Shantamo Kamstra

The fixed personality Profile

Shantamo Kamstra · September 12, 2017 ·

Here we look at the Chart of a Fixed Personality Profile, a rare happening in the world of Human Design. Profiles describe the way we see ourselves and the world around us, which determines how we relate to the world.

There are twelve Personality Profiles. Most of them are primarily self-oriented, while for a minority the other comes first. Fixed Profile people are in the middle between these two.

While in Astrology the sun moves through twelve signs, in Human Design it goes through the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese wisdom system. Each Hexagram represents an area of life; in a Human Design Chart you will find it as a Gate. These are the small numbers, from one to 64, in the squares and triangles in your Chart. You can see them in the Chart image below.

Example of the correspondence between Zodiac sign and Gates — Example of the correspondence between Zodiac signs and Gates. Sagittarius matches the Human Design Gates between 10 and 14.

Fixed Profiles are the first in a new Hexagram; in them the essence of that particular life experience shines through. I will not tire you here with the mathematical reason why they are so rare; however, I will say that their unique position gives their personality unique characteristics. To know these is good both for them and for the people sharing their life.

Punya Kaufeler, editor of the Oshonews website, was willing to let her Chart be an example. Here it is:

Human Design Chart of Punya Kaufeler — Punya Kaufeler’s Chart

The Fixed Profile is indicated by the superscript on the first line of the two columns: 4/1.
Punya’s incarnation theme is that of the Driver. She needs to find her own personal truth in life and, relying on that inner knowing, points the way to others. The knowing is purely individual, she cannot back it up with scientific data or other collective knowledge. Moreover, she is being driven as well: by a need to make some kind of change in the world.

So I see two hinge points in this Chart: the urge to find one’s own truth and then the challenge to share it. Being a Projector, finding the right environment to share her insights is essential. With a receptive audience, she can express her innate wisdom and receive the recognition that she as a Projector needs. The many activations in Punya’s Throat and the position of Mercury in the Channel of the Thinker give her various avenues of expression.

Her voice is one of leadership ‘I point the way; it is up to you if you want to follow’. It is not Punya’s job to make others follow her lead, in fact, that may well turn out to be a tiring business for her. It is helpful to stay in contact with the ‘small still voice’ of the Self, her Authority in Human Design, to make sure that her leadership remains in tune with her inner truth. When she gets out of touch with her Authority, some moodiness or dogmatism may color her voice. Punya has the Line of ‘the Artist Alone’, meaning it is helpful to retreat and feel herself part of the creative flow of the universe. It is possible that she receives guidance (which she will tend to conceal) and also that she creates some work of art in these times of retreat.

Fixed Profiles have both a strength and a fragility. Their strength is they are ‘hard-coded’ to their destiny, their Incarnation Theme. Deep inside they know what they are here for and how to do it. Also, they will share this determined knowing with a sweet heartfulness. In the face of strong opposition or misunderstanding they can be ‘broken’. They start doubting themselves and can retreat from the world, withholding their gifts.

Human Design is often a turning point for these people. It brings a new understanding of who they are and a recognition of their uniqueness. Of course, Human Design can be a turning point for everyone. Because all our designs are as unique as we are ourselves.

Nelson Mandela

Shantamo Kamstra · May 7, 2015 ·

Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, a village not in the Human Design software but close enough to Durban to give a reliable Chart. So I’ve used Durban as his birthplace.

Of the five Types in Human Design, Nelson Mandela is a Projector, a Type with the potential to direct the energies of the ones around him, provided he is invited to do so and feels that his qualities are recognized. Projectors have the ability – and the need – to stand back from the general goings-on, sense where the collective energy needs to move and then offer their guidance and, in the case of Nelson Mandela, also inspiration.

Nelson Mandela's Human Design Chart — Nelson Mandela’s Human Design Chart

He has the Channel of Logical Leadership (7-31), with the Sun, which represents 70% of our energy, in Gate 62, giving him the capacity to look far ahead and envision and communicate in a logical way the steps needed to reach a future that will be bright for all. When he steps into leadership, the strong placement of Jupiter and unconscious Pluto in the Gate of Humanity (15) encourage him to do so with humility and in service of his highest ideals.

The question of integrity in leadership – and in a deeper sense: what being a leader really means – must have accompanied him throughout his life. With his 5/1 Profile, others will have expected him to lead, whereas in his interior life he may have harbored doubts if he was the right person to implement the new values he sensed coming from his being. His purpose in life, described by his incarnation theme of Obscuration, is to bring in new values in a way that is only later recognized by the general public. Inner reflection could give him confidence, clarity and realignment with his own inspiration. He needed these to take on the role of the leader and hold up the banner of inspiration. It is quite possible that he had a secret way to access his guiding Spirit.

