The warm summer sun enters fiery Leo today, turning up the heat to a fevered pitch in the vital center of our lives — our heart center. Heart energy is joyful and vivacious. Indeed, our lust for life animates all of life. As desire invigorates our willpower, it feels like we can make almost anything happen during Leo sun season.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Oh, the ideas you'll have. Many of them won't be a hit; at least not the first time you express them. But try again later — the truth of the matter is, you're ahead of your time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Instead of fighting the automated world, consider how you might join it. Delegate a piece of business that can be impersonally handled to a machine, then enjoy the way it makes your life easier.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Be careful whom you confide in now. The walls have ears — so do the hallways, the car, mailbox — there's almost nowhere you can go to air your opinions without offending someone.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You are so in love with your work that it doesn't seem like work to you. You would do it even if you were not paid to do it, which is why you might not even realize that it's about time you asked for better compensation.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You want to help a project along, but how? With your suggestions? Information? Money? Doing nothing but observing the way things are will be an even more valuable contribution at this crucial juncture.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (JULY 22). Your fascination with life's mysteries draws you into vibrant worlds this year. You and a friend take off on an adventure in August. Career strides happen because others depend on you and recognize the uniqueness of what you do. Family pulls in close to welcome new additions in October. December is financially lucky. Libra and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 6, 41, 49, 33 and 17.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You've heard that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, an adage that's a bit extreme for the circumstances. Maybe you'll be direct or a tad stern, but cruel? Rest assured it's unnecessary.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). What appears to be a conflict may be something else entirely — for instance, communication or passion. It never ceases to amaze you how some people show their love.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Get the attention you need. Once you admit that you want to be noticed, you'll be like a peacock among wrens. Seldom will you get such a delicious opportunity to strut and pose and maybe even rant.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Write down all the qualities you are looking for in others and then get to work on embodying those characteristics in yourself. In this way you ready yourself to meet your perfect match.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Relationships may seem to have no rhyme or reason whatsoever, but it's no accident that you were brought together. You like someone, they like you and that brings about a whole chain of events.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). It's a beautiful day when things are happening for you — not to you. And since you're so wise, you might even consider the possibility that this has always been and will always be so.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You're dealing with that person you so often disagree with. It's wonderful, these differences of opinion. If you always shared the same opinion, the redundancy would bore you to tears.

ASTROLOGICAL TOPICS: The lion is associated with the noblesse oblige of royalty; lions have been on royal crests and shields for ages. If you've ever wondered how the lion earned her royal position, you can look all the way back to Egypt for that answer. Egypt played a central role influencing modern astrology in a big way, and it was also Egypt that elevated the wild animal/rodent: to domestic servant, to household pets, to ultimately godlike status. They even mummified and built temples for the cats (you can bet your fancy feast the cat never forgot this royal treatment). Sekhmet, one fierce lioness goddess of ancient Egypt, was the protector of pharaohs and said to be so powerful that her very breath created the desert. Incidentally, she also had a city named after her: Leontopolis, the "City of Lion" — which makes me think of Hollywood for some reason. Nowadays, you could almost say rock star royalty has replaced the aristocracy in the Western world. All-powerful Leos like Madonna and Mick Jagger appear to command the entertainment kingdom, but high rank accompanies high standards: to act with honor, kindness, generosity and dignity. You could say it's in their pedigree.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: With the sun, Mercury, Mars and Venus in the charismatic, expressive sign of the performer, growing up a child star in the public eye has suited Daniel Radcliffe. Daniel's recently taken to the stage and been lauded for playing a more mature role. No need to worry about this guy holding his own; Leos are perfectly comfortable dominating, then owning whatever environment they are in.

Holiday Mathis is the author of "Rock Your Stars." If you would like to write to her, please go to www.creators.com and click on "Write the Author" on the Holiday Mathis page, or you may send her a postcard in the mail. To find out more about Holiday Mathis and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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