How to use and read the Rave I ‘Ching Jan van den Berg

The Rave I ‘Ching (2000) gives a brief description of each

of the 64 gates, and a specific notation of each of the lines.
In time Ra developed the Rave I ‘Ching as a combination of
two books: “The Human Design System” (1989), known as
“The Black Book”, and “From the Book of Letters” (1995),
better known as “The White Book”.

Ra: The writing of the Rave I ‘Ching was a really bizarre

experience for me. I guess there are people that would say
that it was a kind of automatic writing because in fact I had
practically no background in the I ‘Ching. There was in fact
an I ‘Ching… I met the I ‘Ching as a book very early in my
process in Ibiza. But I met it in German. A German
translation and in that time in my life I did not speak or read
German. Eh… it was the original Wilhelm edition. Eh… I
have eh eh… so I had no real I ‘Ching knowledge. What I
had basically was a… was the understanding the Voice
giving me about the nature of the gates, their placement
and what I teach as line-structure. It took me 28 days to
write the Rave I ‘Ching. I started in November and finished it
around the beginning in December. I would sit down at the
typewriter, and I would punching gate 1, line 1, and write. I
don’t know why, there were binaries others than, you
know, the way I was taught the knowledge from the
Voice, it could not have been any other way, and in terms
of the exalts and the detriments: I asked and I was
answered. And I don’t wane go any further than that. That
is I, that’s why you know the… the planetary exaltations
and detriments are the very, are the most mystical things in
all of Human Design.

Detail, overview, and synthesis

The first thing to understand is that looking at a specific detail of a chart, needs also being
aware of the bigger picture, how it works out in the whole circuitry, type, profile, etc.
For example in your own chart it will take time to digest what those details mean in such a
wider context, showing you in time a certain theme, even a kind of mythology in your life.
A way to come to such a theme is called “Genetic Continuity”.
Genetic Continuity
Genetic Continuity in Human Design has to do with the lines.
- For every line in a hexagram there is a
characteristic that is valid for all lines in the
same position. For example the first Line is
called ‘the Foundation”, while it gives the
foundational understanding of every
hexagram. It means in that sense that all 1st
lines have a fundamental relationship with
each other. If you go through a chart, and you
read all the lines, certain phrases, certain words
keep repeating themselves. By doing so, in time
you may see all those elements of a person’s
chart come together in a natural synthesis. This
is called Genetic Continuity. Every chart holds
together through its genetic continuity.

- Another way to become aware of genetic

continuity is looking at the so called Role Gates.
In Human Design we have six role gates. We
can use them in a more generalized way to
understand our particular nature as an overview. But also to be clear that in these six role gates
you have the opportunity to see through the line themes. In other words, all the first lines of
these six gates or all the second lines, you get to see the deep genetic continuity. And if you
look at each of those lines in the role gates and you pull them all together, you have a very
profound understanding of the basis of that line.

Ra: “For me there is nothing more fascinating in Design than the surface and
the genetic continuity that is there throughout the body graph. It was one of
the first experiences that I had that was so revealing for me when I first began
to do professional analysis in the late 1980’s. I began to see that as I moved
through somebody’s design I kept on picking up the same thematic as I went
through. And it’s so clear to see that there is a true genetic continuity that
flows through any analysis. Whether it’s working from the Incarnation Cross
all the way down to tone or base, there is this line of connectivity. Genetic
continuity is an important term in Human Design. It’s also a gateway to be able
to really grasp the meaning of certain lines. Every single one of the six lines as
they appear in the 64 different hexagrams share the same function.”
Exaltation and Detriment
The second thing is about the line-binary, often named as exalted (the up pointed triangle) and
detriment (the down pointed triangle).

