Episode 209: Human Design Gates & Channels
What do the numbers on the Human Design chart mean? This is one of the most commonly asked questions I’m asked, and one of the first questions I had myself when I was first introduced to Human Design.
Short answer? They’re called gates.
Long answer? That’s what we explore in this episode.
We’ll chat about:
What are gates
What are channels
Two gates from my Human Design
Listen to the Episode:
Mentioned in the Episode:
Episode 185: Exploring Human Design Motor Centers: Root, Solar Plexus, Sacral, Heart
Episode 186: Exploring Human Design Pressure Centers: Head and Root
Episode 187: Exploring Human Design Awareness Centers: Ajna, Spleen, Solar Plexus
Episode 188: Exploring Human Design Manifestation Centers: Throat & G-Center
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“Someone who has Gate 16 activated is, I quote, “Can refuse to share the enthusiasm.” My first reaction to reading this was, “What does this even mean? But then I thought that it’s something I can relate to, because I kind of am like a Grinch!”
Read the Transcript:
Hey there friends, welcome back to the show. I hope you are doing well this week.
If this is the first time you're joining in, I'm your host, Naomi Nakamura, and a bit of housekeeping before we jump into today’s episode.
If you aren’t familiar, on my website, there’s a page dedicated to the podcast and at the top of the page is a navigation menu that organizes all the show’s episodes by category.
Because there’s now several episodes on the fundamentals of Human Design, I created a category just for that called, “Human Design Fundamentals and added it there.
So, if you’re new here to Human Design, or you want to go back and re-listen to these episodes on the fundamentals versus some of the other episodes with guests or solo shows on my personal insights and reflections on Human Design, just click on “Human Design Fundamentals” at www.livefablife.com/podcast and you’ll find all those episodes cataloged there.
All that being said, today is another one of those fundamental episodes.
If you’re familiar with the Human Design body graph chart, and by now I hope that you are, then you know that the charts have a bunch of numbers on them.
And one of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “What are those numbers? Or, what do those numbers mean?”
So, that's what we're talking about today. We're talking about Gates and Channels.
Now, on the Human Design chart, there are the nine energy centers and I’ll link to the episodes I’ve done on the energy centers in the show notes which you will find at www.livefablife.com/209 for Episode 209.
Every Energy Center has numbers, and those numbers are what we call Gates. There is a total of 64 Human Design Gates, and the Gates represent an energy if you will, a quality that when a Gate is activated in your chart, the energy of that Gate is fixed and consistent in you, like when you have a Defined Center. The Activated Gates on your chart are gifts that you have - a quality, a gift that when you’re in alignment, is something that can enhance your life so you’re living with less resistance and more flow.
That’s the simplest definition of Gates I can share with you, so let me talk about a couple of Gates and then touch a little bit on what Human Design Channels are.
But before I do, I want to say that getting into the Human Design Gates is really starting to get into the nuances of Human Design. It's so important to get a good grasp on all the Human Design fundamentals that we’ve previously discussed – your Type, Strategy, Authority, your Profile Lines, your Defined and Undefined centers. So, keep that in mind as you start to look at the Gates that are activated on your chart.
Speaking of activates Gates, that number varies for each of us because our designs are so unique.
Now when it comes to learning about the different Gates, remember, that the much like the rest of Human Design, the language can be very abstract. Let me share an example of what I mean by this.
In my Human Design chart, Gate 16 is activated, which is a Gate located in the Throat Center, which also happens to be a Defined Center in my design.
So, what is Gate 16 about?
Well, depending on what resource you look to, and I happen to use several different Human Design resources, some call this Gate, “The Grinch.” It goes on to explain that someone who has this Gate activated is someone who, I quote, “Can refuse to share the enthusiasm.” When I first read this, I was like, “What does this even mean? And then on another level, it was kind of something I could relate to, because I kind of am like a Grinch.
But other resources refer to Gate 16 as the “Gate of Skill.”
So, before I go on, go ahead, and look at your chart to see if this Gate is activated for you, because that’s what I always do when I hear someone talking about Gates.
Gate 16 is about talents and about developing said talent through repetition. And developing talent through repetition is also about being disciplined.
And so, if you have this Gate activated, you start off not feeling confident in your skills and talents, and you build your confidence practicing your skill over and over again – focus, repetition, and dedication.
Then eventually, you get better and better, then your skill evolves to not just being a skill, but a talent that transcends into an artform. And your enthusiasm for it grows, and you feel more confident to share about it. So, if you think about it, Gate 16, this Gate of Skill is about “searching for the perfect ways to express yourself” and that's a direct quote from something that I’ve read.
