ArcaMax

Mars enters the party in Gemini, and it's only a matter of time before the festivities reaches a point of critical mass. People are talking, moving, dancing and connecting. They become looser, livelier versions of themselves. It's like a reverse costume party. The guard comes down. The connection comes up. People stop performing themselves and start being themselves.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). People are complex, and you can't predict how they'll react to what you consider a very normal and ordinary exchange. If someone gets upset, you don't have to match their energy. Give the moment a little room to settle.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). In the same way that silence changes depending on who sits beside you, the emotional atmosphere around a person tells you more than their words do. Pay attention to how your body feels in someone's company.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You intend to motivate and inspire, but do you have the right words to do it? You don't need to. The words are the least of your tools. When you're living the example, explanation and instruction are but a small part of the equation.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). It is safe -- fortuitous even -- to dream unlimited. However improbable the dream may be, dream it with abandon. It's not your job to represent reality, it's the world's. Leave the world's work to the world while you mentally soar.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You don't think about your strengths because they are so innate you assume they're just part of being human. Of course, that's not so. What's ordinary to you is remarkable to others. Honor your gifts and they'll open doors.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Creative confidence is the belief that you can make something worthwhile even when you don't know exactly how it will turn out. It's different from confidence in the finished product. Today, you believe you can figure it out, then you do.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You can never be completely objective about yourself, but you can learn a lot by looking at yourself from different angles. The better you understand your own patterns, strengths and blind spots, the easier and more enjoyable life becomes.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Leave some empty space in your schedule because that's where the good stuff is likely to happen. You'll accomplish what needs doing, but the most memorable parts of the day may come from things you didn't plan.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You used to feel compelled to share, and now you place a higher value on your own mystery than you do on the need to be completely known and understood. People will come to their own understanding anyway.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The mind is wonderful at generating ideas, not for storing them. Writing helps you process and understand things. Contradictory thoughts can coexist in the mind, but on paper they can be scrutinized. Ink makes the ideas earn their place.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Being included feels physically different from being tolerated. You shouldn't have to bend and work and dance to belong. Today reminds you of this. Genuine friends make you wonder why you ever settled for less.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You have this sly way of leading others without them knowing it. You're not in it for the glory. You want what's best for the group and everyone feels that intent. You'll start today, and others will join in with enthusiasm.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (June 28). It's your Year of the Living Key in which you are the one who snugs into a role and then turns the lock to open your own destiny. It's the friction of life that's refined you to fit the opportunity. Everything before has brought you to this moment. More highlights: A special relationship that requires translation and adjustment but pays off in joy. Savvy investing. Increased physical strength. Pisces and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 3, 19, 7, 28 and 9.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: From Annie Wilkes in "Misery" to the title role in the television series "Matlock," Academy Award winner Kathy Bates has spent much of her career playing women of tremendous emotional force. Like a Cancer, she's a master of emotional nuance. She rarely portrays characters as simple heroes or villains, instead revealing the emotional logic that drives their behavior. Bates has natal Mercury in Gemini, Mars in Virgo and Saturn, the lessons planet, in Leo, the sign of show business.

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