Close but no conjunction; Pleiades legends

Mercury and Mars are about to appear close, but they're not having a conjunction in either right ascension or celestial longitude.The moon passes in front of the Pleiades this week. As the Pleiades return to all night views, let's revisit why so many legends around the world say this star cluster represents seven beings but we see only six.And more: Jupiter is about to go retrograde, Venus passes by Spica, and Neptune and Saturn remain somewhat close.