Holiday Mathis

At the time this bio is being written, the Holiday Mathis horoscope has been going strong for more than 14 years. In total, the column averages about 390,000 words per year. That’s 5,460,000 published words.

To give some perspective, “War and Peace” clocks in at 587,287 words. “The King James Bible” is 783,137, not including the dedication from your Aunt Mary. All of the words in the original seven books of the “Harry Potter” series equal 1,084,170. Add all those books together and you’re still not up to 2.5 million words.

And among the many differences between the aforementioned works and “Horoscopes by Holiday” is, of course, that the latter is ephemera.

Holiday has come to see the writing as a spiritual practice akin to the monks who create intricate, colorful sand mandalas to be briefly enjoyed by the passersby and committed to the river at the end of the day. Her intention is to craft a personal daily tiny poem, a small delight for readers -- a nudge toward levity or introspection or fun or kindness or wisdom. A reminder that we’re all on this planet together, under the same stars.

Life can seem at times to be chaotic and random. Humans are notoriously uncomfortable with randomness. Our brains have evolved to filter out most of it, so what gets through are the threats, the changes, and a small amount of “other” from which we are compelled to try make order, to look for a pattern, to come up with a theory, to construct a narrative, to dig into a belief about…

Holiday Mathis is trying, like we all are, to find the pattern. She brings her studies of antiquity as a lens to seek a pattern that will help settle in to a positive feeling about the day. One that will make readers know that they are seen and understood and that we all belong together in this cluster of humanity, multitudes beneath one sky.

Holiday is the author of “Rock Your Stars, the Astrological Guide to Getting it All,” and several children’s books. She is also a multiplatinum-selling songwriter with more than 3 million recordings sold for Miley Cyrus and other artists. The particular slice of sky under which Holiday Mathis resides is over Music City, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, daughter and two Shih Tzus.