Michele McKee was one of my very best friends - my buddy, my pal, and a co-devotee of all things astrological. Tall, imposing and elegant - anyone looking at her would not have much trouble guessing that her first career had been that of a top fashion model. In her early twenties she married, had two children, and still continued modeling clothes for such famous designers as Pauline Trigere. However, Michele was an Aries with many planets at the top of her Astrological Chart and this propelled her into many professions.

By the mid-80s, having fiddled around with astrology charts, she started working for a brief time at the New York Astrology Center - not only was (and is) it an astrological and occult bookstore, but one of the early bastions of just-then-appearing computers.

Michele was soon drawn away to the Carl Jung/Kristine Mann Library and first worked as an assistant while earning a Master's degree in Library Science, After becoming Head Librarian at the Kristine Mann Library she stayed for a wonderful 20 years until her retirement on May 30, 2008. In their remembrance of her the Kristine Mann library had this to say:"She worked extremely well with the public. But, most of all, she had a gift to work effectively, skillfully and cooperatively with the staffs of several Jungian entities at the C. G. Jung Center, including the Bookstore, the Institute for Training, the Foundation, ARAS and APC during an era of considerable change. This very beautiful, warm, professional woman effectively contributed to the smooth functioning of the Kristine Mann Library, and is to be applauded for her efforts.

My own remembrances of Michele go back to the 80s and the great times Michele and Bob Zoller and I had, discussing astrology, arguing about our viewpoints, eating pizza, and drinking wine at Papa Johns or in my apartment. I also remember get-togethers with Joanna Shannon and Julian Armistead, usually at their apartment, where we enjoyed spirited astrological discussions, delicious meals, martinis for Julian and I, scotch for Michele, and - by George, I can't remember what Joanna and Bob drank. Anyway, there was much laughter, lots of love, and a feeling of family that I haven't experienced elsewhere in a long, long time. Michele, I know, enjoyed those evenings as much as I did.

There is one time in our lives that I will never forget. Michele and I had flown down to Florida to visit our mutual friend Don Papon. Michele and I had decided to do a little vacationing and a little exploring to check out the possibility of retiring to a warmer climate. Don, whom the astrological world knows as Zolar, had been living in Tarpon Springs for some time and had been extolling the virtues of Florida and environs. One morning, I saw a TV newscast which showed a burning building emitting billows of smoke. The day was September 11. I burst into Michele's room where she was practicing some sort of low-impact, done-in-bed sort of yoga.and I turned on her TV. What Michele and I were seeing was the catastrophe of the twin towers. In much distress we tried to call New York City, Michele to see if her daughters Jill and Elizabeth were okay, and me to try to contact my daughter, Gregg, who worked in a high-rise office building near the twin towers. My daughter finally was able to get through to me and Michele talked to her daughters. Everyone was okay but they wanted us home. Stymied as to how to get back to New York - planes weren't allowed to land in La Guardia - we finally, in desperation, decided to drive the 1000 miles in our rental car. We arrived home safely - to a city shaken to its core by an unimaginable catastrophe.

9/11 stands in my mind the same way as the Kennedy assassination. You never forget where you were or who you were with, and the people you were with become nearer and dearer to you.

Michele was a very spiritual person with a mystical bent. If you will allow me to wax poetic, I believe that angels sang to her in the wind, or called to from her dreams. I like to think, when she left this realm, that spiritual beings walked beside her, whispering in her ear messages of peace, well-being and love -- as she was drawn to the white light of the dying and resurrecting entity I call the Great Mother.

A PRAYER for Michele and all of us.
Blessed be, Mother of All life,
Blessed be the life that comes from you and returns to you,
You charge everything you touch and everything you touch changes.
You are the High Priestess and the Empress of 3 worlds, the heavens, the earth and the underworld,
You make the sun to shine,
The light to come again,
You are the alpha and the omega,
Blessed be Great Mother Goddess,
Blessed Be!