Mars stealthily enters Scorpio today — with gusto. Scorpio is a sign reputed for its awesome emotional willpower, stamina and drive, complementary to this planet of action. This ingress will demonstrate that precise and dramatic action is achieved by the perfect mating of feeling and action. Trust your gut instinct to power your next move.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You've put in your time doing the appropriate thing, filling in all the blanks with the correct answers. Now it's time set aside reason and be deliciously impractical. Romance isn't practical and neither is fun.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Settle a dispute between you and you. It's important that you join your own team. If you're at war with yourself, you'll attract just the kind of conflict that will make you wish you'd stayed in bed this morning.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Whether you believe that life is too short or too long, either way you slice it, frivolous fun is a necessity. Get wild, get fabulous. Even if you go a little too far, you'll later appreciate your full commitment to life.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). The growing process is no picnic. Likewise with the healing process. Whatever uncomfortable feelings come up, you can take solace in the knowledge that you're improving yourself inside and out.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Because you've been spending most of your social time with one person, there's a common language and humor developing. The level of sharing deepens with the challenges you face together now.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (OCTOBER 3). It's a year of fine returns. Whatever disappointments you've experienced in the past, the future brings an equal and opposite victory. There's evidence this month that things are going your way. There's a meaningful confession of love and a significant raise, too. Next month brings a dramatic personal breakthrough. Leo and Aries adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 4, 19, 10, 44 and 1.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You can manage your own feelings, but it's nice when you don't have to. Besides, opening up to someone brings you closer. Intimacy starts when you stop pretending everything's peachy.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You're trying to persuade others, and this is an important part of your mission. Sculpt your message with the end in mind, but not the part that will help you. Keep thinking of what the other person wants and what's in it for them.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You're dealing with the big egos and they all need love. The VIPs you know probably got that way because they needed more than an average amount of attention, affection and respect.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Being of service makes you happy. You're extremely amenable to the needs of others. In fact, anyone who wants something from you should ask now because tomorrow you'll deliciously busy with your own stuff.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You're not interested in working hard for the sake of it. You want to know that you're making a difference, that you're helping the cause and that you are getting things done.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You feel like you're acting on behalf of every other person of your race, gender, age or other delineating factor. You take the responsibility quite seriously, too, intent on doing your best to represent.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The passions and perils of everyday life are vivid now. Big thoughts and big feelings need to be let out to be worked out. Tell someone, or tell your diary, but let it out.

WEEKEND LOVE FORECAST: ARIES: Gifts of love come your way in beautiful and strange shapes and packages. TAURUS: Your fascination and their magnetism draws you into the realm of someone new. GEMINI: Sitting on the fence between one person or another buys you more time and allows your options in love to widen. CANCER: A newfound courage overcomes your shyness, emboldening you to risk your heart for the promise of love. LEO: Reunions are made sweeter because you're the one passing out your affections like candy. VIRGO: You unwaveringly choose a direction to take in love and head in it. LIBRA: You converse with people interested in knowing you better, though whether you share the secrets of your success is up to you. SCORPIO: You're in charge of your heart. Others sense this confidence and therefore basically find you irresistible. SAGITTARIUS: On the surface, you're an open book, although those closest to you soon realize you know more about them than they thought. CAPRICORN: Be leisurely ambitious. Relaxed among the company of friends, you accomplish more. AQUARIUS: A heartfelt offering is made and as a law of attraction inspires future actions in kind. PISCES: You're willing to travel to share your heart.

COUPLE OF THE WEEKEND: When Pisces finds another Pisces it's as though they've finally found the calm in the eye of the storm. The fishes are vulnerable; the waters can be chaotic, dangerous even. Swimming toward their tendency for selfless devotion for a needy partner, or against the mixed-up values of the world itself can be exhausting without an ally. A Pisces coupling provides that safe haven for each other.

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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