In 1998 I decoded the Marseilles Tarot deck as a medieval or early French song. During the 14th century the most common song or poem format throughout the royal courts of Europe was the Ballade or Chanson. This song style has three verses of eight lines per verse, with the last line or stanza of each verse being the same and thus repeated three times.

The Tarot deck consists of 22 numbered cards. One card has no number and is used as the stanza card and is moved to the end of each verse as the song is sung to make a total of 24 lines.

The Tarot cards have no mystical or ancient meanings. The following analysis refers only to the original 14th century Marseilles Tarot Deck. All later decks, from the 16th through 20th centuries are "doctored." These later "bastard" decks are based on the imagination of various Tarot "experts" who thought the Tarot were some kind of "mystical" or spiritual cards. So the experts simply made up many of the symbols to match their own "mystical" beliefs. Do not use those decks. They have no meaning. Strangely, those later decks cannot be used for analysis, but once you learn the Tarot Song, you can actually still "see" the original meaning in the later doctored card decks.

One warning: the genius artist who designed the original cards, tried to hide their meaning by giving each card a name which in most cases seems to be related to the pictures in the cards. But in fact, in most cases, the name of the card is not at all related to the meaning of each card. Simply look at the parts of the pictures in each card and ignore the title or name of the card.

The pictures are a simple Rebus or a literal word picture puzzle to remind the singer of the meaning of each line of the song. The meter of the song is given by the name of the deck. In Italian, the card deck is called the Tarochii, while in French the deck is called the Tarot. The song style is a Ballade, which means "dance" and is the root of the modern word Ballet or a dance, or as we call it today, a ballad. So the Tarot song was written as
dance music.

In medieval literature and still used today, the Italian word "t'rochii" refers to the meter of a poem. In old French, that same meter is called a "t'rot." This meter is the sound of a trotting horse, or CLOP-clip-clip CLOP-clip-clip. This odd meter, with the accent at the front, only exists today as the old folkdance meter of the Irish Jig or the German polka. But those meters would need to be slowed down a bit to match the staid and courtly dance of the romantic Ballade. Despite many attempts to find the source of the name of the Tarot card deck, none of the scholars, in fact nobody, has correctly shown that the name refers to the meter of a song, the T'rot or the modern Tarot.

The only now existing medieval song with this rare and unique meter is the old English song "Greensleeves." Many versions of this classic medieval song with its odd meter can be found on the Internet. I decoded and translated the medieval French version of the Tarot poem to be sung to the meter of "Greensleeves." I set the song in French to have the proper rhythm and with the rhyming line endings as in an original French Ballade. In the English version of the Tarot poem below, I did not try to match the meter or to rhyme the line endings as in the French version. The English version is simply a literal translation of the old French words.

The Star, Moon and Sun cards show a unique astronomical alignment which only occurs on the morning sunrise on July 1 in the early 14th century. I used a computer astronomy program to find all the dates when that specific alignment shown in the cards could occur. In the last 2000 years, it only occurs in the 14th and the 2nd centuries. Since the Tarot cards were not known before the 14th century, I assume that 14th century date is the
specific date shown in the cards. It refers to the date and the events just before the Knights Templar left the Holy land after being defeated and driven out by the Saracens.

I found that the three verses, each seemed to have a common theme, so I have added a title to each verse as What, Where, and When. This was not in the original version but demonstrates that the cards, when laid out in numerical order seem to neatly divide into three common themes or verses. This would not be true if the cards were simply random "fortune telling" cards.

For nearly two centuries, the Templar Knights had removed billions of dollars in Gold from the rich lode mine in the Aruba Valley about 40 miles south of Jerusalem. The Templar campaigns were run by the wealthy French, English and German knights, sworn to the Templar oath of secrecy. At it's height, the Templar operation in the Holy Land used 30,000 armored knights. But what were they all doing? There is no record of any battles during their two century stay in the Holy Land, until the middle of the 14th
century when they were "defeated" and left and then went home.