Now those expressions are quite confusing. Because those qualifications exalted and in
detriment, relate only to the planets affecting that line, fixing that line in one variation. It’s not
that one doesn’t experience other variations of that line, however, the fixed characteristic will
predominate.
The negative tendency of the detriment may also urge to upgrade that aspect to exaltation.
Although detriments are perfect in context of the overall design, nothing wrong of course to
sometimes foresee a negative outcome in relating to others, and create a more positive way to
manifest or not, as far it’s not acting from the ‘not-self’. That should be much more worse.
When there is none of those fixating planets involved, all intermediate variations are available
to express life.
To complicate things, if you have a planet in the 'harmonic' gate that fixes the opposite gate of
the channel, it will put that gate in exaltation or detriment too. So if you have the Moon @ in
Gate 2, then it should Exalt your Gate 14.4.
The same for composite charts. When somebody (or a transit) has Uranus B affecting Gate 60,
then it would fix your Gate 3 Line 2 in detriment during the relationship (or during the transit).

Ra: “Remember that any kind of an identification to this or that in the spectrum
leads to imbalance. I mean for me, and I mentioned this many
times to students of mine over the years that in essence the only mistake
in naming that I’ve had in my experiences in HD was putting these terms exalted
and detriment to the lines themselves. Actually the exalted and detriment were
there to describe the planetary force in that aspect of
the thematic.
But of course it has taken of another quality over the years to interpretation
because the not-self easily will interpretate exaltation as being good and
detriment as being bad. Rather than seeing that there is a planetary force
that will bring out in that specific place that quality as an identified quality.
Everything about having an exaltation, you know this is again, I would have been
happy to have called it this and that, but nonetheless, you have an exaltation in
your design, the assumption is that you know you really have something special
there. You know you’re only getting ‘the best part’. But it’s not true.” “See for me,
the Rave I ‘Ching was written for the not-self. There was nobody else in front of
me in those years, when I first began. It’s all written for the not-self. The lines
themselves express the not-self life. It is the mechanism of life. And yet for each
and anyone of us it is an extraordinary opportunity to go beyond the this and the
that, to embrace the Juxtaposition, to find the wholeness. And to find the
wholeness by allowing the wholeness simply to display itself. It is the beauty of
passenger’s consciousness, to get to that place where one simply sits back, and
allows the vehicle to operate correctly and move you through a geometry that
allows you to fulfill the potential of your imprint. Your incarnation, your unique
contribution, to the vitality of the biverse.”
Lines with an Intro

The Commentaries (1998) - Gate 25

Ra: “Lines are normally expressed with an exalted and a detriment. However, there is more.
Many lines have a sort of intro. So as a start there is something else first. When you see such an
intro, then you know that the potential of that line matures overtime. It is not there from the
beginning! You have to learn first.
In most cases the potential of those lines is reached at the midlife point. So for example the
25.1, showing the intro called “Motiveless action”, that motiveless action is not there from the
beginning. However, in case of a line without an intro, then you immediately go to the exalted
and the detriment, this is material that works from the moment you come into the world. This
is something that is automatically present and active.”

Sun/Earth Fixations

Ra: “Whenever you see the Sun ! and the Earth Q affecting a certain line in the exaltation
and in the detriment, then this line has enormous impact. It is speaking for one of the basic
structures that we have: Sun above/Earth below.”
Lines with the Sun exalted and the Earth in detriment are:
8.2, 12.6, 14.6, 15.2, 20.3, 23.4, 27.1, 29.5, 31.1, 38.3, 40.6, and 48.4.
There is one line with the Earth exalted and the Sun in detriment: 9.3.

