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A saeculum is a period of history approximately equal in length to one long human life. Such a period begins after momentous events in a society's experience, signaling the start of a new age, and resetting the political calendar. Examples in American society include the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. We are currently deep into the Millennial Saeculum, which began following the conclusion of World War II, with all of its profound institutional re-orderings. In Strauss & Howe generational theory, halfway through the saeculum, there is a spiritual Awakening era, which resets the cultural calendar. In America's Millennial Saeculum, this era was the famous '60s and '70s Consciousness Revolution. An excellent web site which details all of America's saecula in Strauss & Howe's model is Bill Murray's TimePage. There's really nothing to add to it here, except perhaps this chart of the four turnings, which makes a nice summary of the model. Then there's this post from the Fourth Turning discussion board, which is one of the funniest summaries of the history of this saeculum ever. The million-dollar question now is whether or not we are in the Crisis era of the current saeculum. The answer is: probably not, because the Boomer generation has not yet reached the peak of its power. When that happens sometime in the years to come, we'll finally cross the threshold and experience some tremendous political upheaval. |
| Lost | 106+ |
| G.I. | 82-106 |
| Silent | 64-82 |
| Boomer | 46-64 |
| Gen-X | 25-46 |
| Millennial | ?-25 |
| Homeland | ? |
| High | 1946-1964 |
| Awakening | 1964-1984 |
| Unraveling | 1984-? |
| Crisis | ?- |
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