The Basics of the Bodygraph

Overview of the basic terms of the HD Chart

Today I want to talk about the Human Design bodygraph with you. When we look at it, we see many aspects that might be a bit overwhelming at the beginning. I have prepared an overview illustration for you, where you can see everything at a glance. However, I would like to guide you step by step through the information.

1) Strange numbers, symbols and triangles

First of all, let's look at the two bars (left and right) that show us different numbers and symbols. Here we first see the difference that one side is colored red and the other side is colored black.

The black side: Who you think (you think) you are

The black side shows us all the aspects that we are aware of ourselves, with which we can identify ourselves. It is the personality, the mental and perhaps the psyche of the person. If we would sit on a hill, these aspects would be like roads, that you clearly can see and recogonize about yourself. However, of course, because of this, there is a tendency to want to control these aspects or even to be ashamed of them. Those aspect we will call potentials.

The red side: What you radiate & can’t see about yourself

The red side shows us all the aspects that we are not aware of, those that are just physically manifested and fixed - they don’t change. It is the Design, the vehicle, the aspects that you can not see via your mind and therefore called “tunnels”. Those can only be recognised retrospectively and maybe accepted as traits.

Red and black are held together

The Magnetic Monopole forces both aspects into one connection, a quantum that keeps us in the illusion of separateness. This is what creates the unique bodygraph (the shapes and connections) in the center with all its definition. Definition is everything that is colored in the chart. Definition is what is reliable.

Planetary positions: More context of the imprinting

We also see 13 different symbols here, each assigned to a planetary position. Reading from top to bottom we start with the Sun and end with Pluto ( in some charts also Chiron, but this does not appear in the original Human Design). The following is an overview of the qualities of these aspects. Please note that the red side is related to the body, the design, and has nothing to do with mental or self-identified things. Example: Mercury is fundamentally about communication. But on the red side this communication is related to the body and not what the mind communicates.

☉ Sun: Personality Expression / Life Force
⊕ Earth: Grounding / Balance
☊ North Node: Future Direction / Environment
☋ South Node: Past Direction / Environment
☽ Moon: Driving Force / Mental Focus
☿ Mercury: Communication / Thinking
♀ Venus: Values / Sociology
♂ Mars: Immaturity / Energy Dynamics
♃ Jupiter: Law / Protection
♄ Saturn: Discipline / The Judge / Restraint
♅ Uranus: Unusualness / Chaos and Order / Science
♆ Neptune: Illusion / Art / Spirituality
♇ Pluto: Truth / Transformation / Psychology

The numbers are called Gates: Dormant/Active Potentials

The next thing we can see in these two columns are various numbers, which can be two digits long and are separated with a dot to indicate yet another number. The first digit, before the dot, refers to one of the 64 gates, which we can also find in the graph in the middle of the chart. Gates represent a kind of opening from one center to the next that allow energy to flow. The gates are also called hexagrams and define the energy that flows through them. In other words, a gate brings potential for energy to express itself specifically, according to its qualities.

There are different modes for gates, which is determined by the circumstance of the chart. There are unconscious gates (red), conscious gates (black) and beyond that another combination of dormant gates and active gates. The difference is that a dormant gate is always only hanging in an open center and it needs the spark to become active through external conditions - for example through another human being (with harmonic gate) or through the planetary weather that creates a definition. Simply put, the harmonic gate (in the channel) or the open center in which the sleeping gate hangs must be activated. These dormant gates are potentials that become active only from time to time and format or process the incoming energy of the respective center. Active gates, which are also called hanging gates, are like adjectives or extras, because they give some kind of additional information to the whole energy flow.

Behind the gate numbers we discover, separated with a dot, another number. These are limited to the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and are called lines. So each gate has 6 different ways of expressing itself on the surface. If you want to learn more about the lines, feel free to read here:

Triangles that fix something

Next, we see that behind the numbers a triangle can appear from time to time. This triangle can point upwards, downwards or even, shaped like a star, point in both directions. If there is no triangle then in short there is simply no fixation in this line (of the specific gate). Almost every line has a "this" and "that", which is also called "exaltation" (up) and "detriment" (down) in Human Design - this is the line binary (in Human Design almost everything is binary). Here’s an example of Gate 22.4:

It is not easy to understand, but simply put, "exalted" and "detriment" refer only to certain planets that influence a line and this line becomes fixed in a binary. This does not necessarily mean that you will experience ONLY one side but the fixation will dominate. Without fixation one wanders from this to that. There’s different statements about it. I see it as moving from detriment to exaltation. But it is fundamentally a back and forth process, because certain circumstances also demand the detrimental quality; even though it often sounds negative for our mind.