Detriments and Exaltations affected by Pluto and Neptune

“Two outer planets, Neptune ( and Pluto , have cycles that greatly exceed the span of a
single human life. Neptune's cycle around the wheel requires approximately 165 years and
Pluto's cycle is about 248 years.
Consequently, depending upon the position of these planets in their transit around the wheel,
periodically, the exalted or the detriment of certain lines that are fixed by these planets may be
inactive, i.e. not present in the world in the human population.
This means that, at any given time, these particular aspects of design may or may not be
present, genetically in the world and therefore, these qualities are not accessible to human
beings until the planet re-activates that gate or its harmonic.
Something to keep in mind, also, is that the period of time that these detriments or exaltations
remain inactive after there are no people alive carrying these activations will be shortened
somewhat by Pluto or Neptune's transit to the harmonic gate within the channel. How much
shorter is determined by the relative positions of the harmonic gates within the wheel.”
This ‘disappearing’ of certain line-variations affects about 60 lines as hereafter mentioned:
 Doesn’t occur since ±
Channel Gate Planet + variation - till new awakening .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 – 14 14.3 Neptune detriments 2004 - May 28, 2044
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3 – 60 3.3 Pluto detriments 1970 - March 16, 2021
3.6 Pluto detriments
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60.5 Neptune exalts 1950 - February 15, 1996
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4 – 63 4.3 Pluto detriments 1927 - September 15, 1950
4.5 Pluto detriments
63.6 Pluto detriments
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6 – 59 6.1 Pluto exalts 1840 - August 23, 1957
6.3 Pluto detriments
6.4 Pluto detriments
59.2 Pluto detriments
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7 – 31 7.2 Neptune exalts 1894 - October 4, 1920
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12 – 22 12.3 Neptune exalts 2016 - March 29, 2019
22.4 Neptune exalts
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19 – 49 49.3 Neptune exalts 1961 - March 5, 2001
49.3 This line (both exalted and detriment) didn’t occur in this period
49.6 Neptune exalts
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49.2 Pluto detriments 1909 - February 24, 2028
49.3 Pluto detriments
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21 – 45 21.2 Neptune detriments 2014 - April 23, 2029
21.3 Neptune exalts
45.3 Neptune exalts
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21.5 Pluto detriments 2022 - May 19, 2075
21.6 Pluto exalts
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23 – 43 23.3 Pluto detriments 2108 - June 13, 2115
43.1 Pluto exalts
43.2 Pluto exalts
43.3 Pluto exalts
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24 – 61 24.6 Pluto detriments 1982 - March 6, 2018
61.6 Pluto exalts
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25 – 51 25.1 Neptune exalts 1986 - April 10, 2024
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25.3 Pluto detriments 1958 - April 29, 2065
51.1 Pluto exalts
51.6 Pluto detriments
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 Doesn’t occur since ±
Channel Gate Planet + variation - till new awakening .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 – 44 26.1 Neptune exalts 1932 - November 25, 1959
44.3 Neptune detriments
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27 – 50 27.3 Pluto exalts 1976 - December 16, 1981
27.6 Pluto detriments
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28 – 38 28.6 Neptune detriments 1942 - December 18, 1956
28.6 This line (both exalted and detriment) didn’t occur in this period
38.1 Neptune exalts
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28.5 Pluto exalts 1885 - January 13, 1984
28.6 Pluto exalts
38.2 Pluto exalts
38.4 Pluto exalts
38.5 Pluto detriments
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29 – 46 29.1 Neptune detriments 1895 - October 26, 1925
46.1 Neptune exalts
46.5 Neptune detriments
46.6 Neptune detriments
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30 – 41 30.3 Pluto exalts 1914 - April 11, 2024
30.4 Pluto exalts
30.5 Pluto detriments
41.6 Pluto detriments
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41.1 Neptune exalts 1963 - April 10, 1998
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32 – 54 32.6 Pluto exalts 1888 - November 25, 1979
54.1 Pluto exalts
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32.6 Neptune detriments 1945 - November 24, 1951
32.6 This line (both exalted and detriment) didn’t occur in this period
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35 – 36 36.3 Pluto exalts 2017 - May 4, 2060
36.4 Pluto exalts
36.5 Pluto exalts
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42 – 53 53.1 Neptune exalts 2026 - May 5, 2034
53.5 Neptune exalts
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53.6 Pluto detriments 1970 - May 16, 2086
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