Introduction to the Human Design System
What is Human Design?Human Design is a synthesis of several ancient systems, integrating aspects of Astrology, the I Ching, chakras, and the Kabbalah. It represents a map of human consciousness that links these old wisdom traditions to contemporary thought. It connects in particular to our modern understanding of genetics. A Human Design chartA design chart is drawn up from your birth data. What emerges is a genetic map, a blueprint for your life journey. A reading of your design provides considerable detail about your true potential and unique place in the scheme of things. A Human Design chart looks like the illustration. We each have a unique design, just as we have a unique fingerprint. The premise of the system is that the universe has given you a design, because it needs you that way. The more you can trust this ‘belonging,’ the more carried (and cared for) you will be by life.

The Four Types of the Human Design System

All our Human Design charts fall into broad categories. The population breaks down into the following four types:
Manifestor
These are pure energy beings, with a built-in capacity to do what they want when they want to do it. Others are threatened (and jealous) of that access to energy and they meet resistance all around. Most people want to tie them down and not let them move with so much freedom. They carry anger from that constant blocking by others. The dilemma starts at a young age. Their strategy is really a public relations exercise. If they inform before they act, people around will feel included and considered instead of threatened.
Projector
This is a non-energy type and their gift is that they understand energy. They need to wait for the recognition of others for their specific abilities. That appreciation acts like a red carpet, bringing out their abilities even more. They suffer bitterness because they often feel undervalued. Once they relax and stop comparing themselves to the hard-working energy types. They get a chance to understand that they have an unusual ability to be guides for the energy types, and in that they can find their real self worth.
Generator
These are energy types with incredible stamina to go and go. The trick for them is to get involved with their considerable energy with things that are really for them and not let it get used up by other people. If they behave like a manifestor type and try and make things happen, they will get frustrated. Their power is in response. If they wait and let things come to them, their response will be a sure guide. They can trust a non-verbal, non-mental intelligence deep inside their cells, which knows where to go next and what to be available for.
Manifesting Generator
Reflector
The most rare of the four types, their design is very open and they carry a sense of communion with humanity. Since they take in other people very deeply and reflect back their energy, they are very sensitive to their environment. When there is lack of harmony around them, they can feel disturbed and disappointed. They thrive in a loving atmosphere. Their design changes with the cycle of the moon. They need to take time (28 days) to come to a clear decision where major life changes are concerned.
Manifesting Generator is a category of Generator. They get encouraged from an early age to use their manifesting power to make things happen. However their real power emerges from waiting and going with the flow. They have to learn to trust that their life unfolds with satisfaction when they don’t push the river. If they first engage their energy (or not) out of response, then they can move with a ‘go for it’ speed and they won’t suffer frustrating anger.

We are both Nature and Nurture

Self (your nature) - colored aspects in a chart
Self (your nature) – Definition in a chart – colored centersWhen centers in a chart get colored in, it means they operate in a consistent reliable way. Since they indicate a fixed capacity that is always accessible in the same way (day in and day out), they offer a way of describing to a person their nature. This is what they are born with and that does not change, it is a representation of ‘who they are’. Your nature isn’t your life; it’s what you can trust to guide you through life.

Not-Self (your nurture) - open and white aspects in a chart
The white areas in a chart are where nothing operates in a fixed way, they are ‘who you are not’. This openness is where we are conditioned in terms of nurture. That nurture can be positive or negative and the learning process is to be able to evaluate the difference. That filtering capacity of others’ fixedness can form the basis for wisdom.
Strategy and Authority - an experiment in decision making
A reading will propose an experiment to the mind to see what happens when decisions are made according to the nature of your mechanics. The colored centers (or not) indicate the type of design and the basic decision making ‘strategy’. Then there are various centers which can be the place of a final ‘yes or no’. This is called the ‘inner authority’ and it varies with different charts. The experiment takes time; the mind needs to gather the evidence before it relinquishes thinking its in charge of the life.

Human Design Mandala

This wheel represents the unfolding of evolution. Every Human Design chart is a genetic (though not genetic as in physical attributes) blueprint that configured out of the matrix in this wheel. The colored spokes indicate how a planetary position filtered the neutrino stream at the moment of birth. The numbers on the outer wheel are a translation of that imprinting These are hexagrams of the I Ching and they represent genetic markers. (There are 64 hexagrams in the I Ching and there also happen to be 64 codons in the DNA)

Other Human Design Terminology

ProfileThere are twelve profiles, just like there are twelve zodiac signs. The profile is a specific style with which the being engages with life. It is often called the costume, and there is a life time learning involved in how it becomes well fitted. here are 12 possible profiles: 1/3 – Investigating Martyr 1/4 – Investigating Opportunist 2/4 – Hermit Opportunist 2/5 – Hermit Heretic 3/5 – Martyr Heretic 3/6 – Martyr Role Model 4/6 – Opportunistic Role Model 4/1 – Opportunistic Investigator 5/1 – Heretic Investigator 5/2 – Heretic Hermit 6/2 – Role Model Hermit 6/3 – Role Model Martyr
Hexagram numbers comprise the data base for the two columns of information in a chart. The ‘black ‘numbers relate to personality attributes (also called conscious), the ‘red’ column relates to a quality of body consciousness. (also called unconscious) Lines - There are 6 frequencies in any given hexagram, these are called lines. 1st line –investigator 2nd line – hermit 3rd line – martyr 4th line – opportunist 5th line – heretic 6th line – role model Centers are hubs of energy and information. There are 9, and they structure the bodygraph matrix.
Gate is the name given to how the hexagram numbers appear on the bodygraph.
Channel is the name for what happens when two gates connect and allow a continuous flow of ‘energy’ between two centers. This is also called a ‘life force’
Hanging Gate is an activation in the chart that hangs from a center to fill half a channel. Incarnation CrossEach one of us is a cell within the larger body of the universe. We uniquely filter different aspects of the whole, though we are all born within 64 archetypical influences. These are known as the Incarnation Crosses. No incarnation is more important than another; we each have a specific purpose, the whole needs each cross equally.
Solar Plexus CenterEmotional Awareness, with clarity only over time
Sacral CenterGenerating power, fertility, sexuality, vitality, life and death
Root CentreAdrenaline survival pressure, stress handling capacity
The Nine Centers of the Human Design System Head CenterInspiration, the mental pressure to ask questions
Ajna CenterConceptualization, the mental awareness
Throat CentreExpression and actualization, it is the hub where everything converges.
G-CenterThe Higher self, identity in terms of love and direction
Heart (Ego) CentreThe hub for engaging in the Material world, it relates to the ‘will power’ capacity
Splenic CentreExistential Awareness, body’s defense with the immune system, intuition


The origins of the Human Design SystemThe system originates from a revelation that came on the planet in 1987 in the form of a mystical experience. The man who received this information was given the title Ra Uru Hu.. He describes that he was penetrated by voice for seven days and nights. He began to teach extensively in 1992. The formidable reputation of Human Design for a penetrating accuracy has been growing worldwide ever since. (He died in March 2011).
What if I don’t know my exact birth time?If you have a ball park birth time like morning or evening it is nearly always possible to pin down the time. If you have absolutely no idea of time, it is possible to run a series of charts for the whole day, and from that to establish a birth time. In both cases we would need to have a clear discussion in order to mutually agree on the proposed time.