Your Own Authority

A Beginner’s Guide to Human Design

Dharmen and Leela Swann-Herbert

© Copyright 2012 Secret of Being You, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles or reviews.

Jovian Archive Corporation is the International Rights Holder to

the Human Design System, the Global Incarnation Index,
Primary Health System and all knowledge derived from the
teachings of Ra Uru Hu. Copyright 1992-2012

The Rave BodyGraph TM and Rave Mandala TM

Are registered Trademarks of Jovian Archive Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

Book Cover Design and Book Design by Devin Ratheal

Ra Uru Hu Photograph © Herman Waumans, October 2010 at
the Amsterdam, Netherlands Radical Transformation Tour
High Resolution Opening © rolffimages, Fotolia.com
Mann Frau/Proportion /Da Vinci by © Sonja Janson, Fotolia.com
Doll Faces © Tammy Mobley, Fotolia.com

1st Edition: April 2012

Published by Jovian Archive Corporation
 Your Own Authority

For Ra
This book has become a reality due to the
initiation of Ra Uru Hu. The Science of Human
Design is a direct result of Ra’s personal
encounter with the ‘Voice’, and any omissions or
errors in the presentation of Human Design here
in this text are a product of our own limitations.
In a profound way we are grateful to Ra for being
a visionary teacher and guide. Ra initiated this
book project with us in 2007, and provided
strategic direction to this development of this
book. Over the years, this book has evolved,
from its earliest versions with the valuable input
of Sarah Krakower, Maurizio Cattaneo, Alissa
Ferranto and Becky Markley; and to its current
version due to the fruitful editing of Carolyn
Davis and the book design and layout from Devin
Ratheal. Everyone along the way has provided
valuable commentary and feedback for the
development of this book.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD ....................................................................... vii

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Human Design ....................... 1
Why Learn About Human Design? ....................................... 1
Decision-Making ............................................................ 1
The Mind and Conditioning .............................................. 1
Fear and the Mind.......................................................... 2
The Mechanical Map ....................................................... 3
Elements of the Human Design System ............................ 5
Empowerment, Trust and Letting Go ................................ 6
Why Hasn’t This Been Taught Before? ................................. 7
A System for Our Time ................................................... 7
9-Centered Humans ....................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2 Form Intelligence and Binary Consciousness .. 9
The Body is the Life and the Mind is Outer Authority ............. 9
Personality Consciousness .............................................. 9
Design (Body) Consciousness .......................................... 9
Correct Decision-Making ............................................... 10
Experimenting with Binary Consciousness ....................... 11
Vehicle, Driver and Passenger: A Metaphor for Binary
Consciousness ............................................................. 12
The Observer Changes the Experiment ........................... 12
The Mind as Outer Authority ......................................... 15
Inner Authority, Decision-Making and Purpose ................ 17
CHAPTER 3 Elements of the Human Design System ........ 18
The BodyGraph ........................................................... 18
Unconscious Design – What Others See .......................... 19
Personality – What You See .......................................... 23
The Nine Centers ......................................................... 25
A Guide to the Nine Centers .......................................... 26
Definition and Openness ............................................... 27
How Openness Influences the Mind ................................ 29
Openness as a Gateway to Self-Reflected Learning .......... 30

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CHAPTER 4 Openness, Conditioning and the Not-Self ..... 32

Openness and Conditioning ........................................... 32
The Law of Attraction and the Not-Self ........................... 37
Not-self Strategies of the Open Centers .......................... 39
The Open Head Center ................................................. 39
The Open Ajna Center .................................................. 40
The Open Throat Center ............................................... 41
The Open G Center ...................................................... 43
The Open Heart Center ................................................ 44
The Open Sacral Center ................................................ 45
The Open Solar Plexus Center ....................................... 46
The Open Splenic Center .............................................. 48
The Open Root Center .................................................. 49
The Program: Life in the Homogenized World .................. 51
Homogenization and the Mind’s Authority ....................... 57
CHAPTER 5 Type and Strategy: Meeting Life through the
Aura ................................................................................ 59
Overview on Type ........................................................ 59
The Manifestor Aura Type ................................................ 64
Manifestor Mechanics ................................................... 64
Manifestor Strategy ..................................................... 65
Famous Manifestors ..................................................... 68
Generators ..................................................................... 69
Generator Mechanics.................................................... 69
Generator Strategy ...................................................... 70
Famous Generators...................................................... 76
Projectors ...................................................................... 77
Projector Mechanics ..................................................... 77
Projector Strategy ....................................................... 78
Famous Projectors ....................................................... 85
Reflectors ...................................................................... 86
Reflector Mechanics ..................................................... 86
Reflector Strategy........................................................ 87
Famous Reflectors ....................................................... 91
CHAPTER 6 Inner Authority ............................................ 92
Decision-Making According to Your Own Authority ............... 92
Emotional Authority – Decision over Time ....................... 94
Sacral Authority – Decision in Response ......................... 98
Splenic Authority – Decision in the Now ......................... 102
Ego Authority – Decision of the Heart ............................ 105
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Self-Projected Ego Authority – Decision of the Heart’s

Direction ................................................................... 106
Self-Projected Authority – Decision of the Self ................ 107
Mental Projector Authority Process – Decision in the
Experiment ................................................................ 109
Lunar Authority – Decision in the Lunar Cycle ................ 111
CHAPTER 7 Experimenting with Human Design ............ 114
Seven Year Journey to Cellular Transformation .................. 114
Are you ready to let go of mental decision-making? ........ 116
Glossary ........................................................................ 118
Human Design System Resources ................................. 126
About the Authors .......................................................... 126

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FORWARD
There is a good chance that if you are reading this book, you
have an interest in learning about Human Design. Perhaps
someone has shared their experience of Human Design with
you, or maybe you have stumbled upon a Human Design
website, or you may have obtained a copy of your individual
Rave Chart. But most of all, you may be wondering, “Ok, I
want to know more about this, so now what?”
In this book you will meet the basic mechanics of Human
Design. Mechanics are a common language, a symbolic, visual
way of seeing. based upon logical principles which operate
consistently throughout Human Design. By learning the
mechanical fundamentals of Human Design, you can become
empowered to experiment and prove the validity and value of
these principles in your own life. Nothing in this book is meant
to be taken upon faith or belief, rather, Human Design is meant
to be tested and experimented with by every individual who
meets this information.
You will also be introduced to some new ideas and concepts
about your life and how it works. Some of these may challenge
long held beliefs, or theories that you may have adopted as
truth in your life. What is recommended for the duration of
reading this book, is that you suspend the way in which you
understand your life to operate, and be open to meeting
something entirely new.
It is not often that we get the opportunity to meet something
that may radically challenge our cultural and collective beliefs
about the way that life operates. It can be momentarily
disorienting; the mind may want to turn away to find
something less uncomfortable, something more familiar. It is
challenging to be open to meeting something entirely new. You
are encouraged to resist the temptation to give in to the fears
of your mind, to have the strength to momentarily set aside
what you know and what you believe you know, in order to be
introduced to something new.
Some of you are going to find that your mind has a comment
for everything that you are reading. “This doesn’t make sense.
This is too weird. This isn’t for me.” That may be true, but what
you may want to do for just a few hours as you read this book,
is to set your mind aside. Let it talk, but don’t let it keep you
from exploring this information. If you are looking for
something more, or something that may be missing from your
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life; you owe it to yourself to at least take a look at this while

suspending the judgment of your mind.
The truth of Human Design is that no one benefits from simply
reading about this information. Just reading about Human
Design will not change your life. So you can re-assure your
mind that you aren’t going to ‘do’ anything other than learn
about something new for the moment. Learning something new
or different may challenge the way you look at the world or at
your life, or even the way the world operates. This is
courageous work, and when you set aside the judgment of your
mind, you can make the process of learning something new a
whole lot easier.
We have a vast potential that until now has been primarily
untapped and unexplored. To use an analogy, human beings at
one point had a hardware upgrade, and yet continued to run
the same software. We have been running software that is
faulty programming, filled with glitches and bugs, generation
after generation; and we’ve been running it on hardware that
can do more and be more. Old software, old programming
doesn’t utilize all of the upgraded potential that is available to
us as modern humans. Too often, we remain stuck in past
programming, perhaps even turning to ancient software, in
order to try and yet again fail to make use of the advanced
hardware we know is there. Scientists say that we may use
only 10% of our brain’s potential. Most of us know we have
enormous unused resources. Human Design offers us the
opportunity to access our more advanced hardware, our
untapped resources. It is new information, advanced software
for the utilization of our potential.
Human Design, quite simply, is a new internal process of
decision making. This has been the dilemma of seekers for
thousands of years. Yes, the mind can become still. But what
does the individual then use for decision making? The same
mind that has been disciplined into submission? How do you
stop the mind from taking over the life once again? The mind
cannot both be silent, and the authority for decision making.
Always the mind ends up coming back in, and running the life.
The ancient Brahmins, Yogis, various Buddhists, Zen Masters,
Gnostics and other mystics all knew that the mind, the software
in our previous analogy, was the problem. They developed
methods to control the mind, to harness the programming
through meditation and other practices. They understood that

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the limitations of consciousness were connected to the

limitations of the software, the limitations of the mind.
However, they never could find a way to avoid using the mind
for decision making. This is the challenge that has faced us for
thousands of years – we can gain awareness through bypassing
the mind, but then what do we use to make decisions? We are
stuck with using the same faulty software that we’ve spent
years learning to suppress, control, or observe. It is impossible
to simultaneously break down the mind, while at the same time
keeping it in its role as the authority, as the decision maker.
Within these ancient practices the state of ‘no mind’ may be the
goal; but when the mind is needed to make a decision, then
the faulty software is activated all over again.
Human Design offers an answer to this dilemma. By making
use of our more advanced hardware, we no longer have to be
stuck with outdated software. When we operate on our
upgraded hardware, we aren’t trapped into operating with old,
faulty software and relying upon the mind as the decision
maker; instead we can discover the truth of living out our full
potential, with highly developed hardware and software.
Some of us may be seeking to awaken, and others of us would
simply like to have our lives run more smoothly or to meet less
resistance as we move through life. Many of us would like to
find greater meaning or a deeper sense of purpose in our lives.
Some of us want better relationships with ourselves and with
others. Most of us would like to lead lives that are free of
resistance; lives in which we no longer find ourselves faced
with frustration, bitterness, anger or disappointment. Some of
us would love to discover a life that is not driven by
nervousness, anxiety or fear.
If you are completely satisfied with your life, if you aren’t
looking for greater success or peace or even surprise, then
learning about Human Design may not be for you. If you are
searching for something more out of life, however, then you
may want to take a closer look at the information in this book.
We may have tried to change who we are. We may have
explored various philosophies or religions looking for solace or
freedom from the mind. We may have become a part of the
human potential movement, gone deeply into therapy, or
experimented with expansion of consciousness through yoga,
meditation, or psychoactive drugs.

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Regardless of the process that we’ve explored up until now, if

we are still seeking something else in our lives, chances are we
have not yet discovered what we thought we were looking for.
Some aspect of us, somehow, still remains unchanged,
unfinished, unexplored. Something or someone is missing from
our life. It is at this crossroads, that Human Design can offer a
new perspective.
Human Design is not a belief system. It is not a philosophy. It
is not a religion. It is not meditation nor is it therapy. Human
Design is not about following a leader. It is a process that can
provide you with the tools for your life to naturally evolve and
change.
This is not to say that Human Design is a panacea for every
difficulty associated with being human. It does offer the
possibility of personal discovery that is different for each
individual. Through experimentation with its simple, effective
tools for living, many people have found their lives changed in
ways they could not have imagined.
In this book we will explore in depth the tools that Human
Design offers for a new internal process of decision making. It
is not about turning your life over to the authority of others, or
to the authority of your mind, but to discover the source of
your own inner authority. This is the empowerment that many
of us have been seeking all our lives. Out of our own authority,
we can make decisions that are free of influence by others, that
are free of mental motives and distortion. Decisions from our
own authority bring us our own unique life, a life filled with its
natural purpose, not some idea that the mind has dreamed up.
When we learn to access our own authority, we begin to tap
into the potential of our advanced hardware.
Each of us, have within us everything we need to live a
fulfilling, satisfying, successful life. For some that is a life filled
with relationships, for others it is discovering a more solitary,
contemplative existence. The beauty of Human Design is that
each person finds for themselves the unique life that is their
birthright – not the life that their mind has imagined, or that
their parents wanted for them – but the life that arises from
your own authority.
Knowing isn’t being. The benefits of Human Design are found in
experimenting with its tools in your own life. Many people have
‘studied’ Human Design, but failed to put the principles into
practice. Consequently, they may not have found any

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satisfying results in their life. This book will not only provide
you with the information about Human Design, it will also
provide you with what you need to begin to experiment with it
in your life. It is through your own experimentation that you
will discover if this information is of use to you, or not. It is
through this experimentation that it becomes greater than
simply ‘more stuff to know’; it turns into a process through
which your life begins to come into its natural alignment. The
natural alignment of your highly advanced hardware and
software, to experience life at your unique potential, takes
place through your own authority.
~

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CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Human Design
Why Learn About Human Design?
Decision-Making

Have you ever considered that all of your experiences are

the result of a decision that you made? Decisions dictate the
direction of your life including where you live, who you meet,
your work in the world and your relationships. Even
seemingly minor choices can have a profound impact on
your life path. The life you are living right now is the result
of a sequence of decisions. Do you know how you make
decisions? Most of us have been taught to use our minds to
make decisions. Familiar recommendations include: “Use
your head, make up your mind, figure it out, think it
through, and weigh your options.” Consider the possibility
that the mind is not your best tool for decision making.

The Human Design System describes a radical new process

for decision-making. Human Design shows that we each
have an innate embodied capacity to make correct decisions
for ourselves and in a way that is more clear and accurate
than the faculty of the mind. For most people this innate
decision-making capacity is under-utilized or might even be
unknown to them. People who are experimenting with
Human Design are reporting that this new way of decision-
making eventually leads to experiencing life with ease and
confidence, and that they are more often finding themselves
in the right place at the right time with the right people.

The Mind and Conditioning

The Human Design System points to a key revelation: the

mind is not the correct authority for decision-making. The
true purpose and value of the mind has largely been
misunderstood. Applying the logic of Human Design we can
observe that the mind, despite all of its cognitive capacity, is
easily conditioned by outside influences. This tendency of
the mind to be conditioned makes it a limited and easily
distorted mechanism for decision-making.

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Rather than for decision-making, the correct role for the

mind is to witness and observe life. The mind is a
remarkable research tool for observing and recording
knowledge and experiences as memory; however as a
consequence of deep social conditioning we assume that the
mind is capable of directing our lives through its decisions.
The mind is a vast data bank of sensory input and
information accumulated over a lifetime; it overwhelms and
confuses the personal decision-making process. The mind
can’t discern what is correct for you because its ‘data
storage’ comes from the deep conditioning it takes in from
others. The mind internalizes answers, opinions, and ideas
from various outer authorities including parents, teachers,
religious leaders, spouses, politicians, and the media. Can
you see how mental decision-making is based on the
influence of these external authorities? With mental
decision-making, we’re all vulnerable to living out a
homogenized version of life that has little connection to what
is healthy, satisfying and uniquely correct for us.

It’s likely that the conditions of your life right now are a
product of these conditioned influences. The mind is filled
with repetitive thought patterns which you may not even
notice as conditioned thoughts because they are so familiar
to you; they’re running as constant background commentary
throughout your day-to-day life. Making mental decisions
leads to unconsciously conforming to external expectations
and/or following collective ideals and rules that you began
identifying with in childhood. Life is robbed of real
individuality; it often becomes a superficial facade of a
socially-environmentally conditioned concept of ‘normal’.
Living a conditioned life brings the experience of frustration,
bitterness, anger or disappointment.

Fear and the Mind

When the mind is making decisions, it is pretending it knows

what is healthy and good for you, often trying to manage
and control your decisions through deception, distortion, and
fear. Fundamentally the mind makes its decisions based on a
deep fear about survival. Over time you can end up with a
life that is built on so many fears and lies that you feel a
constant, generalized state of anxiety. Is it any wonder that
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a large segment of western society consumes anti-

depressant medication on a daily basis? Is it any wonder
that so many people today are unsatisfied with their quality
of life? People are searching for meaning in a world which is
built upon the illusion of mental control. Many are living lives
filled with depression and anxiety, thinking that they are not
good enough or that they will never succeed in the face of all
the pressures of modern society. Many see that our lives are
not fulfilling, but very few of us question our decision-
making process or recognize that our lack of fulfillment is
related to mental decision-making.

The Mechanical Map

The Human Design System offers a mechanism for breaking

out of a mentally driven life. Through experimentation with
Human Design you can discover the remarkable power of
this simple, practical application of the knowledge. The
entire Human Design System is vast and deep and there are
many layers of information within it. However this book is
designed to introduce just the basics of Human Design and it
illustrates a simple, mechanical process for correct decision-
making. The basics are all you need to discover the truth of
your unique life and to find the pleasure and ease of living
life as your authentic self.

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The BodyGraph is the illustrative map which

shows the genetic highlighting of an individual’s
design.

The Human Design System utilizes the BodyGraph to

express graphically the mechanics of each individual design.
The BodyGraph shows what makes you unique, and from
applying the tools of Human Design you can discover your
unique attributes and see and experience how they get
expressed in your life. It’s important to understand that
Human Design is not a philosophy. It is not a spiritual
theory. It is not a belief system. The Human Design System
provides a concrete map, via the BodyGraph, of the nature
of each and every person on the planet. It provides the tools
for seeing your unique self, and a logical process for making
decisions which are free from the influence of the mind and
all outside authorities.

Human Design is not a type-casting system; it offers a

mechanical methodology which brings to the surface each
person’s individualized genetic differences as represented in
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their design. In this book you will find a concise, practical

explanation for each of the basic elements of your design.
The map of your design shows how to begin your personal
experimentation process. Your own experiment in your day-
to-day life is the key to uncovering your unique
characteristics and recognizing them within the context of
your life. Human Design is built on simple mechanics which
each person can validate for themselves. You can’t access
what the system reveals just from studying the knowledge;
it has to be applied in your life, tested, and validated or
rejected through your own experimental process. Since
Human Design is a logical system, it can be tested. This
testing process is highly individualized.

As you experiment with correct decision-making, your body’s

intelligence and your mind become aligned to their proper
functions. The quantum of both becomes an integrated
holistic expression of you. Uniqueness is not simply
difference, rather it is beyond compare. You may have heard
words describing the concept of uniqueness before—however
have you ever truly experienced the absolute individuality of
your true being? This is our evolutionary potential. We are
designed to differentiate; we are not here to live out a
generic, generalized experience of life. Does this
introductory information interest you? If so, the next step is
to begin your own experiment and see for yourself.

Elements of the Human Design System

The basic elements of the Human Design System are

Definition, Type, Strategy and Inner Authority. Each of these
will be described in more detail later. There are four distinct
human types, these are: Manifestor, Generator, Projector
and Reflector. Through analysis of birth data between 1781
and our present time, we have found that each of these four
types represents a statistically consistent percentage of the
world’s population. Each type has its own strategy for
correct decision-making. Remember correct decision-making
is how we arrive at the right place at the right time and with
the right people. Strategy for decision-making is a specific
method for reducing resistance in your life. In other words,
strategy helps you to align yourself with the natural flow of
your unique life. Inner authority is the inner touch stone or
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source for correct decision-making and it is identified

through the mechanics of the BodyGraph. Trusting your
inner authority, you can navigate through life along your
correct trajectory. The term trajectory refers to your unique
geometry through space and time and it is commonly
referred to as your path or journey in life.

