Sagittarius Season Playlist

Meet the Knight of Wands (IRL) - Britney SPears

Iconic Sagittarius Sun, Britney Spears, is our Knight of Wands (IRL). On December 2nd, 1981, she was born in McComb, Mississippi, to Lynne and Jamie Spears. Spears is a Libra rising, and she has her natal Saturn and Pluto in the 1st House in Libra. She's a 3rd House Sagittarius Sun, and she has a stellium in the same house and sign containing her Uranus, Mercury, Sun, and Neptune. She's a 6th House Aquarius Moon. Her chart is steeped in air/fire energy. So, she's the perfect Knight of Wands.

Everyone knows Sagittarius values freedom above all else. Ironically, the thing which provided Spears with the ability to expand and travel is also the thing that's held her captive - her career.

Spears was a born performer. As a child, she routinely performed for company the family had over, and in 1992 she debuted on Star Search. She didn't win, but a few years later, she was cast on the "The All-New Mickey Mouse Club" when she was 11, alongside other cast members you may know - Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera (a fellow Sagittarius), and Keri Russell.

The Mickey Mouse Club was canceled in 1995, and Spears focused on developing a music career. First, she performed in malls and shopping centers, anything for exposure. Then, in 1998, she released "...Baby One More Time." It reached number 1 by the end of January 1999. Its popularity surged when the music video for the track was released, featuring a sixteen-year-old Spears dancing in the halls of a high school in a catholic school uniform. While somewhat controversial at the time, it was all part of the marketing. Many people even think that the record label made Spears change her singing voice to the breathy, high-pitched, nasal "baby" voice we know her for today. However, watching her videos at age ten on Star Search, the singer has a VERY mature voice, similar to that of Christina Aguilera. But, there can only be one Christina, who was also being marketed heavily as a pop star around the same time. So, people theorize that it was all about differentiating the two. The record company simultaneously infantilized and sexualized Spears.

Britney led the teen pop music wave that followed in the early 2000s. Her albums "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" topped the charts, and Spears went public about her relationship with Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC. The two had been dating since 1998. Throughout their relationship, the media hounded the pair with incredibly personal questions about their sex life (or lack thereof). They even asked if Spears had gotten implants. It was wildly inappropriate, and Spears handled it with surprising grace, given her age.

Britney was growing up and wanted to make more mature music. So in 2001, she released "Britney," where she began to shed her innocent, childlike image. Around this time, she took on a leading role in the movie "Crossroads," which didn't do well in theaters but grossed over $60 million and became a cult classic for its unintentional high camp.

However, shortly after the film's release, Justin and Britney split. Timberlake publicly spilled about Spears losing her virginity to him in a radio interview when he was promoting the launch of his solo career in 2002. He followed that stunt by releasing a now-famous revenge track, "Cry Me a River." He even cast a Spears look-alike in the video. Timberlake had partnered with music producer legend, Timbaland, and his career was taking off. He was the man of the moment, and Spears was slut-shamed and dubbed a "liar" regarding her public remarks about being a virgin. The woman was just trying to protect her privacy. The early 2000s were just a VERY misogynistic moment in history.

In 2003, Spear released "In the Zone" and made waves at the VMA’s when she and Christina Aguilera each shared a kiss with Madonna on stage during a performance.

Then, in 2004, Spears began fighting against her rigid work schedule. She wanted a break. Britney wanted some freedom, but her parents, manager, and label pushed her harder. She didn't know a life outside of the spotlight where she could just be. in 2004 she had a wild night in Las Vegas (as many young 20-somethings do) and married her childhood friend, Jason Alexander. It made headlines everywhere, and the marriage was annulled 48 hours later.

Spears then became involved with one of her backup dancers, Kevin Federline, shortly after the annulment. Britney proposed to Kevin on a trans-atlantic flight, and The two married only a few months later. This only put her under further scrutiny in the public eye. Her sales were declining, and yet she seemed...happy. In April 2005, the couple welcomed their first child.