Almost all of those 30,000 knights were concentrated in 5 Templar castles all within a mile of each other in the Aruba Valley south of Jerusalem, and near the present day ruins called Petra. The very old ruins at Petra were originally built about 600 AD by a unique culture which was neither semitic nor arabic. The site was later abandoned and was taken over as the prime Templar castle, with two more large castles built just north and south of Petra. No explanation of why all that massive Templar manpower was
concentrated in just one spot has ever been given by archaeologists nor historians. But neither has any reasonable explanation been given about how the Templars became so fabulously wealthy over a period of two centuries.

The Templars had a total of about 12 major and minor castles in the holy land ranging from Eilat on the Red Sea to the south and as far north as Damacus, Syria. The primary landing castle site for the Templars was the Mediterranean port of Tyre, which is between the modern port cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. But it seems most of the Templars worked and lived in those five castles near Petra.

The modern archaeological site of Petra is now just over the Israeli border in Jordan and can be found on most modern maps. Petra is on the eastern side of the valley, but the site of the mine is just across the valley on the western side, but under continuous observation by the five Templar castles. Nobody could sneak up on the mining operation without being seen. Considering the fact that 30,000 Templars worked and lived on that site for well over a century, there's got to be a lot of Templar bodies and artifacts there somewhere.

In the mid-14th century, a young 21-year-old English King, Richard the Lionhearted, did not want to waste his time fighting the Saracens in some Holy War. Richard made a separate treaty with the Saracen leader, Saladin. Apparently, Richard thought the purpose of the Crusades was about fighting a Holy War and not mining gold from a vast secret mine. Richard, as did most people in the medieval world bought the "cover story" as the primary reason for the Crusades.

For some reason, Richard was not told the Templar secret of the mining operation. Maybe the other older, Templars may have thought that the young king would not be able to keep a secret. Richard actually made the deal with Saladin, in Alexandria, before Richard and his ships full of armored English knights actually got to the Holy Land and thus Richard never saw the mining operation.

The result was Richard's separate "peace treaty" with Saladin ended the Crusades, and also the mining operation. This story is actually told in the "Wheel of Fortune" card with the symbol of Richard as the British Lion on top of a wheel, while the Templar knights are booted out as Saladin takes over control of the region.

Most Tarot scholars make the mistake of assuming that the Wheel card refers to an Egyptian sphinx, thus many "fake" Tarot scholars assume the deck is as old as ancient Egypt. But not so. A sphinx doesn't carry a sword in his right hand nor wear a crown. That is the exact symbol of King Richard the lionhearted, as shown on the British Royal flag as the British Lion, which is still used today. Thus the Tarot deck dates back only to the time of King Richard the Lionhearted.

Shortly after the separate treaty with Saladin, King Richard, thinking the 200 year old Crusades in the Holy Land were finally over, left for home. But instead he was captured by the French and German kings and was held in prison for two years, until the English government paid a "King's ransom." Since the French and Germans had lost their investment in raising the money for thousands of Templar Knights to mine the gold, they wanted their money back from Richard.

This historical event is inexplicable unless you know the story as shown in the Tarot "Wheel" card. Since Richard left for home and did not support the French and German Templar armies, most of the remaining templars were killed by Saracens in the "Battle of Hattin." The French and Germans kings not only lost their investment, they lost most of their armies of expensive armored knights. They blamed Richard for the loss. They wanted their money back, and were going to make the English pay for it.

If the young King Richard had not been stupid and made a separate deal with Saladin, he would have returned home rich and wealthy just like the French and German kings. Instead the last Crusade was an economic business bust for everyone. When the English armored knights returned home, mysteriously King Richard was not with them. Then came the ransom demand from the French and German kings, or else Richard would waste away in prison. The amount of money demanded was greater than all the wealth in the royal bank of England.

The French-speaking Norman ruling class in England then had a problem. Their King was missing and they needed to raise millions in gold through harsh taxes to ransom Richard. If the truth were known the oppressed English-speaking anglo-saxons would revolt and toss out the Norman dynasty. The Normans made up an elaborate "cover story." King Richard was still on diplomatic duty in the Holy Land and would return soon as a hero. Also they created the story of an intrigue by the interim King John which involved unscrupulous anglo-saxons to suddenly raise taxes to finance the overthrow of John's brother Richard.

