The Time of Awakening, which was also known as the Great Awakening, was a time in Vulcan history which saw the end of the races war-like ways and saw the start of their peaceful ways. In the Earth calendar, it was during the 4th century. (TOS episode: "The Savage Curtain")
The architect of this change was the Vulcan philosopher known as Surak who preached a way of peace through logic and to keep their violent emotions under strict control. His teachings would gain wide scale acceptance among many people and would change the face of the world though there would still be heavy resistance to this change. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Way of Kolinahr: The Vulcans)
One notable group who "marched under the raptor's wings" triggered a nuclear war. Surak himself would die from radiation sickness during the last of the battles that devastated his homeworld which finally ended with the acceptance of logic. (ENT episodes: "Awakening", "Kir'Shara")
Though a majority of the people of Vulcan accepted this change, a large group refused to accept the peaceful ways being accepted and decided to leave their homeworld. (TNG episode: "Gambit, Part II") This group, some of which consisted of Surak's followers who believed that their homeworld might destroy itself in nuclear war, left their homeworld and would journey to the planet Romulus where they would become the Romulan people. (TOS - Vulcan's Soul novel: Exodus)
In the mirror universe, the Time of Awakening likewise occurred during the 4th century and led to the Vulcan-Romulan schism. While his patron Gul Madred erroneously believed that it had occurred 2,000 years earlier than that, the archaeologist for hire Jean-Luc Picard chose not to correct him for his own safety. (TNG - Mirror Universe novel: The Worst of Both Worlds)
See also[]
Great Awakening is also a term used to describe a transitional period of Klingon history around the time of the Klingon-Federation Alliance. (TNG novel: Strike Zone)
External link[]
- Time of Awakening article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.