An article by Simon Winchester in an issue of Smithsonian rang this bell. Born in 1543 the Englishman Drake went to sea at age 23 on a slaving ship, but the slave trade was not to his liking. Throughout his 20's he built his own force of ships manned by trusted sailors from his home region. At the age of 29 he raided and captured the "Treasurehouse of the World", a Spanish port on the Panama coast that they were using as a shipping point for all the gold and treasure they were looting from the New World. At the time Spain, along with Portugal, was a world power (much like the United States is today). England was still very much in the shadow of the Spanish powerhouse. When Drake showed up in England (as he was turning 30) with ships loaded down with gold, diamonds, emeralds and other treasure it established him as a hero and an English patriot. He went on to a career of raiding Spanish ships and settlements and bringing the treasure home to England. This allowed Elizabeth I, his queen, to finance England's entry into the arms race of the time, putting them on an equal footing with Spain. In search of Spanish treasure Drake ended up sailing around the world, becoming the first Englishman to sail into the Pacific. This exploit (plus all the Spanish booty he brought with him) re-established his standing as an English hero and earned him a knighthood. He continued to raid Spanish holdings and in 1587 sank 39 Spanish ships in a daring raid that impressed all of Europe, enraged Spain and led to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Spain's status as world power began to wane after this defeat and England's ascent to world power status was set in motion. England of course went on to dominate the world until well into the current century.

What has this tidbit got to do with you? Well if you speak English or if your country was affected by English colonialism it might affect you even today. What if Drake at his Saturn Return decided that seafaring wasn't for him? Might the course of history have taken a different turn without his baiting and England's subsequent defeat of the Spanish Armada? Isn't it possible that Spain might have continued as a world power leading to most of us speaking Spanish today? England at the time was a budding Protestant country, while Spain was firmly Catholic. It's possible the world today would still be living under the influence and control of the Roman Catholic Church. (This is beginning to sound like an episode of Sliders...) Don't get me wrong, I am not defending or denigrating England, Spain, Protestants or Catholics - I only throw these ideas out as possibilities and to show how the decisions you make during your Saturn Return can have serious and far-reaching consequences.