If you're in North America, put on your eclipse glasses and get ready for the show. Though the contiguous United States is the place to view the celestial event of the year, its astrological resonance will be felt globally. The Leo sun's disappearance at the shadow of the new moon tells us to keep our egos in check and hold on to hope.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Life is not all glamour and cake. It's work. The best way to avoid drudgery is to stop thinking of it as drudgery and just get in there and finish it. Bonus: While you're at it, you'll come up with a better way to execute the task.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You may set out alone, but you will have companionship along this path. The journey will require you to lean on and develop the qualities of adaptability, integrity and forbearance.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). We can't learn what we're already certain of. That's why doubting is the first step to knowledge. As you lead with your open and curious mind, you will grow in knowledge and heart.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Love is trusting and being trustworthy. Add a little eye contact and the warmth of physical touch and you've got romantic love. You may argue that it's more complicated than that, but is it? Is it really?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You're happy for the success of your friends and family, as long as that success is tempered with modesty. On the other hand, you've little or no tolerance for smug contentment.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). There's a reason you want what you want. This is a lucky time in which you really can do it all. You'll be able to integrate your more diverse wishes instead of choosing between them.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Problems can be approached from different angles until solved. As for the situation that remains inflexible, maladaptive and nonresponsive no matter how you approach it, it's not a problem; it's a reality to accept.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Perspective is a life raft after the storm has capsized the boat. Hop on, and then drift out and look back on the sinking remains of the past. You're safe and headed toward welcoming shores.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Change is hard, so make it count. What would it take for you to fall in love with your situation? What would it take for you to fall in love with yourself? The answers point to the change you most need to make.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Children are irrational. They can't help but be. Their rational brains haven't developed. They operate from core desires without being constrained by considering what's possible. You'll benefit from such an approach today.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Give yourself the gift of experience without bogging it down with the expectation of a certain result. Not knowing what's going to happen will be half the fun.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You think that getting what you want will lead to a certain feeling, and it may. There are other ways at getting to that same feeling, though — some of them easier. It's worth brainstorming about; you're brilliantly creative now.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (Aug. 21). Finishing some creative work becomes a near obsession at the first part of this solar return. Someone takes the pressure off you in September, and you're able to be very present to your life because of this. Money isn't the point, but it sure will be nice to get more of it in 2018. The road smooths before you. Gemini and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 45, 16, 31 and 10.

MUSINGS ON THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2017: One surefire cause of widespread panic in ancient civilizations was the mysterious disappearance of the source of all life on earth. Luckily for the ancients, these disappearing sun tricks didn't tend to last very long. The demon (frog, dragon, sky wolf, interstellar larcenist, etc.) usually spit the fireball back up within a couple of minutes. We've come a long way since the days of sacrificing our livestock (or less liked family members) to appease the gods and keep them from threatening solar blackout. We've evolved to understand that the sun is, in all likelihood, going to keep coming back (and that actually it never really left in the first place) and that scarcity is quite often just an illusion. That last part there is crucial. If we could take this belief into more situations, there'd be less conflict in the world. Less jealousy. Less fear that the other guy is going to get more, be first, take what's ours and ultimately end us. If we believed instead that there's often something about the situation that needs to be better understood and that things bigger than we are can cast misleading shadows, well, in that case, we'd most likely be collectively amazed at the mysterious grandeur happening above us as we stand together under the same big sky, having nothing to fear.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Leo actress Kim Cattrall's "Sex and the City" character, Samantha Jones, was the epitome of an independent woman, but just how alike are Kim and Samantha? Kim is a confident and in-command Leo sun, but with Venus in feminine Cancer, she has a serious nurturing side and a habit of celebrating all sides of being a woman. Look for Cattrall in the crime thriller television series "Modus."

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