What Is Human Design? How to Read Your Chart

Have you ever wondered what makes you unique from the other people around you? Human Design, a synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern science, can help you understand the beauty and the power of just who you really are.

Human Design is often called the “new Astrology” and the “intersection of science and spirituality.” Your Human Design chart is formulated by taking your birth date, time, and location – giving you specific information about your life path, your style of working, your relationship blueprint, how you experience energy in the world, and most importantly, how to create a truly meaningful and authentic life. 

What Is The History Of Human Design?

A synthesis of astrology, the I’Ching, Kabbalah, the Hindu Chakra system, and quantum physics, Human Design is a relatively new science of self-discovery. The entire system was transmitted to Robert Alan Krakower during a mystical experience in Ibiza, Spain, from January 3–11, 1987. A voice told him that this system was crucial to helping people on the planet make vital shifts in consciousness for the evolution of mankind. Krakower emerged from this experience as a changed man, and soon after, he changed his name to Ra Uru Hu.

Ra was told that while he was one of few people who consciously received the information about Human Design, the energy of the system was transmitted to all of us, and it belongs to all of humanity. He was a reluctant messenger and mystic at best, but he spent the rest of his life sharing the theory of Human Design.

His courage has helped people discover who they really are, what they are here to do, and how they can go about living an authentic and abundant life. Human Design is not a religion. It doesn’t matter whether you come from a Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or metaphysical background. Knowing your Human Design simply helps you know how to become the person you were created to be in an easy and joyful way.

What Is Human Design and Why Is It Important?

“Does knowing your Human Design help you make more money, get healthier, and have better relationships?” The answer is yes. Sort of. The promise in Human Design is different from other promises you’ve heard before. We are not all created the same.

Many of us are used to reading a vague horoscope based on our sun sign, “You may miss friends and family who live far away, Aries.” This is not to discredit astrology or demean its value. The difference with Human Design is that Human Design shows us that there are five energy types: the Manifestor, the Manifesting Generator, the Generator, the Projector, and the Reflector. 

Each energy type has a different way of creating and making decisions. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t all have the same potential for wealth, health, good relationships, and happiness. It’s just that we are each uniquely designed, and therefore our definitions of wealth, health, good relationships, and happiness will be different for each of us.

How Can Human Design Help Me?

Some of us are designed for and truly desire massive financial wealth; others feel fabulously wealthy when we have the freedom to spend time with our loved ones. Some of us dearly want to find fulfilling work; others don’t want to work at all. Some of us will be athletes; others will be intellectuals. Some of us are real go-getters by design; others will simply be at the right place at the right time, and magic will happen. All of these things are okay. They are simply variations on what it can mean to be “successful.”

While the traditional ways of creating success might work very well for some people, for some of us the rules simply don’t work. But society and our conditioning have a powerful hold over us, and we can often feel that our personal definitions of success are lazy, weak, silly, or even ridiculous by society’s standards. Continuing to follow this one path when it’s not working will only bring frustration, bitterness, burnout, and exhaustion.

Think about it—if we’re all different, a one-size-fits-all approach to creating a happy, successful life doesn’t make sense. All people are equally valuable and important. But each of us has our own energetic blueprint and individual style of operating successfully in life. What might work for one person won’t necessarily work for another.

The struggle to fit in and embrace society’s definition of what is “right” and “successful” is really just about energy. The way we feel about ourselves, the rules and values of society, and the way we react to life are all dictated by our own energy field and the bigger collective energy field. The Human Design chart is your personal electrical schematic. It shows you what kinds of energies are consistent for you and which energies you take in from the world around you.

When you know who you are and how your personal energy field operates, you discover your inner authority that helps you navigate your way through the collective energy field. You may discover that you are in agreement with certain beliefs and energies that society holds dear, but in other areas, you diverge from society’s expectations.

The current trends in personal growth information claim that if you’re not experiencing “wild success” by society’s definition, then it may be a result of subconscious beliefs, trauma, or problems with your “success” mindset. I don’t disagree; your beliefs, past experience, and attitude can influence your level of success. But often, what is really blocking us from creating the life we love is a fundamental misunderstanding of what is truly right for us.

Instead of allowing the life that’s right for us, we keep pounding away with different manifesting techniques and tools, trying to blast away those “limits” that might actually be keeping us from creating something that isn’t desirable in the first place.

