It’s Scorpio season

At least on the astrological calendar.

The period of the sign of Scorpio runs from October 23 to November 21.

The sign of Scorpio belongs to the Water element, and those born under its rule possess great intensity, intuition, loyalty, and power of transformation.

But what about the constellation of Scorpio?

The association between astrology and astronomy occurred in Antiquity, when both walked together. For ancient civilizations, observing the sky was a way of organizing time, predicting the seasons, and seeking answers to earthly phenomena.

In the 2nd millennium BC, Babylonian priests in ancient Mesopotamia observed that the Sun and the planets traveled along a specific path in the sky throughout the year. Observing the apparent movement of the Sun, the Babylonians recognized a set of constellations distributed along this celestial path. Later, this path was divided into twelve equal sectors, giving rise to the zodiac used to this day by Western astrology.

The sectors were initially divided as follows: Aries symbolizing the ram; Taurus; Gemini symbolizing the “twins” of Greek mythology: Castor and Pollux; Cancer symbolizing a crab; Leo; Virgo, which could symbolize either a young maiden holding a golden branch or ear of wheat, or Demeter or Astraea (so much creative vision!); Sagittarius symbolizing a centaur; Capricorn symbolizing a goat; Aquarius symbolizing a water-bearer or a human figure pouring water; and Pisces.

As for Libra, in fact, the ancient Greeks did not draw it as we know it. Originally, the stars that form the sign were seen as the claws of the constellation of Scorpio. Only later, during the Roman Empire, were these stars separated and came to be represented as a scale.

It is important to note that, today, a sign is not the same as a constellation.

Due to the Earth’s equinoxes, the sky has changed over millennia. Western astrology uses the signs as mathematical divisions of the Tropical Zodiac, while the real constellations in space vary in size—some even overlap—which differs from the geometric and symmetrical division used in astrological charts.

The constellation of Scorpio is much denser in constitution than what is actually seen. Although with the naked eye we see only a few dozen stars, the constellation is much richer than it appears. Over the centuries, astronomers have created different cataloging systems to identify these stars, showing that the same celestial body can receive different names depending on the catalog used.

But the most famous star of Scorpio is Antares, a red supergiant that shines intensely at the heart of the constellation.

In the skies of Brazil, Antares shone earlier this year. It was May 30, when the news announced: “Heart of Scorpio” will be visible in the sky at dusk, along with a Blue Moon.

The Tupi-Guarani, who lived in these lands long before Cabral dreamed of arriving, did not call this region of the sky Scorpio. They saw a Snake (Mboi Tatá), the Fire Snake. The red star Antares was not the “heart” of anything. It was the eye of the serpent.

And when the serpent’s eye appeared in the sky at dusk, in autumn, they knew: the intense cold was anticipating its arrival. It was time to prepare: store food, gather the hunt, perform the rites of passage.

The Indigenous peoples of Brazil, like many others around the world, have their own way of observing the sky and associating names with the constellations.

The Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) at USP published the free digital book O Céu dos Povos Originários: O Legado de Germano Afonso. The work is authored by astronomy undergraduate Gabriela Silva Salustiano and professors Laerte Sodré Jr. and Vera Jatenco Silva Pereira; you can download it here.

If you observe with very attentive eyes, the constellation of Scorpio really resembles a snake much more. Other peoples, such as the Desana, Tukano, and Guarani, also refer to it by snake names, because, in our country, we have many more species of snakes than species of scorpions. But it is curious that, in the end, so many distinct peoples have associated this constellation with animals.

The stars have remained practically the same for thousands of years. What changes are the stories we choose to tell about them.

For some peoples, that region of the sky was a scorpion. For others, a serpent. For yet others, a calendar capable of announcing the arrival of cold, guiding planting, and preparing the community for a new cycle.

None of these readings erases the other.

They all reveal different ways of understanding the same universe.

And, since we are officially in Scorpio season, I wish that this may also be a time to observe the sky, celebrate the cycles, and remember that, regardless of the name we give to the stars, they continue to illuminate humanity for thousands of years.