Human Design - features & flavours
exploring the HD / I Ching / Gene Keys landscape
Human Design is getting popular recently:
I will share:
a basic introduction to the elements make up human design
application of human design: particularly the “birth mandala” and it’s features
proliferation of human design: HD Flavors, Schools and Offshoots
I will not cover any interpretations of HD and related systems.
If you are new to HD this should help you cutting through the noise of everyone trying to sell you the tiniest of HD-bits 🍣🍣🍣 without ever providing big picture.
If you know HD the 3rd section will be the one with the goodies🎂.
human design - origin / mechanics / features
The original founder of human design / receiver of the knowledge - Ra Uru Hu had his transmission (encounter with the voice) on how to combine a series of ancient traditions / systems into the human design system - unifying and building upon:
Chinese I Ching
which combines yin/yan ☯ combinations into 64 hexagrams
䷀䷁䷂䷃䷄䷅䷆䷇䷈䷉
䷊䷋䷌䷍䷎䷏䷐䷑䷒䷓
䷔䷕䷖䷗䷘䷙䷚䷛䷜䷝
䷞䷟䷠䷡䷢䷣䷤䷥䷦䷧
䷨䷩䷪䷫䷬䷭䷮䷯䷰䷱
䷲䷳䷴䷵䷶䷷䷸䷹䷺䷻
䷼䷽䷾䷿ - it’s so relevant that they have their own unicode signs 😉
which are historically used for study, chinese philosophy, contemplation and divination
Ra published his own version of the I Ching - called the “Rave I Ching”
Astrology
“the voice” “told” Ra ( everything about HD which includes ) the way of using astrological ephemeris data to correlate them the hexagrams
thereby each planet can be “activates“ a hexagram:
activations for december: 2023-12-11
Hindu Chakra System
The astrological activations are used to activate centers in the so called HD mandala - which correlates to the hindu chakra system though HD uses 9 centers ( instead of the traditionally 7 )
Activations in the wheel (aka mandala) lead to activation for the centers hexagrams - there called gates ( which are addressed through the hexagram numbers 1 - 64)
Ancient Kabbalistic Sefirot
(which I do not know much about) but wikipedia gave me this:
from which HD adaptes the so called channels, connecting hexagrams / gates - thereby linking together the channels.
Human Design Usage
Application of Human Design spans:
🕒 moment in time charts
for events
birth charts 👶
the HD equivalent of a birth horoscope
📊 Advanced charts:
pairing charts 💑
overlaying 2 birth charts revealing some relationship insight
penta charts 🧑🏻🤝🧑🏼👪
3-5 people interacting - e.g. used for family constellations / team building
astrological weather charts 🌦:
overlaying a “moment in time” chart with a “birth chart”
Animal charts 🐶, sleep charts (“dream rave“) 💤
🌌a full cosmology
which includes the reasoning why the system works the way it does
🔮a fair bit of prophecy (“human design 2027”)
… (the is more)
Most prominent usage is probably the birth charts.
Birth Chart Composition
Based the described mechanics a birth HD mandala is created:
For such a mandala the precise UTC birth date & time is required - ideally down to the minute. Based on that time 2 moment in time snapshots are combined:
the birth time
the 🔵 colored lines and corresponding numbers on the right
the place of birth does not play a role
the time where the sun is 88° offset (that’s ~ 88 days before birth)
the 🟢 colored lines and and corresponding numbers on the left
Based on that chart the following (and more) aspects flow into a so called HD birth chart interpretation (often called reading):
64 Gates - themes / traits / characteristics
21 Channels - a bit like special characteristics
Gate lines 1 - 6 (per gate)
based on the exact time each gate is is subdivided according the general hexagram structure into it’s 6 hexagram lines - a planet will not only activate a gate but “highlight“ a specific line
in the image above the sun is activating gate 43 in Line 2
line substructure
based on the exact time an even finer scale is applied - the so called color, tone, and base activations further detail activations
not visible on the above chart as it is a advanced signal
the 13 planets
sun, earth, north & south node and the usuals
no ascendant/ descendant is used and traditionally also no chiron
🔵natal vs 🟢prenatal (-88 days represent called the 🔵personality side vs the 🟢design side
Based on the established HD chart features there are more derived composite features:
5 Types - generator, manifestor, projector, reflector(, manifesting generator)
based on certain center and channel activations
192 Incarnation Crosses
based on: design/personality sun / earth gate & line
12 Profiles
based on design/personality sun lines
your so called “authority“
based on your center activations
so called “variable“
based on substructure of design/personality sun and north nodes
notions of leftness and rightness and fixedness
based on profiles
openness vs definition
based on gate and center activation
Flavors, Schools and Offshoots
The influence of Ra can not be overstated! In over 30 years Ra established quite a legacy. 🤯
After his death the popularity has grown further for sure thanks to a widening adoption of which I have attempted to create a little map:
This map is obviously both incomplete, biased and very reductionistic but anyway understands my best grasp as of 2023.
