Of course, this card shows a personification of Death in his black robes or armor. On the ground below him lies a dead man. In the distance, the sun is setting (or rising).

 

Whenever tarot cards feature in a Hollywood movie, you can be sure Death is one of them - and it is always taken to divine a literal death. Of course, serious tarot interpretations of this card are more complex and nuanced than that. Death is about endings, indeed. Great, profound endings and how to come to terms with them. The key lies in realizing that first, dealing with such a loss does take time (and it does hurt), and second,  realizing that Death is ultimately necessary for a transformation into something new. It is a sad but important link in an on-going cycle. That which is finished must be released. Old leaves must whither before new leaves can grow. A building must be torn down before we can build again. The sun must set before it can rise again. We can - and need - to mourn and grieve for what we leave behind. But we must accept it too.

 

In many Rider-Waite inspired tarot decks, a priest is depicted on the Death card. Think back to the Hierophant. He teaches that when we are impacted by something which is fundamentally outside our sphere of influence, all we can do is give up the false sense of control and realize that we only control the way we react to and deal with it. In my favorite tarot deck, the priest on the Death card is sitting and holds a sword in his lap. He does not rise to his feet when Death approaches, because he knows that no weapon can stop it. We are all equal before it.