Numbers 1, 2, and 3 correspond to the active, passive, and neutralizing principles respectively, and each combination is called a guna in the samkhya philosophy of India. Where these appear alone or alongside arrows it indicates a correlation in the order of appearance of the principle between two of the six possible ways in which the principles appear. The figure in the center has nine points, corresponding to the external points of the tetractys, and the central point corresponds to the internal one.
The following diagram corresponds to the Arc of Descent.
As is known to students of the tetractys and music, the musical scale has an interval between Mi and Fa, and another between Si and Do. Where exactly these belong in the figure of the tetractys is a subject of the most diverse opinions, and that presented here is not found in any of the authorities known or consulted by this author ( Ouspensky, Gurdjieff, Collin, Mouravieff, or in the Indian philosophy known as samkhya ). It is generally agreed that there is a lateral octave ( a parallel scale ) in which Fa, Sol, and La fill the Mi - Fa interval. I've put Sol between two points of the tetractys because both the World of Creation and the World of God have a principle shared by those points which corresponds to planet Earth, and the Arc of Descent takes it into account on the part of the World of Creation, while the Arc of Ascent takes it into account on the part of the World of God, according to the following explanation. When Fa, Sol, and La of the lateral octave fill the Mi - Fa interval, Si and Do of the lateral octave appear in place of Fa and La, with Sol accounting for the Si - Do interval. The relationship between the principles also shows where the intervals are, and are different from those of the previous diagram because the principles associated to Saturn have been changed with those associated to Mars. The lateral octave is associated to an Act of God, yet this Act only becomes evident after the appearance of Sol in the Arc of Descent, which is in La, corresponding to Do in the lateral octave. Therefore, the same Act interchanges the principles associated to Do in the lateral octave with those associated to Do in the Arc of Descent, to produce the Arc of Ascent:
The only thing to add here is that the completion of the Arc of Ascent involves interchanging the principles associated to Do in the new lateral octave with those associated to Do in the Arc of Ascent, and this is beyond mans' comprehension, but belongs to the World of God ( the next diagram ). By the Act of God, man is in the Arc of Ascent, and yet it must be conceivable for him that those principles become interchanged for his own progress to be conceivable. This is exactly what happens in the diagram which corresponds to the World of God:
Since such a state remains forever beyond human comprehension, the gunas are also represented by trigrams of the I-Ching. In accordance with the arrangement of the previous diagram, the 231 and 132 gunas are represented by trigrams corresponding to Venus and Saturn, but these gunas are also represented by other trigrams corresponding to Earth and Sun. The Sun appears symbolically at the top of this diagram.