Saturn sign changes are movements that most astrologers watch carefully. Their approximately two-and-a-half-year pattern is one of those cycles that shapes history and has a way of defining the backdrop of the lives we lead. So too does Saturn's 29-year cycle around the Sun. This era-defining quality is true of all of the planets from Saturn's orbit out; Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto also have strong era-defining characteristics, and you can think of them as concentric circles with wider, subtler, and longer-lasting impact as you go out.

Saturn is the closest in among these. As the planetary ruler of tangible reality, it has a lot to do with our perceptions. Since mid-2003 we've certainly perceived ourselves in something of a cultural slog. Remember those amazing antiwar protests in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, with millions of people pouring out in cities around the world? Ever wonder where that energy went? It seems to have gone underwater, because for the most part, as the war has progressed and grown more gruesome, resistance has weakened.

It's true we've seen some amazing journalism the past two years; and the question is: What's it gotten us?

How about personally? You'll need to answer that one for yourself, but Saturn in Cancer can certainly have an introspective, feel-it-all-the-way-through (but-don't-act-so-soon) quality about it.

In researching Saturn in Leo the past couple of weeks, looking at the last four cycles (1887-89, 1916-19, 1946-1948, and 1975-78), the most interesting pattern I noticed was that of dams bursting. This is a good example of an astrological metaphor at work. Think of Saturn as a massive structure holding back a lot of water in (water sign) Cancer. Then, when Saturn goes into Leo, it releases its energy, turns into a fiery planet, and the structure that was holding back all that emotion or energy lets go.

Though it was not funny at the time, the most curious of these was a spill of 2.3 million gallons of molasses when a cistern broke in Boston one day in January 1919.

As for water, in 1889, the South Fork Dam collapsed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 2,200 people. In 1948, a dam-break in Oregon left tens of thousands homeless; in the years 1975-77 there were three major dam tragedies in China, Idaho, and Georgia. When was the last time you heard of a major dam-break like this? They are pretty rare.

The image of a dam break can be carried to other aspects of society, for example, any release of something that impacts the world for a long time—commonplace when Saturn is in Leo.

It was under this astrology that George Eastman filed his patent for the film camera, which made photography into a populist endeavor. Also from the AV department, the gramophone (an early phonograph, pre-Podcasting) was invented. Not only that, the first recorded motion picture was made in Leeds, England; it was two seconds long. Previews, popcorn, and pornos soon followed. These are little bursts of "technology for fun" breakthroughs, all in 1888, all of which basically lasted forever in a series of subsequent transformations.

In the same cycle, the Wall Street Journal and Stars & Stripes military newspaper were founded. And both the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument opened; both were the tallest buildings of their moment. In a later cycle, the CN Tower in Toronto opened, at the time the tallest freestanding structure in the world. Leo certainly likes to stand out, and when you add Saturn, the planet of structures, you get something very big and tall. (When Saturn was in Gemini and was met by an opposition from Pluto, the Twin Towers fell down. So it can work many ways, depending on the aspects and symbols.)

The period after the Second World War came with a huge number of innovations in culture and technology. All that energy that had been bogged down in the war came surging out once the war ended. People took advantage of the last year of Saturn in Cancer (through August 1946, the first 12 months after the war) to stay home and make a lot of babies; there was a baby boom.

In 1946, there were the Nuremburg trials of Nazis and the first meeting of the UN. Women's voting rights were granted in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina, and Quebec. (Saturn in Leo is always an exciting time for women's rights. For example, in 1889, Susan B. Anthony organized a congress for women's rights in the United States. In 1917, women got the vote in the Netherlands. In 1919, women in the US were granted the right to vote. All of these occurred under Saturn in Leo.)

Also in 1946, the first drive-up teller windows were introduced, and Tupperware came on the market. Nehru appealed to the US and USSR to end nuclear testing and start disarmament. (That one didn't work so well.)

The following year, 1947, brought many more changes that we're still living with today. The International Monetary Fund began to operate. The CIA was founded, as well as the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Not only that, GATT and the World Trade Organization were founded.

Pakistan, India, and New Zealand gained independence (in fact, an astonishing list of countries, large and small, have gained independence under Saturn in Leo). The Brits withdrew from Palestine. There was the first computer virus, and Chuck Yeagar broke the sound barrier.

The transistor was invented, the first microwave oven came out, and Jackie Robinson became the first black Major League Baseball player. The first UFO was seen, and a month later there was the Roswell crash.

Of the many developments of 1948, the founding of the State of Israel stands out. So too does the opening of Idlewild (later JFK) airport, the end of segregation in the US armed services, a peacetime draft, and the founding of Porsche.

This brings us to the latest cycle, September 1975 through July 1978. What many of us will remember about this time is the music (though there was plenty besides). This was the era of the second British Invasion, when punk rock and new wave were born and saved us from the sloth of early '70s hit music. We had the emergence and subsequent plunge into American culture of the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Ramones, and many other pillars of rock.

The energy level picked up and polyrhythms and 20-minute guitar solos gave way to 170-second bursts of raw thrust to which people would "pogo" insanely, wearing narrow ties, blazers, and Keds. In men's fashion, this was really an all-out war between straight-leg pants and bellbottoms. This writer feels that women looked excellent in both rock and disco fashions of the era. Who can argue with hotpants, miniskirts, cheesecloth, and platform shoes?

Talking Heads began releasing their psychologically sophisticated albums in September 1977, the same year Saturday Night Fever hit. Urban American society experienced something of a genuine polarization between the Disco and the Disco Sucks people; many of the latter were into punk rock, which was intense and political and not quite the feel-good, let's-go-out-and-boogie music that was in reality far more popular.

The thing is, there was energy in the air. And that very quality is what we're missing today and have been missing for some time. I think a lot of people are wondering where it is, or where it went, or where it should be. But from this glance back to the 19th and 20th centuries, it seems a given that as Saturn takes hold in Leo, we're going to see a lot of change, some very unusual progress, and a few levees bursting—hopefully right where we need them the most.