know one part of the verse has thrown many off, so I looked at the lines with perspective that Gallier Hall is the likely location of the box and key.
Here is a sovereign people
Who build palaces to shelter <— Reference to Saint Charles hotel now the Street (*namesake of St Charles Hotel)
Their heads for a night!
Gnomes admire <— Gnomes are the protectors of buried treasure. A clue that you're near the spot if you solve the remaining lines.
Fays delight <— Refers to LaFAYette street (*namesake of the Fays)
The namesakes meeting <— Look at this as where the two *namesakes meet, or the corner of St Charles and Lafayette (Gallier Hall)
Near this site. <— You're near the site if you solve this clue, now follow the lines to narrow your search.
I'm almost certain this group found the spot prior to water line upgrades in the area in between the 21 posts from end to end on the corner of Gallier Hall. Kudos to you all and the namesake clue is likely referring to near the meeting of St Charles and Lafayette streets, specifically the corner of this meeting point is steps from the twenty-one posts mentioned in the podcast.
Close. I’ve been working on this and I believe `Near this site’s
has to do with the statue of Benjamin Franklin who invented Bifocals. Also the flower in the corner where the 19 is looks like old time eyeglasses.
I think I know where it is and it’s not by gallier hall. And I think shadows are the answer
I’m lost
Has anyone considered New Orleans City Park? I see a lot of clues here
below the clock behind the mask on the trim is the shape of a ship
lower trim of the clock behind the mask is a ship.
Has no one ever mention the girl carved into the wood on the right side of the clockface? There even seems to be a word in her “hair”. And there seems to be a boy? on the right side of the clockface.
Roman number for 4 is IV, usually clocks breakwith tradition and use IIII instead. This clock breaks with tradion and uses IV.
Also the masque is covering a quarter of the clock face, are they saying something is hidden in a south west corner?
Where namesakes meet could be many places in New Orleans. When I first read The Secret way back in the 80s, my initial inclination was Lafayette Square. However, after not thinking of this for decades, but being reminded of it while binge watching Discovery Channel and Expedition Unknown one Friday night recently while virus quarantining and seeing the Boston episode, I picked up the book and revisited the poem and the painting. My current interpretation is near Jackson Square, in the general corner area where the Square meets the Jax Brewery.
At the place where jewels abound—a dual reference, first to the French Quarter itself where the historic architecture/ buildings are the true Jewels on the City, and second to the Presbytere Building where the actual historical Mardi Gras jewels—crowns, scepters, pins—have been on permanent display for over 100 years ( makes more sense to me know than Gallier Hall).
Fifteen rows down to the ground—the rows of the outdoor arena (Part of Washington Artillery Park) across Decatur Street From Jackson Square where one can gaze directly at the jewels noted above. I believe Gallier Hall has 16 steps.
In the middle of 21 from end to end—Decatur Street is 21 blocks long from Canal to where it ends by the Marilyn/Bywater.
Only three stand watch—referring to the three primary jewels of the city, St. Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo, and The Presbytere.
As the sounds of friends fills the afternoon hours—indicates an area where people actually congregated, sat, spoke, performed, etc. Back in 1981 As far as I can recall not many people hung out around Lafayette Square or Armstrong Park, at least not in such numbers to “fill the air.” But this stretch of Decatur Street sure fits the bill.
Here is a sovereign people who build palaces to shelter their heads for a night—A clear reference to the old travel booklet discussing the old St Charles Hotel. This seems more of a clue to identify the location of the city than where the casque is buried. But it does have significance for 1981–the 1984 World’s Fair was under three years away. The City was hustling to figure out how to house all the expected tourists. There were plans to tear down at least 8-10 properties to build new high rise hotels, including Place St Charles which I believe is at the site of the old St Charles Hotel (and side note, actual buried treasure was found in 82 or 83 at the excavation site for Le Meridien Hotel). At least 10 new Hotels went up. This gutting of buildings was a major Preservation issue at the time and in the news and probably hard for the author to miss.
Gnomes admire, fays delight—Possible reference to the characters and entertainers who frequent the French Quarter, but also fays ties to the associated story in the book.
The namesakes meeting—as noted at the beginning, lots of namesakes meet in NO. But here at Decatur Street Jackson Square meets Jackson Brewery.
Near this site—seems this is a clue as to where the casque Is buried, near where the namesakes meet.
I also think Jackson Square makes the most sense seeing that the street schematic of the French Quarter and to some extent the general street profile of land west of the Quarter are presented in the hairs of the arm holding the mask just at the edge of the cuff of the shirtsleeve (which is a fairly accurate representation of the north/east bank the Mississippi River, including the placement of the French Quarter street schematic).
There is more.