That "false cover story" was spread all around 14th century England, as a reasonable explanation for the missing King. It was written and communicated so often, that it is still known today as "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood." The Robin Hood story is only partially historical, since it is only the "cover story" which allowed the French-speaking Norman dynasty of D'anjou to remain the ruling class in England for centuries. Such fanciful false cover stories for international intrigue are still used today, as in the false stories of the Cold War, and the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. The purpose of these stories, as always, is to protect the "ruling class."

Before leaving for home, the French Templar knights completely covered and hid the entrance by filling in the opening to the mine and left no marking, in order to hide the mine from the Muslim Saracen warriors. It remains hidden even today. The only way to find the mine in the future was to line up the rising sun with a certain mountain peak on a specific date. My calculation shows that this method will get you within about 50 yards of of the now hidden mine entrance.

Since the entrance to the mine was actually in Muslim Saracen territory, the Templars had a unique code name for the mine. The name was not in French, but in the local Hebrew language of the Jews in nearby Jerusalem. That Hebrew name was "San'h Gra'al" which in Hebrew means "Treasure of the infidels." Of course, nobody was supposed to know what that name meant. Which is why it was in ancient Hebrew and not French.

Later, after the Crusades, after the Templars returned to the Marseilles region in southern France, where they had stored all the stolen gold, the strange Hebrew code name was translated into French as the similar sounding French "sanc Greal" This unknown code word was mistranslated into French as "The Holy Grail." But nobody knows what a "Grail" is, nor the root source of the word. That is because the original source word was not French, but the Hebrew word "Gra'al" or "infidel."

The "grail" had nothing to do with Jesus or any mythical cup. That myth story was from a later version of the "King Arthur" story which was not written until just before the complete massacre of the Templars, That popular mythical "grail" tale was meant to be a "cover story" to hide the original meaning of the Hebrew words "san'h gra'al."

At that time there were still many Sephardic Jews who lived in northern Spain and southern France who could easily have understood the meaning of the Hebrew "san'h gra'al." By concocting the story of the "holy grail" as "sanc real" in French, even the Jews were fooled into thinking that it was similar sounding French "nonsense words" and not Hebrew. So far, that trick has worked for 700 years and nobody has figured it out.

During the 12th through 14th centuries, the Templars were the most wealthy group in Europe. They became the bankers who loaned tons of gold mostly to the French and German monarchs, and all the kingdoms of Europe. But the French and German Kings had squandered their money on warfare and could not repay the loans.

Thus by the late 14th century, the Templars had no more gold, but only lots of IOU's or loan contracts written in French and German. The French King, to avoid needing to repay the loans, convinced the Pope in Rome that the Templars were heretics. The Pope approved the capture and massacre of all the Templars. The myth around that massacre says that several Templar knights survived and escaped to carry away the "treasure" or the "Holy Grail" with them. But what was the treasure or the "grail?"

What those escaping Templars actually took with them was not the "grail" but the "san'h gra'al" which was the key to decoding the map on a set of 22 cards to the now covered up and hidden King Solomon's Lost Gold Mine. It was a set of picture cards. Since all the Templars were finally killed, nobody then knew how to decode the map, as shown on the 22 rebus picture cards. All that remained was a mysterious deck of cards with some fable or story about "A Fortune." Nobody knew what the cards meant nor what they were for. All that remained was only their name "The T'rot." What you are about to read is the key to the "san'h gra'al, which is in fact, "The Holy Grail."

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CHANSON DU TAROT
(En français)

Carte CE QUI
I Si vous êtes un étudiant de l'art des mystères,
II Et vous recherchez la sagesse de l'Ancients,
III Votre désir est la richesse des empires,
IIII Avec la puissance des empereurs et tyrants,
V Vous voulez l'autorité spirituelle des églises
VI Puis, de votre amour, oubliez, le discontents,
VII Maintenant, pour voyager, préparent, vous devez
... ---- Ainsi, à votre fortune sur l'roue, follement voyagez.

