Human Design is a framework that combines elements of astrology, the I Ching, the Hindu chakra system and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life into a single diagram called a bodygraph. It was first described in the late 1980s and has since grown a sizeable following among people interested in personality models.
These pages collect plain-language notes: what the parts of a chart are called, how the five types are distinguished, and what practitioners mean by terms such as strategy, authority and profile. Nothing here is a prediction, and none of it should be treated as medical, psychological or financial advice.
What a chart is built from
A bodygraph is calculated from a date, an exact time and a place of birth. Two calculations are made: one for the moment of birth and one for a point roughly three months earlier. The results are drawn as nine centres connected by thirty-six channels, each channel made of two gates.
- Centres — the nine shapes in the diagram. Each is either defined (coloured) or undefined (white).
- Channels — the lines joining centres. A channel is complete only when both of its gates are active.
- Gates — sixty-four numbered points, borrowed from the hexagrams of the I Ching.
- Profile — a pair of numbers from one to six, read as a description of how a person tends to learn and relate.
The five types
- Generator
- Defined sacral centre. Described as responding to what is in front of them rather than initiating from nothing.
- Manifesting Generator
- A generator with a motor connected to the throat. Associated with working in bursts and with skipping steps.
- Projector
- No defined sacral centre, no motor to the throat. The usual advice is to wait for recognition before offering guidance.
- Manifestor
- A motor connected to the throat, sacral undefined. Associated with initiating, and with informing others beforehand.
- Reflector
- All nine centres undefined. Rare. Said to sample the mood of the people nearby rather than carry a fixed one.
Strategy and authority
Each type is given a strategy, a short rule of thumb about how to approach decisions. Alongside it sits authority, which points to the part of the chart a person is encouraged to consult first — the sacral response, an emotional wave, a quieter inner knowing, and so on. Much of the practical material in Human Design is built on these two ideas.
Reading the material critically
Human Design is not a scientific theory and does not claim empirical support. It is best approached the way one approaches any typology: as a vocabulary that some people find useful for describing themselves, not as a statement of fact about how anybody must behave. Where a source promises certainty, treat the promise, not the system, as the problem.
A short glossary
- Definition — how the defined centres are linked together.
- Open centre — an undefined centre, described as taking in and amplifying what is around it.
- Incarnation cross — a combination of four gates, often described as a general theme.
- Variable — four arrows at the top of some charts, used in more advanced readings.