What is Authority in Human Design?
What exactly is Authority in Human Design? Simply put, it’s your personal decision-making style – the way you’re uniquely designed to make choices that align with your authentic self.
Your Authority isn’t just some cool concept to know about. It’s practical magic for your everyday life. When you follow your specific Authority, you encounter less resistance and experience more flow, joy, and alignment.
Think about it – how many decisions do you make every day? Dozens, if not hundreds. Now, imagine making each decision in a way that’s truly aligned with your energetic blueprint. That’s the power of understanding your Authority.
Inner vs. Outer Authority
Before we get into the specific types, let’s clarify an important distinction: Inner Authority versus Outer Authority.
Your Inner Authority is like an internal compass that guides you toward correct decisions. It’s a body-based intelligence that exists before your mind gets involved. This inner knowing reveals whether something is a healthy use of your energy or not.
Outer Authority, on the other hand, is your ability to share your unique perspective with others. It’s how you authentically express your insights and wisdom when the timing is right.
In this article, we’re focusing on Inner Authority – your personal decision-making process.
The 7 Types of Authority in Human Design
Let’s explore each type of Authority and how it works. Remember, your Authority is determined by your defined centers, and there’s a hierarchy (which we’ll get to later).
1. Emotional/Solar Plexus Authority
Who has it: Anyone with a defined Solar Plexus center (about 50% of the population)
How it works: If you have Emotional Authority, clarity comes through riding your emotional wave. You’re designed to wait for emotional clarity before making decisions.
Unlike other Authorities, yours isn’t instantaneous. You need time to process through the full spectrum of your emotions. Sometimes this emotional experience feels like a rollercoaster, while for others it might be gentler waves or little bursts of intensity throughout the day.
Best practices:
- Give yourself time to process decisions – sleep on it
- Notice what emotions come up around choices
- Wait until you feel clear emotional clarity
- Track your emotional waves to understand your patterns
Common pitfalls: Making decisions in an emotional high or low, rushing decisions, letting others pressure you into deciding before you’re ready.
2. Sacral Authority
Who has it: Generators and Manifesting Generators with a defined Sacral center but an undefined Solar Plexus
How it works: Your gut response through your Sacral center gives you clear yes/no guidance. This feels like an immediate internal response – a feeling of expansion or contraction in your belly.
Your Sacral responds to stimuli in the present moment. When presented with opportunities, listen for that gut response – whether it’s an “uh-huh” (yes) or “uh-uh” (no).
Best practices:
- Pay attention to your immediate gut response
- Notice what lights up your energy
- Practice listening to your Sacral response before your mind jumps in
- Allow yourself to follow your energy, even when it doesn’t make “logical sense.”
Common pitfalls: Overriding your gut response with mental reasoning, ignoring your energy levels, trying to force yourself to do things your Sacral said no to.
3. Splenic Authority
Who has it: Those with a defined Spleen but undefined Solar Plexus and Sacral centers
How it works: Your Splenic Authority works through spontaneous intuition in the moment. These are intuitive hits that come and go quickly – blink, and you might miss them.
The Spleen is connected to primal fear and survival instincts. Its wisdom often shows up as a quiet whisper, a subtle feeling, or sometimes a flash of insight about what’s safe or healthy.
Best practices:
- Act on your intuitive hits immediately
- Trust your first instinct
- Practice tuning into subtle body sensations
- Value your innate sense of what feels healthy or unhealthy
Common pitfalls: Second-guessing your intuition, waiting too long to act on a Splenic hit, and overthinking intuitive guidance.
4. Ego/Heart Authority
Who has it: Those with a defined Ego/Heart center but undefined Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Spleen
How it works: Your Ego Authority operates through willpower and what you genuinely desire. Decisions are made by asking: “Do I want to do this? Am I willing to commit my energy to this?”
The Ego/Heart center is about willpower, determination, and material resources. Your Authority guides you through what you value and what you’re genuinely willing to put your energy behind.
