Some History of Matrix Software By Michael Erlewine

Matrix SoftwareAn interest in astrology and allthings esoteric probably grew out ofmy Catholic upbringing, a religionwhich aside from having a lot ofnegatives IMO had the side effect ofendowing me with a sense ofmystery and awe for the universe.Don‟t ask me to explain; that is justhow it turned out.In the late 1950s and early 1960s Iwas interested not only in astrology,but also in tarot, the I-Ching, and theworld of occult knowledge. But itwas the year I spent in Berkeley,California in 1964 that cemented thedeal. In Berkeley I was exposed toOuspensky, Gurdjieff, and a wholelot more, not the least of which wasmy first LSD trip which reallyopened my eyes to the subtleenergies and the unseen. All of thiscame to a head when I moved backto Ann Arbor in 1965.Circle BooksOn the spring equinox in 1968 myyounger brother Stephen, his wifeMorgen, and his partner John C.Sullivan opened Circle Books, thefirst metaphysical bookstore in AnnArbor. It was located at 215 S. StateStreet up on the 2nd floor, just at thetop of the stairs. In fact, if you wentup those stairs and kept on walkingyou were there. Circle Booksconsisted of two medium-sizedrooms and a back room which wasan office. I was proud of my brotherfor bringing to Ann Arbor somethingthe town never had and reallyneeded. Prior to Circle Books theonly place to get anything close tometaphysical books was BobMarshals and that bookstore wasalready in trouble with publishersand closed not long after CircleBooks opened. The otherbookstores in this university townwere all about text books for collegecourses and offered little else.Circle Books was in a building(perhaps the only one in Ann Arbor)devoted to Sixties themes. On thefloor above the bookstore (the thirdfloor) was Middle Earth, a glorifiedand gone-to-heaven head shop. Onthe same floor as the bookstore wasSaturn, a sixties-style mod clothingstore. In the basement was “LittleThings,” filled with all kinds of neatlittle things, and on the main floorwas a chic expensive clothing store.The whole building was probably atrip for some visitors back in thePhoto of Poster by Michael Erlewine