Understanding Human Design

Make a new beginning with this Spring Ritual

Shantamo · March 20, 2023 ·

Introduction

It’s clear that the world is going through huge changes. Richard Rudd, founder of the Gene Keys, says that what is happening here on earth is not separate, but that it is part of an evolutionary shift in the texture of the universe. We are in that shift just like everything else, and it will take its course regardless of what we do.

This means no one is to blame, yet it also becomes clear that the institutions we have created over the centuries – our political, economic, cultural and religious systems – are unable to find adequate responses to the tide of change. This is a time where the focus is on the individual, and possibly on new networks forming between individuals who feel drawn to collaborate and co-create.

The spring equinox

This year, the spring equinox (I’ll focus on the northern hemisphere here) falls on the 20^th of March for the Americas and Europe, and on the 21^st for countries further east. It is followed by a new moon the next day. In astrology, the spring equinox is when the sun moves from the sign of Pisces to Aries, initiating a new cycle in the Zodiac. The new moon is in Aries too, which amplifies the possibilities for a fresh start.

The Chart

The Human Design Chart for this spring equinox displays all the ingredients for an initiation. This is a time when we as individuals can shift into a new level of experiencing our inner potential, and develop a deeper understanding of our place and purpose in the world.

For those who have studied Human Design, here is the Chart. Otherwise, just read on below.

Make a new beginning with this Spring Ritual

The energies in play

You can see the Sun in Gate/ Gene Key 25, Innocence. This is innocence of the heart, from where love flows naturally. Mercury is in the same Gate, in the 6^th Line. This gives power to our thoughts. Mercury here wants to figure things out, to bring logic to the heart, which easily leads to misunderstandings.

Because the Sun is empowered in its 2^nd Line, it can preserve the love flow by keeping the energy focused in the Now. When you do the ritual, bring yourself back into the present whenever you notice that your mind takes you somewhere else. I’ll tell you how to do that.

Jupiter is pooling its considerable influence with Sun and Mercury through the Human Design Channel of Initiation. Through sudden upsets, this Channel propels us from worn-out associations into a fresh experience of ourselves. Here you can think of attachments to people, or also to your ideas what love is, how it should look when you love yourself or someone else.

In the preceding days, from March 14-18, we have seen Venus and Pluto join forces in the Channel of Mutation. Something new wants to get born in our hearts, old compromises for the sake of internal or external harmony will no longer do.

The momentum of this time of initiation is directed towards relating, within ourselves and with others. The central question is: how do I experience love and how do I share it? You can also use the planetary energies to cleanse your heart of past burdens. In essence, love is an inner journey, that then finds its way into the outer reality.

Additional elements

Here are some more ingredients that contribute to the planetary brew:

Venus and the North Node are in Gate 27, Line 3 : recognizing who and what is nourishing in any situation. Find the right people to be with.
Moon and Mars activate the Channel of Innovative Interaction. The heart wants to move where no one has gone before, while the Moon provides enchantment and charm. Use the ritual to give yourself some moments of slowdown, after which it could be interesting to move outward, into the world and into relating
Saturn in Gate 55, Line 2, reminds us to stay with our own innocent journeys of discovery, even amidst the suspicions of others (‘you can’t really do that’)

The ritual

This practice is about experiencing love in your body. You will need a connection with nature. The best is to go out in nature. If that is not possible for you, bring some natural object that has meaning for you into your house.

As a preparation, find a quiet moment and ask yourself ‘What limits the expansion of my heart?’ Give yourself space and time to receive answers. When fear comes up, accept it. You can even welcome it, just keep inquiring. Fears can also take the form of doubts, like your mind asking what’s the point, and so on. When you feel complete, take some notes, or make a drawing. Something to give form to what you have discovered.

The practice

Next comes grounding. Ask yourself what you need for that. I suggest that you go out in nature and plant your feet firmly on the ground. You could move slower than usual, or take a path where you usually do not go. Give yourself a jolt, or shake yourself, whenever the mind distracts you. The idea is to be as present as you can be.

It is spring, the time when nature brings the new, that has been growing since its inception on or after the winter solstice, into full manifestation. New beginnings are easy to find, even if in some regions they may still be small. Let these new beginnings come to you. Let them catch your eye, or caress your nostrils. Perhaps you hear a bird call that strikes you.

