Empires don’t fall in one day—they erode, piece by piece, when the systems upholding them can no longer evolve. Watching Empire again in today’s world, it becomes clear that the show was more than a melodrama about music and betrayal. It was a reflection of legacy, ego, and the slow unraveling of tradition. More profoundly, it mirrored what we've been experiencing cosmically with Saturn's recent transits through Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and now Aries. Each phase reflects a stage in the collapse and potential rebirth of power structures, both personal and collective.

Saturn in Capricorn: building the fortress

When Saturn entered Capricorn (2018–2020), it demanded structure, discipline, and legacy. This was Saturn in its home sign, where systems like government, corporations, and even family hierarchies tightened their grip. In Empire, Lucious Lyon is the embodiment of the Saturn in Capricorn stereotype: a man obsessed with legacy, power, and control.

His entire identity is built around the empire he has created, and he expects it to stand unchallenged. But just like the stereotype, there's something deeper to uncover in his story. Capricorns are hard workers burdened by responsibility. They do the work nobody else wants to do because they feel a strong sense of duty (“it's all on me” mentality).

Many of them grew up having to do this out of survival. It's not that they're obsessed with the grind but rather they desire to create a structure that will protect them from the harsh winters of life (poverty, isolation, death of parents, etc.) with which they're all too familiar.

Lucious Lyon became an orphan at 10 years old when his mom was taken away after a failed suicide attempt. He built his new identity from the ground, doing whatever it takes to survive including selling drugs. Even when they had “escaped” poverty, he was obsessed with building something that could never die. He clung tightly to keep control of the Empire but that's only because he feared that nobody would do what needs to be done like he would. The day he lost his leg and had his life turned upside down, he had finally chosen to let go of his fear and trust in his eldest son, Andre who was most like him. Lucious did not desire to continue working in perpetuity.

He was about to go off and travel the world with the love of his life. Lucious’ empire began to crack under the weight of secrets, betrayal, and generational wounds. The same was true in the real world as the cracks in long-standing institutions started to show when Saturn was transiting Capricorn, a deeper truth was revealed: any structure built on fear, trauma, or ego will eventually collapse.

Saturn in Aquarius: breaking the system

From 2020 to 2023, Saturn transited Aquarius, the sign of innovation, rebellion, and collective thinking. This period was marked by a global shift—remote work, digital revolutions, social justice uprisings, and a new wave of questioning who holds power and why.

In Empire, this shows up in the rise of Jamal and Hakeem, Cookie’s increasing influence, and the younger generation challenging Lucious’ outdated methods. Aquarius energy asked us: what if the future doesn’t look like the past? What if we reimagine power entirely? Saturn in Aquarius invited us to dismantle rigid structures and experiment with new ones. But it wasn’t easy. Change came with growing pains, and not everyone was ready to adapt.

Saturn in Pisces: dream vs. delusion

With Saturn’s move into Pisces in 2023, the boundaries between reality and fantasy began to blur. Pisces is a sign of imagination, but Saturn here forces us to confront where our dreams are unsustainable. What do we do when the illusions we've clung to start to dissolve?

The final chapters of Empire feel like Saturn in Pisces: chaotic, emotionally dense, and haunted by past choices and self-sabotage. Lucious tries to escape his own shadow, seeking redemption. But Pisces doesn’t allow escape without reflection. It asks: Is your dream rooted in truth or fantasy? Damon's daughter, Yana, who was meant to be his freedom, his fresh start, held up a mirror that asked him to really confront his truth and the source of his pain.

Unfortunately, his inability to keep his promise to Damon about remaining professional with her, ended up being his undoing and a perpetuation of his cycle (ruining young women's lives and having to live with that guilt).

As a collective, this transit made us question everything—our beliefs, our goals, even our spirituality. The structures we used to rely on no longer felt solid. We were being asked to feel our way through the fog. In spiritual circles, we saw this as a significant increase in spiritualists abandoning their spiritual paths. We also started to see a rolling back of work from home as people and companies started being confronted with the reality of empty offices and unsupervised work.

Saturn in Aries: the test of will

Now, in 2025, Saturn is in Aries. Aries is the sign of action, independence, and raw willpower. Saturn here tests not our vision, but our ability to act. It strips away support systems and asks: Can you stand on your own? Can you still move forward when you have nothing left but your fire?

Empire didn’t show us what happens after the fall. But Saturn in Aries demands that we write that next chapter. This is the era of rebuilding—not through inheritance or illusion, but through self-determination and courage. It’s about proving our endurance when the applause has stopped and the throne is gone.

Conclusion: becoming the fire

Empire was never just about a music dynasty. It was a meditation on power, control, and the illusion of permanence. Astrologically, Saturn’s journey from Capricorn to Aries has mirrored the world’s reckoning with these very themes. We are no longer in the era of empires that last forever. We are in a time of reckoning, reimagining, and rebirth. The question isn’t how to preserve what was, but how to build what must come next. And as Saturn in Aries teaches us: the only way forward is through. With courage. With fire. With no illusions left to hide behind.