Astrologer radiated ‘mucho, mucho amor’
Monica Rhor says Walter Mercado’s death is a blow to Latino community in need of peace, optimism and predictions after turbulent year.
If Walter Mercado was an important part of your life, as he was for most Latinos, then you — like me — are in mourning for an astrologer who encompassed so much more than mysticism, a Puerto Rican-born performer who transcended borders, and a human being who brushed aside gender norms with a flick of his caped shoulder.
The announcement of Mercado’s death on Saturday from kidney failure hit hard.
For nearly 40 years, Mercado was a fixture on Spanish-language television — first in an hourlong syndicated show that aired in Latin America and on late night in the U.S., then for 15 years starting in 1994, on a segment on the Univision news program, “Primer Impacto.”
At the peak of his popularity, Mercado, who was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, under the sign of Pisces and began his career as a stage performer and dancer, reached an estimated 120 million viewers a day. In later years, his forecasts also appeared in People en Español, on a radio show and on the internet.
For generations of Latinos, Mercado’s dramatic delivery of horoscopes for each zodiac sign — punctuated by hands that fluttered like doves and an elongated trill of his Rs — was must-watch TV.
As news of his death spread on Sunday, Facebook and Twitter filled with emotional posts from his legion of fans, who paid tribute and shared memories of the man that guided us according to the stars and was guided by love and positivity.
“RIP Walter Mercado. The QUEEN of astrology, the LIBERACE of Latin America! I have many childhood memories of being at grandmas house watching Walter Mercado’s astrology show,” wrote Michele Mills, a co-executive producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race. “You lived your life in your own unique style. You will be remembered!”
“He was something rare for U.S. Latinos — an icon families watched for decades. He was beyond gender conformity and wore capes because he damn well pleased,” tweeted journalist Adrian Carrasquillo. “He signed off every time wishing peace y mucho, mucho amor. What a guy.”
“No! Walter Mercado gave me some amazing memories of my mom and I sitting together on the floor of our house, watching Primer Impacto to see what our horoscope was,” recalled comedian Cristela Alonzo. “Walter, te vamos a extrañar.” Walter, we will miss you.
Indeed we will. When news of Mercado’s passing first flashed across my Twitter timeline on Sunday, at first I didn’t believe it.
He was in his late 80s — but with his flamboyant outfits of beaded and baubled capes and blazers, his carefully coiffed hair, and his extravagant stage presence, he seemed ageless. As if he was immune to the flesh-and-blood limitations that afflict mere mortals.
I immediately texted my younger sister, with whom I always eagerly awaited Mercado’s New Year’s predictions, which included meticulously prescribed rituals for how to enhance luck and draw love in the coming year.
In his 2019 predictions, for example, Mercado recommended that Sagittarians don “accessories with turquoise on silver” on Dec. 31. “Light a red candle to Saint Barbara and be thankful for everything you’ve experienced and for all the wonderful things that 2019 will bring. For good luck, bathe with pine, lavender or carnation soap.”
It didn’t matter if the following year or the next week turned out exactly as Mercado prophesied. What mattered was that he draped each forecast with an abiding belief in the strength and goodness of his audience.
He believed in us. And we, in turn, believed in him.
Mercado, who also went by Shanti Ananda, brought us together across countries and continents. He encouraged us to embrace the humanity in each other. And, as the first gender nonconforming performer many of his viewers encountered, he broke barriers.
“I’m so into who I am, and I do [what] feels right for me. I’m so connected to people and to the divine for that,” Mercado said in an interview earlier this year with Remezcla. “Extreme gender conformity, machismo, and weak, submissive women, no, no, no, no. We are humans; people have the right to think whatever they want. I follow my own path, and I am who I am.”
It seems an especially crushing blow that his death comes now, when the Latino community feels under attack — and when his brand of positivity and lifting up of our culture is especially needed.
For many of us, New Year’s will not be the same without him. But we can honor his spirit by remembering his trademark sign-off phrase. After blowing a kiss to the camera, Mercado would end each show by saying “Y que reciban de mi, paz, mucha paz, pero sobre todo, mucho, mucho amor.”
I hope you receive from me peace, lots of peace, but above all, lots and lots of love.