Travelers Tarot: Part 5
The Kinslayer, The Prince of Prodicals
Beloveds: We continue our journey through my new cartomancy set, The Travelers Tarot, which is a set of cards that tell you what is possible, and if it is possible where you are. Or much more simply: a tarot set that asks if you are in the right place, at the right time.
A set based on the power of synchronicity, and psychogeography. It also recasts the usual archetypes that Jung famously pointed out to the esoteric community different, new, unusual, shadowy, or just strange characters and sacred stories for today. Today we meet one of the first Voice Cards that appears not to be just a “light” bringer or a Messenger whose story isn’t messy. Then we meet another Voice we probably walk past every day.
The Kinslayer can hear his fellow voices over his shoulder. The whispers. The hushed conjecture “How did he get here?” “I thought he was exiled” and then they say his name like a curse. Kinslayer.
The Kinslayer also knows they would never say any of it to his face. The Kinslayer if anything is the height of royal bearing and when encountered is the Voice who will follow good form, the old ways, and the traveler’s codes to the letter. The Kinslayer stands forever accused of slaying his world of birth. Deicide. His fellow Voices say he destroyed his world in an attempt to learn to travel the roads before the map maker, before the empty throne, before the earth. He reached too far, and as Iccarus before him fell.
The Kinslayer did destroy his world, but not because he wanted to travel the roads, or because he didn’t love his home. Long before the earth, or maybe long after it is gone, The Kinslayers’ world discovered a way to end all chaos, death, misery, misery, ill luck, diseases, war-like instincts, selfishness, and greed. They would siphon all the good fortune, probability, energy, life force, and destinies from all the proto-worlds and cosmos they could see far off in the universe’s future or past. They put The Kinslayer in charge of the task. He promised his kin, king, and betters on the day he would activate what he called “The Event” their world would experience nothing but the perfect day forever. Instead on that day, the Kinslayer’s trap was sprung, imprisoning all of his wicked kin from that ancient cosmos in their world as he used it for fuel. The explosion, the power of The Event, is still felt across Space-time. This act of defense for worlds he would never know launched The Kinslayer across the universe on waves of shadow, uncertainty, and dark energy toward those worlds his kin wanted to destroy. That’s why he doesn’t care what his adopted siblings say. It’s not that it doesn’t hurt The Kinslayer, but the good form won’t let him recount the deed that is his name, that is his shame and an act of courage beyond what any may ever know. Loneliness and despair have no chance with The Kinslayer he is too busy enjoying the awe and beauty of our 7 worlds and the earth to stop and explain that we don’t have his story quite right.
If The Kinslayer comes up it’s time to do the deed. Yes, it’s terrible, hard, or heartbreaking. Have you dealt with your family trauma? Have you taken it to your altar? Your therapist or trusted spiritual advisor lately? Trauma is as elastic as the neuroplasticity of our amazing brains. It can change as we change. Are you trying to help people from open wounds or your scars?
If the Kinslayer is with his witness beware, a destined “death” stalks this place, or put another way-whatever is about to happen can’t be changed. Be warned not to meddle or be like The Kinslayer, unless willing to pay the Kinslayer’s price. If paired with his witness and “The Event” this is a place of destiny and time that events cannot and will not be stopped. Acceptance is your only way forward.
The Prince of Prodigals walks down Main Street of a town he has been to so many times he doesn’t even bother to look around him. He finds humanity, people, and all their little hopes, dreams, and worlds as the most fascinating reason to stay on the road, and besides The Prince of Prodigals has been everywhere at least twice. He was in Siegelman AZ when Route 66 was conceived. He was the one who handed the hammer and golden spike over to the Pacific Railroads to complete the circuit. He became a barnstormer for a while until he crashed his plane in a field and after putting the fire out, just caught a ride from there. It’s not that he approves of all these things, it’s just that he has a knack for being at the right time and the right place to keep the adventure going. He was the first hitchhiker, and the first train hobo, he even worked on a riverboat to get to New Orleans. He has walked the highways, byways, and frontage roads of every interstate. He has Been to every roadside attraction you have skipped, and taken the scenic byway through the cosmos. The Prince is the voice who knows that the adventure of life, the living, the moments between exits, stops, and cities, that is where life exists. It is the journey itself that is the goal. The Prince left home and has never looked back, paused, or stopped for anything except his joy. The Prince is the one voice that the others never quarrel with, and is known as a peacemaker among the 12 voices and 24 witnesses. The Prince is the lord of alleys, baron of those with no home, and guide to new travelers of the road, and the roads between worlds. He is often found in our first steps on a long journey, or in the peaceful oasis of the middle of a long road.
The Prince comes up to get ready for the journey. If paired with voices that typically don't get along, be assured that The Prince’s presence and uneasy alliance have been struck.
If paired with his witnesses you may be entering a period of external instability, but internal growth. The Prince teaches the secret that what looks like instability, foolishness, and unsafe to others may be exactly what your soul’s journey needs. When was the last time you just took off for a while? Are you enjoying the people, places, and tiny encounters or are you obsessed with your goal? When was the last time you stopped to pause and reflect on how far you have come?
Love yall see you probably after Wednesday!
rev/awo lenny duncan