Strategy and inner authority are the most essential tools

that Human Design has to offer. Through experimentation
with these tools you can transform your experience of life
and discover your individuality. Operating according to your
strategy and inner authority you can see your life changing
one decision at a time. Step by step, through each correct
decision, your life can become a deeply satisfying expression
of your unique self. Over time, you become more clear and
confident about who and what is correct for you and
eventually you become less vulnerable to the manipulation
and control of outside forces and other people—no matter
how well-intentioned they might be. Your life becomes
beyond what you could have ever imagined, and changes in
ways that are distinctly well-suited to you. When you are in
exactly the right place at the right time, your life is
transformed.

Empowerment, Trust and Letting Go

It’s empowering to trust and surrender to your own

authority and let go of the mind’s control over your life.
Empowerment is not passive. Some people have a
misperception about what it means to surrender to the
body’s intelligence and might associate it with a form of
‘giving up’. Truly all that is given up is the mind’s illusion of
control, because practically-speaking, your mind cannot
control life. This emerging sense of empowerment can
challenge your beliefs about who you think you are or what
your life should be. Initially this can be disorienting and
uncomfortable for your mind. However over time you can re-
discover the beauty of relaxing into the moment-to-moment
experience of your life; a return to a sense of presence you
likely experienced in early childhood. With the recognition of
your own uniqueness, a growing self-love and appreciation
for your life emerges. This is what’s possible when you

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experiment with following the simple mechanics for correct

decision-making.

Why Hasn’t This Been Taught Before?

A System for Our Time

You may wonder: if the Human Design System is such a

powerful method for decision-making, why hasn’t this been
taught before? Candidly, this is new information for our
time. Every era of human existence has brought new
knowledge contributing to each evolutionary step for
humankind. Throughout the stages of human development
there have been tools and methods to enhance and enrich
human potential, each perfectly suited to their era.
Teachings tend to be limited so that they can best serve the
level of human development of their time. The Human
Design System is being introduced now because as a species
we have evolved to our present cognitive and physical
development; we now have the capacity to practically apply
this knowledge.

Over the past 85-90,000 years our species has evolved a

vast array of attributes, skills and knowledge which lead to a
significant increase in human population and enriched our
developmental potential as well. Our earliest ancestors
developed body awareness to increase their chances of
survival. Then, beginning approximately 50,000 years ago
with the emergence of speech, we began to develop our
mental awareness. Our species developed sophisticated
symbolic communication and a strategic mastery of survival
through mind.

According to the Human Design System, our most recent

human evolutionary shift occurred in 1781. This shift was
from the 7-centered human, as represented in the ancient
Hindu chakra system, to the current 9-centered human
being, as represented in the Human Design BodyGraph. The
7-centered being reached the pinnacle of what could be
achieved on the mental plane including mastery of strategic,
linear, mental conceptualization and manipulation of the
physical environment. Humanity’s potential has evolved
beyond this mind-centric dominance and yet in the present
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day, the majority of people remain identified with this prior

stage of development.

9-Centered Humans

Our species has exhausted the developmental potential of

the 7-centered mind and now has the opportunity to reach
far beyond the cognitive, sensory and awareness capabilities
of our 7-centered ancestors. As 9-centered humans we are
here to explore living with a form of consciousness that is
more advanced than mental awareness. We are designed to
experience the realization of binary consciousness: the
quantum consciousness of mind and body simultaneously,
meaning the conscious awareness of the body living the life
and the mind observing it. Binary consciousness brings the
moment-to-moment awareness of the body’s intelligence as
it makes decisions for the life. The mind resides as witness,
observing the movement of embodied life. The correct and
highest developmental potential of the mind is to observe
life and to communicate those observations, when asked, for
the benefit of others. As 9-centered humans we are born
with the potential to live as holistic beings, not just as an
instinctual physical being or just as a strategic mental being,
but to live the full potential of our species at its current
stage of development: to experience life as self-reflected
witnessing consciousness uniquely embodied in form.

Human Design is knowledge for our time. Humanity faces a

rapidly changing world and is on the cusp of another
evolutionary shift. Now we have the opportunity to learn
how to live out our 9-centered potential. We are approaching
a new era when the survival of our species and its ability to
thrive will depend on one’s unique ability to navigate
through life without the protection and support of the social
infrastructure and agreements which have previously held
our world together. The Human Design System shows you
how to explore at the leading edge of human development.
Here is the opportunity to live as a unique individual, to live
by the decision-making of your body’s inner authority while
liberating the mind to observe and be of service to the other.
~

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CHAPTER 2
Form Intelligence and Binary Consciousness
The Body is the Life and the Mind is Outer Authority

Personality Consciousness

In our current stage of human development, our species is

primarily identified with the mind and therefore the mind is
the dominant source of intelligence. Generally speaking, the
mind is not aware of the body’s consciousness as it is
focused on and absorbed in its mentally constructed world.
Through early socialization and behavioral repetition people
have learned to identify with the mind, to assume that it is
the controlling authority in our lives, and to believe the mind
is who we are. The Human Design System describes the
consciousness which functions through the medium of the
mind as personality consciousness.

The mind makes decisions from a limited, conditioned view

of life and this constructed view is actually like an overlay or
filter which distorts and even hides what is actually
happening in life. The mind as an authority for the life can
control decision-making, but are those decisions correct and
healthy for the individual? Mental decision-making is based
on subjective data and it is highly influenced by deep fears
about survival. The mind does not have access to nor can it
perceive the vast interconnected, synchronistic movement of
events, people, places and circumstances which ultimately
brings each of us to our uniquely correct life experiences.

Design (Body) Consciousness

Consider that every cell of your body has its own intelligence
and its own memory capacity. Imagine if you had to
mentally direct, regulate, interpret and report on every
system within your body. Your mind would have to
orchestrate billions of bodily functions with precise timing to
simply maintain life. What if the mind had to regulate
digestion, body temperature, elimination processes,
endocrine secretions, and neurologic activity? Without the
body’s consciousness and its intelligence, the mind would
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have to direct about 50 trillion cells to perform countless

activities every moment until the end of life.

It is beyond the capability of the mind to manage the body.

The human body’s intelligence mechanically sustains the
continuation of life for approximately 84 years— growing,
repairing and sometimes replacing damaged parts. Since
human beings are primarily identified with the mind and
experience life through the mind, most of us take the body
for granted. We treat the body like a beast of burden whose
purpose is to fulfill the mind’s wants and demands for work
and pleasure. For the majority of us the body is a means to
fulfill the dictates of the mind.

Our body consciousness is designed to direct all aspects of

the life including navigating and moving us to our correct
experiences in life. A true break-through of the Human
Design System knowledge is that it shows mechanically and
graphically within the BodyGraph the location of inner
authority and it explains how inner authority guides
decision-making in life. The body is not aware of the mind; it
functions elegantly without it. The body does not need the
mind, actually operates innocent of the mind’s strategies,
and often in spite of the mind’s agenda. The body is quite
literally life itself. We each have a unique intelligence within
our physical form and in Human Design terms this
intelligence is called design consciousness.

Correct Decision-Making

On its most practical level the Human Design System shows

us how to transfer control for decision-making from the mind
to the inner authority. Design consciousness contains the
source of each individual’s inner authority and this
intelligence is in communication with life at all times. It
operates with acute sensitivity reading and interpreting the
environment and recognizing the decision-making moments
which translate into the correct movement for your life. The
mind is a medium for awareness but it is not what actually
lives the life, the body is the life.

When your body is trusted to live your life according to its

intrinsic inner authority then the mind is no longer tasked
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 Your Own Authority

with trying to control life. The mind becomes the observer of

the body’s decision-making process. You may discover that
the form’s decisions are at times contrary to what your mind
thinks it wants. Eventually your mind can learn to relax into
its role as observer and over time come to see that the
form’s decisions are indeed correct for your life. Releasing
the mind from the function of decision-making can be both
liberating and challenging. Free from the task of decision-
making, you’ll notice a decrease in mental pressure, anxiety
and fear which is quite relaxing and pleasurable; you begin
to see the natural beauty, ease and flow of your life. The
challenge is in letting go of your patterned, habitual
identification with the mind and the fear that you will suffer
and die if your mind isn’t controlling your life.

Experimenting with Binary Consciousness

We have these two consciousnesses which are mostly not

aware of each other and therefore experience life separately.
Since the majority of human beings are identified almost
exclusively with their mind, it takes a process of
experimentation with decision-making through inner
authority to learn to recognize binary consciousness. The
evolutionary advantage of our time is this gift of binary
consciousness and from your own experimentation you can
discover that design consciousness can be trusted for
decision-making and that it is perfectly designed to navigate
you through your life. The personality consciousness is
designed to witness experiences in life, to see in a very
specific and unique way, and to share that unique
perspective with others.

The mechanism which holds these two consciousnesses

together within the human being is called the Magnetic
Monopole. The existence of the Magnetic Monopole was just
recently discovered by the scientific community and its
function within the context of human life is not yet fully
understood outside of the Human Design System knowledge.
However through Human Design we recognize that the
Magnetic Monopole has a direct connection with inner
authority and that it functions like a sophisticated GPS
navigation device guiding the movement of life through its
relationship with the quantum of binary consciousness. With
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 Your Own Authority

astonishing accuracy the Magnetic Monopole navigates your

form through space and time.

Vehicle, Driver and Passenger: A Metaphor for Binary

Consciousness

One way to understand how the Magnetic Monopole

functions in relation to binary consciousness is to use the
metaphor of the vehicle, the driver and the passenger.
Imagine that the body with its design consciousness is a
vehicle; a comfortable, state-of-the art method of
transportation like a limousine. The personality
consciousness is the passenger sitting in the back seat of the
vehicle. The Magnetic Monopole is the driver and the driver
knows exactly where to go, how to get there, how long to
stay, and where to go next. The personality in its proper role
as passenger is free from the duties of transporting or
navigating and rests easily in the back seat of the vehicle
looking out the windows and watching all that transpires on
the journey. The vehicle moves through time and space
carrying its passenger and the driver determines the correct
navigation for the vehicle.

Prior to experimenting with decision-making through

strategy and inner authority, the passenger or personality
consciousness is busily involved with driving the life and as a
result it can’t really see anything at all. Fully occupied with
the role of driver, the mind is actively trying to figure out
where to go, what to do, who to be with, and all the while
making decisions as it tries to anticipate and control life.

Before exploring the Human Design experiment, most of us

assume that the passenger drives the vehicle and that the
vehicle is supposed to move wherever the mind directs it to
go. Ironically, the truth is just the opposite, and this
becomes vividly clear as you experiment with the power and
perfection of binary consciousness.

The Observer Changes the Experiment

Are you ready to try a brief exercise exploring the

relationship between the passenger (mind) and the vehicle
(body)? To begin, sit in a comfortable position and observe
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 Your Own Authority

your body breathing. Notice that the act of breathing is not

controlled by the mind. As you observe your breath, do you
experience the expansion and contraction of the rib-cage?
Can you feel the push of the diaphragm downward and
upward against the solar plexus as well as the movement of
your belly against your clothing? Do you notice the sound of
the breath as it enters and exits your nose? Can you feel the
movement of the air in your nostrils? As you watch your
breath, do you see how your observation is subtly changing
the rhythm and pacing of your breathing? The natural
pattern of your breath changes from the simple act of
observing it. Observation can change the depth, shape and
the timing of the breath.

There are other aspects of breathing that you cannot

observe. For example, you cannot observe the breath
moving into the lungs; you can only have the external
experience of the ribs expanding to accommodate the lung
movement. You cannot sense the transfer of the oxygen into
the lung capillaries and into the blood stream, nor can you
sense the movement of the spent carbon monoxide from the
blood stream back into the lungs. Yes, the mind can imagine
what is going on inside based on what you may have learned
about how the body functions. However these breath
movements are not directly observable.

The point is that the mind is not situated inside the body
although its point of view is typically associated with the
head. It is a common perception that the mind is positioned
somewhere inside the head and that it looks out through the
eyes. The actual location of the mind can be better
understood through the metaphor of a web camera device
mounted above a computer display. In this example, the
web camera actually resides outside of the computer and it
captures images of sensory data which are then transmitted
to the hard drive of the computer and the data is processed
and interpreted by software running on the computer.

Like the web camera, the human mind is an observational

mechanism located outside of the form and yet it doesn’t
record an exact image of what it is observing like a camera.
Instead the mind, through the act of observation, changes

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 Your Own Authority

what is observed. As we discovered with our breath

exploration, the breath pattern was influenced and changed
from its natural movement through the act of observing. The
mind does not purely reproduce what it sees.

Are you starting to see how the connection between the

mind and the body is limited? The mind does not run the
body and yet it has been conditioned from birth to think that
it should be running the life of the form. The Human Design
System makes clear that the authority for the life belongs to
the form. And with this shift of authority the mind finds its
genuine fulfillment as the observer of life.

Continuing with the metaphor of the passenger and the

vehicle, we can see that the personality has very little
understanding of the actual operation of the form. The
passenger can sense the movement of the vehicle when it
travels across a bump in the road, it notes the vibration of
the engine, and its perception shifts as the vehicle turns a
corner— but it cannot directly perceive the movement of the
pistons in the engine. The passenger can only look out the
windows of the vehicle and observe the passing scenery
while having some sensory observations of the vehicle and
its functioning.

Although the mind has its observations and it can talk about
them, it literally has no access to the design consciousness
that operates your body and moves you in your life.
Although it’s common to assume that the mind controls the
physicality of your being, in actuality the body moves and
operates with an unconscious, instinctual intelligence that is
often mistakenly credited to the intelligence of the mind. As
radical as it may seem, consider that the mind is not
designed to initiate actions, to make decisions, or to
navigate you through your life at all. The mind is designed to
experience life through its observations, to store
information, and to share the personality’s unique
perspective. The mind is designed to be the medium through
which the passenger consciousness experiences the body’s
ride through life.

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The Mind as Outer Authority

When the mind is free from the conditioned role of decision

maker and learns to relax in the passenger seat, it becomes
a witness to the life. Through passenger consciousness your
mind is like an explorer visiting an interesting and exotic
world. We each have this extraordinary opportunity to
experience consciousness in form. This is the privilege of our
evolutionary time; to experience this earthly plane through
the life of the body with the mind comfortably observing
what it is to be a human being on planet earth.

Recognizing, accepting and embracing passenger

consciousness is a gradual process and eventually the mind
can experience great amusement and delight from seeing
what actually happens in life. Initially the mind may resist its
true role as observer because for most of us the mind has
been socially indoctrinated into expecting life to be stressful,
fast-paced and chaotic. The mind as observer may sound
boring relative to the conditioned role of mind as controller,
decision-maker and doer. The conditioned mind is like a
computer with a multitude of tasks to process. It can easily
get overwhelmed which is like triggering the hourglass sign
on a computer indicating: “Wait, processing data, can’t
handle another task right now”. This is the limitation of the
mind. It has a narrow capacity for attention and when its
attention is focused on decision-making it cannot see life as
it is in the present moment. Your mind may complain, “I
can’t just sit and watch what my body is doing for 18 hours
a day.” The truth is that the body moves, has sensory
experiences, interacts with people and places each day
bringing a whole variety of stimulation for the mind to
observe. Observing the body moving in life is not just about
watching what your individual body does, it’s also about
watching the whole movement of life as it arises all around
you and observing the inner dialogue of the mind as it arises
in response to the external stimulation.

Retraining the mind to be observer is a process and it can

take some time. When the mind accepts its place as the
passenger, initially you can expect it to resist this passive
role while it continues to try to drive from the back seat. The
mind easily slips from passenger watching the view out the
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 Your Own Authority

window to trying to make the life go a particular way. The

mind recognizes it’s not in control and since your identity
has been attached to your mind throughout your life and
you’ve assumed your mind is all of who you are, it can feel
disorienting as if you’re losing control. This is just a phase in
the process. Design consciousness knows how to keep you
safe and ensure your survival and has functioned this way
throughout your entire life. Many fears can come up for the
mind including the fear of not being valuable and of not
being loved. This is a big one—the mind confuses being in
control with love. Being in control is not love, but it is what
the mind believes.

When passenger consciousness is allowed to take the role of

the observer, the mind gradually stops interfering with the
life of the body. The mind becomes witness to the life. And
out of the observations of the passenger, it becomes aware
of its unique point of view. And from this unique point of
view it discovers that it has something to share, something
that is of value to the other. As 9-centered beings, we are
designed to uniquely filter life and to share our individual
perspective of consciousness with others through
communication.

This unique filtering only happens if you are in the right

place at the right time. Do you see that if your movement
isn’t correct, you won’t see what you are uniquely designed
to see and understand in this life? You cannot reach your full
cognitive potential if your point-of-view is distorted and
you’re looking in the wrong direction. Being in the correct
movement of your life is simple; if you make decisions
according to your strategy and inner authority, you’ll find
yourself in the right place seeing what’s correct for you to
see. Then you truly have something unique to offer others—
your unique point of view.

Strategy and inner authority align you to your true direction.

From this correct movement you discover less resistance in
your life and increased ease and pleasure. However, moving
in the correct direction doesn’t guarantee that the mind is
observing as your body moves through life. The mind
residing as observer is like a muscle that needs to be trained

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 Your Own Authority

and strengthened. At any time the mind can suddenly

reassert control and flip back into strategizing, planning,
trying to figure out what it should try to get you to do and
making decisions. When you see that the mind is trying to
control again, in that very moment of observation, you have
returned to witnessing, to passenger consciousness. This is
the cyclical learning process. When you truly recognize in
your own experience that the mind is not responsible for life,
you can see the true beauty of life here on earth—which
includes the full spectrum of whatever life brings. When the
mind stops trying to make life, you can appreciate how
extraordinary life already is as it naturally arises. When you
stand in your own authority and no longer seek to
manipulate your life or the lives of others with your mind,
what you then have to share is your truth, not the Truth, but
rather your truth. This is your outer authority.

Inner Authority, Decision-Making and Purpose

You exist on a planet moving through time and space at just

over 487,000 miles per hour. And yet the form knows
exactly where you should be and what is correct for you to
be engaged in every moment of every day. As driver, the
Magnetic Monopole is a highly sophisticated mechanism and
is receiving a continual information stream through its
connection with the filter of binary consciousness.

Inner authority operates from the singularity of your unique

form intelligence. You have a specific singular line of
navigation through space that is rooted in your design,
rooted in the relationship between your vehicle’s intelligence
and the Magnetic Monopole and it correctly guides you along
your individual path. The form is a part of the material
earthly plane however the mind is not. When you make
decisions through your inner authority your life moves along
its correct trajectory on the material plane. You don’t need
to figure out or try to find your life purpose. When you are
on your correct path in life you spontaneously meet your
purpose; it emerges as a part of the natural movement of
your life and out of the unique geometry derived from the
decisions of your inner authority.
~

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CHAPTER 3
Elements of the Human Design System
The BodyGraph

The BodyGraph provides a specific mapping of individual

genetic imprinting. No two people are born exactly the
same; each is a composite of genetic inheritance and genetic
imprinting derived from the collective potential fixed at the
moment of birth. From the mystic to the scientific, no prior
system has offered a genetic map of the individual’s specific
attributes and potential with the precise detail available
through the Human Design System.