OÙ
VIII Avec l'mappe, vraie et plat, vous voyagez devez.
VIIII Vous recherchez à l'est au soleil se levant,
X De la roue d'Alexandrie, à l'est, vous voyagez,
XI Près d'Aqaba avec le Golfe d'un lion baîllant,
XII Vallée d'Aruba monte, alors que vous descendez,
XIII Par la mort chaude du désert de Negev brûlant,
XIIII Les eaux d'Aruba disparaît là pendant que vous observez,
... ---- Ainsi, à votre fortune sur l'roue, follement voyagez.

QUAND
XV Puis, regardez jusqu' au point du diable,
XVI Sur la Montagne Royale avec couronne qui a soufflé.
XVII Puis, À Pleiades, l'étoile de matin s'associe,
XVIII Dans l'Cancer, les étoiles de chien, la lune suivront
XVIIII Alors que le soleil, dans les Gémeaux s'est levé
XX Aux initiés, une vision merveilleuse, donné seront,
XXI L'trésor d'Solomon, gloire cadeau d' Dieu,
... ---- Ainsi, à votre fortune sur l'roue, voyagez follement.

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BALLADE OF THE TAROT
(In English)

Card number THE WHAT
I If you are a student of the art of the mysteries, (THE MAGICIAN)
II And you seek the wisdom of the Ancients, (THE HIGH PRIESTESS)
III Your desire is the richness of the empires, (THE EMPRESS)
IIII With the power of the emperors and tyrants, (THE EMPEROR)
V You want the spiritual authority of the churches, (THE HIGH PRIEST)
VI Then, of your love, forget, the discontents, (THE LOVERS)
VII Now, to travel, prepare, you must, (THE CHARIOT)
... --- Thus, to your fortune on the wheel, travel like a fool. (THE FOOL)

THE WHERE
VIII With the map, true and flat, you must travel. (JUSTICE)
VIIII You look in the east with the rising sun, (THE HERMIT)
X From wheel of Alexandria, to the east, you travel, (WHEEL OF FORTUNE)
XI Beside Aqaba with the yawning lion gulf, (STRENGTH)
XII The Aruba Valley goes up, whereas you go down, (THE HANGED MAN)
XIII By the hot death of the extreme Negev desert, (unnamed card "death")
XIIII The Aruba Water disappears there while you watch, (TEMPERANCE)
... --- Thus, to your fortune on the wheel, travel like a fool. (THE FOOL)

THE WHEN
XV Then, look up to the pointer of the devil, (THE DEVIL)
XVI On the Royal Mountain with crown which blew (THE TOWER)
XVII Then, In Pleiades, The Morning Star joins, (THE STAR)
XVIII In Cancer, Dog Stars, the Moon will follow, (THE MOON)
XVIIII While the sun, in Gemini has risen, (THE SUN)
XX To the believers, a wonderful vision, will be given (THE JUDGEMENT)
XXI Solomon's Treasure, Glory gift of God (THE WORLD)
... --- Thus, to your fortune on the wheel, like a fool you travel. (THE FOOL)

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The above in an excerpt from the book, "Ballade of the Tarot." The book contains a
full explanation of how each card is decoded, a proper history of the deck, and a computer analysis of the date shown in the cards, along with documentation of the dating of the cards as shown by the clothing styles shown on the cards which dates the original deck to 1340 AD, plus or minus 10 years.

It also includes information about the numerous secret societies such as, the Templars, Masons, Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Golden Dawn, and even Hitler's Nazi's, and now the worldwide international oil corporations. The secret societies, which all focused on the study of the meanings of ancient symbols. Secret societies, which for centuries have been searching for the lost mine in order to use the vast wealth for world conquest, but so far they have all failed since they did not know how to decode the Tarot symbols in the "San'h Gra'al." But now you know...

Marshall Smith
Editor, Brother Jonathan Gazette
newseditor@brojon.com

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