Now stop, and allow one or more of these impressions to enter your heart and widen it. Just like before with the constrictions, now give the expansion space and time. Keep your mind in the background, shake a bit or feel your feet on the earth when you lose presence. A deep breath also can help. When the expansion has taken root in your body, you can bring a limiting pattern into it. See what happens in your inner world. Most probably you notice a change; if not, that is fine too. Accepting constriction is the key. The softening of it may come next time.

Tips

This process is so simple is it easy to miss it. Give it a chance, it can be quite profound. A good thing is that you can repeat it whenever you want.

You can also do this together with someone you feel in tune with. I would advise you then not to use words, or let the energy dissipate through an old pattern of relating. Be open to the reality of the moment, let the magic happen

A flowering tree in a green spring landscape

Gate 30: How desire brings things into being

Shantamo · February 1, 2023 ·

Strong stuff at the bottom of a Chart

In January and February of this year Saturn traverses Gate 30. From Jan 22-27 Saturn activated Channel 30-41 with the Sun, with Venus becoming part of it too. From 13-18 Feb we see Sun and Saturn both in Gate 30, with Mercury in Gate 41 to activate the same Channel. I find it a good reason to have a deeper look at this Gate and Channel, which is the conduit for how desire brings things into being.

The Human Design name of Gate 30 is desire, while its Gene Key frequencies are Desire, Lightness, and Rapture. Desire is the emotional driven energy of consciousness that wants to return home. For whatever mysterious reason. Christians call it sin, while in the east Hindus have called it Leela, God’s play or the divine play. In the act of creation, consciousness has separated from itself, and here it is in the form and wanting to return, wanting to become one again. In Gate 30 the collective evolution uses us individuals as an instrument for this grand design.

Channel of Recognition

Now, in Human Design on the other side of Channel 30-41 is Gate 41. Its Gene Key frequencies are Fantasy, Anticipation and Emanation. Here we find the invitation from the Earth to realize something, to bring it to the material plane. The name of this Channel is Recognition. It’s like the desire wants also to take form. The ancient Chinese name for Gate 30 is the clinging fire. Desire is seen as the clinging fire. This happens when the mind takes hold of this energy, and rides it, and attaches it to a certain object or person. The mind wants the desire to be fulfilled. This brings anxiety: shall I make it, or will I fail? Even if the desire is fulfilled, another one will take its place, and the mechanism restarts.

The dilemma of desire

Essentially this is consciousness that wants to return to its source, while at the same time it attaches itself to outer objects. The energy of desire moves us all, without exception. It is an intrinsic part of the play of life. Denying it is to say no to our own life force. Saying yes to it takes us away from ourselves. How to resolve this dilemma?

On the one hand, this is existence working through us to complete its cosmic motion. On the other hand, desire is an outer manifestation of something inner. This is where the Gene Keys gift frequency of Lightness comes in, which says: ‘Yes we know that it is an inner move, and at the same time it will be reflected in the outer.’

Desire is to be honored. It’s a beautiful energy. But now we are not attached to the result. We know the result is not really what makes us happy. What makes us happy is to be aware of the energy that is stirred up through the desire. This energy, in its wish to fulfill something, is like a fire, and when there is no object left it will merge with the light which it is longing for. Even when that’s a bit mystical, it fits in the context, right?

Pushing against Saturn

So that is the energy here. With Saturn, if you push the desire too much, or if you limit yourself and if you don’t honor the pure fire, Saturn’s going to do something. Saturn is the Guardian of the threshold in the ancient astrologers’ language. The threshold of the inner world. At the end of the way is the door to the inner world. So, if you don’t recognize that, you’ll get attached to the object of the desire. Even if it’s a noble desire, like I want to put a meditation center together so people can come and find themselves. Or I want a tantric love affair. Or even if I want to have several million dollars to do good works. Or just for myself. And when you push it and push it, Saturn will stop you.

If you push, you may find, with Saturn and Sun in the same Gate, that suddenly there’s an obstacle. And if you try to push through that obstacle, you may stumble and fall on your face. That is what literally happened to me. Don’t blame the obstacle. Don’t even blame Saturn. He’s just teaching a lesson here. With Lightness we can live out the desire-energy while remaining playful about it.

