Three Ways of Symbolizing the One, Dyad, Triad, and Tetrad

The One and Intellectual-Principle

This is a 3-column by 4-row table. The rows are labeled “The One,” “Dyad,” “Triad,” and “Tetrad.”

The first column shows how each principle can be symbolized by different configurations of dignities from the metaphysical chart; the second, by the dignities placed in one or more houses; and the third, by the dignities distributed about a circle.

The One can be symbolized by either the four dignities of house 1 arranged as a cross, or the four dignities placed in house 1 of a twelvefold circle, or the four dignities of house 1 distributed about the four cardinal points of the circle.

The Dyad can be symbolized by either a Kabbalistic tree in which the dignities of houses 2 and 3 are arranged as two columns beneath the cross formed by the dignities of house 1, or the dignities of houses 2 and 3 placed in their respective houses, or the dignities of houses 1-3 distributed about the outside of houses 1-10.

The Triad can be symbolized either by the ten dignities of houses 1-3 arranged as a 3-column by 4-row table, in which the columns are the three houses and the rows are rulerships, exaltations, detriments, and falls, or by arranging the ten dignities in a line, in the order rulerships, exaltations, detriments, and falls.

In this diagram, in the latter configuration, beneath each dignity in the Triad there are a number of zodiacal signs. These are signs in which that planet is in dignity. Reading from top to bottom, the signs are listed in the order in which the planet is in rulership (Being), rulership (Life), exaltation, detriment (Soul), detriment (Nature), fall. The list starts from the planet in the Triad, so Mars in Aries, which is a Being rulership, has all the signs in which it’s in dignity listed, whereas Saturn in Aries, which is in fall, has no signs listed below it.

The Triad can also be symbolized either by the ten dignities of houses 1-3, placed in their respective houses, or by the ten dignities of houses 1-3 distributed about the outside of houses 1-12, where houses 10-12 are bracketed by Saturn in Aries.

The Tetrad can be symbolized either by the rulerships of houses 1-12 listed in a line and the exaltations listed below them, or by the twelve houses with no dignities listed within them, or by a twelvefold circle with the rulerships of houses 1-12 listed on the outside, or a twelvefold circle with the ten dignities of houses 1-3 listed outside houses 1-10, and the rulerships and exaltations listed on the inside of houses 1-12. The rulerships are in the outer ring and the exaltations are in the inner ring.