Best practices:
- Check in with what you truly desire
- Be honest about what you’re willing to commit to
- Honor your word once given
- Pay attention to whether you feel valued
Common pitfalls: Making promises you can’t keep, ignoring your true desires, undervaluing your time and energy.
5. Self-Projected Authority
Who has it: Projectors with a defined G center but undefined Solar Plexus, Sacral, Spleen, and Ego
How it works: Your clarity comes through speaking your thoughts out loud. You literally need to hear yourself talk to know what’s true for you.
This Authority is exclusive to Projectors. It’s based in the G center, which houses love, direction, and identity. Often described as an Authority that “blurts things out,” your truth oftentimes emerges as you speak.
Best practices:
- Talk through decisions out loud
- Journal or record yourself speaking
- Find trusted listeners who won’t influence your process
- Pay attention to what feels right as you hear yourself speak
Common pitfalls: Keeping thoughts internal, seeking advice instead of listening, and not recognizing the wisdom in your own words.
6. Environmental/Mental Authority
Who has it: Those with no defined centers in the motor circuit
How it works: You find clarity by being in the right environment and talking through decisions. Your Authority is external, meaning you need to process out loud in spaces that feel good to you.
Unlike those with Inner Authority, you’re designed to sample external information and process it through your mental awareness. Your environment significantly impacts your clarity.
Best practices:
- Notice which environments feel right to you
- Create a “board of advisors” you can talk to
- Remember that you make the final decision (not your advisors)
- Pay attention to how different spaces affect your clarity
Common pitfalls: Making decisions in environments that don’t feel good, giving your power away to advisors, and rushing decisions without proper environmental feedback.
7. Lunar Authority
Who has it: Reflectors only (approximately 1% of the population)
How it works: Wait a full lunar cycle (28 days) for clarity on important decisions. During this time, your awareness moves through all the Gates in your chart.
As a Reflector, you’re deeply sensitive to your environment. Your clarity comes through sampling different environments and people over time, matched with the moon’s movement through your chart.
Best practices:
- Track the moon’s cycle in relation to decisions
- Notice how you feel in different environments
- Give yourself permission to take time with decisions
- Keep a journal during your lunar cycle
Common pitfalls: Rushing decisions, being in unhealthy environments, and not recognizing your sensitivity as wisdom.
How to Determine Your Authority Type
To discover your Authority type, you’ll need your Human Design chart. (Don’t have yours yet? Get your personal Human Design chart for free here.) There are several free websites where you can generate your chart using your birth date, time, and location.
Authority follows a hierarchy in Human Design. If you have multiple defined centers, here’s the order of dominance:
- Solar Plexus (Emotional)
- Sacral
- Ego/Heart
- Splenic
- G Center (Self-Projected)
- Mental/Environmental
- Lunar (Reflectors only)
For example, if you have both a defined Solar Plexus and a defined Sacral center, your Authority is Emotional because Solar Plexus overrides Sacral in the hierarchy.
Implementing Your Authority in Daily Life
Understanding your Authority is one thing – consistently using it is another. Here are some practical tips for implementing your Authority:
Start small: Practice with everyday decisions before applying it to life-changing choices. What to eat for lunch is easier than deciding on a career change.
Track your experiences: Keep a journal of when you follow your Authority versus when you override it. Note the outcomes and how you feel afterward.
Notice conditioning: We’re all conditioned to make decisions in ways that may not align with our design. Recognize when you’re falling into societal patterns rather than following your Authority.
Be patient: It takes time to decondition and learn to trust your Authority. Give yourself grace in the process.
