Looking up…

Skywatch

🌟 Lunar Occultation of the Pleiades

📅 Date: Sunday, July 20
⏰ Time: Best viewing between 4:00–5:00 AM EDT
📍 Where to look: Low in the east-northeast, near the horizon
🔭 What you’ll see: The waning crescent Moon passes directly in front of the Pleiades star cluster, briefly hiding some of the stars. Binoculars recommended for detail.

Moonrise: ~9:40 AM EDT

Moonset: ~10:55 PM EDT

Phase: Waning Gibbous (~85% illuminated)

For the rest of the week, the Moon rises later each day and shrinks toward Last Quarter (July 18). By July 20, it’s a waning crescent, rising around 1:40 AM EDT and setting near 5 PM EDT

• Saturn: Rises around 11:45 PM EDT on July 14, visible in the southeast by midnight. Look for its golden glow—rings visible in a small scope.

• Mars: Low in the west just after sunset. Fading, but still visible.

• Venus & Jupiter: Not yet prominent in the evening sky, but Venus is visible before sunrise in the east, especially around July 21–22 when it pairs with the Moon.

• Aquila & Altair: Soaring overhead in the east after dark. Altair is the southern point of the Summer Triangle.

• Ophiuchus: Just above Scorpius, home to the Serpent Bearer and the split constellation Serpens—a rich region for binocular scanning.

Primetime

🌌Spotlight on Scorpius

Mid-July, right after dusk, the ancient constellation Scorpius reaches peak elevation over the southern horizon — meaning it’s prime-time viewing for the Northern Hemisphere. If you’ve got a clear view facing south-southwest and a sky free of trees, buildings, or moon glare, you’re in for a celestial treat. Scorpius is low — like, “barely above your neighbor’s fence” low — so dark skies and a wide-open horizon are essential to catch its full, graceful arc.

🔭 How to View Scorpius This Week (July 14–20, 2025)

🕘 When: Around 9–11 PM local time, when Scorpius is highest in the sky
📍 Where: Any spot with minimal light pollution and an unobstructed view south
📌 How: Look up ~45° until you spot the bright red star Antares, then trace the curve down to Shaula and Lesath — the “Cat’s Eyes” at the tail

🦂 Mythology: Cosmic Beef & Eternal Chase

Greek lore: Orion the hunter bragged about how no beast could beat him, which didn’t sit well with Artemis, goddess of the hunt. She sent a giant scorpion to sting him into oblivion. Zeus placed both Orion and Scorpius in the sky — but far apart, so they’d never meet again. That’s why when Orion rises, Scorpius sets… a cosmic game of tag they’ll never win.

Polynesian tradition: Scorpius is Manaiakalani, the fishhook of the demigod Māui, used to reel islands from the sea. The tail becomes the hook. The Milky Way, the ocean.

🌠 Astronomy: Galactic Goodies & Star Power

Scorpius isn’t just myth — it’s packed with star-stuff and space weirdness:

• Sits directly along the Milky Way, making it a backdrop for nebulae, clusters, binaries, and exoplanets

• 33rd largest constellation in the sky

• One of the most recognizable thanks to its curved “tail” and bright stars

• 14 of Scorpius’ stars are known to have planets in orbit around them

🔭 Deep Sky Objects:

• Messier 4: Closest globular cluster to Earth, next door to Antares

• Cat’s Paw Nebula: Star-forming region recently captured by JWST

• Gliese 667C: Part of a triple star system with three super-Earths in the habitable zone — potential liquid water=potential life

🛸 The Blinking UFO: It’s a Drone! It’s a Plane! It’s Antares!

Some nights, Antares looks just like Mars — bright, red, bold. Other nights? It straight-up resembles a drone. Red, blue, green, white — it blinks and strobes like cosmic tech.

• That’s because Antares is a binary system: a red supergiant plus a faint blue-white companion

• Atmospheric distortion + proximity to the horizon = LED lightshow vibes

• Despite the glitchy look, Antares is very real:

• 🔥 700x the Sun’s diameter

• 💡 10,000x the Sun’s luminosity

• 🧨 Near the end of its life — eventually destined to go supernova

Fun fact: “Antares” means “rival of Mars” in Greek — anti-Ares — which fits the war-god energy and that reddish glow perfectly.

✨ Named Stars in Scorpius (All IAU-recognized):

Antares, Shaula, Lesath, Acrab, Dschubba, Sargas, Jabbah, Alniyat, Fang, Paikauhale, Pipirima, Rapeto, Larawag, Xamidimura, Iklil, Fuyue, Dìwö, and Sharjah

Each with its own role — from scorpion stingers to cosmic cat’s eyes — and some, like Xamidimura, hosting known planetary systems.

♏ Astrology: The Celestial Mirror

Scorpius = astronomical constellation.
Scorpio = astrological sign (Oct 23–Nov 21).