The early 2000s were a terrible time for tabloids. Paparazzi were unreal in the lengths they would go to for a photo of a famous person doing some mundane activity. Perez Hilton's ruthless (and terribly unethical) celebrity blog also rose in popularity. Spears was a frequent target. In 2006, she drove her car with her infant son in her lap, and her parenting skills became the stuff of national debate. Spears apologized and explained that she was trying to get away from the paparazzi to protect her son.

Later in 2006, Federline and Spears welcomed their second son to the world. The couple divorced two months later. After the separation, Spears was frequently spotted in the club scene, alongside the likes of legendary party girls Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. You can bet that Perez Hilton's blog and every tabloid in the world were there to chronicle each outing. By mid-2006, Federline and Spears were also in a public custody battle over their children, and Spears had become estranged from her mother, Lynne.

Despite the tumultuous state of her life, she released "Blackout" later that year. At the 2006 VMA's, Spears' performance was a total disaster. Rumors were swirling that she was on drugs. Only a few days later, she was charged with a hit-and-run in a parking lot.

2007 brought lots more of the same. Spears was in the headlines daily, often being criticized for her perceived erratic behavior. However, recent documentaries show what Spears' day-to-day looked like back then. She couldn't so much as get a coffee without 50 paparazzi following and swarming her. Her behavior directly responded to the fact that she was being suffocated and consumed by the public. But, that wasn't the way the tabloids reported it back then.

That year, everything came to a head (pun not intended). After leaving a rehabilitation clinic in Antigua, Britney went to Federline's home, asking to see her children. Kevin refused, and Britney drove to a nearby hair salon and asked for the stylist to shave her head. When the stylist refused, Spears snatched the clippers and shaved it herself. For context, more than 70 paparazzi were taking photos through the salon windows, and Britney's security did nothing. This was how she lived every day.

Shortly after the head-shaving incident, she fought back against the paparazzi with an umbrella after they chased her down and refused to give her space. Spears' father had a conservatorship put in place in 2008 after her public 2007 breakdown.

Spears was hospitalized and underwent numerous evaluations and back-to-back psychiatric holds. At first, the conservatorship was intended to be temporary. But, in October 2008, a judge ruled that it be permanent. Her father, Jamie Spears, and her attorney, Andrew Wallet, were the co-conservators. Immediately after, we started to see a change in the star. In the MTV Doc "Britney: For the Record," Britney is quoted as saying, "If I wasn't under the restraints I'm under right now, with all the lawyers and doctors and people analyzing me every day — if that wasn't there, I'd feel so liberated. When I tell them the way I feel, it's like they hear, but they're really not listening … It's like, it's bad. I'm sad."

Britney didn't publicly comment on the conservatorship for nearly a decade. During this time, she had a major comeback with her albums "Circus" and "Femme Fatale," did world tours, had a residency on the Vegas strip, and was a judge on "The X Factor." Her father and Andrew Wallet, were raking in the money on all her hard work. All the while, Jamie was controlling every aspect of her life. He controlled everything from her ability to have a child to the cabinet colors in her home. Britney was given a $2,000 weekly allowance. She was deemed well enough to perform but not well enough to spend her own money or paint her cabinets? Something wasn't right.

Around 2019, the Free Britney Movement began to grow. Britney's bizarre social media presence led many followers to believe that she was hiding coded messages requesting help with her conservatorship in her posts. Around this time, Spears started fighting back against her 13-year conservatorship. The release of numerous documentaries helped put eyes on the movement, and with public support, after a 2-year battle, her conservatorship was lifted.

Spears has since had a lot of public conflict with her family, including her sister since her conservatorship ended. Spears is engaged to her long-time partner, Sam Asghari, and they are expecting a child in April 2022. No one knows if Spears will return to the stage or the studio now that her conservatorship is lifted, but it's safe to say that she's more than earned the freedom we all hope she will enjoy.

Spears was the obvious choice to represent the Knight of Wands. She's a creative and talented powerhouse who’s had a legendary career (707 total award nominations with a staggering 378 wins). she's always been passionate, fiery, and in love with love. But SHe’s been taken advantage of by almost everyone close to her when all she wanted was classic Sagittarian freedom.