New schools might muddle the waters, some might even give HD a bad rep - but I hope that eventually the spirit of enrichment will prevail. I personally am far from settled in a particular flavor.
(classic) Human Design
Jovian Archive and the International Human Design School need no introduction
Richard Beaumont: youtube and human.design ♡
Everybody in HD seems to thank Ra while criticizing him often through the lens of his how birth chart
that he’d overemphasize shadow / negative aspectcs in his teaching.
had certain blind spots and biases and/or hidden motivations
Ra also said a bunch of very wild stuff as part of his 2027 prophecy that does not seem to be adopted / believed so widely
Personally, I find it refreshing that Ra was not some paragon of virtue, rather quite a freak. It demands from whoever explores HD, to remain attentive, critical yet open minded. On that note I like that Ra coined the term “HD experiment“ - an approach that IMO the next system really takes to the next level:
Gene Keys
The Gene Keys - the relation to HD is presented here. They are so popular for all the right reasons and really need no introduction. A less brainy more contemplative sister system of HD.
What won me over to was Richard Rudd (GK creator) confessing that he would have the 65th gene key ready to go - illustrating once more the deeply playful and ever curious gift that GK is to HD. Ra also had a lot of humor but it seems to rub off less on his students.
I find GK a great tool / path to learn about yourself rather than other people.
I recommend their programs, audios and their clubhouse.
Integral Human Design
Laura & Werner Pitzal being practicing Psychotherapists have synthesized HD together with the Gene Keys, the Integral Approach (from Ken Wilber) and Neuroscience.
I love their keynotes - which are also available via the Gene Keys living library. Their webinar series is priced generously (have not purchased yet). I can recommend their reports as well - compact shadow, gift, shiddi charts - novel, no fuzz.
64 keys
They have taken HD into the business world and carefully revised not the message but the medium, introducing less exotic terminology and creating a HD school had feels very grounded and trustworthy.
64keys app- which I use and love
64keys.net - their free Blue I Ching is a must have - e.g. giving bridge gate themes for each gate
Zen Human Design
The original thing. original simple. useful
“Zen” because of co-founder: Zeno
They might be the first HD school to break off - in their case to preserve the original teaching of Ra - even with him disapproving.
https://humandesignsystem.com
Their have an wide offering of material and services.
I have used their free “The Human Design System Synthesis Index“ as foundation for my own calculations. 🤗
Steve Rhodes Baantu
He wrote “The Prophecy of Ra Uru Hu” which I really enjoyed and has created baantu.com which is quite cryptic if you have not purchased “The God Code: We Are Robots!” - lucky Jonah Sage Dempcy who seems to cover everything HD has taken a deeper look making Rhodes unique approach to the line substructure approachable.
As much as I dislike the title of the last book I am happy that there are people out there committing to their own research and make the fruit of that labor available.
Cosmic Human Design
Just as with in astrology there is tropical vs sidereal astrological calculations. @CosmicHumanDesign allows you to see your true sidereal HD chart - controversial👻.
Quantum Human Design
What is quantum human design. I listen to Evelyn Levenson “Becoming an empowered projector” and did enjoy it for the most part - sometimes I get spooked by too much bliss and possibilities. I have not taken a closer look at their keynotes but find those always enriching.
Noble Sciences
I have not managed to obtain a chart from them 🤷 but was curious to learn about their HD-tarot connection 👀 as well as the quite bold 8-moments-in-time method to create their unique charts.
@theshadowkeysproject
Including this because he combines the gene keys with the enneagram which I find fascinating.
<insert new flavor> I Ching / Astrology
Since HD is strongly based on the I Ching any new versions might be enriching your own contemplation of the hexagrams. Here a few versions (i have not read any so far).
Same applies for Astrology - placing chiron, black holes and the ISS on a chart. 😉
Go contemplate(,) yourself
In HD and the related systems you will not get around making sense through what HD calls “your own authority“ - don’t be 🐑 - journal, think, play.
As a final inspiration of this important and rare trait I want to feature:
Thanks for making it all the way through 🙏 - this was quite the big 🐇.
I work on some HD related product 🛠️🚀 which is still in the oven. The above charts are a preview.
Cheers 🥂🙏
David
Feedback / additions / comments are is welcome. 🗨💬