Many of the diagrams select certain of the dignities found in the metaphysical chart and arrange them in various ways—for example, a row of the rulerships above a row of the exaltations, or in vertical structures called “Kabbalistic trees,” or in circles nested within circles, or in two intersecting circles whose intersection forms an almond shape called a “vesica.”
On the relationship between the metaphysical chart and notes to the diagrams
Vesica
Kabbalistic Tree
But there aren’t always labels that identify these configurations—for example, that a string of glyphs are the rulerships in houses 1-12. There may be a string of planetary glyphs without any indication as to which signs these planets are in, or there might be signs listed above or below the glyph of a planet without it being made explicit which planets are in those signs.
In cases like these, the note explains how the glyphs in the diagram are derived from their placement in the metaphysical chart. For example, it tells you when these are the dignities from certain houses, or from a certain ring, or from a certain quadrant. It also tells you how a line of planetary glyphs is ordered—for example, reading from left to right, the planets in the first quadrant are in the order rulerships, detriments, exaltations, and falls.
So if you read the note and refer to the metaphysical chart, you can see which glyphs in the metaphysical chart have been selected and arranged in a perspicuous manner in the diagram. The underlying structure of the diagram is thus revealed.
A line of planets without signs
The notes also call attention to certain labels, highlight structural features (for example, pointing out that there’s a twelvefold circle inscribed in houses 9-12 of the metaphysical chart), and in some cases, provide an explanation of some of the more esoteric terms used in the diagrams (for example, the sixteen states of consciousness or the four triads of the mundane gods of the Orphic theology).
If we think that given the pattern of the glyphs, there’s a mistake—for example, the wrong sign is written next to a planet, or the wrong planet is placed in a list—we also note that.