I am still not sure why the death of a Puerto Rican astrologer last weekend made headlines in a lot of elite newspapers, but there were stories everywhere this week about Walter Mercado.
The way he was written up, you’d think he was a reincarnated Jeane Dixon, so lavish was the praise. Among other things in his garish wardrobe, Mercado would sport a huge cross on a chain around his neck. Also, there was lots of God-talk involved in his work.
But you didn’t hear about any religion connections in all the obits, other than how Mercado had transcended all kinds of labels. What mattered was that, in an era in which drag queens are in fashion, Mercado was a forerunner in that culture. The Los Angeles Times said this:
Stars and fans of the late Puerto Rican astrologer and television personality Walter Mercado took to Twitter on Sunday morning to mourn the LGBTQ and Latino icon.
Mercado, who never publicly stated his sexuality, was an icon in the gay community for never conforming to traditional gender roles and challenging Latin America’s conservative television culture.
In an emotional thread, comedian Gabe Gonzalez shared his personal connection to the astrologer, who died Saturday of kidney failure.
I turned to the Remezcla site, which has a video of Mercado telling of paranormal experiences he had as a youth that led to him turning to astrology. He had more of those experiences — contacts with a “being of light” — at other points in his life, but he didn’t identify these experiences with any theological system.
It seems that this astrologer radiated, to his followers, far more love and acceptance than what leaders in organized religion were doling out.