Through the mechanics of Human Design we can

see the genetic imprinting of each individual.

The two sets of data in the Rave Chart are illustrated within
the BodyGraph. One set details the genetic imprinting of the
form and is colored in red; this is the design data. The other
set details the imprinting of the personality at birth and is
colored in black; this is called the personality data. These
two sets of data combine within the BodyGraph and provide
a diagram of the individual’s unique genetic highlighting.
Each BodyGraph is comprised of 64 gates which correspond
with the 64 codons of human DNA. How these gates connect
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 Your Own Authority

to one another within the BodyGraph illustrate the genetic

potential of the 9-centered human being.

Definition in the BodyGraph emerges out of the two sets of

data from the Design and Personality calculations shown in
the Rave Chart.

The design calculation is taken approximately 88 to 89 days

prior to birth and corresponds with the start of the last
trimester of pregnancy; it signals the moment that the form
or body has reached sustainable maturity and is ready to
receive the personality consciousness of the baby. The
personality is imprinted with its genetic highlighting at the
exact moment of birth, the moment when the baby is
separated from the mother’s body.

Unconscious Design – What Others See

The design data represents your genetic heritage from your

ancestors; this is what you inherited from your parents and
grandparents. It is your unconscious hardwiring. What is
represented in red can best be described as how others see
you and who they recognize you to be. These unconscious
attributes are what you cannot see in yourself. The Human
Design System gives you a way to understand and relate to
these traits, you can become aware of them even though
you cannot see them until they get expressed. The
unconscious aspects of your design operate as your design
consciousness. Referring back to our metaphor of the
passenger, vehicle and driver— the unconscious red data
represent the exterior of the vehicle.

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 Your Own Authority

In red is the design information which is transferred from

the data wheel to the Rave Chart and illustrated in the
BodyGraph.

To better grasp this unconscious aspect of your design,

imagine sitting high upon a hill overlooking a road below
which passes into a tunnel in the hillside. Where the road
runs through the tunnel you can no longer see it, although
you are aware that the road continues on and you can see
where it exits the tunnel on the other side. In the
individual’s experience, the unconscious operates like the
hidden aspect of the road within the tunnel. You cannot see
what is taking place within the tunnel; you can only see the
road going into and out of the tunnel. You only see how the
unconscious aspect of your design operates after it is
externalized. In other words, until those aspects emerge
from the tunnel of your unconscious— you can’t see them.

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The BodyGraph of business mogul Donald Trump shows a

personality that is consciously aware of its capacity for
expressing logical organization and materialism.

In the example above we see the design of a person with a

defined unconscious Solar Plexus Center. The Solar Plexus is
the center associated with emotions and in this BodyGraph it
is defined by gates 59 and 6 connected as a channel with a
red line; as well as gate 35 and 36 with a red line. These red
lines indicate an unconscious connection to Solar Plexus,
which is the emotional center. This person is probably
perceived as emotional and others may even remark, “You
are so emotional,” and yet this person does not see it. This
is someone who probably routinely has a fairly even
experience of life and then suddenly, seemingly out of
nowhere, experiences strong emotional intensity. It can be
confusing. This person wonders: “Why am I being so
emotional? Where did all of that come from?” A person with
an unconscious Solar Plexus connection doesn’t identify with
being emotional and can only see their emotions clearly after
the experience is over through reflection. Someone like this
could spend years and years in therapy trying to get in touch

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 Your Own Authority

with an emotional nature that is never going to be part of

their conscious awareness.

When someone with an unconscious connection to their

Solar Plexus sees this aspect of their design, it can be quite
a revelation. This is the kind of insight available to each one
of us. Years of self-criticism and confusion can dissolve away
when you come to accept and appreciate how you were born
and the limitations and gifts of your unique design. For the
unconscious Solar Plexus person, their emotional nature is
hidden as if in a tunnel; however the unconscious aspects of
their design are not hidden from others. Others can see the
emotional quality of this person clearly because their
unconscious form is simply living out its emotional way of
being and the form is readily observable to others.

The design view of Donald Trump’s BodyGraph has two

unconscious defined channels. They are the design of a Jack
of all Trades (gates 35 and 36) and the design of intimacy
and mating (gates 59 and 6) which in his design is
unconsciously seductive.

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You have no idea how and when your unconscious traits

might emerge from the tunnel. Your experience is that they
are suddenly ‘just there’ when you can observe them
expressed. This can make the mind very uncomfortable as
these traits can seem so mysterious. The design
consciousness operates independently at all times without
the control or even the knowledge of the mind. Seeing these
red aspects in your design, you may come to a new
understanding about yourself. You may come to understand
why people describe you a certain way and yet you never
see that about yourself. Although you don’t have conscious
access to these aspects, with the knowledge of the Human
Design System you can know and accept them as a part of
who you are. With self-acceptance of your unconscious traits
you begin to fulfill what it is to be your unique holistic self.

In black is the personality information which is transferred

from the data wheel to the Rave Chart and illustrated in the
BodyGraph the BodyGraph.

Personality – What You See

The black data in the Rave Chart represents the Personality.

It shows the consciousness of the passenger in the vehicle.
What is represented in black describes how you see yourself
and this information is readily accessible to you. Relating
this to our road and tunnel metaphor, the personality
information is the visible road. It is easy to see the open
road from that hilltop. These attributes are not mysterious
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 Your Own Authority

for you. However these are the very aspects of you that are
not visible to others! It can be quite surprising when you
discover that others do not see you the way you see
yourself.

The BodyGraph of actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has

five defined channels. Notice that in some places both red
and black gates meet to form defined channels.

The personality is the conscious aspect of who you

understand yourself to be. Often we identify almost
exclusively with this part of ourselves not realizing that it is
the unconscious form which others interact with and see.
The personality activations represent your own private view
and the way you think about yourself. Prior to experimenting
with your design and learning how you are designed to meet
life, the personality is ‘who you think you think you are’.

After seeing the black data in your BodyGraph you may find
that you strongly resonate with those attributes. However,
due to the perceptual distortion called the not-self which
characterizes life prior to entering the Human Design
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 Your Own Authority

experiment, it’s also possible that you may not recognize

your personality traits or only see glimpses of them on
occasion. The not-self is explained in detail later in this
chapter.

The Nine Centers

There are nine centers in the BodyGraph. The center concept

is related to the seven-centered Chakra system of ancient
mystical teachings however as a species we have evolved
from our seven-centered past into our current nine-centered
model. The seven-centered Chakra system was based on the
influences of a seven planet solar system. Beginning in 1781
and correlated with the discovery of the planet Uranus by
Herschel and subsequent discoveries of the other outer
planets relative to Earth, the mutation of the nine-centered
form emerged in the human population. It is estimated that
by the 1860’s the last of the seven-centered beings died out
and the entire population was then comprised of nine-
centered humans.

One way to understand the centers of the BodyGraph is to

look at them as communication hubs within the body.
Although they do not translate directly to our human
anatomy each of the centers does affect and influence the
organs and systems of the physical body. Some centers are
strictly mechanical in function and others are mechanical
and also have awareness. Several centers are called motors
because of their ability to produce vast amounts of energy or
power within the being and some act as pressure centers,
and pressure is distinct from the motor quality.

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Humans today are nine-centered beings with a greater

potential for self-reflected consciousness than our 7-
centered ancestors.

A Guide to the Nine Centers

Head Center The center of mental pressure and inspiration,

the seat of the personality consciousness, and associated
with the grey matter of the brain.

Ajna Center The center of mental awareness, the seat of

the design consciousness, the source of conceptualization
and associated with the neo-cortex area of the brain. Within
the Human Design System, the Head and Ajna Centers
combined represent the physical brain and the mind.

Throat Center The center of action, manifestation and

communication, all of the BodyGraph gate circuitry leads to
the Throat center; it is the most complex of all centers,
associated with speech, metamorphic and thyroid functions.

G Center The center of identity, love and direction, the seat

of the Magnetic Monopole and associated with the liver
function.
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 Your Own Authority

Splenic Center the center of intuition, instinct and taste,

this is humanity’s first and most primitive form of
awareness. Associated with the Spleen, the lymphatic and
immune systems; brings our sense of well-being and the
awareness of danger and safety.

Heart Center The center of ego and will, associated with

the heart function, this is the motor of will power.

Sacral Center The center of reproduction and associated

with the sex organs. The Sacral Center is the generative
motor in the BodyGraph and is the source of human life-
force energy.

Solar Plexus Center The center of emotion, feeling and

sensitivity and the origin of our emerging emotional
awareness, associated with the kidney function, it is a motor
that moves in a wave from hope to pain and back again.

Root Center The center of physical pressure and stress and

associated with the adrenal function. This is the most
powerful motor center and it provides the fuel for much of
the circuitry in the body.

Definition and Openness

In most BodyGraphs one or more of the nine centers are

colored-in and others are white. The centers in the
BodyGraph that are colored-in, as well as the gates and
channels connected to the colored-in centers, point to what
is fundamentally reliable within the design and this is called
definition. These are the consistent and fixed aspects of your
design. The defined areas represent the essence of what you
are created to live out each moment of your life. The
BodyGraph illustrates how your genetic material is
configured in a way that is unlike anyone else on this planet.
This is your unique imprint.

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 Your Own Authority

Our understanding of openness emerges within the quantum

field of the BodyGraph.

Discovering your uniqueness begins with the design and

personality calculations of the Rave Chart and transferring
the red and black data into the BodyGraph; this reveals
definition. What’s interesting is that when the data is
transferred into the BodyGraph a third thing emerges, which
is the white spaces or openness. Openness is where you
have no definition and are not fixed. Openness influences
how you live your life, yet it has little to do with your fixed
nature.

Openness is one of the most profound contributions of the

Human Design System BodyGraph. The design and
personality data are calculated separately and can be
understood distinctly, however definition and openness only
emerges within the visual field of the BodyGraph.

Perhaps the most powerful influence in our human

experience is openness. Where you are open is where you
can be pulled away from being your unique self. Understood
mechanically, where there is openness in the design is
where there are receptors that are genetically designed to
seek out connection. Every place that is open in your design
has an inherent quality of attraction. Imagine each open

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place is like a fishing pole with a hook and it casts its line
out trying to catch anything that will fill in the openness.

How Openness Influences the Mind

Your particular openness is yet another unique aspect of

your design; these open places relate to the open channels,
open centers and the undefined gates in your BodyGraph.
Your colored-in gates are magnetically attracted to anyone
carrying the colored-in gate situated on its opposite end of
the same channel. Together your gate and the gate of the
other hook up and create a temporary channel connection
while the two of you are in close proximity. The dynamic of
openness is what attracts you to others who are different
from you. Through the experience of your openness your
mind imagines that you are lacking something, as if
something is wrong with you. The mind becomes driven to
seek out the missing attributes of your openness in an effort
to become ‘filled-in’ and ‘complete’. This attraction dynamic
related to openness is called conditioning.

Openness does not mean empty, rather it shows you where

you are easily influenced by others in your environment. The
mind, when stimulated by your openness can drag you away
from the aspects of your self that are fixed and consistent in
your design, and can pull you toward people and situations
in an effort to get whatever attributes are not inherent in
your design. It’s important to understand that there is
nothing empty or missing in you.

As you can see the mind is directly connected to your

openness. Your mind makes decisions based on what it
imagines will provide what it perceives you are lacking. The
mind compulsively tries to answer the questions: “How can I
be whole? How can I get what I am missing?” This is a major
confusion of the mind. Nine-centered humans are not
designed to have their openness filled in as a consistent and
permanent state of being. With its origins derived from our
ancestor’s 7-centered design, the mind’s decision-making
objective is to attract and keep consistent conditioning
present for all of your open receptors. Over time these
mental conditioning patterns become deeply ingrained
reflexes, habits, and coping mechanisms; all based on the
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pervasive mental demand to get what the mind believes is

lacking. The mind’s conditioned relationship to openness is
the root of self-hate.

Openness as a Gateway to Self-Reflected Learning

The good news is that openness for us as 9-centered beings

is a natural, beautiful aspect of being human. When
operating as a healthy, correct nine-centered being through
strategy and inner authority, your life becomes more
interesting, educational and enjoyable because of your
openness. You do not need to improve yourself or change
yourself to satisfy the mental drive to become ‘all things’.
Your open centers do not need to be filled. The truth is that
you are designed to take in people and their energies as
experiences through your openness and to learn through this
process.

When you let go of mental striving to fill in your openness it

frees your mind to bring its attention to seeing who you truly
are, and to recognizing what is fixed and reliable about you
and how those unique attributes operate in your life. As you
live out your uniqueness through strategy and inner
authority, openness is no longer the motivation for decisions
and instead it operates as responsive receptors bringing a
diversity of life experiences to be witnessed through
passenger consciousness. Eventually you can learn to
appreciate and resonate with who you are. This happens
effortlessly out of trusting your design consciousness for
decision-making through strategy and inner authority. As
your life becomes aligned with your authentic self, you’ll
discover that your mind relaxes into its role as witnessing
observer and it becomes less and less fixated on trying to
make decisions to fill in the openness. You were born as
your unique self – your authenticity is always present,
however it becomes hidden through the mind’s distorted
self-image and through repetitive conditioned mental
decision-making based on that openness.

You are designed to be open in certain aspects of your

design to experience stimulation and variety in life, but not
to literally try to be everything in life. Can you see the
difference? When you are not mentally driven to seek a
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particular kind of connection through conditioning, you can

let your open centers be like open windows where the
breeze of life passes through but doesn’t get stuck. Open
centers are where you can truly become wise about life and
about the ways of the world through observing the variety of
experiences that come to you through your open receptors.
The places where you are designed to be open are where
you can meet and understand others. Where you are defined
is where you can experience your own consistent nature.
Your holistic self is a unique combination of defined, fixed
patterns and awareness. The pleasure and fascination of life
comes from the varied experiences taken in from the outside
through your unique structure of openness.

Each nine-centered human being is as unique as the myriad

of stars in the vast universe. Human beings live in a world of
duality—of what we are and what we are not. Openness
provides the contrast that makes possible the awareness of
your unique definition.
~

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CHAPTER 4
Openness, Conditioning and the Not-Self
Openness and Conditioning

Each design carries a unique life force frequency. This

frequency radiates outward and is called the aura or energy
field. A human aura extends out approximately two arm
lengths in every direction from the center point of the G
Center. Whenever two or more auras connect the impact of
conditioning occurs. Moving through daily life you are
continually coming into contact with the auras of people
around you. It’s important to understand that conditioning is
not ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ – it is simply a product of auric
interaction with others. The precise way that you are
conditioned by others is easily seen through the mechanics
of design. Attractions, repulsions and various kinds of
connections fluctuate between people all the time as we
move through life and usually these connections are not
consciously recognized. Conditioning is a mechanical product
of human existence. The negative consequences from
conditioning occur when the mind identifies with the
conditioning and makes decisions for the life based on these
influences.

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Whenever you are within two arm lengths of another

you are in the conditioning field of that person’s aura.

Mental identification with conditioning increases substantially

whenever you are within the aura of someone whose design
connects with your specific open gate receptors. The
conditioned interaction that occurs between you and others
is a natural aspect of being alive and each variation brings
with it a different way to experience yourself and life. The
trap occurs when the mind becomes attached to the source
of the conditioning and identifies with the conditioned state
as who you are reliably and consistently. When it does, the
mind may try to manipulate life events and circumstances in
order to keep particular people around on a regular basis.
The mind tries to direct and control life to ensure consistent
and familiar conditioning for the openness. These
conditioned connections can become so familiar and habitual
that you may come to believe you are the person you
experience yourself to be when conditioned. It can be very
confusing.

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The first experience of conditioning typically comes from

your parents and siblings or whomever is in your immediate
environment as an infant and young child. A template for
future relationships is based upon the way these people
connect with your design. Most of us go through life
unconsciously seeking out relationships with people who
provide familiar conditioning patterns related to one parent
or the other. Equally common is the tendency to reject
relationships that closely resemble the conditioning pattern
of challenging and uncomfortable parental or sibling
relationships.

The BodyGraph of singer-songwriter John Lennon shows that

he had a consciously activated 48th gate, the gate of depth.
It is an open center, so this quality would come and go,
depending upon the conditioning of others around him.

In the above example, we see the BodyGraph of John

Lennon with a conscious 48th gate, the gate of depth,
activated in the Splenic Center, but with no gate connected
to it. This hanging gate is always attracted to what is
missing on the other side, the 16th gate, the gate of skills.
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Together these two gates form the channel of talent. The

48th gate has great depth, it is the well from which all
creativity arises, and it is attracted to the gate of skills on
the other side. With a hanging 48th gate, this is the design of
someone whose mind drives them to develop skills and to be
attracted to others who have skills.

The BodyGraph of singer-songwriter Paul McCartney shows

that he has an unconsciously activated 16th gate. The ability
to express skills is something that others recognized in him,
but it is not part of his conscious awareness of himself.

This BodyGraph shows the 16th gate activated in the Throat

Center without the 48th gate on the other side of the
channel. This is the design of someone who has skills, but
not depth. This is someone who may experience himself as
lacking depth and mentally criticize himself about this, and
who seeks out others with depth to feel adequate.

A connection chart is the view of two individual BodyGraph

charts shown together. It provides a look at the conditioning
impact of one upon the other. In this chart (below) it shows
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the connection between Lennon’s 48th gate and McCartney’s

16th gate, which join together to form the conditioned
Channel of the Wavelength, a design of talent.

When Lennon and McCartney were in each other’s aura,

they formed the conditioned Channel of the Wavelength,
a design of talent.

In this composite, the sum of depth and skills together

brought a talent not accessible to each of them as
individuals. John Lennon carried the depth and Paul
McCartney the skills. Individually John Lennon had an open
Throat Center, yet when they were together their depth and
skills became a talent that could be expressed through his
conditioned Throat Center as well as McCartney. The two of
them formed the songwriting duo as well as performed as a
part of the band The Beatles which remains the top selling
band in history.

Lennon and McCartney’s specific quality of talent and its

expression was conditioned as a result of their connection
and it was temporary since it dissolved when they were
apart. The mind can become attached to the experience of a
particular attribute that arises out of auric togetherness. The
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mind develops strategies to make this connection permanent

or it seeks a similar source for that kind of conditioning or
compensates for its absence through acting out behaviors.
The presence or absence of conditioning becomes the basis
for mental decision-making. Over a lifetime, this mental
strategy repeats itself again and again until it becomes a
constant habitual method for decision-making.

The Law of Attraction and the Not-Self

We all have aspects of ourselves that are fixed and reliable,

which are represented by what is defined in the BodyGraph.
Ironically these aspects are often not seen, understood or
appreciated in ourselves and when these same aspects are
encountered in others, they typically aren’t very attractive to
us. There is no genetic drive to live out how you are
uniquely designed. The genes drive you to find and connect
with those who are the most different from you. Your unique
definition is fundamental and always present, but it doesn’t
carry the compulsive seeking quality of openness. The areas
of fixed, reliable definition are your unique gifts.

The Law of Attraction is firmly established within our current

era of human evolution since the majority of people are
identified with the mind. The mind is attracted to difference
and seeks what it is not. The Law of Attraction supports the
genetic imperative to reproduce, which is the basic drive of
all species. The most viable offspring are produced through
the greatest genetic variation. Genetic variety enhances the
survival potential of the child and furthers the development
and expansion of the human gene pool. The genetic
imperative and The Law of Attraction ensure the survival of
the species, but they do not support or cultivate
individuality, personal fulfillment or self-realization. The
genetic imperative protects the species as a whole without
regard for the inevitable loss of individual fulfillment, as well
as quite literally the loss of many individuals in the process
of sustaining the species.