This idea of letting go and allowing our life to take us where it may be scary at first. Most of us grow up without a strong realization of who we really are. Our energy fields are influenced by others around us, and we don’t always know what is our personal truth versus what we’ve been told to believe is Truth. We often lose touch with our authentic selves.

We worry that if we let our inner authority take control, maybe we are somehow doomed to be broke or lonely. We don’t trust our inner guidance, and we wrestle with the prospect of being in control of ourselves. If we’ve led a life that is “less than successful,” we may even be instilled with ideas that we are somehow not worthy of abundance or that we are screw-ups. Don’t worry. No one is doomed by design or energetically destined to suffer or screw up.

How To Get A Free Human Design Chart

Go get your free Human Design chart. Human Design charts have three basic parts: the body graph, the birth chart, and the keynotes. At the bottom of your chart, you will see a section called Keynotes, which is a short summary of the most important parts of your chart. The keynotes tell you

• • your type and your unique decision-making strategy,

• • your authority—whether you are spontaneous or whether you need time to make good choices—and

• • your emotional theme—which emotion you may find most challenging in your life. (Rest assured, if you live true to who you really are, you dramatically improve your experience of your emotional theme.)

The easiest way to begin benefiting from Human Design is to learn your type and follow the strategy for your type. The five types are known in two languages, Human Design and Quantum Human Design™ so we’ll list both names in some areas: the Initiator* or Manifestor, the Time Bender* or Manifesting Generator, the Alchemist* or Generator, the Orchestrator* or Projector, and the Calibrator* or Reflector.

Human Design Types  

Initiator or Manifestor

Spiritual Purpose: Translate Divine Inspiration into action.

Quantum Purpose: To initiate people into the frequency of transformation and creativity through direct access to the Quantum Pulse.

Emotional Theme: Anger.

Manifestors are here to get things started. They have unique bursts of intense energy that are followed by equally intense periods of rest. Manifestors intensity is felt by everyone around them and inspires change in the lives of those they come in contact with. 

Alchemist or Generator

Spiritual Purpose: Turn inspiration into form.

Quantum Purpose: To physically manifest creativity and express it through devotion.

 Emotional Theme: Frustration

At 35% of the population, Generators are here to get stuff done. Generators are here to respond to the needs of the world, and their seemingly endless energy is perfect for making real change. 

Time Bender or Manifesting Generator 

Spiritual Purpose: Turn inspiration into form.

Quantum Purpose: To physically manifest creativity and speed up the quantum process and linear time.

Emotional Theme: Frustration and Anger

If Generators are here to get stuff done, Manifesting Generators are here to get a little bit of everything done. Generators tend to be focused in one area, while Manifesting Generators are good at a little bit of everything. They are trailblazers and inspirational to those around them. 

Orchestrator or Projector 

Spiritual Purpose: Here to anchor the energetic template of what we are here to create, to align the energy of the world and heal the planet’s energy.

Quantum Purpose: To hold the energy template of what’s to come and clear the vibration of the collective consciousness.

Emotional Theme: Bitterness.

At 20% of the population, Projectors are here to guide the world. Projectors have a unique and intense gift of being able to truly see those around them and offer meaningful advice. 

Calibrator or Reflector 

Spiritual Purpose: To be the barometer of the alignment of humanity with Heart.

Quantum Purpose: To mirror to others the Human condition and Human potential.

Emotional Theme: Disappointment.

Representing less than 1 per cent of the population, the Reflector is the rarest of the Human Design types. The Reflector is a truly unique, unusually sensitive person who must be in the right place with the right people to experience true happiness. 

Human Design Authorities

There are five basic kinds of Authority:

Generated Authority (Sacral Authority)

Generated authority means that you have a defined Sacral Center and that there are no additional energies influencing your Sacral. Your Sacral is the only decision-making center in your chart, and your Sacral response in the moment is the correct authority for you at any given point in time.

Actualizing Authority (Splenic Authority)

Actualizing Authority means you are designed to know, in the moment, what feels right to you (or not). Having Actualizing Authority means that you can be spontaneous with your decisions. You don’t need time to contemplate or sit with decisions. You will know what is true for you immediately.