Signs that you’re aligned with your Authority include:
- Feeling a sense of ease and flow
- Experiencing your Type’s signature (satisfaction, success, peace, or surprise)
- Making decisions with less mental stress
- Having confidence in your choices even when they don’t make “logical sense”
Signs that you’re overriding your Authority include:
- Feeling constant resistance
- Experiencing your Type’s not-self theme (frustration, bitterness, disappointment, or emptiness)
- Mental loops and overthinking
- Seeking excessive validation for decisions
Authority and Human Design Types
Your Authority works hand-in-hand with your Energy Type strategy. Here’s how they interact:
Manifestors (9% of population)
- Typically have Emotional, Ego, or Splenic Authority
- Strategy: Inform before acting
- Authority guides WHAT to inform about and do
Generators (37% of population)
- Typically have Sacral or Emotional Authority
- Strategy: Respond, don’t initiate
- Authority guides WHAT to respond to
Manifesting Generators (33% of population)
- Typically have Sacral or Emotional Authority
- Strategy: Respond, then inform
- Authority guides WHAT to respond to
Projectors (20% of population)
- Can have any Authority except Sacral
- Strategy: Wait for the invitation
- Authority guides WHICH invitations to accept
Reflectors (1% of population)
- Always have Lunar Authority
- Strategy: Wait a lunar cycle
- Authority and strategy are essentially the same
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Human Design Authority
What if I have multiple defined centers?
The hierarchy determines your dominant Authority. However, you may experience aspects of multiple Authorities in different situations.
How does my authority change over time?
Your Authority doesn’t change, but your relationship with it evolves as you experiment and decondition.
Can I have different authorities for different types of decisions?
No, your Authority applies to all decisions, though how you experience it might vary with the significance of the choice.
What’s the difference between strategy and authority?
Strategy is HOW you interact with the world; Authority is HOW you make decisions within that interaction.
How do I know if I’m using my authority correctly?
Pay attention to results and how you feel. When following your Authority correctly, you’ll experience your Type’s signature emotion and less resistance.
Aligning with Your Authority
Your Authority is your unique decision-making blueprint. It’s not about following rules but about reconnecting with your body’s innate wisdom.
Working with your Authority takes practice and patience. Start small, experiment, and notice what happens when you follow it versus when you don’t.
Remember, Human Design isn’t about boxing yourself in – it’s about recognizing the way you naturally function best. Your Authority is a tool for liberation, not limitation.
The more you align with your Authority, the more you’ll experience the signature of your Type – whether that’s satisfaction, success, peace, or surprise. And isn’t that what we’re all seeking?
Happy experimenting!
Which of the 7 Types of Authority in Human Design is in Your Chart?
Get Your FREE Human Design Chart to check it out.
Why not download your FREE Human Design chart here to find out?
Remember that we all have ALL of the chart. If the Gate is colored in or defined, it’s part of your Soul Curriculum. If it’s white or undefined, it means you learn about this Gate through relationships with others or through the Transits.
At its core, Human Design is a unique system that offers profound insights into your inner self and how you interact with the world around you. Your Human Design chart is a valuable tool that can help you understand your true nature, discover your strengths and weaknesses, and unlock your full potential.
By downloading and reviewing your unique Human Design Chart you are embarking on a journey of self-discovery that will empower you to make conscious choices in all aspects of your life. Your chart is an Energy Blueprint of your unique energy configuration and contains valuable information about your personality traits, your natural talents, and your life purpose. With this knowledge, you’ll navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and clarity.
Human Design is a deeply empowering system that encourages us to embrace our true selves, rewrite our personal narrative, and live in alignment with our inner wisdom. When we align with our authentic nature, we tap into a wellspring of creativity, joy, and fulfillment that flows effortlessly through us.
There’s More – How To Learn More About Human Design
If you are trying to learn and apply Human Design to your life circumstances, but traditional Human Design rings a little off-key, you don’t quite connect with it, or it feels heavy as you read it. We invite you to explore training options with Quantum Human Design, internationally respected and time-tested training courses.
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Curious about the difference between Human Design and Quantum Human Design? Karen Curry Parker explains it in this video:
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