What are Gates in Human Design?
Gates in Human Design refer to specific energy centers or points within the bodygraph, which is the foundational chart used in this system.
In Human Design, there are 64 gates, which correspond to the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. These gates represent different aspects of human consciousness, potential, and energy. They are located along the channels that connect the nine energy centers in the bodygraph.
Each gate has its own unique properties and themes, such as:
- Specific talents or abilities
- Challenges or potential issues
- Life lessons or areas of growth
- Ways of processing information or energy
When a gate is “defined” (colored in) on a person’s Human Design chart, it means that energy consistently flows through that point. Defined gates are considered part of a person’s fixed nature or consistent traits.
Gates work in pairs to form channels, which are the pathways of energy between the centers. When both gates of a channel are defined, it creates a consistent energy flow between two centers.
Understanding your gates in Human Design can provide insights into your natural strengths, challenges, and the ways you interact with the world around you.
Why is it Important to Understand Your Human Design Gates?
Understanding your Human Design gates is important for several reasons:
- Self-awareness: Gates provide insights into your inherent traits, strengths, and potential challenges. This self-knowledge can help you better understand your natural tendencies and behaviors.
- Personal growth: By recognizing your defined and undefined gates, you can focus on developing your strengths and addressing areas where you might face challenges.
- Decision-making: Understanding your gates can guide you in making decisions that align with your natural energy flow, potentially leading to less resistance and more fulfillment in life.
- Relationships: Knowing your gates can help you understand how you interact with others and why certain relationships may feel more natural or challenging.
- Career and purpose: Gates can indicate areas where you might excel professionally or find your life’s purpose.
- Energy management: Understanding your gates can help you recognize how you process and express energy, potentially leading to better management of your personal resources.
- Embracing uniqueness: Understanding your gates can help you appreciate and leverage your individuality.
- Reducing internal conflicts: By aligning with your natural design, proponents believe you can reduce internal struggles and live more authentically.
- Improved communication: Knowing your gates can provide insights into how you naturally communicate and receive information, potentially improving your interactions with others.
- Life strategy: Some people use their understanding of gates to inform major life decisions and overall life strategy.
Human Design Gates
You may notice that your Human Design chart is covered with lines, some that are colored, some that are checkered, and some are simply white.
Lines that span all the way between two Centers and are colored or white are known as Channels; there are thirty-two Channels in the Human Design body graph.
It’s important to know that each Channel has two halves known as Gates, of which there are a total of sixty-four. Each active Gate in your chart adds a different theme or “flavor” to your personality.
What Do “Open” and “Closed” Gates in Human Design Mean?
Anything on your chart that is colored in is called “defined,” or you may think of it as “closed.” Definition in the chart means that these elements of your chart are important parts of your personality and what you’re here to give the world over the course of your life.
You’ll notice that your chart also has elements that are white or not colored in. Anything that is not colored in on your chart is called “open.” The “open” parts of your chart, including the Gates, represent where we take in energy and information from the world around us.
Our open aspects of the chart are where we experience energies from other people. It’s in these open Centers that we have the potential to experience great wisdom but also the potential to experience both pain and confusion as a result of feeling or sensing these energies so deeply.
When you understand your definition and your openness, you learn how to regulate your energy so that you can make good, conscious, and authentic choices for yourself.
How Human Design Gates Help You Understand Yourself
You may notice that some of your Gates are colored differently than others. Black or burgundy* Gates are derived from the black or burgundy numbers on your body graph. These Gates, of which you are consciously aware, provide you with information about your soul’s purpose.
So, for example, if you have Gate 11 (whose theme Centers around being a vessel of ideas) and this Gate is coming out of the Ajna Center towards the throat and colored black, then you would be consciously aware that you have a lot of ideas!
Now, some Gates on your body graph may be colored red or tan*. Red Gates or tan are derived from the red or tan numbers found on the side of your body graph. They provide you with information about your life purpose.
(*the colors of the channels/gate can vary depending on which software that you use)
For example, if you have Gate 13, The Gate of the Witness, and it’s red/ tan (unconscious), then you may not be aware that your energy field communicates to others that they are safe to share their secrets with you. You likely have no idea why people are always unexpectedly coming up to you and telling you their deepest, darkest secrets.