In the first half of his life, until 1961, I would say that Nelson Mandela was learning to find his inner resources; that which he could rely on in the face of changing circumstances. Once he found them, they were like a rock-solid foundation, enabling him to be the role model of integrity and unification that he was.

When he was elected president in 1994, Saturn had a chance to test him: Will you use your power primarily for your own benefit? Or can you apply the Mana you now have to empower and teach others by giving them the highest example, and then retreat from your position when the time is right? I think history makes it clear that Nelson Mandela passed that test gloriously.

Live footage from a 1980s concert against Apartheid

Vladimir Putin’s Human Design Chart

Shantamo Kamstra · April 15, 2014 ·

“If I do something, I try to see it through to its completion, or at least try to ensure that it brings the maximum result.” – Vladimir Putin

Russia’s takeover of the Crimea peninsula has been in the headlines these days. It sparked my interest in the man responsible for the move, President Vladimir Putin. In the western media he is portrayed as a man who clings to power, holds back progress and represses the Russian people. He seems to reign like a 19th century czar and to act on the world’s political stage in an old-fashioned, imperialist way. Domestically, he has taken control of the media, creating a personality cult around him and silencing his opponents.There may well be a collective mechanism at play here that follows an ancient and convenient mental-emotional pattern: ‘when he is bad, it automatically follows that we are good’. Our own values are confirmed without the need to question them.

Human Design looks more at a person ‘from the inside out’ – so what do we see?

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born Oct 7, 1952 at 9:30 AM. The birth time is not 100% confirmed; running different times of birth through the software, combined with observation of his life, give this Chart a good probability of describing the actual Putin.
So if have your (or a loved one’s) birth day but not the exact hour, it is usually still possible to make a relevant Human Design Chart and Reading. When this is your situation, please contact me.

Putin's Human Design Chart — Vladimir Putin’s Human Design Chart

Vladimir Putin has an interpersonal Profile, meaning that ,the other’ comes first, and after that his personal life. The people around him notice this and expect leadership from him. In their youth it is vital for an interpersonal Profile to receive guidance or tutorship, so that their ‘personal’ side can find a foundation in life. In Putin’s case, a teacher saw his potential and gave him extra attention.

Putin as a child — Picture: Kremlin.ru / CC BY

“It became clear that street smarts were not enough, so I began doing sports. But even that was not enough for maintaining my status, so to speak, for very long. I realized that I also needed to study well.”

These words show one of the fundamental character traits Putin has: the need for outside confirmation. How he is being seen is all-important to him. Finding access to their inner life, and even more sharing it, is probably the biggest challenge for his type of Profile. Without this access, however, there remains a nagging doubt: who am I really? And closely connected with that: Can I really be loved? Facing this doubt and expressing it opens the possibility to receive others’ love and love oneself too.

So we see a natural and capable leader with a strong tendency to focus on outside recognition. His sensitive inner side may not be known to many, if anyone at all.
In this respect it is interesting to look at Putin’s connection with animals.

Putin swims with dolphins

He has Gate 49, one of the trans-species Gates in Human Design, doubly activated. This Gate has to do with breeding. Animals feel it and will naturally gravitate to him. Of course, Putin uses this to manipulate his public image. I see also another dimension: there is a genuine liking between Putin and the animals. It gives him a chance to show that he can love and is being loved.
Sacrificing animals (giving up what you value for a higher purpose) belongs to Gate 49 as well, and Putin has his Earth in Gate 21, the Hunter. Pictures of him walking around bare-chested with a gun and displaying his prizes abound on the internet.

Mr. Putin is guided by intuition, the kind that animals have: the natural instinct to know how best to survive. He is able to adapt to changing situations while holding in view a long-term vision. He appears to be driven by a half-conscious urge to solve his country’s problems. In secret he may ask himself questions like: ‘What does it mean to serve with integrity as a leader?’ and ‘Are my intentions welcomed by the outside world?’. I suspect a genuine desire to serve his country and make it safe and great once again. When his initiatives are not being welcomed he may revert to an angry kind of cynicism and for a while lose his intuitive ability of appropriately responding to the actual situation. The temptation is to be seen as a man of integrity rather than be one, which would almost certainly put his political survival at risk. So his wish to serve as a leader shows in coming up with great ideas for the welfare of his people (and the corresponding photo-ops), rather than actually risking change. Still, he was called to power in a time of transition and guides Russia through this period since many years. Quite an achievement, whatever you may think of his way of doing it. His recent annexation of the Crimea is a move based on intuition and supported by clever calculation, which outsmarted the Western leaders. In my view, the latter are not ready to admit how embarrassed they really are.

Vladimir Putin has an inner need to retreat and find peace in nature, away from life’s preoccupations. Staying true to his strategy, he brings this aspect of him also into the public domain. I wonder if he can give himself what he is really looking for. The thought of spending time in a quiet, natural environment, perhaps in a religious context, may sometimes occur to him. I wish for him that he once allows himself to honor this aspect of his being.