The genetics game is built on variety and what better way to

ensure variety than to instill a biological imperative to be
attracted to what you are not? For countless generations this
is how our ancestors insured their survival, and it still
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operates just this way today. Your genes drive you to seek
out difference.

This drive to seek difference is the inescapable circumstance

of being human. As your mind follows The Law of Attraction
seeking what you are not, you are living out the
programmed myth of lack. In truth, you are inherently a
holistic being. Most of us believe we are not whole and live
in fear that we will never be enough and this keeps the mind
engaged with The Law of Attraction. All of these fears—
money fears, health fears, fear of authority, fear of the past,
fear of tomorrow, fear of failure, fear that we won’t
survive—all of them are basically the fear of not being
enough, of not being whole. Out of this essential fear arises
the search for something or someone that will make us feel
complete.

The mind through the open centers and gates drives the
search. As you take in conditioning through your openness,
it’s easy to become mentally identified with the conditioned
state while it is present, and then experience lack when it
goes away. Mental strategies are then created to deal with
the vulnerability of openness and the confusion that arises
from the experience of energies that come and go. The mind
applies strategies that are correlated with the specific
imprint of each of the open centers and uses them as the
basis for decision-making. The Human Design System uses
the term not-self to describe the mind which is identified
with openness and makes decisions for the life.

The mind can look backward and forward endlessly. The

tragedy is that the mind can seldom exist in the now
because it’s too busy looking at the past, projecting into the
future, and generally obsessing over what to do with the life.
The mind isn’t aware that the form has a consciousness that
keeps it alive. The mind thinks it is responsible for the life.
The mind constantly thinks about and applies various
strategies based on its past experiences and its projections
about the future in the hopes of ensuring survival. As long
as decisions are controlled by the mind, your experience of
life lacks the joy and contentment of the present moment.
The mind operates out of lack rather than out of the

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wholeness of who you are. When authority for your life is

surrendered to the inner authority of your being, the not-self
mind begins to let go and gradually you can see for yourself
that your design consciousness very effectively and
efficiently navigates you through your unique life.

Not-self Strategies of the Open Centers

Each center of the BodyGraph has a particular not-self

mental strategy for decision-making.

The Open Head Center

Approximately 70% of humanity has an open Head Center,

the center of mental pressure and inspiration. The not-self is
conditioned by this open center to focus on thoughts that
don’t really matter for you as an individual and to think they
are important. An open Head Center takes in the thoughts of
those around it, the openness operates like a radio receiver.
The confusion comes because the mind perceives these
thoughts as one’s own. The not-self mind can be motivated
by the open Head Center to make decisions based on the
perception that the questions, images, or mysteries that it
receives are important and personally relevant. The not-self
mind can become obsessive about these mental pressures.

The not-self mind of a person with an open Head Center can

get lost in mental confusion, doubt and suspicion and
become pre-occupied with thoughts absorbed from or
triggered by the environment, and thinking that they are
personally important. The mental pattern goes something
like this: “I’m so confused, I have to make sense of this; I
have to know more about this, I have to figure this out; I
have so many questions about this, I have some real
doubts, I’m suspicious about this; I have to do something
with it or about it, so what should I do?” The not-self mind
uses this open head center pressure as a motivation for
decision-making and taking actions in life.

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The BodyGraph of mystic Georges Gurdjieff shows an open

Head Center. The not-self with an open Head Center can
become focused on things which do not truly matter and
think that they are important, and then use these thoughts
as the basis for decision making.

The Open Ajna Center

Approximately 49% of humanity has an open Ajna Center,

the center of mental awareness and conceptualization. The
not-self mind with this open center is conditioned to believe
it is certain about its ideas, thoughts and opinions. The not-
self mind with an open Ajna Center is motivated to make
decisions with the perception that its beliefs are firm and its
opinions are certain and right. It can be argumentative and
determined to prove its theories and concepts are correct
whether logical proof or substantiation is available or even
possible. Some examples of open Ajna thoughts are: “This is
right, I’m sure of it; I believe in this, this is the right way;
this is the answer for our future, I’m convinced of this; I
knew this already, I know this is true.” Thoughts connected
to the not-self Ajna center try to convince oneself (or others)

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that the position taken is correct and that one is certain

about it. It’s ironic that Sigmund Freud, who contributed
many ideas and theories about the mind, had an open Head
and Ajna Center.

The BodyGraph of Sigmund Freud, the ‘father of

psychoanalysis’ shows an open Head and Ajna Center. The
not-self mind of a person with a combined open Head and
Ajna focuses on things that don’t matter and pretends to be
certain about what it thinks about.

The Open Throat Center

Approximately 29% of humanity has an open Throat Center,

the center for expression and action. The not-self mind
conditioned by this open center tries to attract or avoid
attention. This open center can motivate a couple of
different types of behavior: it can be conditioned to be very
talkative and can adopt a wide variety of speech patterns
and voices, or it can be conditioned to be shy and afraid to
use the voice because its speaking constantly changes and is
unreliable. The not-self mind motivated by the open Throat

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Center makes decisions based on whether the action will or

will not attract attention. Examples of the open Throat
Center thought pattern include: “I’m not sure what to say; I
need to rehearse it before I say it so I say it right; listen to
me; look at me; what I have to say is important; you have
to understand what I’m saying; I’m going to do this and
then you’ll see.”

The BodyGraph of world renowned mime artist Marcel

Marceau shows an open Throat Center. The not-self
Mind of a person with an open Throat Center can be
driven to attract attention or it can be shy and afraid
to use the voice. Marceau once performed 17 different
silent roles in one film. He was responsible for
many innovations in pantomime including his
famous routine, ‘Walking Against the Wind’,
which is cited as an inspiration for
Michael Jackson’s Moon Walk.

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The Open G Center

Approximately 54% of humanity has an open G Center, the

center of love identity and direction of the self. The not-self
mind is conditioned by this open center to literally look for
love in all of the wrong places. Someone with an open G
Center can be mentally obsessed about finding love, feeling
lost, looking for their place in life, and trying to discover who
they really are and the mind makes decisions based on
these motivations. The not-self mind of a person with an
open G Center tries to answer questions like the following:
“If I do this, will I be loved? Where will I find love? If I don’t
do this, will they love me? Where is my place in life? What
should I be when I grow up?” With an open G Center, a
person can spend a lifetime trying to find out ‘who am I?’
and ‘where should I go?’ and never arrive at a consistent
answer.

The BodyGraph of Diana, Princess of Wales shows an open

G Center. The not-self mind of a person with an open
G Center can be focused on looking for love in all
the wrong places, or on trying to find
a consistent place and sense of identity in the world.
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The Open Heart Center

Approximately 65% of humanity has an open Heart Center,

the center of will-power and the ego. The not-self mind is
conditioned by this open center to prove or improve. People
with an open Heart Center can be mentally driven to show
how worthy they are by trying to prove themselves over and
over. They can be highly competitive and over-achievers.
These people make unrealistic promises and therefore
usually break them; they can damage their physical heart by
trying so hard to keep promises. The not-self mind
motivates the open Heart Center person to make decisions
based on whether or not they will prove their worth. For
example, the not-self mind of a person with an open Heart
Center arrives at a fork in the road and tries to decide which
way to go and thinks thoughts like these: “I will go left,
because I can prove I’m a great person if I go left; I will go
right, because I promised I would go right, and even though
I really don’t want to go right, I can’t quit now, I have to
show that I’ll do what I promised to do.”

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The BodyGraph of J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the

FBI, shows an open Heart Center. The not-self mind of a
person with an open Heart Center can be conditioned to
make promises it cannot keep and to constantly try
to prove its worthiness.

The Open Sacral Center

Approximately 30% of humanity has an open Sacral Center,

the source of sexuality, creativity, fertility, the life force
itself. The not-self mind with this open center is conditioned
to never know when enough is enough. These people can
become easily exhausted from being driven by the not-self
mind to overdo just about everything: food, sex, sleep,
work, exercise, etc. The not-self mind of a person with an
open Sacral Center is conditioned to never know when
enough is enough and it distorts and amplifies sexuality,
fertility and the creative Sacral energy of others. The not-
self mind with an open Sacral Center is motivated to make
decisions based on how to get more and keep going.
Examples of the thought pattern for the Open Sacral Center
include: “I’m going to ___ all night; use it or lose it; why
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wait, let’s do it now; I feel so energized around you; I want

to keep going; quitters never win and winners never quit.”

The BodyGraph of actor, singer, model and sex-symbol

Marilyn Monroe shows an open Sacral Center.The not-self
mind of a person with an open Sacral Center can be
conditioned to never know when enough is enough.

The Open Solar Plexus Center

Approximately 50% of humanity has an open Solar Plexus

Center, the center of emotions. The not-self mind of a
person with an open Solar Plexus is conditioned to avoid
confrontation and truth. This open center is conditioned to
take in the emotions of defined Solar Plexus people in a way
that distorts and amplifies emotions. The not-self mind with
an open Solar Plexus can be explosively emotional, deeply
withdrawn or have extremes of feelings when they are
conditioned by someone with a defined Solar Plexus. People
with an open Solar Plexus are motivated through their not-
self mind to make decisions based on how they can avoid
confrontation and upsetting themselves and others, or by
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acting out the emotions of others in an extreme and

distorted manner.

Before discovering the Human Design System, someone with

an open Solar Plexus Center might experience themselves as
an extremely emotional person and their emotions as
frighteningly chaotic. It can be quite a revelation for the
open Solar-Plexus person to discover that they are
conditioned to amplify the emotions of others. Defensive
mental decisions to avoid confrontation and truth are
attempts to be protected from strongly amplified emotions
and to keep the emotions of others at a distance. The not-
self mind of a person with an open Solar Plexus can hide
from the truth and keep a ‘stiff upper lip’ about situations in
order to not upset people. Typical not-self thoughts include:
“If I say something about this someone might get upset, so I
won’t say anything; I’ll sacrifice what I really want to keep
the peace; the last time I did that we had a fight and I lost
my temper so badly I thought I’d gone mad so I’m never
going to do that again.”

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The BodyGraph of singer, actor and model Whitney Houston

has an open Solar Plexus Center. The not-self mind of a
person with an open Solar Plexus Center can be conditioned
to avoid confrontation and truth.

The Open Splenic Center

Approximately 47% of humanity has an open Splenic Center,

the source for instinct, taste, intuitive awareness and sense
of well-being. The not-self mind of a person with an open
Splenic Center is conditioned to try to hold on to people,
projects or substances that they think will make them feel
good. They can become dependent upon relationships or
habits in an effort to try to feel consistently safe and good.
The not-self mind motivated by the open Splenic Center
makes decisions based upon whether or not the result will
make it feel safe or not and it can cling to relationships long
after they have ceased to be healthy and constructive. The
not-self mind thinks: “If I do this, it will feel good, so I’ll do
it; if I do that, she might leave me and I can’t make it
without her, so I won’t do that; no matter how badly he
treats me, I know he really cares about me.”
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The BodyGraph of singer Amy Winehouse shows an open

Splenic Center. The not-self mind of a person with an open
Splenic Center tends to hang on to relationships, substances
or situations which may no longer be good from them.

The Open Root Center

Approximately 32% of humanity has an open Root Center,

the source of adrenaline, stress and physical pressure. The
not-self mind is conditioned by the open Root Center to
constantly be in a hurry so it can be free of stress and may
experience great pressure to get things done in a hurry, to
not rest until the work is done, and to feel that the work is
never done. The not-self mind with an open Root Center can
be addicted to the adrenaline high from activity and stress
and tends to ignore the need to relax and unwind. The Open
Root Center pressures the not-self mind to make decisions
based on how quickly it can relieve the perceived stress and
the thought pattern is like this: “If I do this quickly, then I
can move on to the next thing; if I just get one more thing
done, then I’ll be able to relax and rest.”

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The BodyGraph of actor and social activist Elizabeth Taylor

shows an open Root Center. Taylor acted in her first film
at age nine; she married eight times to seven husbands,
the first marriage at age 18 lasted only nine months.
The not-self mind of a person with an open Root Center can
feel under pressure to get things done in a hurry.

These are the basic motivations which arise out of the

openness of each center and how the mind uses them for
decision-making. Observing the mechanics of attraction you
can see how the mind operates and why it is unreliable as
the source and authority for decisions. The not-self mind
motivated by openness drives life decisions away from the
unique gifts and attributes of your design. Decisions made
through mental strategies never bring you to your unique
self, and instead keep you locked into searching for how to
find and hang onto consistent sources of conditioning. This is
the dilemma of living as the not-self.

Through experimenting with the Human Design System you

can see not-self conditioning and begin to live out your
unique self. When you make decisions from your inner
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authority you actually bypass the mind’s conditioned method

for decision-making. This is a way to mechanically break the
mind’s control over your life, not by trying to stop it, but
through transforming it. It’s impossible to think your way
out of the mind’s control. When you allow decision-making
through the inner authority of your form, the mind naturally
loses its hold. The mind won’t stop trying to tell you what to
do, yet you can stop being influenced by its conditioned
motivations for your decision-making.

The process of deconditioning the mind’s identification with

openness is often described in Human Design terms as
‘living your design’ and it’s a seven year experimental
process. Deconditioning the body occurs naturally through
experimenting with strategy and authority. It is a journey of
deconditioning on a cellular level through each decision
made by your inner authority. Decision by decision, the life
naturally comes into alignment with your correct path in life.
Along the way, you gradually becomes aware of the
openness in your design that has been in control of the not-
self mind, and it can be released. It is awareness which
brings healing to your life. Through this process you release
yourself from the distorted, conditioned personality or ‘who
you think you think you are’ and you begin to discover your
unique self. The mind eventually lets go of trying to
manipulate, strategize and control situations in order to
fulfill the open center conditioning. That’s not to say the
conditioning messages will ever entirely go away, mental
conditioning influences are built into your genetics and
memories, but you are no longer moved to make decisions
based on the conditioning.

The Program: Life in the Homogenized World

Life is filled with potential conditioning influences. As

previously described, based on your connections with others,
the mind adopts conditioned not-self strategies for decision-
making. There is another powerful source of conditioning
that impacts all of humanity on a daily basis and the Human
Design System refers to this as The Program. The Program
provides a continuous, cyclical conditioning influence upon
humanity and it manipulates the mind through openness in
the design, reinforcing the use of the mind as the decision-
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making authority. The Program is created by the daily

movement of the planets in their orbits around the solar
system. According to the Human Design System, it is not the
planets themselves which have an influence on our lives, but
their cyclical, orbiting trajectory influences the data-stream
which permeates all of existence, and this data-stream,
which is filled with subatomic neutrino particles, is the very
intelligence of the universe. The Program is a global
conditioning force which consistently influences all of us, and
yet it impacts each individual differently according to the
unique structure of your openness. The Program is also the
source of the design data which imprinted your form 88-89
days before your birth and of your personality data imprint
at the exact moment of your birth.

The moon moves through each of the 64 gates in 28 ½ days

and the sun cycles through each of the 64 gates in one year.
Some of the outer planets of our solar system can take
centuries to complete one cycle through the 64 gates.
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To illustrate how The Program influences openness, consider

an individual who has an open Throat Center with an
activated 45th gate, an open 21st gate on the other side of
the channel, in an open Heart Center. For a few days each
year the Sun transits through the 21st gate, and when it
does, it temporarily brings activation to the 21 st gate. This
temporary activation of the 21st gate connects with the
person’s activated 45th gate to form a conditioned channel
between the Throat Center and the Heart Center. The
confusion arises when the mind identifies with the temporary
conditioning of this channel. The mind experiences the
attributes of this conditionally defined channel and it can
make decisions motivated by the influence of the
conditionally defined Heart Center. Under this conditioning
influence the mind can become willful, controlling and
possessive; and make decisions to willfully express thoughts
and ideas through the conditionally defined Throat Center.
Since these decisions and expressions are conditioned, they
can be damaging to this person and to others.

The image on the left is the chart of Judy Garland, with the
45th gate activated in an open Throat Center; the design of
someone who could never be sure if she would have control
over her voice, or if it would support her materially.

The image on the right is the chart of the conditioning

brought by The Program on a specific day. It shows the sun
transiting the 21st gate – the gate of material control.

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When Judy’s 45th gate was conditioned by the 21st gate

brought by The Program, it created a conditioned sense
of being in control of her material life, and conditioned
her throat expression with willpower. The not-self can
become identified with the conditioning provided
by a planet’s temporary definition.

The mind’s perception becomes distorted by its identification

with The Program’s conditioning. Now, consider the earth’s
population of over seven billion people, each with a not-self
mind running their life according to the transitory
conditioning influences of The Program. Once again, let’s
look at the example of the Sun’s transit of the 21st gate, for
those several days that the Sun’s 21st gate may condition
the open Heart Center and Throat Center for millions of
people with an activated 45th gate. Millions of people
suddenly expressing willfullness, making decisions to be in
control, jumping into action; only to find a few days later
that the surge of willpower was temporary. Each day The
Program creates an illusionary, collectively distorted view of
the world. According to the Human Design System, this
distorted environment is called the homogenized world, and
for most of humanity this is considered to be ‘normal life’.

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As each planet moves through its orbit, it cycles through and

activates each of the 64 gates of the BodyGraph. Similar to
the hands of a clock moving around the dial, with varying
speed each planet moves around the wheel of the 64 gates.
The Moon will activate each of the 64 gates every 28 1/2
days, the Sun activates each gate in the period of one year,
and the planet Pluto takes 285 years to complete the cycle
of all 64 gates. Consequently, the length of time that each
planet activates a particular gate is different. Consider
planets with longer cycles, when the activation can last for
several months or even years, under these long-term cycles
the mind can easily become identified with this conditioning
influence and come to believe that this temporary condition
is a fixed aspect of who they are.

Here’s another example which demonstrates global

conditioning. 50% percent of humanity has an open Solar
Plexus Center, the center of emotions. The Program may
move into a slow-moving outer planet which results in global
Solar Plexus Center conditioning for months or years at a
time. When this conditioning influence begins, half of the
people on the planet suddenly feel very emotional and
instead of the usual not-self strategy of avoiding
confrontation, they begin to act on their feelings. Since this
emotional conditioning from The Program in this example
persists for a long time, open-Solar Plexus people now think
that they have somehow changed, gotten in touch with their
true feelings, or suddenly learned how to express their
emotions. These people may end up making decisions based
on this heightened emotionality, not realizing this is simply a
temporary conditioning influence. Some people may fall in
love, get married, end relationships, quit their jobs, or make
any number of life-changing decisions based on how they
feel and their new-found energy for confrontation and truth.
Eventually the planets move on and the Solar Plexus Center
conditioning goes away. One day these people wake up and
find that all of that emotionality is gone and they once again
think that they should avoid confrontation at all costs. Open
Solar Plexus people may question why they got involved in a
torrid love affair, or why they did any number of things that
felt so right to them when their mind was temporarily

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conditioned by the transit that may have lasted two or three

years and then moved on.

Millions of people can be affected by one particular planet’s

transit of a single gate. However The Program is more than
just one planet, it includes the influences of all the planets of
our solar system, as well as the nodal positions of the moon.
There are a total of 13 potential influences each day. These
can create multiple forms of conditioning in the BodyGraph
and can result in global conditioning of centers which can
affect up to 70% of the population at one time. The concepts
of ‘group think’ and ‘great minds think alike’ arise from the
homogenizing and conditioning influence of The Program.

