The Sixteen Aspects of Brahman Mapped on to the Dignities of the Metaphysical Chart Arranged as a Table

Metaphysical Chart

At the top are the dignities of house 1 configured as a cross. Below this is a 5-row by 4-column table. (For ease of reference, the columns will be referred to as columns 1-4, reading from left to right, and the rows will be referred to as rows 1-5, reading from top to bottom.)

Columns 1-4 are the quadrants of the metaphysical chart, from first to fourth, with one exception: row 1 consists of the dignities of the first quadrant, and the columns divide them by rulerships, exaltations, detriments, and falls, not by quadrant.

Row 2, labeled “The One above Being,” consists of the planets in the rulership ring; row 3, labeled “The One as Being,” consists of the planets in the exaltation ring; row 4 consists of the Soul planets in the detriment ring; and row 5 consists of the planets in the fall ring. Rows 4 and 5 are labeled “The One after Being.”

It appears that row 2 originally was going to consist of the dignities of the first quadrant, but later it was altered to consist of the rulerships, divided into columns by quadrant, and a new row was added above it that consists of the dignities of the first quadrant. This would explain why some of the signs for the planets in row 2 don’t match the signs for the rulerships in the quadrant indicated by the column they are in and why some of the glyphs in this row are in a fainter hand.

Some of the entries in the table are associated with one of the sixteen states of consciousness, where each of the four states—turiya, sushupti (deep sleep), svapna (dream), and jagrat (being awake)—is, in turn, divided into four, so there is, for example, turiya-turiya, turiya-sushupti, turiya-svapna, and turiya-jagrat.

In this diagram, there is an inconsistency in how the name of the state that applies to a dignity is determined: in row 2, the ring determines which of the states comes first, and the quadrant determines which of the states comes second, whereas in rows 3-5, it is reversed and the quadrant determines which of the states comes first, and the ring determines which of the states comes second.

Each entry in the table (except for those in row 1) is also associated with one of the sixteen aspects of Brahman, where each of the four aspects—Turiya, Avyakta (unmanifest), Hiranyagarbha (subtle), and Viraj (gross)—is, in turn, divided into four, so there is, for example, Avyakta-Turiya, Avyakta-Avyakta, Avyakta-Hiranyagarbha, and Avyakta-Viraj.

In this diagram, when determining the name of the aspect of Brahman that applies to a dignity, the ring determines which of the aspects comes first, and the quadrant determines which of the aspects comes second. (Note: Jupiter in Cancer and Mercury in Virgo are mislabeled as Avyakta Hiranyagarbha; they should be labeled Avyakta Avyakta.)