Side Notes
by BB Soto
The thoughts that don’t make the main text—but matter anyway ♥️
Tarot FAQ’s from My Table
Over the years, a few questions have come up often enough to become my personal Tarot FAQs. These are not the same as the information I provide for getting a reading, so if those are questions you have, please check out my Tarot page for answers to more generalized questions. These are the most frequently asked by people who usually get a reading from me at a public market, and they range from general curiosity to people who may be interested in learning to read for themselves. So in case you’ve ever wondered…
Side Notes on Cosmic Shenanigans
Included is a list of some of the general transits we will all experience, should we live to the ages at which they normally occur, and some personal reflections on what it’s like to live through some turbulent cosmic currents happening all at once.
Astrological Symbols & Glyphs Gloassary
Coming to astrology from a background in tarot, I remember looking at my first charts and thinking I might as well be trying to read Greek. I was accustomed to pictorial representations that resonated with archetypal experiences in the human condition and were more directly related to the symbolism I had studied in my art history courses. Still, learning the tarot involved a degree of memorization—the order of the first 22 major arcana cards, which suits corresponded to which element, etc. And so, with learning to read a system that uses a language of glyphs, memorization, at first, is key. After all, that’s what we do in Kindergarten and 1st grade. We memorize the letters of the alphabet, their shapes, and their sounds. Then we learn to put them together and form words. Then we learn to put those words together and build sentences.
Flowers of the Underworld
In December, when the world descends into its darkest days, Narcissus tazetta aka narcissus paperwhite flowers bloom making them one of the two birth flowers for the month. Holly is the other December flower. These delicate white blossoms with their golden centers hold a profound mythological significance—they are the very flowers Persephone was picking when Hades abducted her into the Underworld. The timing is no coincidence. As December’s birth flower, the narcissus marks the deepest point of winter’s descent, mirroring Persephone’s own journey down into the realm of shadows. She was drawn to their beauty, their fragrance, and in that moment of reaching for them, the earth opened and she was pulled into darkness.
Cosmic Currents & Your Natal Birth Chart
Hey y'all, in this video, I dive into the significant astrological shifts happening this year, particularly with the outer planets and their collective energy. I emphasize the importance of understanding how these transits can impact our personal lives by looking at our natal charts, and I guide you on how to use Astro.com and Astro-Seek to pull up your charts. I specifically discuss the influence of Pisces energy and how it relates to our personal lives depending on which house is in Pisces. I encourage you to explore your own charts to see where these energies are manifesting in your life. So, take a moment to check your chart and reflect on how these transits might be affecting you.
Cosmic Currents: February & March 2026
Pisces season is upon us—a time of intuition, compassion, and dreamlike reflection. After Aquarius's clear-eyed focus on progress and ideas, Pisces dissolves boundaries and softens the pace. Every Pisces season is one of surrender, imagination, and emotional connection. But this year, this energy is amplified. Like the knobs in This Is Spinal Tap, this year we go up to 11.
2026 Astrology Correspondence Timeline
This year, I’m keeping a living timeline—a kind of cosmic, digital field journal—that tracks the major astrological movements and aspects as they unfold. Sometimes I feel like reading ahead feels ambiguous and foreign, whereas reflecting in hindsight opens understanding. Think of taking a bird’s-eye view rather than nose pressed to the glass—a way to look backward and forward at once. Along the way, I’ll be layering in correspondences from mythology, folklore, tarot, literature, and art—not as decorative vibes, but as symbolic translators—so the movements in the sky start speaking a language that actually relates to daily life.
Align Your Year with Tarot & Astrology
With so many people using this time to reflect and reset—their minds focused on planning the year ahead—I get a lot of calls around this time asking for readings. Over the years, I've uncovered more and more ways a person can use Tarot and Astrology to look ahead and receive internal and spiritual guidance for living their cosmically aligned life.
The Rich History and Modern Use for the Sabian Symbols
In 1925, astrologer Marc Edmond Jones visited Balboa Park in San Diego, accompanied by clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler. He brought a stack of 360 cards, each labeled with a zodiac sign and degree.