It’s the powerful homogenizing influence of The Program

that makes the attachment to mental decision-making so
strong. Imagine how easy it is for people identified with the
not-self mind and living their lives in this homogenized
mental field to become great believers in the authority of the
mind and its predicative capacity. The Program continually
cycles through the 64 gates bringing repetitive daily,
monthly, yearly or generational patterns and this repetition
reinforces belief in the mind’s ability to predict outcomes and
make sound decisions. This belief arises out of collective
conditioning. Often what you see and hear in the media or
from friends mirrors the conditioning that is going on in your
own life. How many times have you walked down the street
or entered a social-networking site online and heard people
talking about the same topics, seemingly having the same
kinds of thoughts at the same time? This is a function of the
homogenizing influence of The Program.

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The homogenized world is an illusionary, collectively

distorted view of the world which is commonly
experienced as ‘normal life’.

Homogenization and the Mind’s Authority

When the not-self initiates a decision for the life there is no

guarantee that the decision is correct or that it will bring a
sense of fulfillment. In fact, how can it? The mind doesn’t
know what is correct for your life, it is literally making stuff
up based upon the conditioning influences in any given
moment. As long as the mind is the authority for the life,
you are hooked and enthralled by an illusionary mentally
contrived version of life and distracted from the clarity of the
present moment.

When the not-self mind runs the life, instead of bringing you
to a life filled with uniqueness, you may find that your life
looks more or less like anyone or everyone’s life. Instead of
showing you the beauty of who you are, the mind keeps
driving you to be ‘normal’. Instead of discovering your
intrinsic value, the mind drives you to seek approval and
acceptance from others. Ironically, the not-self mind brings

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much pain and suffering even while promising happiness,

success, and love.

The cost of mental decision making and initiation takes its

toll on the body. The mind doesn’t consider the body when
making its decisions. The not-self mind can literally run the
body into the ground for the sake of its goal. The mind
doesn’t care about the body until the body breaks down
from the burden of trying to accomplish the mind’s
objectives. Imagine the vast amount of untapped human
potential that is wasted because most people are trying to
be someone they are not, trying to get life to work the way
the mind thinks it should work, and subjecting the body to
the whims of the mind. The modern world is filled with the
frustration, bitterness, anger and disappointment from
countless lives trapped in the illusionary fabricated world of
the not-self mind.
~

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CHAPTER 5
Type and Strategy:
Meeting Life through the Aura
Overview on Type

The Human Design System reveals four distinct aura types

within the human species. These types are mechanically
determined and statistically consistent over time and across
the global population. Each type has specific design
mechanics; however there are endless unique variations
within these groupings. The four aura types are called
Manifestor, Generator, Projector and Reflector.

The Manifestor and Generator are considered energy types

because they each have a form of motor center definition for
generation or manifestation that gives them consistent
access to energy. The Projector and Reflector are referred to
as non-energy types because they either have no motor
definition at all or they have a motor definition which brings
limited access to energy for generation or manifestation.
Each of the four types experience life and express
themselves through the mechanic of their unique aura or
energy field. The BodyGraph represents a blueprint of the
energy frequency of the being and the unique qualities of
each person are expressed through the aura type.

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The BodyGraph of painter Frieda Kahlo shows the design of a

Manifestor: The Solar Plexus Center (a motor) is directly
connected to the Throat Center and she has an open Sacral
Center.

The BodyGraph of inventor and founder of Apple Computer

Steve Jobs shows the design of a Generator; he has the
Sacral Center defined.
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The BodyGraph of United States President Barack Obama

shows the design of a Projector. In a Projector design the
Sacral Center is open with at least two centers defined and
no motor center connected to the Throat Center. In Obama’s
chart, we see he has the Root Center and Solar Plexus
Center defined (both motors), but they are not connected to
the Throat. He does have the G Center connected to the
Throat Center; however, it is not a motor center.

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The BodyGraph of film and stage actor Richard Burton shows

the design of a Reflector; He has no centers defined and
only gate activations.

The aura of a person identified with the not-self mind has a

distinct energy or frequency distortion relative to the aura
type. This distortion intensifies as the person experiences
repeated encounters with resistance in life. There is a
specific kind of resistance which serves as a signpost for
each type, signaling this not-self distortion. For the
Manifestor the signal is anger, for the Generator it is
frustration, for the Projector it is bitterness and for the
Reflector the signal of distortion is disappointment. For all
types, the experience of resistance is a key sign post for
recognizing that the not-self mind is trying to control life.
It’s important to notice those moments of resistance when
they happen because they are a clear indication that the
not-self is in control. Resistance happens when the mind
tries to make decisions and direct the life according to its
distorted and conditioned viewpoint. The continual process
of meeting resistance in life puts great wear and tear on the
body and it negatively impacts the personality as well. We

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aren’t designed to repeatedly encounter resistance. These

not-self signposts are immediate and direct feedback
throughout the process of deconditioning from the mind’s
control.

Each type also has its own strategy for correct aura
mechanics and applying this strategy reduces resistance in
life and encourages the mind to relax as the witness. Human
beings are designed to move smoothly through life according
to a unique rhythm and correctly along a particular life
trajectory. To live life without resistance means no longer
being mentally driven to control what happens and letting go
of what the mind thinks it must do or what it believes it
must avoid. Living without resistance means no longer using
the mind to make decisions. Following your aura type’s
strategy moves you easily along your path in life and it
allows your aura to meet life without resistance. Eventually
the mind can learn to relax, observe and be present to
whatever happens. The aura type signature is a signal that
the life is operating free from the control of the not-self, and
they are: peace for a Manifestor, satisfaction for a
Generator, success for a Projector and surprise for a
Reflector.

Fundamental for the health of all types is the practice of

sleeping alone in one’s own space away from the aura of
others. Sleeping alone does not interfere with sexual
relations, love or intimacy because in the sleep state we are
not consciously engaged with one another. Sleeping alone
protects the aura at a time when the body is most
vulnerable to the influence of conditioning. When sleeping
with another person, all throughout the unconscious sleep
experience your body is pulling in conditioning from the
other person’s design and your design is conditioning the
other, therefore neither person is able to fully rest. Being
constantly conditioned during waking and sleeping states is
a barrier to the recognition and experience of your
uniqueness. Waking up in one’s own aura facilitates the
emergence of your unique self. The practices of following the
strategy of your type and trusting the decision making of
your inner authority and sleeping alone in your own aura are
important first steps toward fulfilling the potential of living

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your unique life. As you experiment with sleeping alone in

your aura, you’ll likely discover that you sleep more deeply
and wake refreshed and reinvigorated.

The Manifestor Aura Type

Manifestor Mechanics

Manifestors represent approximately eight percent of the

population. The Manifestor type is revealed in the
BodyGraph when the Sacral Center is undefined and at least
one motor center is defined through a connection to the
Throat Center. The Manifestor can freely initiate and act in
life. Manifestors have the power to do what they say, their
words become deeds, and their actions have an impact on
others. Unlike the Manifestor, the other three aura types
need to interact cooperatively with others to bring correct
power and action to their words.

The BodyGraph of Russian President Vladimir Putin has a

motor (Root Center) connected to the Throat Center via the
Splenic Center, and he has an open Sacral Center.
He is a Manifestor.
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 Your Own Authority

Manifestor Strategy

The aura of a Manifestor is closed, tight and repelling. It is

not a welcoming energy field. No matter how friendly and
open a Manifestor may try to be, people cannot get very
close. Even those most intimately related to the Manifestor
cannot get a clear sense of what is going on with the
Manifestor because their aura is designed to keep other aura
types away. Repelling the aura of others is actually healthy
and correct for them, as Manifestors are not here to be
influenced by anyone. Without an understanding of this aura
mechanic, others might feel uncomfortable around a
Manifestor and criticize them for being unpredictable,
uncontrollable and even unknowable. Representing an eight
percent minority in the world, the Manifestor type can feel
like an outsider since others experience life so differently
and don’t understand the Manifestor’s aura. The Manifestor
strategy is to inform others before acting. When the
Manifestor informs they build trust with others, which can
protect them from being misunderstood and interfered with
in their actions. The Manifestor strategy protects them from
social conflict and personal persecution. The strategy of
informing for the Manifestor reduces resistance in their lives
and leads to greater acceptance and understanding from
others.

The Manifestor is the only type designed to initiate action in

the world without others. They are not to be interfered with
and when left alone to initiate they can have a strong and
beneficial impact. It is important for the Manifestor to learn
how to deal effectively with others so they can avoid
experiencing painful interference and resistance in life. When
the Manifestor follows their strategy of informing, they find
their signature reward of peace.

If a Manifestor acts without first informing others, people

become suspicious that the Manifestor might be withholding
something. Remember, their aura is closed and doesn’t
reveal anything, it’s repelling. Manifestors can seem foreign
and disturbing for the other types because they simply take
action without any discussion or warning. The Manifestor
seldom recognizes that their actions impact others and
without an understanding of their own aura mechanic, they
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become confused and left with the painful experience of

resistance.

The BodyGraph of actor Sophia Loren has two motor centers

(Root and Solar Plexus) connected to the Throat Center, and
she has an open Sacral Center. She is a Manifestor.

Resistance for a Manifestor leads to not-self anger. They

don’t understand why people stand in their way and try to
control them. Manifestor anger usually arouses further
mistrust and resistance from others. Through the strategy of
informing, Manifestors gain the protection that is necessary
for their survival in the social world of the other types. The
Manifestor learns to be socially cooperative through
informing first before initiating action, and also from
honoring their inner authority so they can discern when and
who it is correct to impact.

While identified with the not-self mind, the Manifestor

typically is doing whatever they want without awareness of
others. The Manifestor can actually be surprised to discover
that others notice them at all and are impacted by their
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actions. Since they do not have a deep connection with the

other types, as not-self, they do not recognize the impact
their words have upon others. The strategy of informing
helps the Manifestor to develop the ability to recognize the
power of their aura mechanic and to recognize who will be
impacted by their actions.

Through the strategy of informing a Manifestor grows in

their understanding that each action taken creates a ripple
effect in the environment and that their actions impact the
whole. Over time the Manifestor can develop a conscious
awareness of others. Through following their strategy the
Manifestor can make a unique contribution to the collective
and fulfill their purpose. When the Manifestor informs others
before taking action, their unique purpose naturally finds
them.

Strategy can lead to a rewarding life for a Manifestor

however in the beginning it may not feel natural or
comfortable. Informing might seem like a burden and the
Manifestor may resent having to check in all the time to tell
others what they are doing. As Manifestors experiment with
strategy they soon discover that informing eliminates
resistance in life and eventually they notice that they are
less and less angry. Having been informed, people begin to
relax around them and leave the Manifestor alone to do
what it is that they want to do.

Manifestors are an energy type without a defined Sacral

Center, which is the source of human life force energy. They
cannot maintain energy output at the level of a Generator
and instead their energy operates in spurts with the need for
periods of rest. Manifestors benefit from going to bed before
they are fully tired. The Manifestor may enjoy spending time
in quiet activity before sleep either reading, listening to
music, watching movies or simply being left alone. As with
all types, Manifestors need to sleep in their own aura free
from the conditioning influence of others during the sleep
state.

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The BodyGraph of Human Design System founder and

teacher Ra Uru Hu has the Heart Center (a motor center)
connected to the Throat Center through the G Center; and
he has an open Sacral Center. He is a Manifestor.

Famous Manifestors

Maya Angelou, Jennifer Aniston, Alexander Graham Bell,

Juliette Binoche, George W. Bush, George Carlin, Tom
Cruise, Tony Curtis, Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, Art
Garfunkel, Al Gore, Hermann Hesse, Adolf Hitler, Katie
Holmes, J. Edgar Hoover, Jesse Jackson, Johannes Kepler,
Helmut Kohl, J. Krishnamurti, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Sophia
Loren, John Malkovich, Marcello Mastroianni, Helen Mirren,
Bob Newhart, Jack Nicholson, Vanessa Redgrave, Tim
Robbins, Cliff Robertson, Susan Sarandon, Jerry Seinfeld,
Brooke Shields, B.F. Skinner, Tommy Smothers, Bruce
Springsteen, Sylvester Stallone, Martha Stewart, Liv Tyler,
Ra Uru Hu, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mao Zedong.

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Generators
Generator Mechanics

Approximately 70% of humanity is a Generator. The single

defining attribute of the Generator aura type is a defined
Sacral Center. The Sacral is the source of life force energy
for humanity and it is associated with sexuality,
reproduction, fertility, creative power and the flowering of
life itself.

The BodyGraph of singer and actor Christina Aguilera shows

a defined Sacral Center. She is a Generator.

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The BodyGraph of singer, songwriter, and actor

Justin Timberlake shows a defined Sacral Center. In his
design the Sacral Center is connected to the Throat Center
through the G Center, this is the design of a Manifesting
Generator. A Manifesting Generator has a Generator aura
and strategy, and is a Generator.

Generator Strategy

The aura of a Generator is open and enveloping. It literally

takes in everything. This is an aura that cannot close and it
takes in whatever is defined in the people who come into
their auric field. With an open and enveloping aura, the
Generator is receptive to and embracing it all. It is very
easy for a Generator to become mentally identified with
energy once it is pulled into their aura.

The benefit of this open and enveloping aura is that others

tend to experience Generators as engaging and accessible
people. Since the Generator type represents the majority of
the world’s population, being unguarded and all-
encompassing seems like a ‘normal’ way of being. When a
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Generator meets one of the other aura types, this other

person can seem unfriendly, detached or hard to
understand, and yet what they are experiencing is just the
different qualities of the other aura types.

People with a Generator aura need to wait for life to come

into their aura and then respond to life from their Sacral
Center. The Generator strategy simply stated: wait and
respond. Responding comes from the state of being
attentive in the present moment. Generators are designed to
wait for life to naturally and spontaneously flow to them. It
is through the strategy of response that the powerful
Generator life force energy is properly engaged.

The responsive Sacral Center has an embodied primal voice

and its evolutionary origins come from the pre-verbal
communication of our species. The sacral voice responds
with sounds—grunts, groans, growls, moans, ahhs, ah-huhs,
un-uns and a myriad of other sounds. Generator children
naturally use their sacral voice until they are taught
language and then they become conditioned away from
using it. The vibrancy of the sacral voice is intrinsic for all
Generators, however most adult Generators have been
mentally cut-off from the spontaneous expression of their
sacral response and its sounds. It can take some time and
dedicated practice to regain their full range of sacral sounds.
The truth is Generators are responding to taking life into
their aura every moment. The dilemma is that the mind then
thinks they need to ‘do something’ because they have
responded. The truth is, unless a Generator is asked a
specific question, they are simply responding to life. When a
Generator tastes something delicious, they might respond
with a sound of ‘mmmmmmm’. Or when seeing a beautiful
view outside the window they might respond with the sound
‘ahhhhhh’. These are every day examples of the sacral’s
response. The sacral doesn’t push towards anything and it
doesn’t seek to do something; pushing and seeking are the
behaviors of the not-self mind. The sacral motor is properly
ignited through response as it receives and embraces life.
The sacral doesn’t initiate, it responds to whatever life
brings. Through sacral response, Generators can learn to
know themselves.

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The BodyGraph of singer and songwriter Lady Gaga shows a

defined Sacral Center and no motor connections to the
Throat Center. She is a ‘pure’ Generator.

At the beginning of their experiment with Human Design it

can be challenging for Generators to know themselves,
especially if they are continually around the auras of other
people. With an open and enveloping aura, the energy of
other people is coming into them all the time and the reality
is that they cannot keep the energies of others out. The
sacral motor is constantly responding to input from the
world. After a lifetime of conditioning, it can be difficult for
Generator adults to experience their natural gift for sacral
discernment. When correctly engaged, the power of the
Generator is a vast resource. Yet after a prolonged period of
absorbing and identifying with repetitive conditioning
patterns, many don’t realize that they possess this power.
Most Generators have been conditioned since childhood to
try to initiate activity like a Manifestor. Generators are
taught that they can do whatever they think they can do.
Like a fist banging repeatedly against a concrete wall,
Generators work and work to fulfill the demands of their
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mind and in the process they meet a tremendous amount of

resistance in the form of frustration. Frustration is the
predictable outcome of mental decision-making and initiation
for a Generator. Manifesting Generators experience the
compounded resistance of frustration mixed with anger.

A Generator identified with the not-self mind is endlessly

initiating projects, relationships, conversations, business
proposals, creative endeavors, and on and on. Just as easily
as they can start things, they might quit. Generators
predictably quit things if they meet resistance and get
frustrated. Generators can hurt their bodies and create much
distress when they don’t honor the source of the life force
power dwelling within them. Constantly meeting resistance
from trying to make life conform to the dictates of the mind
can result in living out the not-self Generator experience of
frustration, fatigue or poor health.

Impatience is the driving force for not-self Generator. It

takes patient dedication to learn the strategy of waiting to
respond. Generators are designed to wait, surrender to what
life brings to them and respond with their sacral voice. One
of the most challenging dilemmas for new experimenters
with Generator strategy is confusing their sacral response
with the urge to initiate something. For some Generators
their sacral is also their place of inner authority for decision
making, which can confuse decision making with the
strategy of their aura. An example of this confusion is: “I
responded, therefore I can initiate doing something from
that response”. As an inner authority, which is explored
further in the next chapter, the sacral voice can provide the
‘ah-huh’ or ‘unh-unh’ to a yes or no decision. However,
waiting to respond to what comes into the aura itself is the
strategy for determining if there is a decision to be
considered. In order to operate correctly the sacral motor
must be ignited from outside of the aura; the relationship,
project or action must begin as a question from outside the
aura, it cannot be self-generated or it will result in
frustration. The Generator signature reward is the
experience of deep satisfaction from their energy being used
correctly. This satisfaction can be much more valuable than
achieving any particular end result or accomplishment.

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The BodyGraph of golfer Tiger Woods shows a defined Sacral

Center. He is a Manifesting Generator. Note that in his
design the Sacral Center connects to the Root Center which
connects to the Splenic Center, and this is separate from the
Heart Center connection to the Throat which is a manifesting
potential. This channel of manifesting potential identifies his
design as a Manifesting Generator.

The mind is the most challenging barrier to following the

Generator strategy of response. The not-self mind fights for
control with thoughts such as: “Things won’t just come to
me; if I don’t go after things, I won’t get them; if I wait for
Prince Charming, he won’t find me; I have to do this now,
it’s stupid to wait for things to come to me; I can’t wait; or,
I’m afraid to wait.” The not-self mind is profoundly afraid
that it won’t get what it wants and will be left with nothing
but emptiness, frustration and dissatisfaction. The not-self
mind can be powerfully dominant. Generators can learn
through their own experience that everything and everyone
who is correct for them comes to them and with perfect
timing. With consistent practice, Generators can learn to
trust their strategy of waiting and responding and eventually
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experience for themselves the correctness of what life

brings.

A Generator identified with the demands of the mind actually

reinforces and strengthens the not-self mind’s control.
Generators are not separate from the nature of existence—
their aura carries the very essence of existence and all of
life. Their unique purpose comes to Generators who respond.

The BodyGraph of actor, dancer and singer Jennifer Lopez

shows a defined Sacral Center that connects directly to the
Throat Center. This is the design of a ‘pure’ Manifesting
Generator. Notice that she has two additional motors (Heart
Center and Solar Plexus) which connect to her Sacral Center.

