The tension between Venus and Jupiter lets up, and the sun and moon, both in Leo, open floodgates of passion. Infatuation can be hard on a life. Who is your most reasonable, clearsighted friend? Rely on this person for sound advice that you actually listen to. William Shakespeare suggested, "If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark."

ARIES (March 21-April 19). There's a difference between voluntary distractions and involuntary distractions. Television, refrigerator, social media — these are voluntary. People are involuntary ones. Go where people are not, or you'll get very little accomplished.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You know what you want to do but have no idea how you're going to do it. The library and the internet are excellent first stops. Also, start telling people. Everyone will want to help you today.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You're up to the challenge and ready for the responsibilities that go with it, but there's only so much you can do alone. As you reach out for help, use your intuitive powers, but don't forget to check credentials as well.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Your productivity will be impressive today as you follow this single suggestion: High-energy times are for creative and challenging work; low-energy times are for busy work.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Your good intentions are there. Your goals are sound. And your desire is strong. It's still not going to work, though, unless you can back it up with a system. Your efforts are best put toward creating and testing your system.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). There's quite a lot you're not maximizing. You could be cashing in! You need to restructure. What makes it hard is that you haven't put the correct value on what you have, what you know and who you are. Get outsider help.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Some call it passion, but that's too mystical a term for the simple cause and effect that's really happening here. You find something to do that you seem to be winning at, and your desire to do it increases. Success is an energizer.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). If you want to better yourself (and who doesn't?), there's only about 7 billion hours' worth of material available to you on the topic. You've a super talent for filtering the strategies that will work from the noise of general life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). A funny dichotomy: On the one hand you'd like to feel very attractive. On the other hand, you don't want people to actually be attracted to you, as that comes with its own set of problems. This is about self-love.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The world is full of great ideas that aren't worthy of your time. Why? Because they aren't viable for you. It's not about finding the best idea; it's about working on what you can execute well. Focus all your energy on that.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Look for areas in which you might have a natural advantage. When you can apply your talent to a task or a relationship, you'll get the success bump that leads to high energy and more winning.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Timing plays the starring role. People tend to think of timing as being related to luck, but it's often more of an experience and skill thing. Today you'll experiment, work and practice so that you can get the timing right.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (Aug. 19). A lifestyle that allows you to do what you enjoy when you want it will allow for all kinds of good fortune. That's why it'll be wise for you to make flexibility a vital factor in any life decision. People much younger or older than you add fun, love and unexpected opportunities. There's a positive financial turn in October. Scorpio and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 4, 28, 13, 37 and 41.

ECLIPSE MYTHOLOGY: In breathless, bespectacled anticipation, those on the path of totality await the great American eclipse of 2017. Total solar eclipses weren't always so predicted; nor were they easily accepted by the unfortunate ancient humans who were surprised and terrified by the sudden disappearance of their sun. In an attempt to try and understand this cosmic phenomenon, the ancients did the same thing we still do: They speculated. Oh, the stories they came up with in their attempts to answer the question, "Where'd the sun go?"

Much of the ancient mythology centers around the idea that someone ate it. There's a Viking legend that the sun was eaten by sky wolves, which makes a lot of sense if you've ever seen a dog go after a ball. There's a Vietnamese theory that the gluttonous culprit is a frog or a toad. Those also seem plausible, as both creatures are anatomically gifted when it comes to opening their mouths and throats really wide.

The Greeks blamed the disappearance on angry gods. Some Africans suggested the sun and the moon were in a fight. Then there were the dragon-blamers, the wizard theorists and the more abstract school that believed the sun to be sucked in by the mouth of heaven itself.

Why let the ancients have all the fun? Your own story could be just as colorful, whimsical and personal, should you choose to answer the prompt.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Leo Christina Perri swept the pop charts with her emotional ballad "Jar of Hearts," which gained popularity after being featured on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance." Perry was born under an imaginative Aquarius moon. A harmonious trine of Mercury (the planet of communication) and Saturn (the planet of hard times) suggests that heartbreak songs bring out her best.

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