Understanding The Human Design Chart

Understanding the Chart

The Human Design chart, called the Body Graph, is a visual representation of the sum total of human possibilities and energies. The entire archetype of humanity is contained within the structural framework of the chart. In other words, all of the possibilities for the expression what it is to be human is in the chart.  The Body Graph shows us the different ways we love, hate, lead, follow, learn, know, grow and so much more!

Not only that, the chart shows your best strategy for making money, having great relationships, being healthy and creatively fulfilled.  Your unique chart helps you understand how you work and how to best make your life work for you.

Each individual chart, calculated using your birth date, time and place, is a “map” of how you process energy.  The chart reveals your strengths, your potential weaknesses, you gifts and talents.  Most importantly, the chart tells the story of who you are, why you are here and how you can live a life that is true to who you really are.

To get your free chart, please visit: https://findyourhumandesign.com/free-human-design-chart/

The story of each chart is based on the synthesis of everything in the chart.  Each chart is different and unique.  It’s in the sum total of all the parts of the chart that your personal energy “map” is revealed.  Because of this, I highly recommend that you give yourself the gift of getting a full Human Design reading by a Human Design Specialist.

To find a Human Design Specialist please visit: https://findyourhumandesign.com/find-a-human-design-specialist/

Human Design is rich and complex and involves a lot of data.  The system is a synthesis of Eastern and Western Astrology, the Chinese I’Ching, the Kabbalah, the Hindu Chakra System and quantum physics. 

If you look at the chart closely you might find visual evidence of some of the “parts” of Human Design.  For example, if you turn the chart upside down it looks very similar to the Tree of Life from the Judaic Kabbalah.

Or you may notice that there are 64 numbers that appear on the chart.  These numbers, called “gates” correlate to the 64 Hexagrams from the Chinese I’Ching. 

And, there are nine geometric shapes called “Centers” that appear on different parts of the body, similar to the 7 energy centers of the Hindu Chakra system.

But, even though you can see pieces of these ancient wisdom teachings in the chart, Human Design, in and of itself, is something new and unique, a brand-new tool to help people in a brand-new way. 

Synthesis is key to understanding Human Design and each individual chart.  At its root, Human Design is a tool that teaches us about the power and possibility of evolution in mankind on a personal, relationship and collective level.  The real beauty of Human Design is truly in the unification of all of its unique esoteric components.

The actual chart is also a synthesis of several parts that play together to give an overview of each individual.  In order to “see” the big picture of a chart and to make learning about Human Design easier, we have to start first with taking the chart apart, piece by piece.  In this section I will break down the parts of the chart into their individual components so you can begin to understand how the different pieces fit together.

Some of the individual pieces of the chart have energies that are similar but different on a subtle level.  Please understand that, as you learn about each part that we are, to a certain degree, taking pieces of the chart out of context.  Each piece is important but the full expression of each part will depend on what else is in your unique chart.

(Please visit:  https://findyourhumandesign.com to watch a free introductory Human Design featured video.)

The Nine Energy Centers

The first thing you will notice when you look at your chart is that there are nine geometric   shapes.  These shapes are called the nine centers. Each center carries and manages a certain frequency of energy and relates to specific themes in our lives.

If a Center is colored in, then it is called Defined.  A Defined Center has a consistent way of operating and is part of who you are.  Defined energy is the energy that you radiate out into the world.  It operates the same way energetically and thematically all the time and is independent of any other factor in your environment.

If a Center is white, then it is called Undefined or “open”.  Open Centers are where we take energy and information in from the world around us.  Not only do we take in energies in our open Centers, we amplify them.  In our open Centers, we experience others and it is in these open Centers that we have potential for great wisdom but, as we will discuss in great depth in the next chapter, also the potential for pain and confusion.

Your defined centers represent aspects of your personality that are consistent and true about your personality all the time. It can be raining, Mercury can be in retrograde, Mars can disappear out of the solar system, but your definition (the colored in parts of the chart) always stays the same.

Undefined areas represent aspects of your personality that are inconsistent. Where you are undefined is where you take in energy and information from other people. Not only do you take it in, you amplify it.

For example, if you have an undefined emotional solar plexus (the triangle on the lower right hand side of the body graph), you take in other people’s emotions and you feel them stronger than the person actually generating the feelings.

Emotionally undefined individuals are empathic. With understanding, this empathy can be a tremendous gift when it comes to you being aware of how the people around you are feeling. Any center where you are undefined is potentially a great source of wisdom.

To  illustrate  my  point,  let  me  give  you  an  example.  I have an undefined emotional solar plexus. I hate going to movies because I bawl my eyes out every time. The last movie that I saw was “Spirit, Stallion of the West,” a Disney animated movie.

