First were obsessed with the zodiac, then enneagrams and Myers-Briggs types. But there’s another new school of thought that we’ve learned about that helps us understand why we are the way we are, and it’s called Human Design. Think of Human Design as a hybrid between Myers-Briggs and astrology, which requires nothing more than your birth date, time and location to figure out. While it sounds like a zodiac school of thought, which is based on birth time only, Human Design actually calculates two moments in time: our birth and a moment approximately 88 days (and 88 degrees of the sun) before our birth. It’s made up of three main components: energy type, centers and authority type.

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Where did Human Design come from?

The whole idea of Human Design dates back just 40 years, when a “voice” visited Ra Uru Hu (née Alan Krakower), a former advertising executive, magazine publisher and media producer from Canada. Uru Hu entered a meditative state for eight whole days, where he was given information (which was turned into a 400-page textbook) about how we’re all coded to have specific personality traits from birth. Sounds bit nutty, right? We thought so, too until we generated our own chart (aka bodygraph) and felt utterly seen, without disclosing any information aside from where and when we were born.

But it’s actually so much more involved than even your astrological chart. Certified Human Design analyst, Lynette Hagins explains that it’s a logical system that brings together principles of The I Ching, astrology, Kabbalah, chakra system and quantum physics.

What does Human Design tell us?

Another Human Design analyst and expert, Jenna Zoe, puts it simply, “Human Design is here to help you recognize your innate gifts and traits, so that you can be who you truly came here to be, which is the most effortless road to living your dream life.” Basically, it reveals the unique tools and strengths you already have within to help you live your best life.

Through your Human Design Chart, you can discover how to improve the quality of your life, how to make the right decisions for improved relationships and career moves and how to manage your own unique daily challenges without getting overwhelmed.

OK, I generated my chart, now what?

It’s impossible to read a Human Design chart without a little background information. Zoe explains, “The first thing you look at in your chart is your Energy Type. There are five main types, and each has different way of bringing in more opportunities and flow into their life.” You could be a manifestor, manifesting generator, generator, projector or reflector.

Here’s what each Energy Type means:

Manifestor

Percentage: 9 percent of the population

Strategy: Inform

Manifestors are trailblazers, rulers and law givers. They’re the ones who can go out and make things happen. And while they tend to have a deep impact on others, their aura tends to be closed and repelling, which can make those around them feel a bit off balance and want to control them. For manifestors to live their best life, they should inform those around them of their decisions before taking action, or they’ll end up feeling angry as a result of the internal struggle they experience.

Generator

Percentage: 70 percent of the population

Strategy: Response

Generators are known as the life force of the planet—they have an abundance of energy to get everything they need to get done. However, life is all about responding as opposed to initiating. Generators thrive by letting life, opportunities and purpose come to them, rather than chasing after it. You also need to be selfish in a way, doing only what brings you satisfaction.

Manifesting Generator

Percentage: 32 percent of the population (a sampling of total manifestors and generators)

Strategy: Visualize and inform

A unique hybrid of manifestors and generators, this multi-hyphenate Energy Type feels totally satisfied when they’re efficiently using their energy. They like to do things quickly and are tempted to initiate rather than waiting for something to respond to like generators. This sometimes means that they’ll look past an essential task and need to go back to it after the fact.

Projector

Percentage: 20 percent of the population

Strategy: Wait for recognition and invitation

If you’re a projector, you have an open and penetrating aura which gives you the ability to see deeply into others. When you feel appreciated and seen, you become the world’s most gifted guide, but are also innately vulnerable and need to be discerning with your energy. When you wait for invitations in relationships, careers, etc. and use your energy correctly, you’ll experience success in life and opportunities will flow in.

Reflector

Percentage: 1 percent of the population

Strategy: Openness

Reflectors are the rarest Energy Type, representing just about one percent of the population. And it’s exactly what it sounds like—Reflectors have a resilient aura that takes in and reflects the energies around them. They’re extremely intuitive, meaning they’re able to see what is happening through another person’s eyes, which constantly changes their perception. Their greatest gift is the ability to read situations and people, but they should be careful not to end up identifying with what they’re mirroring, or they may become exhausted. In other words, it’s important for Reflectors to live their own truth.

OK, now back to the Bodygraph—what does it all mean?

In addition to the five Energy Types, you’ll notice that the human design chart has nine centers, which resemble the seven chakras, but are a bit more involved: Head: inspiration, mind/ajna: conceptualization, throat: communication, G: self-identity, heart: will power, spleen: intuition and sacral: life force, solar plexus: emotion and root: stress/fuel.

Human Design defines each center as an energy hub that relates to certain functions within the body. The parts of your chart that are colored in are fixed and reliable, while those that are white are open and represent the places where we’re most vulnerable to outside influences. For instance, if you’re a reflector, all of your centers would be open, because you take in all the energies around you. These centers and how they’re connected helps us learn about our strengths and weaknesses.

And what about authority types?

Hagins says, “Your Inner Authority is your body’s knowing or intelligence, how you know if a decision is the right one for you.” Think of it as your intuition and when you cater to it, things like where to live, career path and relationships will naturally fall into place.

There are seven authority types that go hand-in-hand with your energy type. They are: emotional, sacral, splenic, environment/no inner, self-projected, lunar and ego. A certified Human Design analyst can delve into how best to use your authority type to live your truth, but you can also read more about each in The Definitive Book of Human Design or on Jovian Archive, Ra Uru Hu’s official site.

The Definitive Book of Human Design

Buy the Book ($50)

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