Understanding Your Human Design

Have you ever asked, "What is my unique Human Design?"  The purpose of this section is to help you understand your unique Human Design as illustrated by the "Body Graph" you were given when you had your Foundation Reading.  If you haven't had a reading yet, you can get a free chart that will make this tutorial more personally relevant.  For this discussion, we will use Cathy's Human Design Mandala shown below.

Cathy's Body Graph is within the human figure outline in the center of the mandala.  We will be referring to Cathy's mandala and Body Graph as we explain the basics of Human Design.

Within the Body Graph, you will see nine Centers represented by triangles and squares.  Some of these Centers are colored and some are white.  The ones that are colored are called "defined Centers," and the white ones are "undefined Centers."  Connecting the Centers are "channels."  At each end of every channel is a numbered "gate."  All this, and more, will be explained below.

Cathy Kinnaird's Human Design Mandala

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Using the I-Ching and Astrology

Looking at Cathy's mandala, you will see sixty-four hexagrams around the outer rim.  These symbols of the I-Ching are composed of six lines.  Inside the outer rim, you will see numbers that identify the corresponding hexagram.  The inner part of the mandala (around the Body Graph) is divided into sixty-four "pie wedges," one for each hexagram.

Inside the ring of numbers, the circle is divided into twelve parts, one part for each sign of the Zodiac.  Using your birth data, we compute the astrological location of the Sun, Moon, Earth and planets.  The symbol for each of these is placed in the mandala in its astrological location.

For example, directly over the head of Cathy's Body Graph is a black circle with a dot inside.  This represents the Sun, and it is in Capricorn (represented in the ring around the Body Graph by the symbol that looks like a "v" with a squiggle added).  Cathy was born on December 23, so her Sun is near the beginning of Capricorn (the right side of the light pink section).

The Nine Centers

Within the outline of the Body Graph, there are nine Centers represented by triangles and squares.  The Centers may be colored or white depending on whether they are "defined" in your unique Design.

Connecting these nine Centers are thirty-six "channels."  These channels are derived from the Kabala.  At each end of every channel is a "gate" that connects the channel to a Center.  There are sixty-four gates corresponding to the sixty-four hexagrams of the I-Ching.

Activated Gates and Defined Centers

Your astrological charts determine which of the sixty-four gates are "activated" in your Design.  A gate is activated if a planet is present in the "pie wedge" that corresponds to that gate's hexagram on the outer edge of the wheel.

In the example of Cathy's mandala, the Sun is in the 10th gate, so Gate 10 is activated.  Gate 10 is on the left side of the yellow diamond (G Center) in the center of the Body Graph. 

The G Center and the Sacral Center

If a gate is activated, the half of the channel connected to that gate will be colored.  If the gates at both ends of a channel are activated, the whole channel will be colored.  For instance, in Cathy's Body Graph there is a black channel going from Gate 15 in the yellow diamond down to Gate 5 in the red square.

If the whole channel between two Centers is colored, then those two Centers are "defined," and they will be colored.  Both the yellow diamond and the red square in Cathy's Body Graph are defined by the channel from Gate 15 to Gate 5 and the channel from Gate 46 to Gate 29.

The gates are the anchoring points of your individual identity.  The channels are pathways that direct the flow of your energy.  Knowing which gates are activated and how the energy flows between Centers allows us to see the preferred way that you engage in life.  The way that these aspects of the Body Graph integrate reveals your true identity.

Conscious and Unconscious Definition

You have probably noticed that in Cathy's mandala, some of the symbols are black and some are red.  There are thirteen different symbols corresponding to the Sun, Moon, Earth, North and South Nodes of the Moon, and the other eight planets.  The black symbols represent the planets' locations at the time of your birth.  The gates activated by these planets determine your "Conscious Personality."

A second astrological chart is computed for the time of your soul's incarnation, eighty-nine days before your birth.  Gates activated by these red symbols determine your "Unconscious Design."

This is why some channels are black and some are red.  If the gate activating one end of a channel is conscious, that end of the channel will be black.  Notice that the channel coming from Gate 39 on the right side of the brown square at the bottom of Cathy's Body Graph is both red and black.  That is because Gate 39 is defined twice by Uranus, both consciously and unconsciously.

Each defined gate and channel tells us specific things about your Human Design.  Cathy will give you some of this information during your Foundation Reading.  The most important things to know are your Type, Strategy, Profile and Incarnation Cross.

The Centers Determine Your Type

The next section describes the nine Centers and how they determine your Type.  There are four possible Types.  Knowing your Type determines your Strategy for living life.

In addition to your Type, your Human Design Reading will reveal your Profile and your Incarnation Cross.  These two characteristics help reveal more about who you really are.

Click here to learn about the Centers.