The Fascinating Evolution of Grimoires
Folks throughout history have used written repositories to store sacred information much like how scientists today keep notes on their observations and findings in their field of study. They were instructional and archival documents, where ancient practitioners and healers kept track of their experiences and shared the knowledge gained.
Helios and Heliotrope: Connecting Myth and Nature
As Helios—the Greek sun god—showers (pelts?) us with his radiant energy, the fiery element to Leo Season (July 22-August 21) is unmistakable. And it's because this is the time of year when the sun and the lion beckon us to tap into our Herculean power.
Understanding Gemini's Duality Through Myths and Tarot
So in honor of it being the season of the twins, one that is near and dear to my family's hearts, let’s indulge in some mythological musings about the constellation Gemini, shall we?
Pluto Squares, Pain & Dreams
There are various theories for the symbolism and metaphorical interpretations around Sleeping Beauty and one of these intersects with myths like Persephone's, both involving maidens taken into an underworld—Persephone against her will into Hades, the actual underworld, and Sleeping Beauty spends near 100 years (in at least one version of the tale) in Pluto's domain of dreams.
A Story About the Milky Way
Today, my folklore studies led me to read a beautiful tale from South Africa. I found it in Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters by Kathleen Ragan through a Fairytale Heroines course I'm taking with the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.
Winter Solstice: Traditions and Tarot Spread
A group of spectral riders led by Odin—known as the "Yule King" in Germanic-Norse versions—conducts a supernatural hunt during the Winter Solstice. This event was seen as an ominous sign that foretold wars, plagues, or death.
Witnesses weren't merely spectators, either. Legend has it that the ghostly riders might snatch them away, never to be seen again.
The spread is based on the concept of these ghostly riders—who I believe symbolically represent the past coming in to haunt us, possibly taking us if we don’t protect ourselves from their force, or leaving us to begin anew.
Exploring Divination Practices: Tarot and Symbolism
In this post, I share some of my favorite resources that I either have on my shelves or have used. I've checked out some from the library; others are web references or tarot readers and astrologers. These resources explore the many ways the universe can communicate with us and what people across cultures have often said these symbols mean.
Understanding Chiron: The Wounded Healer in Astrology (& Tarot)
In Greek mythology, Chiron was a centaur known for his wisdom, healing abilities, and mentorship. Unlike other centaurs, often depicted as wild and unruly, Chiron was revered for his knowledge and compassion. He was the son of the Titan Cronus and the nymph Philyra, making him half-god and half-horse.
Chiron's early life was marked by rejection and abandonment. His father, Cronus, was disgusted by Chiron's half-horse appearance and rejected him at birth. His mother, Philyra, was so ashamed of giving birth to such a creature that she begged the gods to transform her into a linden tree to escape her misery. This early experience of parental rejection became a fundamental wound for Chiron, shaping his compassionate nature and his ability to nurture others despite his own pain.
Chiron’s story is one of both pain and healing. Despite his divine heritage and immense knowledge, he suffered an incurable wound from a poisoned arrow. The injury occurred by accident when Heracles, battling angry centaurs, unintentionally struck Chiron with an arrow dipped in Hydra’s blood.
Mabon Tarot Spread: Harvesting Insight and Gratitude
Mabon, or the Autumn Equinox, celebrates the second harvest and the balance of day and night. This year, on September 22, Mabon is a time to honor balance, reflection, and gratitude for the year's abundance.
Historically, this sabbat didn’t have a specific name—it was simply the harvest celebration held in September. In the 1970s, Aidan Kelly, founder of the Wiccan group Covenant of the Goddess, coined the term Mabon. Though Mabon ap Modron, a Welsh deity, isn’t directly connected to the fall equinox or harvest, Kelly chose the name for its symbolic resonance with the season. The name has since become widely accepted.
Tarot Symbolism & The Masculine
My bachelor’s in art history means I spent a great deal of time in my youth studying the history and mythology of Greece. Take any survey art history class in America and you will too. The Greeks are kind of a big deal in that field of study. They made many contributions to Western art. Like, a lot.
But when my husband and I honeymooned in Greece, no one warned us about the penises.
Tarot Symbolism: The Star Crown & Astrology
“ A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."
—Revelations 12:1