This late-stage Libra Season finds us in a retrograde-heavy patch. Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto are all retrograde until Pluto is the first to break the trend on Oct. 15. We're still working out our new agreements and renegotiating the old ones with an eye to this future we anticipate will be very different from the past. And oh, how we're right about it.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Though you excel as a leader, the role gets weirdly small and laden with the duty of answering everyone's questions, deciding the direction for the group, and being responsible for operations. You can't take risks in this position or explore like you want to. This week, take a break from being in charge so you can relax and feel free.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You'll filter yourself out of kindness. Maybe you don't mention the flaw you notice, or you steer the conversation to areas you know the other person will feel good about. Not everyone can do this as graciously as you. You'll be reminded that sometimes love is accepting another person's rough edges without taking offense.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Remember the time an attraction developed after months of nothing romantic? It could happen again. You'll see someone in their stride, witness a moment of kindness or strength, and be reminded how one moment can change up the entire picture. A friendship offers plenty of time for such moments.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Small gestures convey affection — like taking the worse seat, changing your plans or letting them have the last piece of pie. Love is sometimes putting the other person first. "Sometimes" is the operative word. Because if you're always putting the other person first, you might lose the "you" who's giving the love.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There are times you can understand a person's joys and sorrows without needing them to articulate. Those times are becoming more frequent as you get to know a person. The process itself is an act of love and is especially fulfilling when the person you are learning understands it as such.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You treat people well when they are your friends. You treat people well when they are strangers. You treat people well when you don't have to. Treating people well is your default setting. It seems like a pretty basic tenet of human decency, yet you see it violated daily — one of the many reasons you are so needed everywhere you go this week.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You will enjoy the burst of energy that comes when it's clear that people believe in you. This week they demonstrate this more than once and in a variety of ways by supporting you in word, action and even with their wallet. Can you blame them? What you stand for and work toward is so easy to get behind.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). When things are working just fine, why would a person have an impulse to rearrange them? Once something works, you have enough security to play with it. When the machine is broken, you repair it. When it runs, you start wondering what else it can do. This week, it sends you to change everything up.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Some people raise the standard by what they do. Others raise it by changing what everyone around them can do. Being the best person on the team and making the team better are two different talents. This week you'll score points like a superstar, and you also create openings for others to score for the team win.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). This week's challenge involves a friendship that operates in a power arrangement you've outgrown. One person pursues, one accommodates; one decides, one follows; one has information, status, money or access the other wants. You will see the arrangement more clearly and change your participation in it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Pluto makes the question of group dynamics especially interesting. This week you recognize that being influential doesn't require being in charge. You accomplish more through introducing two people, backing someone else's idea, or just working quietly with your head down on the thing you want to work on.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You've been asking a number of "why" questions like: Why does this person get to me? Why do I keep doing this? Why am I afraid of that particular outcome? Pluto turning direct will have you testing theories and putting what you learn to good use. You'll stop asking why and start figuring out how to make the change you want.

THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS: Your Year of the Hitherto Unspent will highlight everything in you that life has yet to call upon: talent you haven't needed yet, courage that hasn't met its occasion, love seeking a recipient. Stored capital like money, energy, influence and imagination will be put into circulation with a powerful and fulfilling effect. More highlights: a beautification project, awarded efforts, the group promotes and pays you to improve lives, challenges you physically and introduces you to fun friends.

For contact info and more Holiday magic, go to HolidayMathis.com

Photo credit: LucasVphotos at Unsplash