I cried so hard during the whole movie that my nine-year-old daughter got up and moved to another seat because she was so disgusted by my behavior. Honestly, it wasn’t THAT sad a movie. What I now understand is that my open emotional system was taking in all the emotional energy of the people in the theater and amplifying it. I was crying the tears for the whole theater.

In my coaching practice, this aspect of being emotionally undefined is a great asset for me.  When I am assessing my client’s emotional status, I KNOW what they are feeling because I am feeling it too!

When I worked as a nurse, this was very exhausting for me because I didn’t understand my Human Design. I burned out very quickly because the emotional intensity was overwhelming and I would soak it up like a sponge. Now I use my emotional solar plexus as a screen and I allow all that emotional information to pass through me. I don’t hold on to it and claim it as my own and I don’t burn out.

Children who are emotionally undefined sometimes get labeled as being “dramatic”.  This is because they take in all the emotional energy from the people around them and they tend to act it out. I often see emotionally undefined children labeled as “disturbed” when they are, in fact, acting out the emotional health of their family or even emotional drama in their parent’s marriage.

The beauty in the defined and undefined centers lies in the fact that individually we are all simply puzzle pieces–parts of a greater whole. We all become completely defined when we are all together. We each bring pieces that energetically unify us all and offer us the opportunity to express all of the human experience. 

You sense this when you go to a restaurant or a coffee shop. The designs of the customers and the staff blend together to make a collective aura.  This is great to know if you don’t have certain consistent energies in your chart, such as the energy for focus.  When you are hooked into other people’s auras, you may find that you amplify the energy for focus and can create new strategies to help you stay on task when you are needing a focus “boost.”

Your definition in your chart comes from the position of the Gates and the planets at the moment of your birth.

The Numbers and Planets on the Chart

On the left hand side of the chart or flanking either side of the body graph (depending on which software you used to receive your free Human Design chart) you will see a series of red and black numbers and planetary symbols.

You might also see that there are two birthdates located on your chart. The birth date in black is your actual birthday, called your Conscious Birthday in Human Design. (And on some charts, the birthday may be in European format, i.e. day/month/year.)  The red birthday is called your Unconscious Birthday.

The numbers in BLACK are calculated on your actual birthday.  This is your Conscious Design.  The elements on the chart that are black are aspects of your personality that you are consciously aware of and, to a certain degree, have some control over.

The Unconscious Birthday (the one in RED) is calculated approximately 88 astrological degrees from the moment of your birth (roughly three months prior to your birth).  This is the design of your Unconscious Personality.

Your Unconscious Design Personality is defined by the red elements on the chart and represent aspects of your personality that are consistently part of who you are but are unconscious, meaning you don’t really have much control over these parts of your personality. Usually, with age, we become more aware of our Unconscious Personality. Your family and loved ones also usually know the Unconscious elements of who you are.

The planetary symbols indicate the astrological position of the energies in your chart at the moment of your birth. Your birth chart is fixed and does not change during the course of your whole life.

The Channels

The next thing that you may notice on your chart is that it is covered with lines, some of them colored red, some black, some checkered black/red and some totally white.

Lines that span all the way between two centers are called Channels.  If you have a line that is all the way colored in then the centers on either end of the channel will be defined (colored in). An open (white) center has no fully colored channels attached to it.

When only one Gate in a Channel is defined, it is called a Hanging Gate:

A Hanging Gate is always attracted to people who have the other half of the Channel.  This is called electro-magnetic attraction.

There are 32 channels in the Human Design body graph.  Each channel has two halves called Gates. There are a total of 64 Gates.

The 64 Gates correlate to the 64 Hexagrams in the Chinese I’Ching. Each  active  Gate  in  your  chart  adds  a  different  “flavor”  to  your personality.

You may notice that some of your Gates are colored in differently. Gates colored Black carry personality traits that you are consciously aware of. So for example, if you have the gate 11 coming out of the Ajna Center towards the throat colored black, then you would be consciously aware that you have a lot of ideas! The black gates are derived from the black numbers on the left of your body graph chart.

Some of the gates on your body graph may be colored red. The red gates are derived from the red numbers on the left side of your body graph.

So, for example, if you have the gate 13, The Gate of the Witness, unconscious (red), then you may not be aware that your energy field communicates to others that they are safe to share their secrets with you. You probably have no idea why people are always coming up to you, out of the blue, and telling you their deepest, darkest secrets.

If you have checkered gates you express those particular personality aspects both in your conscious and unconscious definition. A white line represents an “open” gate. You will always take in the energy of that gate from the world around you, and its expression through you will be inconsistent depending on your environment.

When you look at the numbers on the left side of the body graph, you will see that each gate number has a smaller number next to it. For each gate there are six different “lines”, each line being a further expression of your uniqueness. The lines of the gates do not show up on the body graph and their meaning can be revealed to you during a Human Design analysis. You can refer back to the traditional Chinese I’Ching to gain more insight into each gate.