Bharani is a star of immense power and paradox. Its presiding deity is Yama, the Lord of Dharma and Death. In Vedic mythology, Yama was the first mortal to die and find the path to the other world, thus becoming the ruler of the ancestors. This association with death often frightens people, but in the context of Bharani, death is simply a metaphor for radical change. It is the death of the caterpillar to birth the butterfly. The symbol of Bharani is the Yoni, the female reproductive organ. This connects the star deeply to the creative force of the divine feminine (Shakti). It is the vessel that holds life, nourishes it in darkness, and pushes it out into the light through great effort. The mythology of Bharani is the mythology of the womb: it is a place of restriction, incubation, and eventual release. There is a story that Yama was cursed by his stepmother Chhaya to have a wounded leg, which symbolizes that even the enforcer of cosmic law is subject to karma. This teaches Bharani natives that actions have consequences. They often feel a heavy sense of responsibility or 'carrying the load' for others. Another aspect of Bharani is its connection to 'apabharani shakti'—the power to take things away. Just as the soul is taken from the body at death, or the infant is taken from the womb at birth, Bharani rules the painful but necessary separations that facilitate growth. It is the star of extremes: the restraint of the womb and the explosion of birth; the stillness of death and the movement of the soul. In the Mahabharata, the great warrior Bhishma, who could choose the time of his death, waited for the sun to enter the northern hemisphere (Uttarayana) before leaving his body. This control over life and death forces is characteristic of the high-octave Bharani individual. They are the doulas of the zodiac, present at the gateways of life and death, helping souls transition from one state of being to another.