2) Shapes, connections and white space

Now that we have looked at the two columns and understood the basis of this, we look at the center of the calculated chart. In short, all gates are written into the body matrix and thus result in an individual view of the potentials with their context. Here we can see different shapes that are colored - again with red or black - but also not colored, so they remain white.

White aspects we call openness: receptors & amplificators

Let's start by understanding that everything that is white represents openness. This openness shows us where this person is receptive, what he/she takes in from the outside. In other words, here one is vulnerable and takes in the energies of the respective aspect. Every human being is always more open, that is receptive, than defined (operating). That is just our nature. We are walking receptors for different energies. Everything that one takes in, one will generally amplify, perceive intensified or express amplified. The openness can be understood as a university, because here one goes to school and learns the respective aspects. In those one can become wise. Everything that is open remains open, although it is never empty, and it is not there to be lived out. It is a pure receptor for the perception of specific energies.

The geometric shapes are centers of life

Before we come back to the openness, I want to tell you what these geometric shapes are. If we count, we can see 9 different ones and each of them has specific gates. Each shape is usually connected to at least one other shape; nevertheless there can be charts with no definition, ergo no connection between these shapes. Here we are talking about centers. Those are hubs that organize and transform the energy as it circulates through the bodygraph. Here we find a connection to the endocrine system of the body but also to certain organs or body functions. It is important to understand that these are not chakras, as one might think. We are talking about nine different centers, nine different levels of being human. The 7-centered being of humanity is long gone and the 9-centered being is the current level of being for us humans.

If you are more interested in this topic, the difference between 7 and 9 centers, then feel free to check out the following articles:

What we can also see clearly is that there are different kinds of openness. Let's start by understanding that there are conscious and unconsciously defined centers. And then there are (completely) open centers and undefined (open with hanging gates) centers. The mechanics of these are different. A completely open center has no inherent scheme to deal with the energies flowing in. An undefined center has a scheme and will always manage the energy through the dormant gates.

Furthermore these 9 different centers have names and also certain characteristics, which I would like to list to you briefly and clearly.

• Head: Pineal Gland, Inspiration, The Pressure to translate Existence.

• Ajna: Anterior & Posterior Pituitary, Mind, Cogitating and the process of Mental Awareness over time.

• Throat: Thyroid and Parathyroid, Metabolism, Manifestation, Expression.

• G/Self: Liver, Self, the locator, sense of Direction and Love.

• Ego/Heart: Heart-Muscle, Thymus, Stomach, Gall, Will and Commitment.

• Sacral: Ovaries/Testes, Fertility and Sexual Energy, the Power to sustain Activity.

• Solar Plexus: Kidney, Bladder, Pancreas, Emotions and the process of Awareness in the Wave.

• Spleen: Lymphathic System, Immunity, Intuition and the process of Physical Awareness in the Now.

• Root: Adrenal Glands, Kundalini, Pressure to move and the balance between Fear and Trust.

But now let’s go back to the openness. This time we will adapt the information on the centers and see what the receptive setting actually means. When we look at the attributes of the centers we can easily identify that there will be receptivity regards specific things. But remember this can also bring a dilemma as the mind always tries to use those white centers to achieve something. If you want to go deeper into this please listen to this podcast I recorded:

The Nine Not-Self Themes

Connections between the centers

Finally, we will look at what the connections between the centers mean. When a gate in one center is activated by a particular planet, and the opposite gate in another center is also activated, a definition (aka channel), is created. Channels are the quantum created by connecting the two gates. They are pathways that transport or connect and transform energy between the nine centers. Again, there are unconscious and conscious channels. We also distinguish between projecting, generating and manifesting channels. The open channels could be called reflective - even though they obviously take energies in and can easily identify and get trapped in it. These channels are located in certain circuit groups and also streams of consciousness which give the channel even more context. There are 36 channels in total, each acting in the context of the bodygraph and providing their own particular context to the overall picture by combining everything. Channels are literally the flowing life force in the chart and indicate what is reliably available as potential. They give us information about the modi of how a person works and insights into how a person can make a decision.

If you want to know more about the streams then feel free to look here:

If you'd like to read an example of one of the channels, feel free to check it out here:

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Talis