Podcast Summary: Shakespeare’s Encrypted Map to Freemason Treasure

Podcast: Conspiracy Theories (Spotify Studios)
Hosts: Maggie Admire, Carter Roy
Original Air Date: October 15, 2025

Overview

This episode explores one of history's most tantalizing conspiracy theories: that Shakespeare’s First Folio contains elaborate secret codes pointing to buried treasure, Freemason secrets, and an alternate royal lineage. Through the stories of three codebreakers—Dr. Orville Ward Owen, Elizabeth Wells Gallop, and Peter Amundsen—the hosts unravel claims ranging from hidden authorship to supernatural relics, all encrypted in the Bard's works.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Alleged Map to Treasure in Shakespeare’s First Folio

• The hosts introduce the wild theory that hidden messages in Shakespeare’s First Folio reveal not only the true authorship of the plays but also the location of priceless treasure—possibly including a supernatural relic like the Ark of the Covenant.
  • “You might say, Carter, that's the plot of the next Indiana Jones. But this map is real.” — Carter Roy [00:13]

2. Dr. Orville Ward Owen: The First Codebreaker

• Background: Owen, a Detroit physician and amateur Shakespearean, memorizes the entire First Folio, noticing repeating lines, odd capitalization, and apparent mistakes.
• Owen believes these “errors” are deliberate, forming a secret code.
• Method: He compiles all anomalous lines (“marked lines”), rearranging them to form coherent stories and uncover hidden messages.
• Discovery: Some “marked lines” retell the defeat of the Spanish Armada, including details and ship names—far too specific to be chance.
• The real bombshell: Decoded messages allege Francis Bacon was the true author of Shakespeare's works.
  • Memorable quote:
    “In other words, he believes the so called mistakes are a secret code.” — Maggie Admire [05:41]
• Next steps: Using a massive “cipher wheel” made of linen strips (with entire plays printed on them), Owen hunts for more clues, including the supposed location of original Shakespeare manuscripts.
• Owen travels to Chepstow Castle in Wales, digs for 6+ years, finds an ancient Roman bridge (matching one coded clue), but ultimately returns home empty-handed.
  • “Braced beams under Roman ford, just like the code promised. The crew searches this area…and finds nothing.” — Maggie Admire [20:55]

3. Elizabeth Wells Gallop: The Cipher Expert

• Disagrees with Owen’s complex method; instead, she applies Bacon’s bilateral cipher (a proto-binary code) which utilizes italic vs. regular letters, a system Bacon himself invented.
• Deciphers a shocking hidden message:
  • “Queen Elizabeth is my true mother, and I am the lawful heir to the throne...” — Maggie Admire reading the decoded message [24:58]
• According to her, not only did Bacon write the plays, he was the secret son of Queen Elizabeth I, born out of her clandestine affair with Robert Dudley.
• Digs up clues pointing to graves of famous writers, finds more coded messages, but excavation is thwarted by authorities.
• Ultimately, discovers clues apparently pointing to artifacts hidden in Francis Bacon's former home—now long remodeled.

4. Secret Societies, Hidden Manuscripts, and Legendary Relics

• Both Owen and Gallop’s works inspire the next generation of cryptologists, such as William and Elizabeth Friedman (key WWII codebreakers).
• The myth grows that Bacon’s codes point to a repository of lost manuscripts and possibly even biblical artifacts (like the menorah from the Second Temple), spirited away by secret societies.

5. Peter Amundsen: Modern Codebreaker and the Oak Island Connection

• Norwegian researcher Amundsen starts with financial codes then fixates on hidden messages in Shakespeare's Folio, following in Owen and Gallop’s footsteps.
• Links coded details to Freemasonry, finding repeated references to the number 53, Freemason symbolism, and acrostics (“two” and “Bacon”).
• Memorable moment:
  • “If you draw a line down the middle, the compass becomes two 53-degree triangles. Two triangles. Two mentions of Bacon.” — Maggie Admire [39:05]
• Asserts that Francis Bacon was not just Shakespeare but a Freemason and possible founder of the more secretive Rosicrucians. He traces so-called “acrostic” clues in the plays.
• Ultimate theory: The First Folio contains an encrypted map leading to Oak Island, Nova Scotia—the site of the infamous “Money Pit”—believed to house not only Bacon’s manuscripts but the lost temple menorah, a relic of enormous religious and political significance.
• Amundsen overlays the Tree of Life symbol (from Kabbalah, also significant in Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism) atop the boulder formation on Oak Island (Nolan’s Cross), finding a “Mercy Point” where clues say to dig.
• No treasure or manuscripts have yet been recovered, but evidence of a manmade shaft at "Mercy Point” keeps the legend alive.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Secret Motivations:
  “It is every conspiracy theorist's fantasy that all of this could come together and be fostered by one guy who was born to the queen but denied his heritage, so decided to root all his truths into secret documents.” — Maggie Admire [45:12]

• On the Value of the Search:
  “He believes this is why Bacon buried the treasure in the first place. Not for personal glory, but to encourage education and self improvement.” — Carter Roy [53:18]

• On Historical Impact:
  “They were instrumental to winning World War II. Both. Friedman said they cracked these codes using what they learned from Gallup and her Shakespeare quest.” — Carter Roy [54:02]

• On the Enduring Allure of the Mystery:
  “To quote Shakespeare or Bacon, truth will come to light. Murder cannot be hid long... At the length, truth will out.” — Adapted by Maggie Admire [54:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:27 – Introduction to Dr. Owen and his code-hunting quest
• 08:11 – The code-within-a-code discovery
• 10:00 – Background on Sir Francis Bacon and the authorship conspiracy
• 13:37 – Owen converts skeptics with his method
• 15:04 – Construction and use of the cipher wheel
• 16:17 – Hunt for original manuscripts and the Chepstow Castle expedition
• 21:33 – Transition to Elizabeth Wells Gallop’s approach
• 24:58 – Gallop’s deciphered royal secret from the bilateral cipher
• 27:47 – Intrigue around Queen Elizabeth I and the secret birth
• 34:36 – Freemasons, Rosicrucians, and supernatural treasure enter the picture
• 36:30 – Peter Amundsen’s journey from stock trading to Oak Island
• 38:01 – Symbolism of the number 53 and Masonic allusions
• 42:06 – Discovery of “rosy cross” acrostic and Rosicrucian mission
• 43:51 – The myth of Father R.C., the menorah, and world-shaping consequences
• 47:21 – Amundsen decodes clues from Folio to Oak Island, “Bootes” and “Wayne” constellations
• 49:10 – The Tree of Life overlay and Nolan’s Cross on Oak Island
• 51:13 – The complicated, watery location of the alleged treasure
• 53:27 – Real-world impact: Shakespearean codebreakers as WWII cryptologists

Conclusion & Takeaways

• The theory explored is as elaborate as it is unlikely: that a nexus of Shakespeare, secret societies, royal intrigue, and world-shaking relics can be accessed through cleverly encrypted lines in the First Folio.
• While no treasure has been found, the story has inspired codebreakers, novelists, and at least a few WWII heroes.
• The allure endures—not just for what might be hidden, but for the chase itself, and the minds sharpened by it.

“The truth isn't always the best story, and the official story isn't always the truth.” — Carter Roy [Conclusion]