Giving yourself to rapture

At the highest frequency you find Rapture and that is the Siddhi of Gate 30, when the desire courses through you. And you are not in the way, it’s just the desire of existence itself. Then you are in the state of rapture. You let yourself just be taken and that desire will find its flow and will find its way into realization as it wants to happen. This is also how it reconnects to the Siddhi of the 41, Emanation. These are things that want to come out of the void and into this existence, and the rapture of desire is the instrument. In this state, there is also an understanding that the object is not separate from the inner anyway. It is all a manifestation of consciousness. Perhaps the Hindu concept of divine play hits the mark here.

Explore the transits of September 2022

Shantamo · August 29, 2022 ·

In September all big planets are retrograde. They are like actors standing against the light. A good time to look at our role in the society, and at the feelings and thought patterns the global situation brings up.

A Time for Intimacy

On the fifth Venus enters in the sign of Virgo, in the Gene Keys this position corresponds to Gate 59, Intimacy. The New Moon on August 27 introduced this theme, which will be with us until the Full Moon on Sept 10. Whatever comes up in our relationships asks for our attention now. When we can look honestly at our own contribution to the situation and take full responsibility for it, Venus generously rewards us.

Mercury retrograde

On Sept 10 Mercury goes retrograde, until Oct 2^nd. Since this is a personal planet, we feel the effects directly in our life. Make sure to communicate clearly, double-check business deals, exercise patience with malfunctioning devices (and blabbering people).

The Dilemma of Judgment

A side effect of the retrograde movement is that Mercury is most of the month in Gene Key 18, with its keynotes of Judgment, Integrity, Perfection. In this Gene Key, we collectively use mental energy to judge ourselves and others. Nothing is ever good enough. The potential of the Gift of Integrity is to heal our mind from these patterns, which have developed as reactions to emotional wounds in the past.

When we can look at our judgments objectively, we discover that they are not personal. They are like bumps, or creases in the mental field, of which we are a contributing and receiving part. Our thoughts are not our own, they vibrate on the mental plane, constantly interacting there with a collective in space and time. What we heal in ourselves contributes to the healing of the field, thereby loosening the identification with judgment for everybody. The essential quality of Perfection arrives when all judgment has fallen away. Those who live within this quality wish that everyone can experience the same. Even if their own work is over, they stay around to support others. This Gene Key is connected to the tradition of the Bodhisattvas.

Power of Imagination

From Sept 10 to 22, Mars and Neptune activate Human Design Channel 35-36, Transitoriness. Be prepared for a rich and varies bouquet of experiences, with a common thread of the power of imagination to lighten up times of crisis. That comes from Neptune in Gate 36, whereas it serves Mars well to move forward gently. These are treacherous waters to cross.

The Channel of Money

The last ten days of the month bring gentler energies. On the 23^rd, the autumn equinox, make sure you are in a place and with people that feel right to you. On this day Mars changes Gate and activates the Channel of Money with Chiron. Now there is a beneficial influence to advance your material circumstances. Be clear about your boundaries, so that Mars’ energy does not feel held back or used. Then your initiatives are not only good for you, but can also benefit other people. Because the deeper purpose of this Channel is to create prosperous communities, you will feel fulfilled when that happens. The material flow may also increase, especially when Earth joins this Channel in the first week of October.

How best to live with less

Shantamo · June 28, 2022 ·

‘Less is more’ sounds kind of cool and New-Agey. But how is it to actually experience it in one’s own life?
For many of us living with less is becoming a reality. In response, I have found a way I can offer you more for less.

First the transits for July. After that we will look at how to best to live with less, including my contribution.

The two main energies this month are pressure and limitation.

Pressure

From July 1-12 the Sun goes through Gates in the Root Center. In the 2^nd week Mercury joins, and from the 21^st onward Venus traverses the same Gates. The Root gives the drive to do, to move, to love NOW. Do we have the space for that, or do we face constraints?

Limitation

Pluto sits firmly in Gate 60. The Gene Keys frequency bands here are Limitation, Realism, and Justice. This is divine justice, the flow of the Tao. On its journey into matter, the Tao encounters limitations. Seen from the essence, everything is as it should be. Even if it is resistant, matter finally flows with change. Understanding this brings the Gift of Realism. We get access to the hidden magic of reality and can bring it into our life.

