Human Design is a logical system that provides us with our energetic roadmap. It is a system based on energetic layers that coordinate with astronomical placements and the Chinese I’Ching, or The Book of Changes. According to the I’Ching, there are 64 hexagrams (or Gates) that contain energetic functions. These functions are given to us within 2 parts, our Conscious and Unconscious selves.

Within the Body Graph chart, you’ll notice black and red columns that are associated with the black and red lines on the body graph. The black column represents the astronomical placements that occurred at the time of your birth. These are the Conscious qualities that are most known to us and create our personalities. The red column represents the astronomical placements that occurred when the Sun was 88 degrees away from your birth time. These represent our Unconscious qualities, which are less known to us, but noticed more by others. These Unconscious traits make up our body design.

These placements together create flows of energy that combine to create the unique human we are. The conscious and unconscious placements activate Gates on the Body graph. Any Gate that is colored in represents a trait that is always present with you. The Gates combined together form Channels, which are a consistent exchange of 2 energetic traits. Having a Channel creates a sense of completeness in that energy, and when we only have one Gate within the Channel, or a “hanging” Gate, we are drawn to other energies that complete the Channel. The Channels connect to a total of 9 Centers which have importance within our awareness and functional states.

The Centers that are colored represent further functions that we have consistent access to within our bodies. Being alone and out of others’ energies is the best way to understand your unique energy. When around others, we receive energetic transfers that can bring us out of our natural state. Conditioning occurs when we start to embody traits that are not present in our body graph. This occurs in the white gate areas and white center areas of the graph. The areas that are white are also important because they represent energies that can condition us away from our true design. Any time we act against ourselves, it is from a place of conditioning that occurs through any form of relationship.

Human Design is very complex. It represents a layering of energies that creates us. It provides us with logical clarity that our qualities are normal and intentional. We should not be ashamed of who we are but embrace it. No design is better or worse than the other because we were are all created to embody specific gifts from the universe.