What Human Design is
Human Design was described in 1987 by Ra Uru Hu (Alan Krakower). He combined several traditions in it: planetary positions from astrology, the 64 hexagrams of the Chinese Book of Changes (the I Ching), the Tree of Life from the Kabbalah and the idea of energy centres from the Indian chakra system.
The result is the bodygraph: a human silhouette with nine centres joined by channels. Some centres in your chart are coloured in (defined), others are white (open). The combination of defined centres sets your type, and your strategy and way of deciding follow from the type.
Human Design is an interpretive system, not a science. We offer it as a reason to observe yourself: how you spend your energy, what helps you decide, and why some situations come easily while others wear you out.
Start with your birth chart
We will calculate your Human Design bodygraph in your personal account after launch — it needs the same details: your birth date, exact time and place.
With those details you can get your birth chart for free right now. It holds the same planetary positions the bodygraph is built on — only read in the language of astrology.
The five Human Design types
Your type is the first thing a bodygraph tells you. It describes how your energy works in your interaction with the world and suggests a strategy — a simple rule that helps you act in tune with yourself.
- ≈ 9%
Manifestor
An initiator who can start without an outside push. Strategy: inform — tell the people around you what you intend before you act. It reduces resistance and clears the way.
- ≈ 37%
Generator
A source of sustainable energy for work they love. Strategy: respond — rather than inventing what to do, notice what sparks an inner “yes”. The sign of being on track is satisfaction.
- ≈ 33%
Manifesting Generator
A Generator with a Manifestor’s speed: multitasking, fast, prone to skipping steps. Strategy: respond, then inform others of the decision.
- ≈ 20%
Projector
A guide who sees people and systems clearly. Strategy: wait for the invitation in the big areas — work, relationships, moving. Then their advice is heard and valued.
- ≈ 1%
Reflector
The rarest type, with no defined centres: a mirror of its surroundings. Strategy: wait a lunar cycle, about 28 days, before big decisions.
The type shares are the ones given by the Human Design system itself.
Strategy and authority
If strategy answers “how do I enter things”, authority answers “how do I know a decision is mine”. It depends on which centres are defined in your bodygraph, and each person has one.
| Authority | How to make decisions |
|---|---|
| Emotional | Don’t decide at an emotional peak: wait for clarity by riding out the emotional wave |
| Sacral | Listen to the gut response — “uh-huh” or “uh-uh” — in the moment |
| Splenic | Trust the instant intuitive signal — it speaks once, and quietly |
| Ego | Ask yourself whether you really want this and are ready to commit |
| Self-projected | Talk the decision through out loud and hear what sounds like you |
| Mental (environmental) | Discuss with people you trust and notice where you feel right |
| Lunar | For Reflectors: watch the decision over a full lunar cycle |
Profile: 12 combinations of lines
A profile is two numbers, such as 3/5. They come from the lines of the Sun in the two calculations — the moment of birth and the moment of “design”. Each of the six lines is a role, and the pair describes how you learn and how others see you.
- 1
Investigator
Needs a solid foundation of knowledge
- 2
Hermit
A natural talent that needs solitude
- 3
Martyr
Learns by trial and error
- 4
Opportunist
Strength in relationships and network
- 5
Heretic
Expected to solve problems; a target of projection
- 6
Role Model
Lives through experience to become an example
| Profile | Lines | In short |
|---|---|---|
| 1/3 | Investigator — Martyr | Study the foundations first, then test them in practice. |
| 1/4 | Investigator — Opportunist | Deep knowledge, shared through a close circle. |
| 2/4 | Hermit — Opportunist | A natural talent that friends notice and call on. |
| 2/5 | Hermit — Heretic | You need solitude, yet people expect solutions from you. |
| 3/5 | Martyr — Heretic | Trial and error turns into practical answers for others. |
| 3/6 | Martyr — Role Model | A turbulent first half of life for the sake of wisdom in the second. |
| 4/6 | Opportunist — Role Model | Connections and friendship, and in time an example for others. |
| 4/1 | Opportunist — Investigator | A fixed path of your own, travelled through relationships. |
| 5/1 | Heretic — Investigator | Practical solutions backed by solid knowledge. |
| 5/2 | Heretic — Hermit | A talent people turn to in a crisis, plus a need for quiet. |
| 6/2 | Role Model — Hermit | An example to others, bringing out a natural gift. |
| 6/3 | Role Model — Martyr | Wisdom grown out of many experiments. |
Centres and channels
A bodygraph has nine centres. A defined centre is constant, reliable energy for you. An open centre is where you take in and amplify other people’s energy: a zone of sensitivity — and of wisdom.
Head
Inspiration and questions; pressure to figure things out
Ajna
Thinking, processing ideas, opinions
Throat
Speech and action, showing up in the world
G centre (Self)
Identity, love, direction
Heart (Ego)
Willpower, promises, self-worth
Sacral
Life force and work energy
Solar plexus
Emotions, feelings, the emotional wave
Spleen
Intuition, instinct, a sense of well-being
Root
Pressure and drive, stress and the impulse to act
The centres are joined by 36 channels, each made of two gates; there are 64 gates in all, one for each hexagram of the I Ching. A channel switches on when both its gates are defined, and then both centres at its ends become defined.
Why your exact birth time matters
Gates are 5.625° segments of the zodiac. The Moon crosses one in about 10 hours, and a line within a gate in under two hours. An error in your birth time can move the Moon into the next gate — and change your channels, type or profile.
If your time is known only to within half an hour, treat the result as approximate. If you have no time at all, it is better not to draw a bodygraph — unlike a birth chart, where a lot can be calculated without one.
Human Design and astrology
Human Design uses the same planetary positions as a birth chart, but twice. The first calculation is for the moment of birth (“personality”, black in the bodygraph). The second is for the moment the Sun was 88° earlier, about three months before birth (“design”, red).
Those positions are then translated not into signs and houses but into I Ching gates and the centre chart. So your birth chart and your bodygraph describe you in different languages — but from the very same moment.
Questions & answers
Yes. The Moon’s gate and the lines depend on the time, and with them the channels, type and profile. If your time is known only to within half an hour, keep that in mind: the result may be approximate.
The Human Design system gives these shares: Generators and Manifesting Generators together make up about 70% of people, Projectors about 20%, Manifestors about 9% and Reflectors about 1%.
No. It is an interpretive system. We offer it as a reason to observe how you make decisions and interact with people — not as the truth about you.
It uses the same planetary positions, but twice — at birth and about three months before — and translates them into I Ching gates and the centre chart rather than signs and houses.
The bodygraph will arrive in your personal account after launch, with a subscription or as a one-time purchase. With the same details you can calculate your birth chart for free right now.
Other systems
Each system looks at you from its own angle. Their insights add up and come together as one picture in your personal account.
