Finding Aid for Michael Erlewine Papers, 1956-2017 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Michael Erlewine Papers, 1956-2017

ID: 35/3/419

Primary Creator: Michael Erlewine (1941-)

Extent: 12.0 cubic feet

Arrangement: The collection is arranged in two series: Series 1: Professional records, and Series 2: Personal Papers. Series 1 consists of seven sub-series: Sub-series 1: Profesional Papers and Audio Recordings, arranged chronologically and alphabetically thereunder; Sub-series 2: Software and Manuals, arranged alphabetically by title; Sub-Series 3: Catalogs and Promotional Materials, arranged chronologically; Sub-Series 4: Astrotalk and Newsletters, arranged chronologically; Sub-Series 5: Matrix Magazine/Journal, arranged chronologically; Sub-Series 6: Heliocentric Charts, in a variety of original orders (see folder desciptions for order of arrangement); and Sub-Series 7: Circle Books Calendars, arranged chronologically. Series 2: Personal Papers, is in chronological order.

Date Acquired: 01/01/2014

Consists of materials documenting the operation of Michael Erlewine’s business ventures—Matrix Software, the Heart Center, Circle Books, and All-Media Guide—individual astrology and spiritual activities and research, and personal life, including correspondence, software and astrology project notes, printed computer programs, handwritten and computer-generated astrological charts, interviews, magnetic audio and video tapes, journal and newspaper articles and drafts, conference presentations, software discs and tapes, user manuals and guides, Matrix Software catalogs, newsletters, Circle Books astrological calendars, and poetry. Major correspondents include Rex Shudde (a.k.a. “James Neely”), Charles Jayne, Gary Duncan (a.k.a. Neil Block), Robert Hand, Zipporah Dobyns, Michael Munkasey, Buz Overbeck, John Townley, Al H. Morrison, Noel Tyl, Lawrence D. Ely, Ian McKinnon, John Townley, Theodor Landscheidt, and Michel and Francoise Gauquelin.

For related information, see the Neil Block Papers. See also the Mandeville Collection in the Social Science, Health and Education Library (SSHEL). The Heart Center Library was donated to SSHEL and can be searched in the Library catalog by searching "heart center astrological library." Erlewine's works can be found in the catalog by searching the author field with the phrase "michael erlewine NOT donor" (the Boolean operator NOT will remove any records which list Erlewine as a donor only).

Michael Erlewine is an astrologer, computer programmer, author, and musician. He was born July 18, 1941, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After dropping out of high school, Erlewine began a career as a musician. He hitchhiked with Bob Dylan in 1961, before starting the Prime Movers Blues Band with his brother, luthier Dan Erlewine, in 1965, later adding Iggy Pop on drums. The Prime Movers played around the country, opening for major acts of the sixties like Cream. He also began studying astrology around this time. In 1968, his brother, Stephen, opened an occult bookstore called Circle Books in Ann Arbor, where Erlewine worked doing astrological charts by hand for clients. In 1971, Erlewine married his wife and frequent collaborator, Margaret.

Erlewine began the Heart Center, a space for meditation and exploration of astrology and other occult subjects. Erlewine began programming astrology software in the mid-seventies on a Hewlett-Packard programmable calculator. He published his first book, The Sun is Shining, in 1975. In 1977, Erlewine started Matrix Software, the first astrology software company. In 1980, Matrix, the Heart Center, and the Erlewine family relocated to Big Rapids, Michigan. Matrix grew its staff, catalog, and scope steadily throughout the 1980s and 1990s, producing new software and coordinating projects in the astrology community. In the 1990s, Erlewine founded the All-Music Guide, an online music database, which grew to cover movies, books, and other media under the name All-Media Guide. He left Matrix in the late 1990s. and returned to the company in 2008. Matrix merged with another major astrology software company, Cosmic Patterns Software, in 2013.