🔭 Astrology rooted in astronomy:

• Scorpius’ sting-shaped tail mirrors Scorpio’s precise emotional power

• Antares, with its pulsing red intensity is a metaphor for Scorpio’s depth and drive

• Its position near the galactic center, surrounded by cosmic mystery represents the Scorpionic energy: transformation, mystery, and hidden intensity

♏What part of you do you keep locked away because it feels “too intense”—and what would happen if you let it lead?

♏Are you transforming or just shedding skins to stay comfortable?

♏Where does your power scare you, and what would change if you trusted it instead?

♏If your shadow had a microphone right now, what would it say that you’re avoiding?

Monday July 14

📍 Expanding + Editing

🌕✨ Moon Trine Jupiter: Trust the Uplift This transit is a boost. Plain and simple. Emotions flow with ease, and optimism doesn’t feel like wishful thinking—it feels earned. You’re tuned in, and what once felt out of reach is starting to feel doable.

Let yourself move toward possibility.
🌀 You’re already expanding. Trust where it’s taking you.
Joy isn’t just a nice feeling—it’s a signal.

🌕💔 Moon Square Venus: When Connection Costs Too Much Today’s tension calls it out: you want closeness, but not at the cost of yourself. Comfort clashes with clarity, and old compromises suddenly feel heavy.It’s a day of noticing:

• what no longer feels good

• where honesty asks more of you

• how choosing yourself can feel both freeing and lonely

🌀 Emotional truth isn’t cute—it’s necessary.
Let discomfort show you what’s out of alignment. You don’t need to fix it. You just need to feel it.

Tuesday July 15

🔴 “Mars made me do it”

🌕🔥 Moon Opposite Mars: High Emotion, Low Chill Feelings are loud today—fast, raw, and a little reckless. You might say something you instantly regret, do something that felt right for 2 seconds, or spiral from a side-eye that hit too close to home. It’s the emotional version of “I didn’t mean to send that text but it’s out there now.” But this isn't about shame—it’s about learning to pause before lighting the match. Reaction moves fast. Response asks for intention. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s clarity (and maybe fewer apology texts).

✨ So what’s the difference between reacting and responding? Let’s break it down:

Wednesday July 16

Hustle, Hesitate, Repeat

🌕 Moon Conjunct Saturn & Neptune in Aries: Mixed Signals from the Cosmos This transit is all about emotional tension. Saturn says “stay focused,” Neptune says “get dreamy,” and Aries says “go now.” That mix can feel like trying to make a plan while your heart keeps changing the subject.

You’ll want momentum, but might hit hesitation or confusion. The fix? Pair emotional discipline with imagination. Let clarity and creativity co-lead.

Working With This Energy

✅ Do:

• Start before you feel ready

• Make a simple plan, then tweak as you go

• Move your body to shift your mood

• Set limits on distractions

🚫 Don’t:

• Wait for perfect clarity

• Spiral in “what ifs”

• Overthink every emotion

• Force progress just to feel productive

Thursday July 17

🌗Last Quarter Moon in Aries

🌗🧹Last Quarter Moon in Aries The moon is in it’s shedding phase—halfway from full to new—and it's time to clean house—emotionally, energetically, spiritually. You’ve got too much old baggage and not enough room for what’s next. Life might hand you a broom… Aries hands you a match.

Aries doesn’t dust, vacuum, or slowly sweep out the debris. Aries tosses the whole emotional mess into the bin, flicks the match over its shoulder, and walks away in slow motion as the dumpster fire erupts behind them. No flinching. No apologies. No looking back. Just pure ✨ main character energy ✨

🌙🩹 Moon Conjunct Chiron — When Emotion Meets the Wound The Moon rules our emotional instincts, habits, and needs.
Chiron represents the places we’ve been hurt — and the path toward healing. When they meet, feelings get raw.

You might feel exposed, sensitive, or reactive — not because something’s wrong, but because something old is being touched. This transit can stir emotional memory of:

• Times you didn’t feel safe

• Moments you weren’t seen

• Patterns that still echo in relationships today

It’s not a breakdown. It’s a breakthrough.
Let the feelings rise. Don’t rush to fix them.
This is a day for naming what hurts — and offering it compassion.

🌀 Let yourself feel. Not to fix, but to understand

📱 Mercury RX in Leo

Hey fam—

It’s your favorite cosmic trickster-slash-inbox gremlin. I’m in retrograde. Again. Which means you’re about to relive a few convos you thought you ended, reread some texts you wish you hadn’t sent, and maybe reconnect with someone who still owes you emotional closure... or $47.82.

I’m not here to ruin your life. Just your illusions.

This season’s vibe:

• A calendar glitch reveals your poor time boundaries.

• Your ex slides into DMs at 2:37am—Mercury made them do it.