If you have checkered Gates, meaning the lines to the Gate are colored both red (tan) and black (burgundy), it means that those energies are part of both your soul and life purpose and are often a strong theme in your life.
You express those personality aspects both in your conscious and unconscious definition, whereas a white line to a Gate represents an “open” Gate.
You will always draw in the energy of that open Gate from the world around you, and its expression through you will be inconsistent depending on your environment where you are.
When you look at the numbers on the left side of the body graph, you will see that each Gate’s number has a smaller number next to it. For each Gate, there are six different “lines,” with each line being a further expression of your uniqueness.
The lines of the Gates do not show up on the body graph, but their meaning can be revealed to you during a Human Design analysis. (Refer to the traditional Chinese I’Ching to gain more insight into each Gate.)
How to Find Your Human Design Gates
Start by getting your own chart using the best free human design chart generator – it’s my gift to you!
There are two ways to see your Human Design Gates on your chart. The first place to find your Gates is on the numbers on the side of your chart.
These numbers correlate to the position of the Gates on the Human Design body graph. If you look at your Human Design body graph, you’ll notice that each geometric share, called a “Center” in Human Design, has a series of numbers placed on it. These numbers represent the Gates.
There are 64 Gates on the body graph. Your individual chart will be configured in a way that is unique to you. Each Gate will either be open or defined, representing core personality themes that are part of your life and soul purpose.
The Human Design body graph is a template. The actual body graph itself never changes. The Gates are always associated with the same Center and are always located in the same place.
How to Use Your Human Design Gates in Your Daily Life
Understanding your Human Design Gates gives you key insights into what drives you, what you’re here to communicate, what challenges you, and what you need to grow and evolve.
There is so much information contained in the unique configuration of the Gates in your chart.
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Learn More About the Gates in Your Human Design Chart
Want to better understand the most important gates in your Human Design Chart? Click on the gate names below to get a more complete definition, its energy spectrum, influence on relationships, and its effect on your career. You’ll also find specific affirmations for each gate:
Gate 1 – Self Expression / Purpose
Gate 2 – Direction of Self / Allowing
Gate 3 – Ordering / Innovation
Gate 4 – Answers / Possibility
Gate 5 – Patterns / Consistency
Gate 8: Contribution / Fulfillment
Gate 10 – Love of Self / Self-Love
Gate 11 – Ideas / The Conceptualist
Gate 12 – Caution / The Channel
Gate 13 – The Listener / The Narrative
Gate 14 – Possession in Great Measure / Creation
Gate 15 – Extremes / Compassion
Gate 17 – Opinion and Judgement / Anticipation
Gate 18 – Correction / Re-Alignment
Gate 19 – Wanting / Attunement
Gate 20 – Metamorphosis / Patience
Gate 21 – The Treasurer / Self-Regulation
Gate 23 – Assimilation / Transmission
Gate 24 – Realization / Blessings
Gate 26 – Trickster / Integrity
Gate 27 – Responsibility / Accountability
Gate 28 – Struggle / Adventure/Challenge
Gate 29 – Perseverance / Devotion
Gate 31 – Democracy / The Leader
Gate 32 – Continuity / Endurance
Gate 35 – Change and Transformation / Experience
Gate 36 – Crisis / Exploration
Gate 38 – The Fighter / The Visionary
Gate 39 – Provocation / Recalibration
Gate 40 – Loneliness / Restoration
Gate 41 – Fantasy / Imagination
Gate 42 – Finishing Things / Conclusion
Gate 45 – King and Queen / Distribution
Gate 46 – Love of the Body / Embodiment
Gate 47 – Realization / Mindset
Gate 49 – Principles / The Catalyst
Gate 52 – Stillness / Perspective
Gate 53 – Starting Things / Starting
Gate 54 – Drive / Divine Inspiration
Gate 56 – Storyteller / Expansion
Gate 57 – Intuition / Instinct
Gate 59 – Sexuality /Sustainability
Gate 60 – Acceptance / Conservation
Gate 62 – Detail / Preparation
Gate 64 Confusion / Divine Transference
How Do the Human Design Gates affect you?
Why not download your FREE Human Design chart here?
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.
These courses will empower you to create a life filled with more money, better relationships, health and vitality, a rewarding career, and experience profound personal transformation.
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Curious about the difference between Human Design and Quantum Human Design? Karen Curry Parker explains it in this video:
