Letterpress image from expedition.press, based in Seattle

In Human Design, the body graph is comprised of 9 centers.

Head

Ajna

Throat

Ji

Spleen

Heart (In Jovianism, which is based on Ra Uru Hu’s interpretation of the system, the Heart center is often referred to as the Ego)

Solar Plexus

Sacral

Root

These centers are echoes of elements in the chakra system as well as the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.

Each center is populated with “gates” corresponding to the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, and these gates are either activated or not during the imprints of our Design and Personality. If the activated gates between two centers form a connection, those centers both become defined, creating a stable way of experiencing the world from the mechanics of the centers involved.

Without the necessary activations, a center remains open. It’s within these open centers that we’re most vulnerable to conditioning from other people, our environment, and the planetary transits.

My design is fairly open with only 3 defined centers. Without a connection to the Throat center, I have the design “To Wait,” which I’ll explore in a future post.

The openness allows me to feel into, or taste, the wide range of being; however, without a strong sense of self (gained through reflection and contemplation) and firm boundaries, it’s very easy for me to take on someone else’s way of being as my own.

Notably, my Solar Plexus, or emotional center, is wide open with no gates activated. I can feel the emotional experiences of others and, without self-awareness, I can absorb them as my own and then reflect and even amplify the emotions back to them, especially when I fail to take that necessary pause between stimulus and response. An action otherwise known as reactivity.

Having no gates activated doesn’t mean that I don’t experience my own emotions. I’m human with a nervous system and a past and all the messiness that comes along with life, not to mention the constantly shifting activations from planetary transits. What I’ve observed is that I’m particularly vulnerable to the emotional energy around me, be that positive or negative, and before starting the hard work of developing self-understanding, I could easily become a mirror for my environment. It still happens from time to time but the information is also useful for what needs to be or can be fixed on an emotional level, as well as what’s working.

For instance, when I’m experiencing a deep level of emotional resonance with someone, which I’d guess is tied to authenticity, I’m able to see an aura around them. It feels related to synesthesia, the neurological deviation that manifests as bridges between sensory perception. My experience of genuine connection transmutes into light.

Again, the purpose of Human Design is to develop an understanding of the self and, through that, to better understand others. It’s a tool to connect with the beings you’re in community with (animals and plants have simplified designs) and to realize that there are some mechanics that are written in the stars, so to speak, and the way forward is through acceptance, tolerance, and celebration of fundamental differences.

We are hardwired to crave belonging. We all want to feel beloved.

Open Centers

Gates

Know Thyself