While Mercury seems to travel backward as often as a Disney monorail, Mars reserves his retrogrades for rare occasions, making today's backward journey through Sagittarius the start of something as novel as it is nervy. In the weeks to come the warrior planet takes passionate exploration to the internal level. Ready for a you-to-you encounter?

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Here's a key to save yourself dozens, if not hundreds, of troubled hours: Before you set an aim, do your research. Make sure that the one who already has what you're going for is truly happy with it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The morning's potential is especially golden. Maybe you don't set out to create beauty, but you can't help yourself. As you try to tame the strange and make sense of the wilderness, you'll form something gorgeous.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). If you don't listen to the whispers from your intuition, it will create scenarios through which to speak much more urgently. To avoid having your intuition yell at you, listen closely.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You are focused on doing the right, appropriate and useful thing. Your friend is more focused on framing the action in a way that others will appreciate and reward. Somewhere between the two approaches is a magical combination.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). At one point you and your friend were strangers, interested in helping one another out. Remember this as you deal with today's helpful strangers. It could develop into something interesting, so don't be overly eager to go it alone.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your belief will create more to believe in, so be very careful where you place it. What would you like to magnify, amplify and/or multiply in your life? That's where your focus and faith belong.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You might be surprised by what others take away from an interaction with you. Because your charms are so effortless, you wouldn't guess the details that pop out and spark the imaginations of others.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You'll stumble eventually. Just try to put it off for as long as possible. This game isn't about perfection; rather, it's about persistence. The greatest glory isn't in crossing the finish line but in getting up after the fall.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The pressure is on. The others are looking to you expectantly. You'll find yourself in a position to profess your courage, whether or not you really feel it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You decide within the first few seconds of seeing someone how interested you are in getting to know that person. Stick with that original impulse today, because it will steer you so right.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). When you're walking alongside another, the hills seem less steep, the valleys seem less deep and the entire route plays out more quickly. Ask for and get the company you desire.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Hearing what others think of the situation will help you touch on your own feelings and thoughts — which will be very different from the others but every bit as valid (never forget that).

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (April 17). The stories you tell in August will make someone fall in love with you. Between now and then, you'll be busy living out those stories, mostly started in the spirit of curiosity and adventure. A top-to-bottom reorganization of your personal business will happen in May. June's theme is "youth." Aries and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 2, 22, 27 and 17.

FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: "Backward" is the theme this week, and it starts now with Mars, the warrior planet, retreating through Sagittarius. This only occurs for a couple of months every two years or so, so it's a relatively rare tone change for the energy of this planet. Retrogrades tend to send the focus inward. They throw the past onto the screens of our mind, movie-projector style, our hands on the controls allowing us to play things faster, slower, with more shimmer and glow or under the harsh light of realism. The places in memory with the greatest potential for poetry, passion and power will pop to the mental screen in the weeks to come, so be sure to harness that energy.

After Mars sets the tone, Pluto makes the same move on Monday. The dwarf planet reverses through Capricorn, where he's been exploring power structures since 2008. It turns out it's not so difficult to understand the dynamics unfolding in the deep regions of the soul, because they are always being played out as we interact in our environment. This retrograde will help many correlate the meanings and values we assign to things as we work through our story.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Aries actress Jennifer Garner is currently involved in several projects, including the drama "Wakefield," which also features "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston, and the comedy "Nine Lives," in which Kevin Spacey plays her husband-turned-cat. With her moon, Venus, Mars and Saturn all in Gemini, Garner's flexible mind is stimulated by variety and social excitement.

To write to Holiday Mathis, visit www.creators.com and click "Write the Author" on her page.

Photo credit: Matthew Allen Hecht