I was first introduced to Human Design many years ago, when a friend got a reader to show me my chart. The one thing I remembered from that conversation was the surprising Strategy, the way I best operate. (I’m a Projector.)
Over the years, I’ve poked at it a bit more. But I held back as elements of it didn’t align with the experience (more on that shortly). But this year, it was a module in my marketing class. It turns out to be a very useful tool for marketing and business planning as it addresses what we’re here to contribute and the way to present our work authentically.
If you’re aligned with your natural energy and message accordingly, you’ll attract the people you can best serve. You’ll also repel the people you’re not aligned with. However, you’ll repel clients or attract the wrong ones if you’re out of alignment and sending mixed signals. It’s a very different approach to marketing: energetic alignment.
Human Design itself is a curious mixture of Western astrology, the I Ching, chakras, and the Kabbalah. It creates a style of map of our energetic nature. The founder added a zodiac of 64 hexagrams to the solar zodiac. He named these gates. Planets are in signs and gates, adding a layer of energetic qualities. It also uses both a birth chart and an unconscious “Design” chart, from 88 days prior. The system blends the two in an energetic map known as a bodygraph. The gates are associated with specific chakras, defining the style of the gates’ energy.
Later, someone else added a further refinement called the Gene Keys. This extends the qualities of the gates and maps a sequence for specific areas of life.
I was slow to look closer as it includes some odd features.
– It uses a 9 chakra model. According to the founder, several hundred years ago, the heart and third chakra both split in two. This is not my experience.
– It uses Western astrology, which uses a fixed zodiac rather than the actual sky. The patterns are the same, but the alignment is compromised.
– The qualities assigned to the various chakras are also atypical. For example, the solar plexus is called the emotional center. The heart and ego are the same center. (The ego is not an energy center.)
– The Design date is a specific 88 days prior to birth, but I’ve not found the soul enters at a specific time prior.
– The Kabbalah part was adapted and doesn’t match the source material.
Nonetheless, I found a deeper dive quite insightful. For example, it said my role is to explore spirituality deeply, then share my discoveries through writing. Also that the pillars of my work would be systems (stages, koshas, etc.).
Some offer human design as a personal reading tool, similar to getting an astrology reading. Some offer it as a coaching modality. Some as a business planning tool, as in my course. Some as a business messaging style guide. And so forth.
Some do a very simple read of the HD chart, some synthesize more, and some are also familiar with transits, Gene Keys, and other layers of interpretation.
Unlike other forms of astrology, it’s focused on your energetic nature and how to be in the world. It seems quite popular with female entrepreneurs seeking an alternative to common business practices that don’t feel aligned. I found it unexpectedly insightful in planning my work.
You can get a free basic chart from several websites like Jovian Archive (an accurate birth time is important). You can then look up your Type, Profile, Strategy, and Authority online. There are lots of talks of various quality on YouTube.
If you want to go deeper, you can explore the gate numbers in the columns to the right and left of the chart. Most important in the system is the gate and line (after the dot) of the conscious Sun (top right). Then the top 4 on both sides. Lots of sites list basic and more advanced details.
Also of note are the channels, the coloured lines that connect and define some chakras in your chart. After that, it depends on what you’re looking for. There are services that use ChatGPT to pull out how to structure your business. Or how to message from your Type. Or you can just book a reading.
The closer you get to your nature, the smoother and more enjoyable life is. That’s not just true of consciousness.
Enjoy!
David
PS: Yes, I have an undefined “G” center, so am fascinated by ways of defining self. And of course, systems.
ive just been diving into my human design yesterday and today, then popped onto your blog for the first time in months maybe even years, and here is Human Design right at the top! go figure. Im a projector too, with “self projected” inner authority, meaning i am meant to express myself in order to find clarity. There have been some real aha’s putting some of my experiences into context. For example my design sense is ‘outer vision’ meaning i am largely focused on my environment and other peoples experiences. this is by design, a gift, and not a flaw as i have often perceived it.
Hi Peter
🙂 Self-projected is a less common style. There’s a couple who are both Projectors and do videos on the topic, calling themselves Projector Movement.
I know what you mean. I have Spleenic authority, but the defined Head and Ajna are more conscious, so it’s taken time to get to know that intuitive style. I often get the signals through the heart due to the related channel.
Nice that you’re posting about this! A few months ago I took a dive into human design and found out I’m a Generator type. I just mostly used a few Human Design apps, HD chat AI and youtube videos to get some idea of what my chart means. Learning about the basics of my type gave some good insights of how life works for me and what strengths and challenges I have, but the more intricate stuff about gates and whatnot didn’t interest me as much.
I think for me as a Generator type, the most valuable piece of information was that I’m not supposed to “go out there and make stuff happen”, because that never has worked for me anyway. The strategy is to “wait and respond”, although I hear some HD people on youtube say that you don’t have to “wait around”, because you’re always responding to something.
Right, Olli
For Projectors, it’s “wait for the invitation.” But that doesn’t mean wait for someone to find you. You can create opportunities to be discovered. Like this blog. And from this, I get invited to interviews, etc. I’ve tuned the language on the home page and about and coaching pages too.
For Generators, they describe it as wait for the wave, though the style depends on your authority. When the wave moves through, then you have the clarity to respond.
The gates interested me as they get even more specific. I was quite surprised how accurate it was. Like what I mentioned in the article.
Hi David,
I’ve been doing a bit of catching up on your blog, which encouraged me to explore the Human Design chart, which I’d never come across before. It seems (like most humans} I’m a Manifesting Generator, but with Emotional Authority. I found yer man on Youtube, and listened to him talking about all the different centres, gates, chakras, channels etc., for over an hour. Rather dry and exhausting, but parts of it really rang true. But after 55 years of TM and other meditations, much of what he, Ra, had to say, seems passee. Maybe I’ve been fortunate, but for most of my life, it seems like I never really made decisions about direction. Things just opened up for me, new directions arose as and when needed. The real question form me now is, “how much time have I got left?”
Hi Anto
This means you have a defined Sacral (Gen) and Throat (Manifest). Emotional authority also indicates your Solar Plexus on the right is defined too. Your experience of being in the flow actually relates to the Mani part. It supports that.
As for time, you can ask a good jyotishi. From what I understand, dasha changes to a more difficult period can mark the start of the transition.