Generators are advised to not go to bed until they are

completely exhausted and ready to sleep. The sacral motor
operates like a rechargeable battery, it recharges better if it
is allowed to run down completely. Generators need to wait
until they are tired to go to bed, and then sleep undisturbed
until they are completely rested. In this way, they wake up
with replenished energy ready to meet the new day.
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Manifesting Generators, with their manifesting potential, are

advised to go to bed before they are tired and engage in
activity in bed until they are fully exhausted. With an open
and enveloping aura, which takes in everything and can’t be
closed, all Generators need to protect their openness by
sleeping alone.

Famous Generators

Jessica Alba, Christina Aguilera, Mohammed Ali, Maya

Angelou, Marie Antoinette, Christian Bale, Antonio Banderas,
Tyra Banks, Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom,
Barry Bonds, Bono, Truman Capote, Jonny Carson, Charlie
Chaplin, Julia Child, John Cleese, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton,
Sean Connery, Bill Cosby, Jacques Cousteau, Russell Crowe,
Marie Curie, Matt Damon, Ram Das, Gerard Depardieu,
Cameron Diaz, Celine Dion, Walt Disney, Bob Dylan, Albert
Einstein, Peter Falk, Aretha Franklin, Marlon Brando, Morgan
Freeman, Sigmund Freud, Lady Gaga, Mahatma Gandhi,
Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Kahlil Gibran, Mel Gibson,
Mikhail Gorbachev, Hugh Grant, Che Guevara, Arlo Guthrie,
Tom Hanks, Mata Hari, Dustin Hoffman, George Harrison,
Selma Hayek, Hugh Hefner, Whitney Houston, Hugh
Jackman, Etta James, LeBron James, Steve Jobs, Billy Joel,
Elton John, Angelina Jolie, Janis Joplin, Carl Jung, Garrison
Keillor, Nicole Kidman, Martin Luther King, Beyonce Knowles,
The Dalai Lama, Bruce Lee, John Lennon, Lucy Liu, Jennifer
Lopez, Madonna, Dr. Phil McGraw, Liza Minelli, Alanis
Morrisette, Mozart, Eddy Murphy, Friedrich Nietzsche, Yoko
Ono, Gwyneth Paltrow, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Dolly Parton,
Luciano Pavarotti, Anthony Perkins, Sidney Poitier, Elvis
Presley, Prince, Julia Roberts, Carlos Santana, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Paul Simon, Will Smith, Sting, Meryl
Streep, Patrick Swayze, Mother Teresa, Nicola Tesla, Justin
Timberlake, Lilly Tomlin, John Travolta, Donald Trump, Keith
Urban, Vincent Van Gogh, Robin Williams, Venus Williams,
Prince Charles Windsor, Amy Winehouse, Oprah Winfrey,
Kate Winslet, Tiger Woods, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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Projectors
Projector Mechanics

Approximately 21% of humanity is a Projector. The Projector

does not have a defined Sacral Center like a Generator and
they do not have a motor center connected to the Throat
Center like a Manifestor. They do have at least two centers
defined, so they are not Reflectors. There are many possible
variations for the Projector design, they can have as many
as eight centers defined or as few as two.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a Projector.

His BodyGraph shows the Splenic Center connects to the
Heart Center (a motor center); and a separate connection
between the Ajna and Throat Center. The motor does not
connect to the Throat Center, so this is not the design of a
Manifestor. The design has an open Sacral Center, so this is
not a Generator. Having at least two centers defined
determines his type as a Projector.

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Projector Strategy

The aura of a Projector is focused and absorbing. It is

focused with a laser like quality on the G Center of the
other. The Projector aura can only focus on one person at a
time. No matter what the Projector’s intentions might be,
the moment there are three or more people in a room
someone will feel slighted by the Projector. With an aura
mechanic designed to focus on the other, it can be
challenging for Projectors to see themselves. Some people in
the Projector’s life may enjoy receiving such powerful
attention and others might intensely dislike it and feel as if
they are trapped under a microscope. Projectors have the
potential ability to see the other person clearly, observe how
they use their energy, and they can see how energy could
be used more effectively and efficiently. In group situations
around the other aura types, the Projectors can seem
invisible.

All types transform their lives by following their strategy and

making decisions from their inner authority. Projectors,
however, may need extra time to learn how their strategy
operates. The Projector Strategy is to wait to be invited.
Projectors are here to be invited to life’s banquet. For a
Projector, the strategy of waiting and then discerning correct
invitations can seem like a long and arduous journey,
especially at the beginning of their experiment. Initiating
from the mind is deeply conditioned for them after a lifetime
of pretending to be a Manifestor or Generator. The strategy
of waiting to be invited can seem like being sentenced to
solitary confinement. However after experimenting with
more alone time and a slower pace, the Projector often
discovers how exhausted they were, after years of trying to
keep up with all the energy types. Eventually the slower
pace becomes nurturing and enjoyable and they begin to
have a sense of wellbeing which arises out of solitude and
selectively connecting with only the energy beings that are
correct for them.

As Projectors begin their process of experimenting with their

strategy, they may find that they enjoy focusing on the
study of Human Design or some other system of knowledge.
Projectors need to acquire knowledge and master systems in
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order to clearly understand and guide others. Projectors and

Reflectors operate best as mechanics in the Human Design
System. They’re not here to make things happen or get
things done like the energy types; rather they find success
in helping energy types operate more effectively. The ability
to understand others cannot be mastered in a moment. It
takes time, study and dedicated development for the
Projector to achieve mastery in their understanding of
others.

Projectors are designed to specifically guide the energy of

Generators. When following their strategy of waiting to be
invited, Projectors receive invitations from Generators who
recognize their talented perception and receptively give
them access to their energy. It is through this energy
exchange that a Projector gains the fuel they need to have
effective relationships and fulfill their potential. Without the
proper invitation, Projectors can’t experience the fulfillment
of successfully guiding the other. Correct relationships are
essential for the Projector because of their unique energy
needs.

When a Projector is invited, they use their inner authority to

discern if the invitation is delicious enough for them, in other
words, if the energy of the other person feels correct. A
Projector who has not learned discernment often accepts
invitations from all kinds of people simply for the sake of
having access to energy. Projectors are designed to take in
conditioning from the other person’s definition. If a person is
not correct for the Projector, what they take in from the
other won’t be healthy for them. They literally take in the
frequency of the other and are being conditioned every
moment by the other person. Discernment of others and
their invitations is of vital importance to Projectors and one
playful way that they can learn to discern who is right is by
asking: “If this person’s energy were food, would I want to
eat this energy?”

An essential aspect of operating correctly for a Projector is

to learn that their correct invitations come from people who
recognize them for their value as a guide and for the traits
and skills which make them unique according to their

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design. For example, if someone comes along and comments

about a Projector’s boundless energy, this is clearly someone
who does not recognize them. Regardless of how attractive
an invitation might seem, if it is not from someone who
recognizes the Projector, the connection will not bring
success.

United States First Lady Michelle Obama is a Projector. Her

BodyGraph shows the Root Center connected to the Solar
Plexus (both motor centers) and a separate connection
between the Splenic Center and the Heart Center (also a
motor center). None of the defined motors connect to the
Throat Center, so this is not a Manifestor. The design has an
open Sacral Center, so this is not a Generator. Having at
least two centers defined determines her type as a Projector.

The not-self Projector fears that no one will invite them.

They usually don’t realize how attractive their attention is for
a Generator. Their strategy of waiting for the invitation
draws to them the energy of the other. The mental fear of
not being wanted can lead them to initiate invitations to
others or accept invitations that aren’t correct for them. The
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mind truly cannot know what energy is correct. Projectors

might become incorrectly connected to someone and then
find it extremely difficult for them to detach from that
person. This continuous plugging into others just for the
sake of being energized is unhealthy and can lead to
bitterness. Not-self Projectors often fail to be recognized
because they are so busy trying to be energetic and make
things happen. Until the Projector learns to wait for
invitations, they do not get recognized for their potential;
instead, they are simply following their conditioning, trying
to get energy in any form. Failing to be recognized for their
unique gifts can often mean that the Projector’s great
potential to guide goes unrealized.

The Projector meets tremendous resistance if they share

their keen observations without an invitation. People can
find the intensity of their spotlight aura very uncomfortable
and without being invited to share, the Projector’s comments
and advice are usually unappreciated, rejected or ignored.
Resistance from others leads to bitterness for the Projector.

In the not-self world, the Projector begins life disadvantaged

because as a non-energy being, they are usually not seen or
understood in a world dominated by energy types. In
childhood they are conditioned to initiate and encouraged to
make things happen like a Manifestor and expected to have
boundless energy and commitment like a Generator. The
not-self Projector child trying and failing to keep up can
become bitter and exhausted.

When Projectors first begin to experiment with their

strategy, invitations may be few and far between. Invitations
for a Projector are not necessarily what we commonly think
of as a social invitation, although social invitations do
provide the Projector with opportunities to refine their
discernment. Projectors need to wait for invitations to
engage energetically with the other.

Projectors need to wait for the correct timing of invitations

and to go through the necessary process of disentangling
themselves from incorrect relationships. The deconditioning
process does require patience and time. Projectors must

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wait for the correct invitations to initiate them into

relationships, careers, places to live and any other major life
decisions. The number of invitations or the quantity of
people in the lives of a Projector are not important, it is the
quality of the energy that they are being invited to access
that is essential.

Actor and film producer Brad Pitt is a Projector. His

BodyGraph shows the Root Center (a motor) connected to
the Splenic Center. The motor does not connect to the
Throat, so this is not a Manifestor. The design has an open
Sacral Center, so it is not a Generator. Having at least two
centers defined determines his type as a Projector.

Projectors have great leadership potential and they can

provide the kind of attention that acts as a catalyst for the
Generator. A Projector can ask the perfect questions to
guide the other to see more clearly how to engage their
energy in life. It is through this leadership and guidance that
a Projector experiences success. When guiding Generators to
effectively use their energy, the Projector achieves their own

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success. All of this unfolds from following the Projector

strategy of waiting for the correct invitations.

Martial arts master, action choreographer, director,

producer, comedian and actor Jackie Chan is a Projector. His
BodyGraph shows the Root Center connected to the Splenic
Center separate from the Head Center connected to the Ajna
Center. The Root Center (motor center) is not connected to
the Throat, so this is not a Manifestor. The design has an
open Sacral Center, so this is not a Generator. Having at
least two centers defined determines his type as a Projector.

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Mystic, philosophy professor and Guru Osho is a Projector.

His BodyGraph shows the Root, Spleen, G Center and Heart
Center all connected, but separate from the Ajna connection
to the Throat Center. The Ajna Center is not a motor, so this
is not a Manifestor. The design has an open Sacral Center,
so he is not a Generator. Having at least two centers defined
determines his type as a Projector.

As a non-energy type, Projectors can easily become

exhausted. Naps and frequent rest periods are useful. They
need to go to bed before they are tired and relax in bed
before sleeping. Of all the types, Projectors benefit the most
from a regular routine bedtime. Although they may choose
to read or listen to quiet music while in bed before sleeping,
it’s good for Projectors to have reduced stimulation at
bedtime. Cultivating a calm relaxing bedtime environment
on a routine basis is beneficial for falling into a deep resting
state. Due to the openness of their Sacral Center and
sensitivity to energy types, like all aura types, Projectors are
advised to sleep alone in their own space.

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Famous Projectors

Woody Allen, Kirstie Ally, Candace Bergen, Tony Blair,

Napoleon Bonaparte, Jon Bon Jovi, Bertolt Brecht, Nicholas
Cage, Michael Caine, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Jackie
Chan, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Salvador Dali,
Michael Douglas, Thomas Edison, Melissa Etheridge, Chow
Yun Fat, Whoopi Goldberg, Josh Groban, Goldie Hawn, Hugh
Hefner, Ron Howard, Katherine Hepburn, Mick Jagger, James
Joyce, Diane Keaton, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Karl
Marx, Henry Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Demi Moore, Ralph
Nader, Paul Newman, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama,
Osho, Pablo Picasso, Brad Pitt, Princess Diana, Queen
Elizabeth II, Brett Ratner, Isabella Rosellini, William Shatner,
Steven Spielberg, Joseph Stalin, Ringo Starr, Barbra
Streisand, Donald Sutherland, Quentin Tarantino, Elizabeth
Taylor, Tracey Ullman, Denzel Washington, Serena Williams,
Virginia Woolf, Zi Yi Zhang.

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Reflectors
Reflector Mechanics

Approximately one percent of humanity is a Reflector.

Reflectors are easy to identify in the BodyGraph because
they have no centers defined. All of the centers are open
and no gates connect to form channels.

Actor and film producer Sandra Bullock is a Reflector.

Her BodyGraph shows no centers defined and only gate
activations.

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Writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a Reflector. His BodyGraph

shows no centers defined and only gate activations.

Reflector Strategy

As the Reflector’s design is completely open in all the

centers, it might seem like they would be very vulnerable to
the conditioning influence of other people. However their
aura is designed to only let in small samples of information
or energy from people, kind of like a polling service. This
semi-impervious aura protects the Reflector from being
overwhelmed by the definition of others. They need to
sample effectively to determine who is healthy for them. The
Reflector’s openness doesn’t mean that they are somehow
deficient, these are people uniquely designed to function
with all their centers open. In fact, they are less exposed to
conditioning by other people through their open centers
because of their selective, sampling aura. However, like all
aura types, they do become conditioned through
identification with the not-self mind. Even so, the Reflector
has a unique ability to live in the world with all of their
openness in a way that is different than the other types.

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The other aura types are solar beings and deeply connected
to and influenced by the cycle of the sun as it sustains life
on this planet. Reflectors are not solar beings, they are lunar
beings connected to the cycle of the moon. Lunar cycles
influence gravity, govern the tides of the oceans and move
the very liquid in our cells. In fact the lunar cycle makes
possible all life on our planet.

The Reflector’s strategy and authority are connected to the

cycle of the moon. The 28 ½ day cycle of the moon creates
cyclical patterns of conditioning as it activates each of the 64
gates of the BodyGraph in its movement around the Rave
Wheel. The moon’s monthly activation pattern and its impact
on their BodyGraph is the only stable pattern for the
Reflector. Observing their unique monthly cycle of the moon
and its impact on their design provides the Reflector with
their strategy: to follow the cycle of the moon.

The Reflector aura is resistant and sampling. This is a

Teflon-like, resilient aura. Reflectors only let people in
enough to sample them; they take in a bit of the other’s
energy and then compare it to everyone else they have met.
Most people’s energy falls into regular, predictable patterns
which aren’t interesting enough to sample further. Others
seldom notice the Reflector because their aura is so different
compared to the other types. The Reflector aura is not
completely open, nor is it totally closed, and it is not focused
on the other either. Like a chameleon hiding in plain sight,
Reflectors always seem to be watching and waiting for
something.

All of the possibilities for conditioning within the Reflector’s

chart are experienced during each monthly transit of the 64
gates by the moon. Yet even with the varied pattern of
temporary conditioning, the Reflector remains a Reflector.
Every 28 ½ days the Reflector has the opportunity to
experience and see life through the lens of the consistent
pattern of the lunar cycle. As the moon transits, it may
activate a gate creating conditioning pattern of the Splenic
Center conditioned by the Root Center; as the moon
continues to move a few hours or a day later it may create
the conditioned pattern of the Solar Plexus conditioned by

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the Throat Center, followed by the moon transiting gates

which create no conditioning between centers; then an gate
transit that forms a conditioned pattern between the Sacral
Center and the Splenic Center, and so on. This exact pattern
of gate transits and temporarily conditioned channels and
centers repeats itself every 28 ½ days throughout the
lifetime of the Reflector. It might be necessary to chart the
monthly moon cycle for at least a year before the Reflector
comes to know and truly understand their unique rhythm
and pattern of transit movement and conditioning.

Although the moon’s cycle around the wheel is 28 ½ days,

the planets rotate around the wheel at varying speeds
according to their individual cycles, and they have their own
influence on humanity. For a Reflector, the daily movement
of the moon and planetary transits are their teacher about
Human Design mechanics. The deep wisdom of the Reflector
arises out of their attunement and natural receptivity to the
neutrino data feed derived from transit movement of the
moon and the planets, which is called The Program.
Watching The Program teaches the Reflector about
themselves and about The Program’s impact on all of
humanity. A Reflector’s sampling capacity allows them to be
able to clearly see who is caught up in the conditioning
influence of The Program or not. The Reflector can observe
that the majority of people are being swept along lost in the
homogenizing pattern of The Program. The Reflector
signature of surprise comes from finding those who are
ready to step out of The Program and live a differentiated
life.

Prior to learning about the unique, consistent lunar cycle, life

can be confusing for the Reflector who is identified with the
not-self mind. The Reflector openness and inconsistency can
make life feel chaotic. To others, the Reflector can seem
self-contained and chameleon-like and they may appear to
be unreliable with no fixed identity. Reflectors have no
power potential in the world, they aren’t energy types, and
alone they don’t really have what it takes to sustain
themselves in their relationships, jobs, or careers. For the
Reflector nothing is fixed in their life experience and this can
be challenging for them when they try to fit in to the

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‘normal’ world. What can seem vital and important one day
may seem non-essential the next. Until they learn to operate
correctly, the not-self experience of disappointment may be
the only consistency in a Reflector’s life.

Following the Reflector strategy can be difficult at the

beginning because just as it is for all types, the Reflector is
conditioned to initiate their life from the mind. Due to the
inconsistent nature of their body mechanics, mental
conditioning can leave the Reflector feeling confused. Not
being equipped energetically like Generators, and not having
the capacity to initiate like Manifestors; the Reflector can
become intensely disappointed in themselves and the world.
Most of the time the not-self Reflector is simply trying to fit
in and when they sample something or someone that
doesn’t fit, they may try to change the situation or the
person or try to change themselves. The not-self Reflector
can be disappointed after looking for consistency and never
finding it and can get lost in what they are sampling by
identifying with it. It can be a big disappointment for
Reflectors after they try and try and yet find that what they
perceive to be ‘normal’ patterns of living don’t ever work for
them.

Reflectors are a specialized force on the planet. There are so

few of them and each one has a unique sampling aura, so
the quality of each person’s reflections is directly related to
their unique purpose. Reflectors are like a canary in the coal
mine; they are sensitively attuned with and sample the
behavior of people around them. Approximately one in every
one hundred people is a Reflector; they are intended to
serve a community of about that size. In an ideal world each
community would have their own Reflector and the
Reflector’s health and well-being would serve as a reflection
of the health and well-being of the community.

A Reflector who is experienced with following their strategy

of observing the lunar cycle becomes proficient at sampling
all 64 gate energies and can become an awareness signpost
for differentiation. The Reflector can point the way by
identifying for the other where they may be off in their life
process and what’s needed to be aligned. Reflectors can see

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who acts from alignment. They are designed to be the sign

post for their community, to know what is healthy and what
is not. The Reflector’s not-self disappointment with life can
transform into an experience of surprise as they discover the
gifts and talents of others and are able to sample
uniqueness in the individuals around them. Reflectors are
here to be a master of the experience of life, not to have
particular experiences themselves.