Creative Authority (Emotional Authority)

You are not designed to be spontaneous when you have Creative Authority. You need time to make decisions, and learning to wait for clarity is essential to help you avoid experiencing disappointment in your life’s choices.

Creative Authority can influence the way the Strategy for your Type works. The Strategy for your Type is still essential, but if you have Creative Authority, you have to check in with your Strategy and sense how you feel over time.

Orchestrated Authority (Self-Authority)

Orchestrated Authority is a catch-all phrase for a few different, less common Authorities. When you have a chart that says, Self-Projected Authority, No Authority, No Inner Authority, or Mental-Projected Authority, in this case, it means you need to talk through your choices to get clarity.

Resource Authority (Ego Authority)

Resource Authority means you have a defined Resource Center, and you don’t have Creative Authority.

Because the Resource Center is about having sustainable energy and resources (or not!), if you have Resource Authority, you won’t decide to do something unless you have the energy or the resources. It also can signal whether a choice is aligned with integrity or not.

The Science Behind Human Design

In 2015 a team of scientists discovered that neutrinos have mass. This particle is a key support of Human Design. Countless neutrinos flow through the planet every moment, and these particles animate all humans. Simply put, these neutrinos are a stream of information that passes to us at birth and connects us to the universe. 

How Can Human Design Improve My Life?

Human Design is a complex system filled with all kinds of details and information. It’s easy to be seduced by all the intricate elements of your chart and to miss the bigger message hidden in that amazing triangle.

While each piece of Human Design is fascinating, powerful, and intriguing, just like each one of you, the real beauty of the system lies in its simplicity. Be yourself. Follow your decision-making strategy according to your type, and you will not only discover who you truly are but you will be perfectly aligned with a life that is an authentic manifestation of your soul’s purpose in this incarnation. 

Strategies by Type:

The Manifestor’s (Initiator’s) Strategy: Inform

The Manifestor’s strategy is to inform others of their actions. A powerful Manifestor can soften the impact of their energy and harness it to serve themselves and others by taking note of all the people who will be impacted by their actions and then telling them what to expect.

The Generator’s (Alchemist’s) Strategies: Wait to Respond and Know Thyself

Generator’s primary motor is the Sacral Center, which does not have initiating energy. The Generator’s strategy is to wait to respond. The Generator will feel pressured to initiate and follow through, but in reality, their strength is on the follow-through only, not the initiation.

The key to keeping a Generator’s energy sustainable and breaking out of the conditioning field is to respond. The positive response of the Sacral turns it on and gives the Generator the fullest possible access to the Sacral energy.

Generators are the only type who can find clarity simply by responding to yes or no questions. If you are a Generator, ask someone you trust to sit down with you and ask you a series of yes or no questions about a situation you may be wrestling with. This will help you access your deep self-awareness in an easy and joyful way!

The Manifesting Generator’s (Time Benders) Strategies: Visualize and Inform

Manifesting Generators should try on ideas in their imagination first and visualize the outcome. Then, they must wait before taking action. Manifesting Generators must also inform like Manifestors in order to stabilize the energy around them. They can go so fast that informing feels as if it is slowing them down, but informing will decrease the resistance that they feel from others.

The Projector’s (Orchestrator’s) Strategy: Wait to Be Invited

Projectors can have the hardest time in life when they don’t understand their type and their strategy. The Projector’s strategy is to wait to be invited. Waiting for the Projector is about big invitations, such as love, career, and living conditions.

The Reflector’s (Calibrator’s) Strategy: Wait Twenty-Eight Days or a Lunar Cycle

Reflectors are lunar beings. The moon makes a complete cycle through each of the sixty-four gates every twenty-eight days. As the moon moves through the chart of a reflector, it brings with it consistent changes in definition. Because of these consistent changes, a Reflector can anticipate energetic and decisive days based on their lunar cycle. The Reflector’s strategy is to wait twenty-eight days (the cycle of the moon) to make a decision

Note: The names in brackets above are the Quantum Human Design (QHD) names for these Types. QHD helps us to reframe the ‘Not Self’ or conditioned self in Human Design to explore the potential of the deconditioned self and to live more in alignment with our inner truth.

There is a lot to learn and apply to your life with Human Design, but now you can answer the question: What is Human Design?

If this has inspired you to want to know more about how to live your Quantum Human Design, click here to visit our School.

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