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The main energies of pressure and limitation meet right away in Channel 3-60, with Mars and Pluto, from July 1 to 7. It’s called Mutation, and its deeper function is the organic renewal of structures. Gate 3, Beginnings, pushes against the Limitation of Gate 60 until it gives way. Then something in the structure of reality changes.

Pluto almost always remains in Gate (or Gene Key) 60 from the beginning of this year until Jan 2025. In this time, we can expect many limitations. Our financial freedom may be restricted, or we cannot live where we wish to (wars, refugees, immigration laws) or go wherever we want (lockdowns). On the longer term, Pluto prepares us for Gate 41, the start Codon in Human Design from where things come into being, and the developments that will come afterward.

Watch the video for more perspectives on the role of Pluto in the coming years and how you can use the New and Full Moon in July to your benefit

Ra Uru Hu has made a prophecy that humanity has entered into a Great Change of our collective consciousness and the way we live together. In my understanding Pluto is a major catalyst for this process.

The frequency levels of Gene Key 60 are Limitation, Realism, and Justice. This is divine justice, or the Tao in its flow. On its journey into matter, the Tao encounters limitations. Seen from the essence, everything is as it should be. Even if it seems fairly inert, matter finally flows with change. Understanding this opens you to the Gift of Realism. You can kind of look under the hood of what we call reality. You stop fighting with what you previously saw as limitations because you see that they are just the possibility that happens to actual right now.

Gate 60 is also involved with the question whether our human laws and structures reflect the divine order, which by nature expresses as a flow. That means that our human-created structures need to be adapted from time to time in order to remain relevant.

Consciousness cannot be stopped, even if those forces that want to hold on to old structures would start a nuclear war, or subject the world to a technologically controlled, ever-tightening set of restrictions. And, as far as I can see, the new generations are aligned to the new consciousness. The old ways no longer make sense to them. If you are young, take heart, trust in what you feel deep inside and go on living and sharing it. You have the future on your side.

Earth and Pluto

From July 19 to 24, Earth joins Pluto in Gate 60 and moves each day through one of its six Lines. It’s like a quick overview of the energies that Pluto will provoke the next years. The Lines also describe our responses to the perception of being limited. For instance, the first Line is about accepting restraints gracefully, whereas the third Line tends to deny any limits and goes ahead anyway. And then pays the price. It’s its way to learn the value of timely self-restraint versus self-indulgence.

If you have these Gates or Lines in your Chart, take a good look. These are good opportunities for learning, and making your life easier as a positive side-effect. If you want some support, book a session with me. Now for a special, friendly summer price.

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Uranus

Since April, Uranus stations in Gate 2, Receptivity, and will stay there for the remainder of this year. From July 25 to Aug 2, Mars traverses the same Gate. Neither of these planets is really at ease with being receptive.

They want to act or speak instantly, rather than wait and yield to some Higher Self. Until July 30, the desire to move and express is reinforced by positions of Sun, Mercury and Venus. If you can, insert a pause before moving outwards. Take a deep breath, become aware of your surroundings and inner climate. Right action arises out of it.

Did you feel kind of mental the last months?

That’s understandable. The Moon Nodes have been in Channel 23-43, which (sometimes obsessively) aims to bring insights from the mind into words and concepts. On the last day of the month the Nodes move into Gates 2 and 1, highlighting the potential of the individual to be a conduit for pure creativity.

Peace on the horizon?

From July 31^st into August, Earth in Gate 19 activates the Channel of Sensitivity with Saturn in Gate 49, 5^th Line. Opposing parties may find the opportunity to sacrifice (which is the Siddhi of Gene Key 19) some of their fixed standpoints to come together to find common ground.

We all share the same DNA, with minor variations. It makes me sad that we still seem to need wars to resolve our differences.

Living well with Less

Unlimited Supply

Perhaps good to remember that the supply of mindfulness, or consciousness, is unlimited. And this stuff satisfies in the moment you apply it. This is not against exploring the outer world, which is part of living on this beautiful, interesting planet. It’s about how you go about it: trying to fill up an inner void, or engaging with each situation as it unfolds, without insisting on a fixed outcome.

The Summer Special

The current situation made me wonder: how I could offer more for less. So that my work remains accessible for many people. Here’s my solution. I call it the Summer Special. Look at it here

Is the Channel of Charisma a Tantric Overachiever?

