It’s got the whole world in its claws…

This week’s Harrow card, The Tyrant, has the whole world in its grasp. The card shows a gigantic blue dragon, it’s body circled around a small globe. The dragon has its claws deep in the globe itself, causing it to bleed profusely.

While The Tyrant is one of the simplest Harrow cards in terms of visuals, it can be seen as one of the heaviest and most meaningful. The sight of a dragon digging its claws into the world is certainly enough to give anyone pause. Despite this display of physical might, the card is part of the suit of Crowns, meaning that it’s tied to charisma, the ability to project ourselves into the world and realize our place in it.

This means that while the card can represent a very real and tyrannical authority figure, The Tyrant’s true power lies in its ability to latch onto our sense of self and purpose, dictating our behavior instead of allowing us to define it ourselves. The card is aligned Lawful Evil, the alignment of dictators and cruel taskmasters. The Tyrant is an unmerciful being, an oppressive and destabilizing force. It can seem just as cruel if not even more so if The Tyrant itself isn’t aware of how others are affected by its behavior.

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Keep it cool.

This week’s Harrow card, The Brass Dwarf, is someone who is cool in the hottest of times. On the card, we see an elemental being called an azer, who appears to be a dwarf made of living brass. His hair and beard are made of the same bright orange flames that color the background. The dwarf holds a mug in his hand as he calmly smokes from a hookah that’s taller than he is.

The Brass Dwarf is perhaps the true embodiment of the suit of Shields as it relates to everyday life. He represents ultimate endurance in the face of overwhelming danger. The True Neutral cards tend to represent the pure essence of their respective suits, but the Lawful Neutral cards usually represent the practical application of that essence. This is especially true of The Brass Dwarf, who is as symbolic of the process of enduring adversity as he is symbolic of the endurance itself.

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Viva la revolution.

This week’s Harrow card, The Uprising, is as dangerous as it is unpredictable. On the card itself, we see an angry mob, complete with pitchforks and torches. A golden crown hangs from a pitchfork carried by a man in peasant’s clothing. Behind the mob, the landscape is illuminated by raging fires.

The Uprising is a card of both upheaval and uncertainty, but it is not inherently positive or negative. Indeed, the card is aligned Chaotic Neutral, essentially meaning that it could be seen as a kind of pure force of change, untempered by law and order or cultural expectations. It is also not a change that can be ignored. As it comes from the suit of Hammers, which corresponds to strength and power, this change is often a very real and tangible one as opposed to a revolution of the mind.

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