Please note: In 2015, long after I wrote this article, my understandings of the quindecile, a 24° aspect, were born out of the new–mathematically accurate–name for the 165° aspect, now called undecaquartisextile. Please read about the Undecaquartisextile as its related aspect patterns which can be found in the Pluto – Full On series. You’ll find the Pluto – Full On series under the subcategory of Undecaquartisextile, located in the Feature Articles tab. Thanks for your patience with the modification of the name.

By the time he was 7, Dick Van Patten was already appearing on Broadway with well-known actors of that period–Melvyn Douglas, Fredric March (I remember him from oldddddd black and white movies on late night TV), Tallulah Bankhead, and Henry Fonda. Imagine having your entire career already established at that age! He was blessed although he might not have seen it that way when he was so young!

If you still don’t remember who he was, the New York Times obit described him as “the cheerful, round-faced actor best known for his role as the firm if harried suburban father at the center of the hit television series ‘Eight Is Enough’.”

Now since you can certainly read the obituary on the New York Times site or any of the other sites carrying celeb news, let’s get to his chart with the Leo (what else?) rising with the Western 2nd quadrant below-the-horizon dominance.

He had a 5th house Mercury-Sun-Saturn stellium with his Sun in a 9-minute partile quincunx to Pluto in the 12th house. The obituaries I read spoke about his mother–perhaps a stage mother as many are since she not only started his career but his sister Joyce’s acting career as well–made me suspect that she must have been quite a strong, focused woman. And whether or not he saw himself as pliable, despite the Scorpio Moon technically in the 5th house (I’d say it based on 5° while others would call it based on 3°), he had a Moon-Pluto mutual reception. It was as if to say “Like mother, like son.”

Dick Van Patten’s Sagittarius Sun and Saturn made undecaquartisextiles to natal Mars in Cancer on the 12th house cusp. He must have become very emotional when he was angry and upset. While he could easily get flustered and upset and needed firm footing, that kind of emotion often took him down the drama queen roads, which may have been why his mother saw this as a natural career for him.

But Jupiter at the apex of his chart–in Taurus–offered a glimpse at a career in which his fans loved him. He had the standing gig in “Eight Is Enough,” but he also did a lot of different shows with guest appearances on “Love Boat” and enough others that after “Eight Is Enough” was cancelled, he still was able to make a comfortable living.

I keep focusing on that Moon-Pluto mutual reception with Pluto in the 12th house, which makes me wonder if there was any chance of saving him. I don’t think so. According to a spokesman, Jeffrey Ballard, Van Patten died from “complications of diabetes.”

He was one of those actors who could make you feel good even when he was starring in a dramatic role. He wasn’t the flamboyant kind, just nice and steady. He’ll be missed.

I realize this is short, but it’s pushing 3 am again, and I should get some decent sleep tonight. Still, I wanted to pay my respects to another one of the TV dads who it seems might have just been on TV last night, or last week, as if he was going to be here forever with us. He offered wisdom and caring on any number of problems in kids’ lives.

Farewell, Dick Van Patten! Thanks for soothing us when we were down, and giving us the warm fuzzies when we needed them.

Namaste, I love you.

©2015 Michelle Young

.