A Heartfelt Tribute to Aaron Spelling

It is with a heavy heart that I bid Namaste to entertainment titan Aaron Spelling (1923–2006) {Source}, whose impact on my life, I can honestly say without irony or snark, has been immeasurable.

When I was little, I had a plastic necklace and clip-on earrings set with the Charlie's Angels silhouette logo. At 11, I did not know how I would make it through a summer before finding out who died in Dynasty's Moldavian Massacre. Hell, I guess back in the day I even watched Love Boat and Fantasy Island. God, I didn't even think to credit him for exposing me to my lifelong inspiration, Charo!

And then came Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose, which, along with The Simpsons, formed the pop-culture cornerstones of my entire adolescence and college career. Thanks to the magic of SoapNet and DVR, I have been reliving 90210 episode by delicious episode. The scene when Brenda tells Kelly and Dylan, "I hate you both! Never talk to me again!" is one of the finest moments ever televised. My memories of watching each ep for the first time are inextricably intertwined with my memories of where I was, who I was with and what I was doing.

Eerily, just last night at a dinner party I was discussing my love and admiration for Aaron. And this morning...well, afternoon (it was a really good party, okay?), I awoke and immediately set about catching up with my recorded 90210s. Moreover, I was delighted to find that the Melrose series finale aired on Friday, which means Monday the show will go BACK TO THE BEGINNING and I will have the joy of watching its evolution from After-School Special for Adults into knock-down, drag-out trash-fest. It was in that Spellingasmic state that I spotted an online headline announcing the terrible news that Aaron Spelling passed away at the age of 83.

Born with his Sun in determined, materialistic Taurus right on the Midheaven (career goals), as well as Mercury in Taurus in the 10th house of career, Aaron Spelling was relentless in his pursuit of professional and financial success, cranking out bajillions of shows over his years. (Ooh, I totally forgot about Charmed! Shannen Doherty + Alyssa Milano + witchcraft = genius!) See Aaron Spelling's birth chart (Astrotheme)

An authoritative, paternal figure, Aaron had his Moon square paternalistic Saturn, and his Taurus Sun conjunct three fixed stars with Saturn-Mars energy: Angetenar, Tyl and Mesarthim. But with Neptune in Leo on the Ascendant, he was also strongly identified with Hollywood fantasy, creating a magical TV reality where every problem could be resolved with an intervention over milkshakes at the Peach Pit or a cathartic catfight in which two bitches push each other into a pool.

With his Moon-Pluto conjunction in Cancer in the down-low 12th house, trining fortunate Jupiter in manpulative Scorpio and zeitgeist-connecting Uranus in Pisces, Spelling was a born power player with a gift for pulling the strings from backstage. His Leo Ascendant may have led him to seek the spotlight as an actor early in his career, but ultimately he found his true calling as a behind-the-scenes shot-caller.

Speaking of expansive, benevolent Jupiter in power-hungry Scorpio, it is placed in Aaron's natal 4th house of family and home, describing two things Aaron is famous for: hooking up his relatives (think Tori's and Randy's careers) and his massive, sprawling mansion. (The man had a BOWLING ALLEY in his HOUSE. How cool is that?!?!)

At the time of his death, Aaron Spelling was experiencing his Uranus return, when Uranus completes its 84-ish-year cycle and returns to the point where it was in the person's birth chart. Obviously this is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence (or may never even happen for those who don't live to 83 or 84). Jupiter was also retrograding toward its natal position; Jupiter aspects that accompany death signify a kind of release or freedom. After suffering a major stroke as transiting Mars crossed his Ascendant and opposed Chiron, he might have been in a state of pain or disability, so that it was a relief for Spelling's spirit to be liberated from the confines of his physical form.

My condolences go out to the Spelling family, and I hope this will inspire Tori to reach out and heal the rift with her mother, Candy. As longtime readers will recall, I'm happy for Tori that she seems to have genuine chemistry with her new Scorpio husband Dean McDermott, but I'm concerned that she should be protecting herself financially. Now that Tori is exponentially more loaded, it's especially important that she keep her head on her shoulders.

Aaron, thank you for many wonderful years of escapist entertainment. Thank you for bringing Charo, Shannen and Heather Locklear into our homes. Thank you for inspiring us to be better human beings inside and out with the paragons represented by Farrah's hair, Bob Mackie's fashions and Brandon Walsh's moral superiority. You deserved every dollar you earned and every room in your mansion. Your contribution to pop culture has been vast and trashtacular. You will be missed. But I just know that as the patron saint of television, you will be looking down on us from above.