From the Donner Party to The Tahoe Avalanche: Saturn and Neptune's Eerie Echo

When I first heard the news of the deadly avalanche near Lake Tahoe, my mind immediately went to the Donner Party. For those who may not know, the Donner Party was a group of pioneers who, in 1846, attempted to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains. Hoping to save time, they took a supposed shortcut, but it ultimately led to disaster. They became trapped by one of the worst blizzards on record, which struck in late October of that year. Stranded from October 1846 until mid-February 1847, when the first rescue party finally arrived, they endured months of unimaginable suffering. Of the roughly 80 members in the original party, nearly half—around 40 people—perished. It remains one of the most tragic and haunting stories of westward expansion.

As I read more about this recent avalanche, I was struck by an eerie realization: it occurred in the very same region where the Donner Party met its fate. Being a student of astrology, I felt compelled to examine the planetary alignments at the time of their entrapment. Sure enough, during that brutal winter of 1846–1847, there was a Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which took place in the sign of Aquarius. These slow-moving planets meet in a conjunction only about once every 36 years, marking periods often associated with the collapse of boundaries, collective suffering, or blurred illusions of safety.

What happened to the eight victims of this recent avalanche also unfolded during our current Saturn-Neptune conjunction—but this time, the meeting is taking place in the sign of Aries. What made the timing even more striking is that the avalanche occurred exactly during the recent eclipse in Aquarius, which fell nearly on the same degree as that historic Saturn-Neptune conjunction from 1846. It’s a powerful reminder of why astrology is often described as the study of cycles and patterns—and why paying attention to them can offer profound insights into the repeating themes of human experience.

My deepest condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those who perished in this tragedy.