WHAT ARE THE GATES?

The gates hold our lessons, qualities, challenges, and gifts that we are here to use and master.

They come from I Ching, and are based on life lessons that have been mapped out on the Human Design chart.

There are 64 gates and 36 channels.

Let’s talk about how they work in your chart!

(Want to know what each gate in your chart means? Grab your quick guide to the 64 Gates + 36 Channels!)

WHERE TO FIND YOUR GATES AND CHANNELS

Your gates can be found directly on your chart, as the little numbers along the edges of the centers. The gates are also listed along the sides as the red and black squares.

The channels are the colored-in lines (red, black, or both) between two activated gates. All you really need to know right now is that channels have the energy of BOTH the gates that they connect.

For example, the Channel of Maturation contains the energy of both Gate 53 (starting things) Gate 42 (finishing things).

CONSCIOUS VS. UNCONSCIOUS GATES

You’ll notice that some gates are listed in red, some in black, and some in both.

Conscious gates (BLACK, RIGHT)

Also known as our personality. These gates got activated when we were born.

Because we are usually fully aware of these, their lessons are going to be more obvious to us.

This is how we generally see ourselves as we move through the world.

Unconscious gates (RED, LEFT)

Also known as our design. These gates got activated 3 months before we were born – when we were “designed” according to the blueprint our soul chose for us.

Even though these are very much who we are, we’re less aware of them… to the point where other people can often see them in us better than we can.

What if it’s BOTH red AND black?

Then you have that gate or channel in both your conscious and unconscious chart!

THE PLANETS

i.e., the WTF symbols. This one represents Earth.

The planets determine the section of your life where a gate will show up, whether it’s how you communicate, how you love, how you’ll deal with chaos and change, etc.

—> To be completely honest, if you’re new to Human Design, this REALLY isn’t important to know. If yours doesn’t make sense to you, seriously, don’t worry about it - but it can be a fun bonus if you’re interested :)

They can tell you a little bit more about how this gate will express itself for you.

Example: In my chart, Gate 42 is in my conscious Earth.

Our Earth is the grounding force in our lives.

Gate 42 is the Gate of Finishing Things. It’s drawn to, well, finishing things! It’s pretty good at it, too, when it’s allowed to do its thing. People with this gate don’t usually like leaving things unfinished.

Grounding force + energy to finish things = I feel grounded and good when I can go into a project and tie up loose ends; also, when I know that things have been cleanly finished. It’s only then that I feel really good about moving onto something new.

I.e., the little numbers after the decimal point.

—> Okay, once again, this is NOT something you need to know if you’re new, but I know people usually wonder about this so I wanted to talk about it.

Lines carry a certain theme or quality to it, so that affects how our gate is expressed.

Example: I have Gate 42 on Line 5, the line of The Heretic.

Line 5 is a line all about authority, practicality, and “save the day” energy.

Gate 42 + Line 5 = I thrive at helping other people finish things, and feel empowered and authoritative when I can pop in and tie up loose ends (in my life or someone else’s).

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That’s all for now when it comes to the gates! If you made it to this sentence, go get yourself a boba or something, because you definitely just burned at least 270 calories just by scrolling.

P.S. Want to know what each gate in your chart ACTUALLY means? Grab the mini guide to the 64 Gates + 36 Channels!

HUMAN DESIGN 101: The Gates and Channels