If you are anything like me, the first time I pulled up my Human Design chart, I thought “what the fuck am I looking at?!”
It was overwhelming to say the least! There are numbers and shapes, colours and lines, and then a collection of words that make little to no sense. In this post, I will teach you what you are looking at and how it impacts your Human Design. So you can get started with your Human Design with a little more understanding.
You probably already know that Human Design is a synthesis. A system built upon many other systems. Human Design is based on the Chinese I-Ching, Western Astrology, the Chakra system and the Kabbalah tree of life which we will be covering in this post. Read more about this here!
Whether you’ve been experimenting for a little while or are brand new to Human Design, understanding what you’re looking at will allow you to use your strategy & authority to guide you deeper into your experiment and into your life purpose.
What determines my Human Design bodygraph?
Your Human Design is based on your birth date, time and location.
Similar to astrology or a natal chart, your Human Design is calculated by the placement of planets, the Sun and the North and South Nodes at the time you were born. (Skip to planets)
Unlike astrology, your Human Design is made up of two dates. Your conscious birth date is the time you entered the world (these placements are seen in black). The design date is roughly 90 days before you were born. This is said to be when your soul entered your body to live out this human life (these placements are seen in red).
What does the black and red mean?
In Human Design you are made up of two parts: your conscious personality and your unconscious body (often referred to as your vehicle). Your conscious/personality side of your chart is black and the unconscious/body side of your chart is red.
You are never one part or the other. You are always both. It is the coming together of these two wisdoms that makes you so powerful.
What does my black personality or conscious Human Design mean?
Your personality placements are just that, your personality, who you see yourself as. You are probably more aware of this energy and see your identity in the way it shows up in your life. Your conscious Human Design placements live more on the surface and you may be able to make sense of them more easily. They could be said to live more in the mind.
What does my red body or unconscious Human Design mean?
Your red unconscious placements live deeper in your body and spirit. These are often the energies you don’t think about, you just are. Sometimes these are things that other people in your life will see and recognize in you more than you do because they are just so natural to you. They may be working so deep that you don’t notice them at all. The red placements teach you how your body is here to move through the world. Becoming aware of these energies and adding some curiosity into where they show up is all you need here.
What determines my type, strategy & authority?
Your Type, Strategy & Authority are determined by the 9 centers.
Your type is determined by which centers you have defined (colored) and how they connect to each other via the channels. For a center to be defined (colored) it must connect to another center with a channel (the full lines in black, red or black and red), this is how they give each other energy.
Which of the 9 centers determine type & strategy?
If you have a defined sacral center you are a Generator. If you have a defined sacral AND a motor center connected to your throat you are a Manifesting Generator. (The other mother centers are the heart, root and solar plexus read about motor centers here). If you have a defined sacral your strategy is to respond.
If you do not have a defined sacral you are either a Manifestor, a Projector or a Reflector.
A Manifestor has an undefined sacral (white) AND a motor center connected to your throat. A Manifestor’s strategy is to inform/initiate.
A Projector has an undefined sacral (white) but NO motor center connected to your throat. Your strategy is to wait for the invitation.
A Reflector has no defined centers at all. The 9 centers are all white. Your strategy is to wait a lunar cycle.
Where do the 9 Centers come from?
The 9 Human Design centers are based on the Hindu Brahim Chakra system. In the hindu chakra system we see 7 chakras. Human Design has 9 centers. This reflects the expansion of humanity, a cosmic shift, an evolution from 7 to 9 centers (we cover that more here).
In the hindu chakra system you will find, from bottom 1st chakra to top 7th chakra, the root, sacral, solar Plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown. In Human Design you have from bottom to top the root, sacral, solar plexus (right), spleen (left), heart, G, throat, ajna and head.
Although the names are different the ajna and the head share similar themes and archetypes to the third eye and crown. You may hear people using the terms ajna, third eye and mind interchangeably. The same goes for the head and crown.
What determines my gates & channels?
Your gates and channels are determined by your astrological placements. You have 26 placements in your chart that create your defined gates (13 in black and 13 in red). In order for you to have a defined gate you must have a planet in that gate number. And to have a channel you need to have a planet in the gate on either side.
Images to make sense.
Where do the 64 gates come from?
The 64 gates come from the 64 Hexagrams of Chinese I’Ching, an ancient divination and oracle system. One of the first books ever written, The Book of Changes shares guidance in the form of archetypal wisdom.
The I’Ching, although dated to approximately 3000 BC, contains a complex mathematical structure that mirrors the 64 amino acids that create proteins in our human DNA. The DNA codons and the I’Ching hexagrams share identical binary structures.
There is fascinating research in how each hexagram relates to an amino acid. Groupings of amino acids form the 64 codons, similar to the 64 hexagrams. I am by no means an expert but if medical studies are your thing this is a rabbit whole you won’t regret.
One translation of the I’Ching texts shares, in reference to the 64 hexagrams, “how a Neolithic shamans’ divination technique presaged the basic logic of the human genome is one of the ageless mysteries.”
Where do the 32 channels come from?
The 32 channels come from the Kabbalah Tree of Life. This Kabbalistic/Zohar tradition is what informs the flow of energy in the bodygraph from one center to the next.
The three circuits known as the Collective, Individual and Tribal circuits are also based upon the Tree of Life.
What determines my profile in Human Design?
Your profile is determined by which line your conscious and unconscious sun and earth gates are in. As each planet travels around the rave mandala, it moves through each of the 6 profile lines as it goes. For example my conscious sun is in gate 64.2. 64 is the gate number and 2 in the profile line.
This is similar to the degrees of a planet in a natal chart. The sun moves into gate 64 in line 1, then throughout the day moves into line 2 (where I was born) and continues to move on to line 3, 4, 5 and 6, before moving into gate 47.
An analogy for the profile and gate relationship I like to use is to imagine that the gate is a bowl of french fries and each profile line is a condiment. The french fries remain the same but if you have them with mayonnaise or sriracha, you’ll have a different experience of the gate’s energy.
Your Human Design profile is the style of life you are going to experience and enjoy. A skin you naturally grow into when you begin to live your design. It is another unique piece of what makes you so perfectly designed.
Where do the 6 profile lines come from?
The 6 lines come from the Hexagram structure of the I’Ching (where we get our gate numbers and archetypes). Each hexagram visually is made up of 6 lines, broken or unbroken. And each of these lines brings its own flavour to the hexagram.
Each line has a primary role or a theme that it carries.
Line 1: Investigator – seeking to get to the bottom of life.
Line 2: Hermit – requires alone time to nurture their natural talents.
Line 3: Martyr/Experimenter – living a trial and error life, learning on the go.
Line 4: Opportunist/Networker – always connecting to people with mutually beneficial opportunities.
Line 5: Heretic/Hero – naturally pragmatic, a problem solver.
Line 6: Role Model – bringing guidance and perspective, an old soul.
Read about the profile lines here
Your profile is a combination of 2 of these lines that looks like 2/5. 2 (conscious sun profile line)/5 (unconscious sun profile line). There are 12 set variations of the profile options.
The Human Design system is a delicate and powerful synthesis of the I’Ching, astrology, the Hindu chakra system and the Kabbalah tree of life, alongside modern scientific discoveries. It might not feel necessary for you to understand how each piece joins the next and that is totally okay, but it is important to acknowledge that Human Design was built upon an existing foundation of wisdom and knowledge.
