In Search of The Secret Casques Series!

This is the first of a series of Six Questions with dedicated searchers of The Secret (A Treasure Hunt) published in 1982.  Each Six Questions will take a look into a location for a buried Casque of The Secret Armchair Treasure Hunt. There are 12 buried casques of which only two have ever been found.

It’s awesome to start off with James Renner, who recently won a reward for his documentary on The Secret treasure hunt! (Plus, I had previously did a Six Questions with James on his books, so it’s great to have him back again)

Enjoy!

Six Questions with James Renner: In Search for the New York City Casque of The Secret (A Treasure Hunt)

• 1Q) When did you first hear about The Secret?

I remember finding the book on the shelves in the library near my mother’s house when I was about eight years old. I was transfixed by the cover and by the strange fairies inside. And that idea – that there were real treasures out there for me and my friends to find. I liked to imagine I was part of the Goonies and maybe we’d have an adventure like that. But I also knew that they’d probably all be found by the time I was old enough to get my own car and light out for the territories. I couldn’t believe it when, years later, I rediscovered the book and learned that only two of the twelve keys had been found!

• 2Q) What inspired you to look for the New York Casque?

The New York casque is special. Byron Preiss loved New York. Raised his family there. Started a business there. To find New York would be to understand a little part of Byron’s soul. And so when I went looking for it, I invited his daughters along for the ride. It was such an amazing experience to hunt for buried treasure in the Big Apple with his family.

• 3Q) What makes you believe the Casque is in New York? Would you mind sharing the highlights of your solution?

If you look at Painting 12, you can clearly see that woman has the same profile as the statue of liberty. And the book is all about immigration- how the fairies of the Old World came to America. So it makes sense that the statue would be part of the clue. So it has to be buried within eyesight of that famous statue.

(More on the New York casque location below)

• 4Q) What is the most unique thing you found while searching or what did you enjoy most about your search?

What I ultimately discovered was that the goal of the secret was not about the treasure itself, but it was Byron’s tricky way of getting kids excited about the world around them. When you become obsessed with the book, you start to pay attention to the parks around us. You find yourself exploring and stopping at every monument and statue and taking the time to read the inscriptions for clues. It makes you see a part of the world that many take for granted.

• 5Q) What would you say is the major obstacle preventing a successful unearthing of the Casque?

Bless Byron’s heart, the clues are too vague. It’s like reading Nostradamus. They only really make sense once you’ve dug up the box and can work backwards. It’s very difficult to figure out where these keys are reading these obscure poems from 40 years ago.

• 6Q) Do you have any advice for someone else looking for this treasure or is there something more you would like to add?

Keep it simple. Remember, he wrote these clues for teenagers. Don’t try to make it fit.

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Below is a brief summary of how it is believed Image 12 and Verse 10 lead to New York City

The solutions for the Secret: A Treasure Hunt work by matching one of the twelve images with one of the twelve verses published in the 1982 book.  These correctly matched pairs work together to lead a searcher to a location where there is a buried casque with a key hidden inside. The key is then used to claim a valuable gemstone for the discovered casque.

In general, it seems by using both image and verse, a searcher will first recognize clues that indicate the larger area for the buried casque, like a city.  Then searchers will discover other clues for a more defined location of that area, like a park. Finally, the image and verse will lead a searcher to the precise spot to dig. 

Many of the clues for the larger areas have been agreed upon by most.  But The Secret’s cryptic clues have been difficult to conclusively narrow down to a location for an exact spot to dig. This is especially the case with the New York City casque.

It is believed Image 12 and Verse 10 work together to lead a searcher to a place ‘near’ the Statue of Liberty– or in the vicinity of Manhattan, Staten Island, or Brooklyn. As mentioned above, one of key clues is how Image 12 includes a lady’s face which closely matches that of the Statue of Liberty. This gets us to the ‘city’ or a large general area.

Here are some other highlights: (ONLY ideas)

The outline of the building in image 12 resembles the Onion Domes of many Russian Orthodox Churches; specifically, St. Nicolas Russian Orthodox Cathedral on 97th street in Manhattan.  But there are also domes on the Immigration Building on Ellis Island.  With a ‘Russian’ theme for this image/verse, it seems the Russian Church is a better idea/match, but it widens the area of interest to Upper Manhattan.  The question has to be why would Byron do that? IF Byron did that.

The bird in Image 12 closely resembles a stone bird sculpture on Ellis Island or that of the Chrysler Building in Midtown Manhattan.  Maybe it’s a mixture of both?

The outline of Manhattan has been suggested to be seen in the flowing robe of the lady. But it also is close to the outline of Staten Island (if reversed).  Again, multiple options.

Then there is Verse 10 which is believed to help pinpoint the final location:

The ‘arm that extends over the slender path’ is thought to hint to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge that takes one from Brooklyn to Staten Island.

Whirring sound is thought to be the helicopters taking off for tours in this general area.

Speaks of Indies native is believed to be Alexander Hamilton who was born in the West Indies, and Fort Hamilton is on the tip of Brooklyn

In rhapsodic man’s soil is thought to hint to George Gershwin, who is famous for Rhapsody in Blue and was born in Brooklyn.

Isle of B is believed to be ‘Bedloe’, the original name for Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands.

Within the verse are directions for discovering a precise spot, however, one has to understand the meanings fully to know ‘where’ this place might be.

The above are only some of the more ‘common’ ideas for the Image and Verse.  There have been many diverse thoughts for many of the items.

MW will get into more of these in another post.

What is agreed upon is ONLY that this verse and image leads to New York City. (at least by most)

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Best of luck with all that you seek!  Always Treasure the Adventure!

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