I think this points to Jackson Square as well
Has anyone but me connected the “In the middle of twenty-one From end to end Only three stand watch” to the building dormers on each side of St.Louis Cathedral and it’s three huge spires?
They total to 21 and overlook Jackson Square, making a perfect “bookend” to the “Fifteen rows down to the ground” on the opposite side of the Jackson Square at the Washington artillery battery near the river.
Jeff,
I just got into this, but yes I also made the connection of the three spires of St. Louis Cathedral standing watch. The comment above about the artillery park to the south seems to match up too. I am curious about the clock in the painting. The clock addition to the church was a big deal at the time it was completed.
I have a different theory where it is. I think it is near the lafayette cemetery number 1. Parks bowman mansion to be exact. the jewels about I connected to Mardi Gra and I took the Mardi Gra route fifteen streets down to lafayette cemetery or “the ground”. And in the middle of 21 is between plot 2 and plot 1 where there are three trees standing watch over each plot. Friends that fill the afternoon hours are friends visiting loved ones. the rest of the poem makes sense to the cemetery. So I looked around on google earth and found that in front of the parks bowman mansion is horse figures in front of the house that looks like the one on the painting on the bottom right.
A place where jewels abound is Royal St. Moving south there is a parking lot with 3 large trees watching the site. There are 2 pools, looking at image 7 the small circle is in the shirt sleeve at the bottom of stick holding mask. The outline of the other pool is the little and ring fingures. Believe Lat/long for dig spot is near 29.963140. -90.057216.
Update to my previous post. In the parking lot east of the pools – the right middle row contains 21 spaces from top to bottom, left of halfway point is a median, there are 15 spaces above it. Fifteen rows down to the ground, in the middle of twenty one. The road east of the lot is Elysian Fields – place in mythology also. The pools are part of the namesakes – Frenchmens Orleans 519. If you look at the top of the clock it represents the curb on median. The smaller half circle is the base of light pole. Suspect the moon is casque. New lat/lon is 29.963075. -90.057075. Hope someone digs.
Ok I will dig I think you are correct. But I’m kind of lost on where to dig. Please help
I have a different theory where it is. I think it is near the lafayette cemetery number 1. Parks bowman mansion to be exact. the jewels about I connected to Mardi Gra and I took the Mardi Gra route fifteen streets down to lafayette cemetery or “the ground”. And in the middle of 21 is between plot 2 and plot 1 where there are three trees standing watch over each plot. Friends that fill the afternoon hours are friends visiting loved ones. the rest of the poem makes sense to the cemetery. So I looked around on google earth and found that in front of the parks bowman mansion is horse figures in front of the house that looks like the one on the painting on the bottom right. Contact me for more info at [email protected] And if you find it send me a pic or vid.
Storyland, every line fits and the picture is depicting nursery rhymes without being obvious. Jewels, 21, end to end, namesakes, 3 stand watch, sovereign people, palaces, wolf, Painting: Big bad wolf in granny’s nighty holding jacks B’ stick, flip mask its a egg and Humpty Dumpty is there holding a pole in the same fashion as the painting, Hickory Dickory Dock, Bah Bah Black sheep boy, Hey diddle diddle, I have a video online that you can watch if you like, Oh one more thing There is a mermaid and monster that matches the fairies on the casque pretty closely too. The tiles are Alice in Wonderland and remember Off with THIER HEADS!!!! https://youtu.be/tRKEEHlyWEw
Has the area around Lafon Fountain at Coliseum Square Park been searched?
The fountain and the part of the park it’s in are a good match for the top part of the clock/turquoise area.
It’s also near the intersection of Urania and Felicity streets. They fit as namesakes for admire and delight.
If Jackson Square is the clock and 12 o’clock is due north, then I think it is in the flower bed between two trees at 3 o’clock.
I have actually solved this location and 4 others. However, getting permission to probe or dig on state property is next to impossible. by the way. 19 is not a year, it has to do with something that New Orleans changed and is now used all over the US.
Like what? I’m from Nola and can’t think of what it could be.
Has anyone looked into Preservation Hall?
Has anyone ever probed near the conservatory of the two sisters as the one wing has 21 windows and is 15 rows of bricks to the ground. Its next to storyland and has three large windows and could of had afternnon tea parties.
Does the mask look like louis armstrong to anyone ?
The Earth is represented as a fixed golden ball in the centre of the dial. The Latin inscription “Pereunt et imputantur” below the main dial may be translated as “The hours pass and are reckoned to our account”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Cathedral_astronomical_clock?fbclid=IwAR24ya1M67O7Q5MhXzAS07nVFSJJ9v8if_T_SQ8qXIh1V13GqfHFthDKFpw