An indepth look at reading treasure maps symbol by symbol. The book also proposes solutions for several well known Spanish treasure maps and symbols found in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. It goes even further and sixcusses cactus markers for treasure trails in the deserts of the Southwest US and Mexico.

The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People—the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures of a dozen lands—fled the Old World for the New, 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 paintings and verses of The Secret. Yet The Secret is much more than that. At long last, you can 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. Many "armchair treasure hunt" books 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 two of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of students. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005, but the hunt for his casques continues.

Describes and illustrates most of the basic symbols used in hiding treasure.

This book provides examples of candidate treasure signs, symbols, and marks still visible right now where the pavement and noise of civilization have not yet encroached. More than a mere table of idealized treasure sign sketches, this book is full of actual pictures of a wide variety of real signs, symbols, and marks from lonely corners of the ever-rugged North American Southwest. Many of these examples are in areas of known mineral wealth, along known routes of ancient travel, or in areas with a documented legendary tale. Others are from wondrous, stumbled-upon areas possessed of no current name, record, or legend. These are the most precious. In truth, Gold, Silver, Copper and valuable minerals have been recovered while prospecting the areas where these signs, symbols, and marks were documented, and perhaps an examination of these occurrences can help you in some future quest of a similar nature. What You Will Find in This Book: -Pictures, not just drawings, of REAL treasure signs, symbols, and marks, including several never-before released stone maps -Advice for how to use treasure signs, symbols, and marks for yourself -Examples of certain site set ups, and analysis of several famous "big" treasure legends -Web links to numerous treasure tales and resources, including GPS starting points

The author uses his inquisitive mind to set out and prove the existence of Yamashita's infamous untouched treasure deposits buried all around the Philippine Islands. Working alongside Filipino treasure hunters the author has visited untouched treasure sites in Luzon, Cebu, Davao, General Santos and Glan in Mindanao. It has taken Aquila Chrysaestos over six years to successfully document many original Japanese treasure code books, and treasure maps, for you the reader. Aquila has answered many of the questions that he had while puzzling out the precise way in which the Japanese Imperial family members went about burying the wealth of fourteen South East Asian countries, on land and at sea throughout the islands during 1942 to 1945 when the Japanese Imperial Army occupied the Philippine islands. Using his practical skills and a logical approach to solving many of his unanswered questions, the author has compiled a very comprehensive step by step "how to" book that will aid you the treasure hunter wanting answers to your own Philippine treasure quest. This book is packed with: 19 sections including the quick reference guide A to Z of treasure signs and symbols 100 colour drawings, by the author himself many drawn from unknown treasure sites 150 colour photographs of carved treasure symbols, maps and recovered gold 30 black and white WWII photographs 40 black and white diagrams This brilliant gem of a book takes you through every process of planning our own treasure hunt. The equipment you will need, the treasure permits, where to look and how to recover your own piece of war treasure safely, and so much more! Buy this book now and go and live your dream of becoming a successful treasure hunter today! Absolutely fantastic! A real mine of information for the seeker of Japanese war gold buried in the Philippines. In over 400 fact-filled pages, Aquila has cracked the Japanese treasure code and, with up to the minute locating and recovery techniques, paved the way for bringing this vast wealth to the surface. An incredible story and a great read for the armchair treasure hunter too! David Villanueva, treasure hunter and author, Whitstable, UK

Discusses the elements of a sign, and looks at pictograms, alphabets, calligraphy, monograms, text type, numerical signs, symbols, and trademarks.