Some History of Matrix Software By Michael Erlewine

which covered four-hundred yearscovering 1750 through 2050 A.D. Itwas the first of its kind. I alsoproduced a set of detailed starmaps, some seven in all, placingfamiliar celestial objects in Zodiacmaps rather than the Equatorialmaps used by astronomers. In fact Ihad to lay them all out on largesheets of paper, calculating eachstar or point on a calculator, andthen plotting it with rulers and T-squares on the paper… and finallyusing PressType to affix a little staror whatever symbol. This too hadnever been done in such detail onthe Ecliptic. The year was 1976.That same year I published“Interface: Planetary Nodes,” areduction of the complete planetarynodal solar system into the series ofmeasurable points of interest toastrologers. And lastly, that year Ipublished “Astrophysical Directions,”the first book on deep spaceastrology ever written andunmatched today some thirty-fiveyears later. This was all before Iwas anyone or knew anyone inastrology. I just did it because Iloved it.I was an unknown astrologer livingsomewhere in the Midwest but I washappily on a quest and I actuallyhad some vision. As for famousastrologers? I never met one beforeI met Charles A. Jayne and that wasby telephone. We soon becamegood friends. I was no one but thatdid not faze him one bit because hewas interested in my ideas and notwhether anyone had ever heard ofme, and they hadn‟t. My friendshipwith Jayne resulted in our meetingin person in the fall of 1976 at alarge astrological conference atColumbiere College in the town ofClarkston near Detroit. It was mindbogglingwhen I finally met Jayne inperson, trying to put his boomingauthoritative voice together with hismore whimsical persona. He lookedfor all the world like Mr. Toad from“The Wind in the Willows” andWinnie the Pooh. Jayne and Ibecame fast friends and I miss himto this day. He would fly out here toMichigan to spend his birthday withus and was about to do that againone year when he suddenly passedway. You can‟t replace what there isonly one of.At that conference in 1976 nearDetroit in a single day I not only metCharles Jayne, but also such lightsas Charles Harvey, John Addey,Robert Hand, Michael Munkasey,Thomas Shanks, and many otherastrologers. I was soon one of thegang. And I continued to programand explore little-known andunknown techniques. And all of thistime I was struggling to makeenough money to pay the bills. Bythe fall of 1975 I had two kids and allthe attendant responsibilities that gowith them. And then in 1977microcomputers appeared on thescene.I lived by my wits, my sense ofdiscrimination, and the basic goodtaste in color and style that my artistmother had instilled in me. Still itwas very difficult to make a living,especially as an astrologer. It wasall Margaret could do to care for twokids and make sure they had whatthey needed in love and attention. Iwas always there with them butoften distracted by either myresearch or in trying to come up withnew ways of finding income. At leastmy body was there. In later yearsmy mind came back into the bodywhich made for a better father. Itseemed back then that there was nolight at the end of the financial