by Marilyn J. Muir, LPMAFA
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I watch American Idol and every other live talent show I can find every chance I get. I love watching the performances and the developing talent and skills. At times I think these broadcasts are even better than the pros. I love the opportunity that is offered to each contestant and the successes each one achieves. I was raised in the era of musicals, danced my little child’s heart out on stage, and still watch every old musical on the planet. I was watching last night as American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest announced that his mentor, Dick Clark, had just passed away. Tears welled up and I marveled that Ryan could stand up to his own loss as well as the world’s loss. We as a species do produce some very good people as well as the stinkers that seem to be out there in great supply.
Dick Clark was in a class of his own as King of the Disk Jockeys, and it was a well-deserved title. I remember American Bandstand as Dick Clark offered opportunity and exposure for the musical artists of the 70’s. Without him, what we currently enjoy on radio, video and television might not be what we accept as normal. Dick Clark has earned a sense of gratitude from all of us who enjoy his legacy, one that will live on through his memory. This article is my thank you for his contribution to my life, to the music industry, to the talent and the talented, and to countless generations of music lovers. He lived successfully to the ripe old age of 82 and is revered and respected by his industry. You do not get to do much better than that!
Richard Wagstaff Clark was born November 30, 1929 at 4:50 AM EST (AA) in Bronxville, NY. At thirteen, he was introduced by his father to live radio featuring radio’s Arthur Godfrey, Gary Moore and Jimmy Durante. From that moment on, he saw radio as his profession. He went to work at age seventeen in a radio station doing menial but necessary tasks and through hard work and dedication rose to his title as King. He first guest hosted Bandstand, a local Philadelphia afternoon teen dance show for which he became host in 1956. His first interview on his first national show was Elvis Presley. Impressive! I graduated high school in 1956 and I was an Elvis fan. I remember this well! He did far more than American Bandstand with his life but that was the premier series that launched the Dick Clark we all came to know.
Astrologically Dick Clark is a double Scorpio (Moon/Asc) with a Sagittarius Sun. He has quite a dose of intensity and tenacity coupled with the gregariousness of the Sag. His 1st house sports an impressive 5 planets. I think you can do quite well with a Moon/Venus in Scorpio closely conjunct a Sun/Mars/Mercury in Sag conjunction. What a powerful personal projection! His midheaven has creative and charismatic Leo on the cusp with inspirational and fantastic Neptune in the 10th. Add to that his Piscean 5th house of creativity that doubled the Leo/Neptune energy and was the residence of his Uranus for a strong dose of forward-seeking, futuristic, progressive and media-oriented qualities. Does that sound like the creative, entrepreneurial, media giant he came to be? His Jupiter in the 8th gave him the ability to make money on other people’s talents and assets and could make him a wealthy man. But if you look at his Saturn in Capricorn in the 2nd, he had to earn every penny of it and learn not to give it all away (Sag on the 2nd cusp). The South Node on the 1st is not considered to be an asset, but it did bring a well-honed skill which he turned to the benefit of himself and the hundreds or perhaps thousands of others he helped with his North Node in the 7th house.
His career is just full of amazing feats, and what you could expect from the chart described above. It was not without cost business-wise, family-wise and health-wise. Not all went smoothly. It would be interesting to look at his progressions and transits in 1960 when a congressional investigation decided his multiple recording companies represented a conflict of interest and he was required to divest himself of those companies. This cost was beyond what any one of us could imagine…try eight million dollars at that time. That is staggering.
His diabetes was diagnosed in 1994 but the public was unaware until early 2004. In November of 2004, he suffered a stroke which left him somewhat debilitated, particularly in his speech. Can you imagine…a media person with a speech impediment? He did not let it stop him. Ryan Seacrest came onboard as acolyte to Dick Clark’s skill and Ryan’s rise is meteoric, and I am sure that is much to the credit of his mentor. I will have to say of the two of them, both seem to be really nice people, a rarity in successful circles. Dick maintained his involvement in his production companies and appeared on his New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square. He hung in there and did not let his disabilities sideline him. He may have changed how he did it, but he continued “doing it”. He had a very successful life, with many ups and downs, yet progressive and forward moving.
What can his chart progressions and the transits for April 18, 2012 tell us about his death? His progressed ascendant at 21 Cap 42 is about 2.5˚ past the opposition to his natal Pluto. Capricorn is a fast-moving ascendant, so exactitude was reached in the summer of 2011, which would suggest to me that is when he passed the point of no-return. Can you believe that his progressed Moon 6 Sag 17 was conjunct the natal stellium in Sagittarius, about 8˚ past its natal position of 28 Sco 49 so the five-planet natal cluster itself was engaged. Five planets comprise half the chart’s available energy and that can definitely demand your attention. The progressed Uranus at 9 Ari 10 is more important than first realized. It is the ruler of the natal end of life/grave 4th house cusp. I will tie that position to the diurnal death chart in just a moment. Staying with progressions, his progressed Jupiter at 7 Gem 03, a natal 8th house death ruler had moved to the opposition of his natal Sun/Mars/Mercury stellium with Mercury being the natal 8th house ruler.
Back to my comment about progressed Uranus. Turn your attention to the diurnal for the day of death. The diurnal gives the personal transits for any date chosen, in this instance date of death. Look at the midheaven 9 Cap 44 with diurnal Pluto at 9 Cap 33R both square that progressed Uranus 9 Ari 10. Look at the diurnal ascendant 18 Ari 15 square natal Pluto at 19 Can 19R and progressed Pluto at 17 Can 44R both in the diurnal 4th house of end of life and grave.
Dick Clark was 82 years old. A Uranus full cycle is 84 years. There is always a bit of dancing back and forth with station periods. Look at the three Uranus positions, one from 1929, one from his day of birth plus 82 days (his progressions) and the actual transit of 2012, all within 3 degrees. Isn’t astrology awesome? Too bad the nay-sayers do not do the research. You cannot speak to those who cannot hear and you cannot visually illustrate to those who will not see. We have a map.
For his final illness and death, his heart attack occurred post operatively, so we can look to the 6th house and the 8th house for clues. Look at the diurnal Mars, the natal and the progressed Neptune conjunct the diurnal 6th house cusp. Look at the diurnal 8th house that contains his massive natal stellium and cluster, with that progressed Moon conjunct his Sun. Look at the diurnal 8th cusp with the natal Venus and Moon straddling that cusp…and they say this stuff doesn’t work!
I love that Dick Clark’s natal midheaven is posited clearly in the 5th house area of the tri-chart. His fame and his stature will be celebrated by his peers and the thousands of musicians he assisted, either directly or indirectly through his legacy. His life and his work should be celebrated. I salute you Dick Clark, you are definitely the King of the Disk Jockeys and I thank you for your gift to me and your gift to humanity.
First published on All Things Healing website Apr 2012, republished with slight editing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.