Reflectors are non-energy beings and need to go to bed

before they are tired. It’s common for Reflectors to have
erratic sleep patterns due to their changing lunar cycle. They
may experience more energy when they have lunar
conditioning in a motor center and stay up later at those
times then when they are conditioned in a non-motor center.
Like all aspects of their life, understanding their unique lunar
cycle can be helpful to recognizing and accepting their sleep
patterns. Regardless of lunar conditioned definition,
Reflectors benefit from going to bed before they are tired
even if the actual bedtime shifts throughout their cycle. If a
Reflector sleeps within the aura of another person, it
compromises and may even prohibit their reflective capacity.

Famous Reflectors

Amma, Yul Bryner, Sandra Bullock, Sir Richard Burton

(actor), Sir Richard Burton (19th century explorer), Rosalynn
Carter, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Uri Geller, Scott Hamilton,
Vladimir Horowitz, Michael Jackson, Stacey Keach, Dick
Smothers, H.G. Wells.
~

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CHAPTER 6
Inner Authority
Decision-Making According to Your Own Authority
The most revolutionary teaching offered from the Human
Design System is about correct decision-making, which
arises through the inner authority of the body or form. The
process of attuning one’s attention to the inner authority of
the body, and utilizing its distinct form of guidance for
decision-making leads to a personal revolution: the natural
unfolding of the life of the body along its unique path.
Strategy and inner authority free the mind to develop its
unique expression as an outer authority in service to others.

Inner authority for about 97.5% of the population is center-

based; the inner authority of the body arises through the
functionality of a specific defined center in the design.
Approximately 2.5% of people do not have a defined center
functioning as an inner authority. These individuals also
have access to the intelligence of their body for decision-
making however it is a process based inner authority which
involves an externalized communication process. For all
individuals, correct decision-making requires a developed
discipline of observing the body’s messaging system and
learning to ignore the loud, internal voice of the conditioned
mind.

A first step in the Human Design experiment is learning how

to release the life from the mind’s control. What will stop the
mind from trying to direct life and make things happen?
Following your inner authority for decision-making
effortlessly orients decision-making away from the mind.
The mind continues to run its commentary but it no longer
has the power to make decisions.

In the beginning the mind is fearful of losing its control over

decision-making. Like a caged bird sitting before an open
door, the mind seems to fear being released from its
bondage. The mind doesn’t initially recognize that once
released from its attachment to decision-making, it can

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experience great ease and purpose in simply observing life

unfolding.

Your first experiment with trusting your inner authority to

make a decision is an important experience. Through it you
are able to see that life turns out ok, and with that
observation there is a great sense of relief. Observing is key
to the Human Design experiment. You can see that
everything worked out this time. Now you can experiment
again and again and watch the results. Seeing those positive
results from making decisions with inner authority is just as
essential as seeing the resistance which comes from mental
decision-making. Step by step, decision by decision, the
mind starts to witness the natural process of correct
decision-making. Soon you’ll discover that the fears and
anxieties that have scared you for years are simply habitual
conditioned thought patterns that the mind plays over and
over to hold your attention. Following your inner authority is
what frees you from the mind’s control.

Many people who become interested in the Human Design

System have spent years seeking guidance from others,
engaging in spiritual practices and pursuing a variety of
other methods to gain a sense of freedom. Your own
guidance is available every moment of your life through the
mechanism of your inner authority. Once you are established
in your strategy and inner authority, you start to discover
the unique possibilities that your particular life has to offer.
Liberated from the dominance of the not-self mind, you can
experience the gifts and promise of your design. You can
enjoy your connection with others while remaining clear as
yourself. You are designed to experience conditioning with
others, yet not to confuse those experiences with who you
are uniquely and consistently.

At the deepest level, self-love is letting go of the fear that

you are not satisfactory, that life won’t work, and that you
won’t survive. When you stop using your mind to try to
make something happen in your life, you relax and discover
that your body already knows how to navigate correctly
through life and already knows how to survive. As the mind
watches, self-love grows with the recognition of your

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uniqueness. Eventually you discover that you have the

courage and the capacity to stand in your own individuality.
Feelings of empowerment naturally arise in the process of
experimenting with and following your inner authority. A
growing sense of awareness arises as you discover the
intelligence of your embodied awareness.

Emotional Authority – Decision over Time

Approximately 50% of people are defined through the Solar

Plexus. As a powerful motor with awareness potential,
whenever present in a design, the defined Solar Plexus
center is the inner authority.

The BodyGraph of operatic soprano ‘La Divina’, Maria Callas

shows a defined Solar Plexus Center which establishes the
Solar Plexus Center as her inner authority. The defined
Sacral Center determines her type as a Generator. This is
the design of a Generator with Emotional Authority.

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The BodyGraph of actor, producer and musician

Johnny Depp shows a defined Solar Plexus Center which
establishes the Solar Plexus Center as his inner authority.
The Heart Center (a motor) connected to the Throat Center
determines his type as a Manifestor. This is the design of a
Manifestor with Emotional Authority.

The defined Solar Plexus is a powerful motor which operates

in a continuous wave of emotions, feelings and sensitivity.
All the varying dimensions of emotionality are experienced
through this center, and they are constantly in motion
ranging from the peak of excitement to the depths of
despair. In addition to being a powerful motor this center
carries the potential for our emerging emotional awareness.
A defined Solar Plexus person experiences the up and down
of the emotional wave and also carries the potential of being
aware of emotions.

Emotional authority brings emotional clarity, and an

emotional sense of correctness that can only be reached
over time. Emotional authority dictates that there is no truth
in the now. An emotionally defined person is not designed
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to make spontaneous decisions. The emotional authority

monitors the ever-changing wave, from hope to pain and
back again. Emotions rise and fall, yet over time one can
discover a place of equanimity, of relaxation within the wave
when clarity arrives. Possessing this inner authority requires
patience and waiting for clarity to arise over time because
no feeling in the moment can express the whole truth. The
defined Solar Plexus person examines a decision while
experiencing the various feelings within the up and down of
their wave and sees different perspectives from each point in
the emotional wave. When an emotional person operates
correctly and waits through the passage of time, there is a
potential for masterful depth in decision-making.

It is unhealthy for an emotionally defined person to make a

snap decision in the moment from any one place in their
wave. If they make a decision when they are up in their
wave, as they start to come down, a strong sense of
nervousness begins. As the positive feeling fades, doubts
about the decision and questions arise about whether it was
a good decision or not. If they make their decision when
they are down in their wave, as they start to rise again and
feel more upbeat what seemed like such a bad decision may
seem like a good option. Once again there is doubt and
nervousness. The process for correct decision-making for the
emotionally defined person is to patiently wait through the
excitement and dread until the nervousness around the
decision subsides. Finally a clarity comes which includes all
the various dimensions brought with the movement of the
emotional wave.

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The BodyGraph of actor, director, producer, screenwriter and

humanitarian George Clooney shows a defined Solar Plexus
Center which is his inner authority. The Sacral Center is not
defined, so this is not a Generator. The Heart Center and
Solar Plexus are both motors, but neither is connected to the
Throat Center, so he is not a Manifestor. This is the design of
a Projector with Emotional Authority.

It is important to understand that emotional clarity does not

mean absolute truth in the decision-making process since
the emotional wave is constantly in motion. For most
decisions, the emotionally defined person can reach 70-80%
clarity after waiting out their emotional process.
Experiencing the movement of varied feelings and
sensitivities, the individual with emotional authority is
waiting to reach an emotional balance in the wave, a
synthesis of the whole decision-making process that leads to
an emotional equilibrium.

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Sacral Authority – Decision in Response

The Sacral is the inner authority for all Generators without a

defined Solar Plexus. The sacral motor is not an awareness
center; it has a strictly mechanical function. In the
beginning, when a Generator first learns about their sacral
authority it may seem mysterious and confusing. However
the Generator is consistently, spontaneously responding to
life and likely just does not recognize it. For example, in a
conversation if the Generator agrees with what is said, a
spontaneous ‘ah-huh’ may arise expressing understanding or
agreement. Observing these spontaneous sounds is an
important first step toward trusting the sacral voice in
decision-making. The Sacral response is often very different
than what the mind thinks would be a good decision. A
Generator cannot know their truth until they hear the in-the-
moment response of their sacral voice. A Generator
response does not include reasons and/or an opinion. It is
an embodied mechanical on/off in the now. The sacral
energy is ready and available to be engaged or not. It is
important that the Generator understands that the sacral
can only operate as an inner authority if the yes or no
question arises from outside of their aura. The sacral motor
must be ignited from the outside, decisions cannot be self-
initiated. Decisions placed before the sacral authority need
to be formulated as yes/no questions. In that way, the
sacral voice with its mechanical on/off, either grants or
withholds the energy in response to the decision. Correct
decision-making is found in the moment-to-moment truth of
the Sacral’s response: “Do I have the energy to see this
(project, relationship, action) through to completion or not?”

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The BodyGraph of Singer, songwriter and actor Madonna has

a defined Sacral Center and an open Solar Plexus Center.
This establishes her Sacral Center as her inner authority.
This is the design of a Generator with Sacral Authority.

After a lifetime of mental conditioning starting in childhood,

it can be difficult for a Generator to respond with their sacral
sounds. The sacral voice may be atrophied from lack of use.
The mind can be judgmental about its perception of the
intelligence or lack of intelligence inherent in the sacral
voice. Intelligence, as a mental concept has nothing to do
with sacral authority, as it is strictly mechanical. It does,
however, operate as a conduit for the intelligence of the
body to get to the surface, where it can be recognized.

A Generator can learn to observe their spontaneous

response to yes and no questions which arise from outside
of their aura. Since this is a mechanical process, it’s possible
to practice response when being asked yes and no
questions. For example: “Do you want to go out to dinner?”
says the person to the Generator, and the Generator
responds with, “ah-huh”. The sacral has responded. The
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energy is available and ready to be fully engaged in going to

dinner. This is very different than, “What do you want to do
tonight?” It’s not possible for the sacral mechanism to
respond to this kind of open-ended question. The sacral is
either available or not. Before learning about sacral
response, it’s common for Generators to believe that they
have trouble making decisions because mental decision-
making is confusing! Previously in their life, the Generator
may have rarely been asked the yes/no questions that
support their sacral response.

The BodyGraph of singer, songwriter and actor

Beyonce Knowles shows an open Solar Plexus Center and
the Sacral Center defined; this establishes her Sacral Center
as her inner authority. Her Sacral Center is connected to her
Throat Center, which determines her type as a Manifesting
Generator. This is the design of a Manifesting Generator with
Sacral Authority.

Getting the sacral voice operational is like priming a pump.

It can be slow to start but once it is engaged, it keeps going
and going and going! Some Generators may find it helpful to
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work with a practice partner responding to yes and no

questions as a way to activate their sacral voice. You can
begin with easy questions such as: “Do you like coffee?”
“Do you like chocolate?” “Do you like ice cream?” “Do you
enjoy eating lasagna?” This process of responding to non-
decision variety of yes and no questions gives the sacral
voice practice responding to questions and allows the
individual to get a sense of when the sacral is engaged and
moving. Generators are energy beings and therefore the
underlying sacral decision to any yes/no decision is: “Do I
have energy to see this through to completion? Will I be able
to use my energy correctly?” When the sacral responds with
an ‘ah-huh’, the correct use of energy leads to Generator
satisfaction.

The BodyGraph of Aishwarya Rai, Miss World 1994, model,

actor and Bollywood film star, shows an open Solar Plexus
Center and the Sacral Center defined which establishes her
Sacral Center as her inner authority. The Sacral response is
imbued with splenic awareness due to the direct connection
between the Sacral and the Splenic Center. This is the
design of a Generator with Sacral Authority.
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When a Generator pays attention to their sacral response

they soon discover what is truly correct for them through the
experience of a positive response. They discover what is not
correct whenever they have a negative response. With their
sacral response a Generator grants or denies others access
to their energy and either withholds or contributes their
energy for actions, projects and relationships.

The Generator can never know who and what is correct for
them until the moment of response. There is no planning for
the sacral authority Generator. Planning is a mental trap.
Generators with sacral authority are here to work, create
and build through moment-to-moment correct response.

Operating correctly, the Generator surrenders to their sacral

response and honors the body’s intelligence, no matter what
the mind thinks about the decision.

Splenic Authority – Decision in the Now

Without a defined Sacral Center or a defined Solar Plexus

Center, the next center of inner authority is the Splenic
Center. Approximately 10.5% of all people have the defined
Splenic Center as their inner authority.

The Splenic Center is an awareness center. It is endowed

with the physical awareness associated with our physical
wellbeing. In addition to its survival and defense
mechanisms, the Splenic Center is the bedrock of human
intelligence. All of these attributes establish the Splenic
Center as an inner authority with its spontaneous instinct,
intuition and judgment in the moment. Splenic awareness
recognizes danger or threats to one’s health or survival in
the Now. It will only decide once; this is not like the
repetitive sampling process of the Solar Plexus. The splenic
awareness is extremely subtle and can easily be ignored
until one develops the acuity to be aware of it. It doesn’t
speak in words, but rather through body sensations and
spontaneous ‘recognition’. It’s a sense that is highly
individualized. It may be experienced as a gut lurch, hairs
raised on the back of the neck, or a hunch. There can be a

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sense of danger, a feeling to avoid, to step back, or even to

run, which signals ‘this is not a correct move forward’ or ‘this
is not a safe person or situation’. With the splenic authority
there is no concrete voice of ‘yes’ or ‘no’, there is only a
sense of warning which is interpreted as ‘not safe/not
correct’ from the vigilant awareness of the Spleen. It is
common for people with splenic authority to realize later
after an event that they had a sense that something wasn’t
going to be safe before the event; and yet because they
were identified with their mind, they ignored their intuition.
Eventually it’s possible to be aware of the splenic authority
in the now.

The BodyGraph of writer J.K. Rowling shows an open Solar

Plexus Center and an open Sacral Center. The Splenic Center
is defined which establishes the Splenic Center as her inner
authority. The Heart Center (a motor) is connected to the
Throat Center, which determines her type as a Manifestor.
This is the design of a Manifestor with Splenic Authority.

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The BodyGraph of Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa

1994 – 1999 and former anti-apartheid activist and leader,
shows an open Solar Plexus and open Sacral Center. The
Splenic Center is defined which establishes the Splenic
Center as his inner authority. His Splenic Center is
connected to the Throat Center and the G Center
(all non-motors) which determines his type as a Projector.
This is the design of a Projector with Splenic Authority.

The key for a person with splenic authority is to understand

that their truth is in the now and not forever. There is
always the next moment in the now. A correct splenic
decision ensures safety and security in the present moment.
Things can change quickly so it is important for the splenic
person to be open to fluctuating circumstances and not to be
attached to any relationship, project or place. It’s possible
for a splenic decision to bring a long-term commitment;
however the health and safety of that commitment is
continually recognized and experienced in the moment. It is
through learning to trust this sense of wellbeing and safety
with its moment by moment awareness that the splenic
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person can move confidently and safely through life; guided

by subtle impulses, spontaneous change and the consistent
experience of physical sensing in the now.

Ego Authority – Decision of the Heart

Without a defined Sacral, Solar Plexus, or Splenic Center,

the next center of inner authority in the hierarchy is the
Heart Center. Approximately 1.2% of humanity has the
defined Heart Center, the center of the ego as their inner
authority for decision-making.

The BodyGraph of Al Gore, United States Vice-President

(1993-2001), author and environmental activist shows an
open Solar Plexus Center, open Sacral Center, open Splenic
Center, and a defined Heart Center which establishes the
Heart Center as his inner authority. His Heart Center
(a motor) is connected to the Throat Center, and this
determines his type as a Manifestor. This is the design
of a Manifestor with Ego Authority.

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The Heart Center is the center of the will and ego.

Mechanically it operates as a motor without awareness. It
carries the determination to master the material plane and
to prove one’s worth. This is the center of self-esteem, and
of making bargains, deals and promises. The Heart Center
has a powerful force of will which wants to ensure its
material survival and to see that its legacy is preserved
within the family, community and tribe.

Decision-making is based on what the heart is committed to;

and not what the mind wants or what someone else thinks is
correct. With ego authority, these people need to discover
what their will is, because correct decisions are made from
being in control and getting what they want. If an ego
person can’t get what they want, then it isn’t correct for
them. If they can’t have it their way, it isn’t correct.

This will power authority does not work from thinking about
wanting something. The mind is not in control of the life.
The decision-making literally comes from their embodied will
power. It’s like a race horse that must win the race, where
the entire force of that being is behind the movement. Ego
authority people need to be engaged correctly in their work,
relationships and in family life. With the Heart Center as
inner authority, work is going to be central in their life and
family is going to be directly connected with work, their life’s
purpose, and their legacy.

Self-Projected Ego Authority – Decision of the Heart’s

Direction

The Heart Center connected to the G Center is called Self-

Projected Ego Authority. It is extremely rare. Less than 1%
of the population has this inner authority, and it is only
found among Projectors. To operate correctly, self-projected
ego authority requires patience, deep awareness, and
experimentation.

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The BodyGraph of film director and producer Brett Ratner

shows the Heart Center connected to the G Center. This is
the only channel which establishes this kind of inner
authority and it is only found in Projectors. This is the design
of a Projector with Self-Projected Ego Authority.

This is a type of ego authority that follows the heart and

identity for decision-making. This is not the romantic heart;
this decision-making comes from the will of the self. If the
will is not fully invested, then it is not a correct direction for
the self-projected ego authority person and it won’t be
healthy for their sense of self.

Self-Projected Authority – Decision of the Self

Without a defined Solar Plexus, Sacral, Spleen, or Heart

Center, the next center in the hierarchy of authority is the
defined G Center. Approximately 3% of the population has
the inner authority of the G Center and it is called Self-
Projected Authority. This authority is only found in
Projectors.
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The BodyGraph of singer and actor Barbra Streisand has an

open Solar Plexus, Sacral, Spleen and Heart Center and the
G Center is defined. This establishes the G Center as inner
authority. She has the G Center (non-motor) connected to
the Throat Center so she is not a Manifestor. This is the
design of a Projector with Self-Projected Authority.

The G Center is the center of love, direction in life, and is

the center of one’s sense of self. This is an identity-based
inner authority. This is not to be confused with a mentally
constructed identity; it is a pure existential identity. This
self-authority can spontaneously express through the Throat
Center. The decision-making process for a Projector with
self-projected authority comes from speaking however this is
not the premeditated speaking constructed by the mind. It is
important for these people to listen to their spontaneous
expression so they can hear their truth. Their inner authority
comes from speaking from their identity, from what they
love and from their direction in the moment. Whatever this
person is identified with is what is correct for them.

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Mental Projector Authority Process – Decision in the

Experiment

Less than 1.5% of humanity has the design of a Mental

Projector. A Mental Projector has only the Head and Ajna
defined, or just the Ajna to the Throat defined, or has the
Head, Ajna and Throat Centers defined together as the only
definition in the design. This person’s inner authority can be
tricky to recognize and understand because it arises through
a decision-making process quite distinct from the center-
based inner authorities. The mind is never the authority for
decision-making for the life, and yet for Mental Projectors,
there are no other centers defined other than the mind. This
decision-making process requires diligent attention to
listening to one’s externalized expression to others. This is
distinct from not-self decision-making. It’s really about
learning to use mental awareness as a decision-making tool
without succumbing to the not-self mind’s control.

The BodyGraph of artist Pablo Picasso shows only the Head,

Ajna and Throat Centers defined, and this establishes that

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he has no center of inner authority. This is the design of a

Mental Projector with a process for inner authority.