Shantamo · September 2, 2021 ·

The Channel of Charisma (or Being Busy) : 20-34

This is the only direct connection, or ‘direct flight’, between the life energy of the Generator center and the manifesting capabilities of the Throat center. Of the six next-closest connections – so to say with one stopover in another center – three go through the Self center, which gives us our sense of purpose and direction, our place in the greater whole. They all involve a stage of transformation of the life energy before it can be manifested. That manifestation then has an element of guidance, of sharing with others. The other three include the Emotional and Spleen centers, which is a story in itself.

Manifesting

Not so the 20-34; it is pure life energy expressing itself. It does not think, it does not tune in, it does not consider others. It finds fulfillment in action. People with this Channel are the essential Manifesting Generators. The Manifestor element, the one which initiates the action, needs to learn to inform others before they act. They do not always manage, the impulse to act can be too strong. In that case, they do well to apologize if there is a negative consequence for someone else.

If you are with a 20-34 person, accept their apology. It’s a bit different when they use ‘I can always say sorry afterwards, but I have done it anyway’ as a strategy. Then we have moved into mental territory, away from the pure energy of this Channel.

Generator

Manifesting Generators need to learn to honor their Generator part too. Once they commit their life energy to something, this part will complete it, even if they drop down from exhaustion afterwards. This exhaustion happens when the Manifesting part has moved too quick, without checking back with their life energy. This check-in is not mental, it is an energy process, and it can be very quick once you’ve got the knack of it.

Two-thirds of humanity has the Generator part active, and they know from birth how to do this. Our upbringing, with its emphasis on thinking, conditions people away from this natural knowing. When Generators unlearn these mental habits, their life force rises up by itself and they ‘just know’ when to say yes or no.

Generators and Manifesting Generators are Human Design Types, along with Manifestors, Projectors and Reflectors. Each Type has its own strategy. Knowing your strategy assures that you use your life energy in the most efficient and satisfying way. In a short and specific session, called ‘Laser Beam‘, I illuminate your Type and teach you the corresponding strategy.

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Other Influences

There are two other possible influences on the Channel of Charisma. They are gate 57, the Gentle, and gate 10, Treading. These gates, when defined, add their own Channels with gate 20 or 34, or with each other. Three or four gates can also combine here. When the 20-34 is activated with one or both of these other gates, its flavor changes. This is really an interesting corner of the Human Design Chart!

Pure Energy

The non-thinking, pure energy part of the 20-34 is mesmerizing. It is also called the Channel of Charisma. The gates that constitute this channel, 20 in the Throat and 34 in the Sacral center, are opposites in the Wheel. Their axis goes through the center, from where all manifestations – the 64 hexagrams – originate and into which they disappear. We could say that in the middle is a black hole, like in our galaxy. From one side matter disappears there, while probably from the other side it is a white hole, where things come out.

The hexagrams of the 20 and the 34 complement each other; you could also say that they annihilate or melt into each other. They are a kind of natural, unconscious tantric partners. Perhaps that contributes to the fascination of this Channel. An interesting side-note: of all the gates that come out of the Sacral, only this one is considered non-sexual, because it is pure life energy. It’s called the gate of Power.

Natural tantrikas

So are people with this channel natural tantrikas? In a way yes. The question is whether they are aware of it. Although a plant or animal is naturally in tune with existence, it seems they miss the self-reflection to know this of themselves. I would say that the ’20-34s’ need to follow the same path as the rest of us here, in terms of being aware of the union of opposites. I define tantra here as the union of opposites, and the tantrika as one who has realized this union within themselves. The sexual union is an outer manifestation of this, and several tantric traditions use it as a starting point.

The Prophecy of Ra

Are you into prophecies? Here is a little bit of the Human Design prophecy (yes there is one, it came through Ra and Steve Rhodes has given an excellent description of it in his book: ‘The Prophecy of Ra Uru Hu’). Ra postulates 2027 as the year of the Great Change, when the world moves into a new era of 400 years. In this period, people with the 20-34 will be at the forefront of what’s happening. Their inborn ability to ‘merge without thinking’, or even being aware of it in our sense of the word, may be pivotal in the new direction of life on this planet.

For all the others, watching and experiencing people with this channel, aside from being inspiring, and sometimes exasperating, can be a window into things to come. And for those who have this channel in their Chart: you have something good coming up for you!