never dared to imagine that I couldown a home because it seemedbeyond my most remote dreams.But all those little astrologyprograms and years <strong>of</strong> work made itpossible at least to put down a smalldown payment and move in. We did.As mentioned, the house was smalland could only allow me a small<strong>of</strong>fice, something like 10x12 feetand here I sit some 34 years later inthat same little room. It is smallerthan my <strong>of</strong>fice in Ann Arbor, but Iwas and still am quite happy in it.My brother Stephen (who still livedin Ann Arbor) had begun to help mewith programming, taking overcreating programs on the RadioShack computer TRS-80. <strong>By</strong> thistime I was supporting theCommodore PET, Apple IIe, and theRadio Shack machine. Oh yes, wetried some other computers as welllike the Osborne II, Exidy Sorcerer,and several small programmablecalculators. And <strong>of</strong> course the IBMPC was huge. It was not longbefore Stephen and his familydecided to move north and join us.This was October <strong>of</strong> 1980.Well, it was not just me he wasjoining. My parents and three <strong>of</strong> myyounger brothers lived here, so itwas a gathering <strong>of</strong> the clan. Wemoved up to this small Midwesterntown to raise kids and give them thesame experience we had, the abilityto walk downtown without thedanger <strong>of</strong> anything happening tothem. Big Rapids still could supportthis kind <strong>of</strong> lifestyle. Ann Arbor hadgrown too large for small townexperiences. It was like going backin time and was worth it. Anyway, bythen and with two kids we wereusing less and less <strong>of</strong> Ann Arbor‟swonderful resources. It was as ifthey were not there. I was so busy Icould live anywhere and never knowthe difference.Photo: <strong>Matrix</strong> First ShopPhoto: Inside <strong>Matrix</strong> ShopThe Was Such a Thing as a FreeLunchBack in the 1980s, <strong>Matrix</strong> S<strong>of</strong>twarewas housed in three buildings in asmall complex in Big Rapids. Weactually had a free lunch foremployees every day Mondaythrough Friday. Better yet, on Fridayevenings after work we would havea big dinner for anyone on the staff,their families, and <strong>of</strong>ten variousguests from the community.Also we happened to have with us aremarkable chef named Martin Wolf,who was also a very fine poet. Hedid the cooking for the meals onFriday night and food seemed tojust appear soon after he enteredthe kitchen. Now folks, that was a
long, long time ago, way back in theday when such things as this werepossible. I don’t even know whereMartin Wolf is today. I include apretty poor snapshot <strong>of</strong> Chef Wolf inthe kitchen.Also shown here are some <strong>of</strong> themenus for the Friday-night dinnersdone by my brother Tom <strong>Erlewine</strong>,a graphics designer and artist.These menus are lots <strong>of</strong> fun. Lateafternoon every Friday, Tom wouldtake some time <strong>of</strong>f from his dutiesas artist for <strong>Matrix</strong> and just kind <strong>of</strong>stretch out a bit putting together amenu for the following week.These menus were posted for theemployees to see and employeeswould sign up for the followingweek. <strong>Some</strong> <strong>of</strong> you looking at thesemany even have attended a dinneror two.The Heart Center was founded inlate 1972/early 1973 just before thebirth <strong>of</strong> our first child. It was a veryspecial time for many reasons. Thewhole idea for the center came in avision, so let me tell you about thatfirst.I had stayed up late talking with anoccult scholar in Detroit. It was very,very dry and academic, so that bythe time I got back to my home inAnn Arbor, I had a headache orsomething like one. My head wascrammed/jammed with words thatmade little sense. I was literallynauseous.That next morning when I got up, Iwas really hung over and I had notbeen drinking. I did not feel well.Then a strange thing happened. Ifound myself dropping to the floorand going through a very exact yogaexercise, sometimes called “TheCat,” as in: a cat throwing up a furball. Anyway… my whole body wentthrough this spontaneous kriya andit was as if, like a snake, I shed myskin <strong>of</strong> all <strong>of</strong> that stuff from the nightbefore, and a lot more from my past.It was a transformative experience.In the midst <strong>of</strong> all this came asymbol, one I had never seenbefore (and I study symbols andcreate logos), and I took this symbolas the sign <strong>of</strong> this new era. I enclosethe symbol and a drawing I made atthe time that explained (at least tome) what I had gone through.With this symbol came an idea for acommunion center, and the conceptwould take a whole post if not asmall book to explain. <strong>Some</strong> <strong>of</strong> it isin my free book “Astrology <strong>of</strong> theHeart,” if anyone is interested. Thebottom line is that this was thebeginning <strong>of</strong> the Heart Center, aplace where people could cometogether and share experience. Thiswas in 1972 and the center is stillgoing strong now in 2010, some 38years later.The Heart Center has had literallythousands <strong>of</strong> visitors over the years,not to mention many astrologers,musicians, mathematicians,psychologists, and others who havestayed at the center, some for aslong as 4 ½ years! Most <strong>of</strong> the greatastrologers <strong>of</strong> the later 20 th centerwere guests at the center includingDane Ruhdyar, Charles Jayne,Michel Gauquelin, Noel Tyl, RobHand, John Townley, John Addey,Charles Harvey, TheodorLandscheidt, Roger Elliot, JimLewis, Angel Thompson, GloriaStarr, Steven Forrest, Jew Jawer,Neil Michelsen, Robert Schmidt,Axel Harvey, and many scoresmore.