• You finally read your own message and realize… you lied to yourself.

Communication isn’t just what you say—it’s what you don’t. So I’m surfacing the unsaid. The typo truths. The ghosted ideas. The apology drafts you never finished.

This isn’t chaos. It’s clarity in disguise.
So: reflect. Re-edit. Resend- if it’s real.

I’ll be direct again soon. Until then, find the lesson in the lag.

Love & Low Signal,
Mercury
Your celestial correspondent from the land of autocorrect and accidental self-revelation

Friday July 18

Love Letters from the Draft Folder

🔄 Mercury RX Sextile Venus A Mercury–Venus sextile is always gentle and harmonious, but its flavor shifts depending on Mercury’s motion. When Mercury is direct, the energy is outward and expressive: conversations flow with grace and creative ideas bloom easily into form.

But since Mercury turned retrograde this morning, now the vibe turns inward and reflective. Instead of reaching out, reach within. Revisit conversations, creative drafts, or aesthetic choices with fresh eyes.

✨ Here’s how to vibe with it:

• Revisit projects you ghosted (think: half-finished Canva designs)

• Send a thoughtful message to someone you miss

• Refresh your creative branding or visuals to reflect where you actually are now (something as small as a new font can make a big difference)

• Marie Kondo your inbox and create space for words that actually mean something from people that actually matter

Retrograde doesn’t mean pause — it means pivot.

Saturday July 19

Spotlight meets Scar

☀️💊Sun Square Chiron The Sun wants to shine bold and bright—but Chiron’s standing in the wings, quietly asking, “What about the places that still hurt?”

This transit may have you feeling exposed, triggered, raw. Confidence clashes with insecurity. The desire to be seen bumps into old stories about not being good enough.

From the Sun’s view: “I want to lead and express. Why am I doubting everything?”
From Chiron’s view: “Your light means more when it includes your healing.”

You’re not broken—you’re in process. And this square says: Show up anyway.

🌞 How to Work with it:

• Name the wound This transit brings up old insecurities—especially around visibility, self-worth, and being misunderstood. Don’t push them down. Acknowledge them. Journal, reflect, or talk it out.

• Let vulnerability be part of your light The Sun wants to radiate. Chiron says, “Not without your scars.” Instead of hiding what hurts, let it inform your authenticity. You’re not less because you’ve been hurt—you’re more.

• Watch for imposter syndrome You might feel like you’re not “ready” or “worthy” to lead, speak, or create. That’s Chiron whispering doubt. The work is showing up anyway.

• Use creative expression as medicine Art, writing, movement—anything that lets you express your story helps bridge the gap between pain and power. This transit is a call to make meaning from the mess.

• Support others, but don’t neglect yourself
  With this energy its easy to be everyone else's cheerleader. Just make sure you’re not pouring all your light into others while ignoring your own needs.

• Reframe the tension as growth
  Squares push us to evolve. This one says: “Your identity expands when you face what hurts.” Let it stretch you, not shrink you.

Sunday July 20

Emotional Rebel

🌕🌩️ Moon opposite Uranus is like emotional lightning—sudden, electric, and impossible to ignore. It stirs up a tension between the need for emotional security (Moon) and the craving for freedom and unpredictability (Uranus). This transit may come through as:

• Sudden emotional shifts: You might feel impulsive, anxious, or crave change without knowing why.

• Disruption in routines: Expect the unexpected—plans may unravel, but breakthroughs are possible.

• Relationship tension: Especially with women or maternal figures, emotional needs may clash with a desire for independence.

• Revelatory insights: Flashes of intuition can lead to powerful realizations, if you're open to them.

Meanwhile, on earth…

🦋 The Metamorphosis Begins

While Scorpius hangs low in the southern sky and Antares is pulsing with passion and mystery— transformation is kicking off down here too. Caterpillar season has officially begun. Eggs tucked under milkweed leaves, squiggly new hatchlings, and one bold elder who formed a chrysalis today.

Starting this week, I’ll be going on the full metamorphosis journey with them — documenting the process and bringing you along through photographs and stories in the newsletter.

Scorpio rules metamorphosis: not the pretty kind, but the gritty, shadow-soaked rebirth that happens in the in-between. And here we are — watching it unfold in the garden.

✌️That’s all for now, folks…

Thanks for reading “This week in the heavens” by heaven&earth. Keep looking up and remember…

The heavens don’t write your story — they read it aloud.
The sky is a mirror- Celestial movement mirrors human experience, giving shape to the shifts already underway. Your life is not dictated by the sky, it is reflected by it. Each planetary alignment is a verse, recited back to you from above.

Track your thoughts. Log your dreams. The page is a map of your inner cosmos — and a bridge to who you’re becoming. You don’t have to have it figured out. Just start.

🌙🌎✨ heaven&earth