For correct decision-making, the Mental Projector can never

enter into anything spontaneously. They cannot reach a
correct decision in the moment. They explore potential
decisions with an experimental process. They engage in
repeated discussion with others in order to hear what they
themselves are saying. They need to hear their own outer
expression to reach a correct decision. For example, when a
Mental Projector receives an invitation, it’s important to
discuss it many times, with many different people. In this
process they are not looking for advice or for someone to
make the decision for them. As they discuss the invitation
with others, they are engaging their mental awareness while
interacting with a variety of different auras, and from that
process they integrate what they hear themselves say in
conversation with others. Through this experimental process
the Mental Projector can hear their expression and come to
understand what is valuable and important for them, and
this becomes the basis of their decision-making. They are
not listening for the thoughts, ideas or knowing that fills
their inner dialog that they talk about with others; they are
listening for realization, insight or formulization that arises
naturally, spontaneously and uniquely through their
expression to others.

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The BodyGraph of tennis player Serena Williams shows only

the Ajna and Throat Centers defined, and this establishes
that she has no center of inner authority. This is the design
of a Mental Projector with a process for inner authority.

Lunar Authority – Decision in the Lunar Cycle

Approximately 1% of humanity are Reflectors, a type with

no centers defined and therefore no center of inner
authority. A Reflector derives their inner authority from the
process of observing their decision emerge through their
lunar cycle. They arrive at their decision by examining it
through all of the changes of conditioning that the daily
movement of the moon brings to their design, and by
discussing the decision with others and listening to what
they themselves are saying about their decision. For
Reflectors, decision-making is recognized through the
monthly lunar cycle.

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The BodyGraph of singer, dancer and actor Michael Jackson

shows all open centers and only gate activations. This
establishes his type as a Reflector with a process of inner
authority through the lunar cycle.

The Reflector uses the lunar cycle to reflect upon decisions

and potential life changes and this is their process for
decision-making, their process of inner authority. The
important decisions about career, love, relationships and the
correct places to live are made through contemplation over a
lunar cycle. Like Generators and Projectors, opportunities
arise naturally in the movement of life for a Reflector. They
do not initiate the decision process with their mind. A
decision needs to be placed before them in order to be
considered, and then they need to see this decision from
every facet of their design as they follow the monthly transit
of the moon and the temporary channel conditioning it
creates. Each day, as the moon rotates, it ticks through the
gates of the Rave Wheel, and the Reflector gets a different
perspective about the decision they are considering. Decision
making for a Reflector comes from their unique experience

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of the lunar cycle. Following the lunar cycle, month after

month, the Reflector finds their truth.

A Reflector needs a circle of allies. This is a group of people

who have been sampled and demonstrate a consistent
capacity to care for the Reflector. During the 28 ½ day lunar
decision cycle Reflectors may discuss with their allies what
they are discovering during their process, not to get
feedback, but to hear what they themselves are saying. It is
through this cyclical process of reflection and sharing that
the Reflector comes to know their decision. The correct
decision arises from the 28 ½ day process which is a direct
personification of the Reflector’s sampling capacity. The
Reflector samples the lunar cycle as it relates to each
decision at hand.
~

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CHAPTER 7
Experimenting with Human Design
Seven Year Journey to Cellular Transformation
Strategy and inner authority are the catalysts for the cellular
deconditioning process and lead to experiencing life in
alignment with your unique potential. After you begin
following your strategy and inner authority, deconditioning
the body is a seven year process. The majority of human
cells replace themselves every seven years. Each cell has its
own intelligence and memory which gets transferred to its
replacement cell. As you experiment with your strategy and
inner authority you are changing the imprint of each new cell
and bringing it into alignment with the pattern of your
unique design. Moment by moment, decision by decision, as
you follow your strategy and inner authority the conditioned
patterns dissolve away. Each decision made with your own
authority builds momentum and movement away from the
not-self and towards your unique life. Initially, it requires
discipline to break the habits of the mind; however after a
while cellular regeneration hits the tipping point and it gets
easier to let the body guide you. By the end of seven years
the body can effortlessly navigate through life and the mind
can rest easily as the witness.

The Human Design System is most beneficial for children

who are raised from birth according to their strategy and
inner authority. These children naturally develop according
to their unique design and will not have to experience a
deconditioning process. At this point in time, most people
are discovering the Human Design System as an adult.
Adults have accumulated life-long not-self conditioning and
the ingrained habit of mental decision-making. These
entrenched not-self patterns take time to be released on a
cellular level. Gradually, slowly, over a seven year period
transformation happens.

This process is called an experiment because it’s designed to

be tested. When you try following your strategy and inner
authority, you can observe what happens. Try it over and
over again, under different circumstances, with different
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decisions, and see what happens. The Human Design

System isn’t a belief system; it’s a practical, applied learning
process. Belief is a phenomenon of the mind. Knowing is an
embodied experience. Over the seven year deconditioning
process, gradually, through your own lived experience you
learn to trust in the decision-making of your inner authority.
You see the validity of the body’s ability to guide the life.
Experimenting with your strategy and inner authority
cleanses the mind of identification with traits that are not
you and deconditions the cellular memory of the body.

The Human Design System is validated through your

personal experimentation and direct experience with the
deconditioning process. Studying Human Design without
actually experimenting with the knowledge does not bring
transformation because merely conceptualizing the
knowledge keeps the mind in control; it thinks because it
understands the information, it has accomplished something,
which is a false premise. As you experiment with strategy
and inner authority, your uniqueness naturally emerges in
your life experiences and is observed by your mind.

The not-self is the persistent barrier to being your unique

self. Trusting your strategy and inner authority dissolves
that barrier. The mind desperately wants to retain its control
of your life and it feeds on fear. It’s not possible to get rid of
fear. The experience of embodied fear is intrinsic to all living
beings, it ensures survival, and in human beings it is the
root of intelligence itself. Fear motivates us to grow, change,
and explore our expanding human capacities. From
experimenting with the Human Design System, you can
learn to let go of the illusionary fears of the mind and
embrace the body’s extraordinary ability to successfully
navigate through a world that includes dangers and the
experience of fear as a natural aspect of living.

There are two possibilities for human beings in this life: to

live out the potential of the unique holistic self or to live out
identification with the not-self. Your unique life is an
expression of the beauty of life itself. It’s important to
understand that you can’t expect this recognition of your
unique self to come immediately. It takes time to let go of

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the years, perhaps decades, of mental conditioning.

Eventually you can discover deep, genuine love for yourself,
exactly as you are.

The pleasure of life comes from watching the experiment

unfold each day. Perhaps the greatest gift of our time is
being able to observe and accept life just as it is. As you live
out your unique design you further refine your individual
point of view, and this perspective spontaneously gets
expressed as you communicate with your outer authority.
When you live correctly as yourself, you have unique and
original observations about what you observe and can offer
them to others.

There are tools such as books, recorded lectures, courses,

software and other study materials available through a
variety of websites on the internet. Jovian Archive
(www.jovianarchive.com) is the central hub for authentic
Human Design resources and for connecting with trained
professionals. On this site you’ll find links to Human Design
Analysts and Human Design National Organizations located
worldwide offering various types of readings which can help
you understand more about your unique design. Human
Design Teachers and Guides offer classes and courses
independently, through a variety of national Human Design
organizations and through the IHDS (International Human
Design School) to enrich your understanding of the Human
Design System and they can support your experiment and
the unique unfolding of your deconditioning process.

Are you ready to let go of mental decision-making?

Now that you have a general understanding of what the

Human Design System has to offer, “Would you like to begin
your own experiment?” If you are a Generator, did you
recognize a response to that question? If you are a
Projector, is this a delicious invitation? If you are a
Manifestor, you can inform others when you decide. As a
Reflector, you can wait a full lunar cycle and see what
decision arises for you. This may be your very first
opportunity to be aware as you make a non-mental decision.
Through your own step by step verification process you can
determine the value of the Human Design System. This is
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an opportunity for you to know your truth. Only your own

inner authority recognizes what is correct for you; and only
your own inner authority can guide you decision-by-decision
to your unique experience of life.
~

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Glossary
Ajna Center: The center of mental awareness, seat of the
design consciousness, source of conceptualization,
associated with the neo-cortex. Within the Human Design
System, the Head and Ajna Centers combined represent the
physical brain and the mind.

Aura: The aura is the frequency of the life force present in

your design. This frequency radiates outward around each
person. A person’s aura extends approximately two arm
lengths in every direction from the center point of their G
Center. Every individual is naturally conditioned by coming
in contact with the aura of a person who provides gate
activation and/or channel conditioning to their openness.

Binary Consciousness: The separate consciousness of

personality and form. Humans have a personality
consciousness which filters information for the mind’s
expression of outer authority, and a design consciousness
which filters information for decision-making by the inner
authority of the body or form. The awareness of binary
consciousness is also referred to as self-realized
consciousness in form.

BodyGraph: The BodyGraph is the illustrative map which

shows the genetic highlighting of an individual’s design.

Centers: The nine centers act as communication hubs

within the BodyGraph. Each center affects and influences
specific organs and systems of the physical body. Some
centers are strictly mechanical in function while other
centers have awareness. Some are called motors due to
their ability to produce vast amounts of energy within the
being, and some act as pressure centers.

Conditioning: The openness in the design is attracted to

anything that will mechanically fill the open receptors and
thereby create conditioned channels and centers. This
dynamic of the openness is what attracts us to others, and
what motivates us to try to be what we are not. This is
called conditioning. The not-self mind is driven to

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mechanically fill the open areas of the design and attempts

to secure a consistent and reliable source of conditioning.

Deconditioning: This is the seven year process of cellular

transformation of the body which occurs when an individual
consistently lives according to the strategy of their type and
the Authority of their form for decision-making. Sleeping
alone in one’s own aura is essential to the deconditioning
process.

Definition: The colored-in areas of the BodyGraph show

what is fundamentally reliable within the design. These are
consistent and fixed aspects. The defined areas represent
the essence of what we are designed to live out each
moment of our life.

Design Data: The characteristics and attributes of the body

or form, which are derived from the red data in the Rave
Chart. The design data represent the unconscious aspects of
a person. Sometimes described as the vehicle or form, the
design data describes the body. The design is the realm of
the inner authority, and the source of correct decision-
making for the life. The body is the life.

Design Consciousness: The source of consciousness for

the form. Design consciousness operates separately from
the personality consciousness, yet is an aspect of our binary
consciousness. The design consciousness filters information
for the correct decision-making for the inner authority of the
form. In the not-self mind, the design is not recognized as a
consciousness.

Driver: An analogy for the Magnetic Monopole.

Emotionally Defined: An individual with a defined Solar

Plexus Center.

Gate: There are 64 gates within the design, which

correspond to the 64 hexagrams of the I’Ching and the 64
codons of human DNA. A simple way of thinking about a
gate is to imagine the BodyGraph is like a circuit board. A

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gate is one of two connectors between the nine centers of

the design within the circuit board.

Generator: One of four aura types, the Generator is an

energy type. Mechanically defined by the presence of a
defined Sacral Center, the Generator strategy is to wait to
respond.

Genetic Imperative: The basic drive of all species is to

reproduce and expand the gene pool. (See also: Law of
Attraction, as the genetic imperative is closely associated
with the Law of Attraction.)

G Center: The center of love, identity and direction, home

of the Magnetic Monopole, associated with liver function and
the blood.

Head Center: The center of mental pressure and

inspiration, seat of the personality consciousness, associated
with the grey matter of the brain. Within the Human Design
System, the Head and Ajna Centers combined represent the
physical brain and the mind.

Heart Center: The center of the ego and will, a motor, and
associated with the heart, stomach, and gall bladder
function.

Holistic Being: The Holistic Being is experienced as one is

living from the inner authority of the form for decision-
making and with the outer authority expression of
personality. The Holistic Being is the potential of unique
binary consciousness and is also referred to as the True Self
or Unique Self.

Homogenized World: The homogenized world is a

collectively distorted and illusionary view of the world which
is commonly called ‘normal life’.

Human Design: The Human Design System is a logical,

mechanical, and graphically illustrated system which maps
each individual’s unique genetic highlighting. The Human
Design System provides education to enhance and enrich

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the experience of binary consciousness through the use of

strategy and inner authority.

Inner Authority: Inner authority is the source for correct

decision-making, which is revealed through the mechanics of
the BodyGraph. Transferring decision-making from the mind
to the authority of the form, the individual becomes aligned
to their unique path in life. Inner authority is center-based in
a majority of the population, however a small percentage of
people have process-based access to their inner authority.

Law of Attraction: An attraction to difference and the

persistent drive to try to be what you are not. Related to the
genetic imperative to reproduce and diversify the gene pool,
it describes the drive toward conditioning.

Magnetic Monopole: The Magnetic Monopole resides in the

G Center where it serves two vitally important functions in
life: to attract and hold personality consciousness and design
consciousness together in the illusion of separateness, which
forms the Holistic Being; and as the ‘Driver’ guiding the body
or form through space and time along its specific trajectory
in life.

Manifestor: One of four aura types, the Manifestor is an

energy type, and mechanically defined by the presence of a
non-Sacral motor connected to the Throat Center. The
Manifestor strategy is to inform others before taking action.

Mechanics: A symbolic visual language which is based on

logical principles which operate consistently throughout the
Human Design System.

Mind: The mind is the medium of translating observation

and externalization of conceptualizations through outer
authority for the personality consciousness. As the not-self,
the mind functions as the decision-making authority for the
life. Like the brain, the mind is considered to reside in the
combination of the Head and Ajna centers, however it is not
physical nor is it alive. Humorously, Ra sometimes referred
to the mind as ‘brain gas’.

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Not-Self: The mind as decision-maker for the life. When the

not-self mind is identified with the open aspects of the
design it is driven to make decisions to compensate for the
openness as a survival strategy. The not-self mind finds the
missing traits associated with the openness in others and
tries to hang onto those people even if the relationships
aren’t healthy. The not-self also tries to imitate the
attributes represented by the openness. The not-self mind
mechanically seeks out what it considers to be ‘missing’ in
the design.

Openness: Aspects of the design which are not defined (or

colored-in). Openness is where the individual is vulnerable to
conditioning. After the deconditioning process, openness is
the source of unique wisdom; it is where we are available to
the variety that life offers through the experience of others
and the transits. Openness does not operate in a fixed and
reliable manner.

Outer Authority: Outer Authority is the expression of

unique conceptualizing from the personality consciousness
based on differentiated perspective and externalization
through the mind.

Passenger: An analogy for the experience of self-realized

consciousness in form.

Personality Data: The personality is the sum of the black

data in the Rave Chart filtered through the mind. People
have conscious access to this aspect of their design. As the
not-self, the Personality represents ‘Who I Think I think I
Am’. After deconditioning it has the potential to express as
outer authority; it becomes the ‘Who I think I Am’ of the
personality.

Personality Consciousness: The source of consciousness

for the personality. Personality consciousness operates
separately from the design consciousness and is part of
binary consciousness. The personality consciousness filters
information for the differentiated and unique expression of
outer authority through the mind. In the not-self, the
personality consciousness is not recognized as the observer

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of life. Most people lack awareness of this witnessing aspect

of their consciousness and instead mistakenly identify with
the mind as the driver and decision-maker for the life. In the
holistic being, it is like the passenger sitting in the back seat
observing from the window of the vehicle.

Program, The: The Program is the daily movement of the

planets in their orbit and has a systematic impact on
humanity. This impact can be illustrated in the 64 gates of
Human Design BodyGraph. The planets filter the neutrino
data-stream, which is the very intelligence of the universe.
The Program is a global conditioning force and it consistently
influences life on earth, and uniquely impacts each individual
through their openness. The Program influences an
individual when it provides a temporary planetary transit
creating conditioning in an open gate, and the mind then
uses this conditioning as the basis of decision-making.

Projector: One of four aura types, the Projector is a non-

energy type. Mechanically defined by having no Sacral
Center definition, no motor connected to the Throat Center,
and having at least one channel defined. The Projector
strategy is to wait to be invited.

Rave Chart: A Rave Chart represents the calculation data

and the display of that data within the BodyGraph. It shows
the unique combination of the birth data for the personality
and the design data which is set 88-89 days prior to birth for
the form. It provides each person with an illustration of their
complete design. A Connection Rave Chart is the view of the
composite view of design of two people and it diagrams the
conditioning impact of the relationship.

Reflector: One of four aura types, the Reflector is a non-

energy type and mechanically identified by having no
channels defined. The Reflector strategy is to follow the
cycle of the moon.

Root Center: The center of physical pressure and stress,

associated with the adrenal function. The Root Center is the
most powerful motor center and it provides the fuel for
much of the circuitry in the body.

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Sacral Center: The center of reproduction, associated with

the sexual organs. The Sacral Center is the source of human
life, as it is the generative motor.

Signature: Each of the four aura types has a frequency

potential that is exhibited once a person is free from the
control of the not-self. These signatures express outwardly
as satisfaction, success, peace, or surprise, depending upon
the specific type.

Solar Plexus Center: The center of emotions, feelings and

sensitivity. This is the source of our emerging emotional
awareness, associated with the kidney function, and it is a
motor that operates in a wave from hope to pain and back
again.

Splenic Center: The center of intuition, instinct and taste,

and the place of humanity’s most ancient awareness. It is
associated with the spleen, the lymphatic and the immune
system. The Splenic Center is the source of our sense of
well-being and our awareness of danger and safety.

Strategy: Strategy is a specific method for navigating

through life and reducing resistance. Strategy aligns a
person with their proper frequency, bringing their life into its
natural flow. Each aura type has a different strategy.

Throat Center: The center of action and communication. All

of the gate circuitry leads to this most complex of all the
centers; it is associated with speech, metamorphic and
thyroid functions.

Trajectory: Describes each person’s unique geometry

through space and time, and it is commonly called the path
or journey in life. Alignment with trajectory occurs from
following one’s strategy and making decisions according to
one’s inner authority.

Type: Through the mechanics of the BodyGraph, each

design is classified into one of four groups – Manifestor,
Generator, Projector or Reflector. Each aura type has its own

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mechanics defined within the BodyGraph and its own

strategy for operating correctly in the world. Type has been
proven to be statistically consistent over extensive
population samples.

Vehicle: An analogy for the body, form or design.

~

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 Your Own Authority

Human Design System Resources

Free Rave Chart
http://www.jovianarchive.com/Get_Your_Chart

Jovian Archive Newcomer’s Center

http://www.jovianarchive.com/Newcomers

Human Design National Organizations

http://www.jovianarchive.com/National_Organizations

Human Design Professionals by Country

http://www.jovianarchive.com/Professionals

International Human Design School

www.ihdschool.com

About the Authors

Dharmen and Leela Swann-Herbert met Human Design in
1999, and were students of Ra Uru Hu from 1999 until his
passing in 2011. They were chosen by Ra to be a part of the
initial staff of teachers in the online IHDS in 2007. They
currently teach and write near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

They have a wealth of experience between them:

 Dharmen is a Reflector, and he is a certified Human
Design Analyst, as well as holds certifications in
Partnership Analysis, Child Development Analysis. He
is a Living Your Design Guide and Teacher, and he
has completed his education as a Rave Psychologist.
 Leela is an emotionally defined Generator, and she is
certified in Child Development Analysis and Family
Practice Analysis. She is also a Living Your Design
Guide, a Radical Transformation Teacher, and she
has completed her education as a PHS Practioner.

Together they offer original classes and experiential

workshops based upon the teachings of Ra Uru Hu and the
Human Design System.
Contact them at www.secretofbeingyou.com
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