Can you see how we go from “The Grinch” to what I just said?
Another activate Gate in my design is Gate 48, which is a Gate in the Spleen Center.
Gate 48 is called the “Gate of Depth.”
If you're like me, you’re probably thinking, “What does that even mean?!” Right?
As I've as I've learned about this date and thought about what this means to me, this gate is about having a fear of inadequacy. It's worrying about not being good enough.
But it's also about having an intuition, and remember, the Spleen center is about intuition, of knowing or recognizing a need – something that needs our attention. And then, knowing what the practical and logical way is to meet the need, or solve the problem. This is the Gate of Depth.
It’s about having the intuition to recognize a problem that needs to be solved, and knowing what the best, most practical way to solve it is, and then, wanting to share it so that others can also see the need or problem, so that we can provide the situation and improve the community, or world, that we live in and share.
So, these are examples of two activated Gates – gifts if you will - in my chart.
Now, I have 19 other activated Gates for a total of 21 out of 64 Gates, and the number of activated Gates each person has varies
When it comes to channels, channels are the lines in the Human Design Body Graph chart that connect two gates together. There are 36 channels in total and the channels not only connect activated gates, but they also connect the energy from two defined centers together.
And when they Gates and centers connect to form a channel, the gifts of each Gate and centers come together and alchemize – they mesh and transform to create something new - a different kind of energy. Isn’t this so cool?
So how do we process all of this?
First, I look at the channel to see what are the two energy centers that its connecting. How do they complement each other?
For example, I might ask, “What is this channel alkalizing with this connection between my Sacral and Solar Plexus centers? Or, what about this connection between my Ajna and Throat centers?
What are the activated Gates? What are they about? What do they offer? And what does it mean when they come together?”
This is what I mean by really getting into the nuances of your design.
And if you were to ask me, and I’m asked this often, “What are you spending your time on with your design?”
Well, it changes week-to-week, heck, it changes day-to-day. But what I’ve been spending my time right now in terms of my design, well, I spent a lot of time on the Variables, and I still do, but recently I’ve been spending my time on the activated Gates in my design.
I mean they're 64 Gates, so that's a lot of things to remember, right? But and I say this with a wink, I do have Gate 48 – The Gate of Depth, right?
So, I read through a lot of material on Gates, then process and observe how they show up for me, or how they’ve shown up in the past, and how they show up today. Then what does it mean, how does it show up for me, how do I process this information - and it all comes down to, this again, self-observation with non-judgement.
So, that’s the gist of Gates and Channels and obviously, we can have many, many, many more episodes on each Bate and Channel, and how they complement each other - and that's what we're going to do next week. I’m going to look at dive into the one channel that I have in my chart.
So, one of the services I offer is, “Your Human Design, Explained that includes a PDF that explains your chart. And on the description of this service on my website, it says, “30+ page PDF included” and I’ve been asked why there isn’t a set number of pages for the PDF.
Well, everyone's design is different, and some might have more pages in their PDF than another and a big reason for that is how many channels one has.
Because some people, like me, only have one channel in my Human Design, and others can have more. I think the most channels I’ve seen in a chart is six or seven channels.
So, if there are more channels in your chart, your PDF might be more pages than mind. I’ve yet to produce a chart with less than 30 pages and one with more than 40 pages. So, I just say, “30+.”
And if you're not ready for a reading yet, I do have a free workbook on my website called, “Your Human Design, Discovered” for those of you who are new to Human Design. It’ll walk you through where to find your Human Design Chart, and how to understand it – what the different components are and what they refer to and mean.
Then, when you download that PDF workbook, you'll also receive a code for a 15% off a Human Design reading with me, for when you’re ready for that. Thank you so much for listening. I’ve heard from a lot of you that these fundamental episodes have been helpful, which is why I continue to do them. And you’ve told me that I explain things in a very consumable, simple way that helps you understand Human Design, even though you might have heard them before and some of you have even had readings before, but things feel more digestible after listening to my show. I hope I'm continuing to do that.
If you have any questions, requests for upcoming episodes, well, I love hearing from you! You can send me a message over on my website or you can come and find me on Instagram at @livefablifewithnaomi.
That’s all for this week and I will see you right back here again next time. Bye!
Naomi Nakamura is a Health x Human Design coach who’s creating a healthier society through aligned energy.
She blends a bespoke mix of Functional Nutrition and Human Design to help others shift into alignment to leverage and correctly manage their energy to support their body, mind, and spirit.
She believes that when we embrace our authenticity and lean into our bio-individuality, we naturally live a life of freedom, empowerment, and optimal health.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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