Perhaps you are wondering why you should know how to read a Human Design chart. And if this is your first interaction with this lesser-known discipline, you may be even more perplexed, for sure. However, there is no need to worry because we are here to guide you through this intriguing and equally transformative topic.
Designs and charts can sound complicated, but rest assured that you don’t need any special skills to read a Human Design chart. Use your birth information to generate a body chart with the help of specialized software. Understand Strategy and Authority and how planets, gates, and channels work. After that, locate your centers, identify your type, know your authority, and determine your profile.
The Concept of a Human Design Chart
Human Design is a relatively new discipline. The creator, Alan Robert Krakower, also known as Ra Uru Hu, had a spiritual encounter in 1987. This inspired him to develop the Human Design system in 1992. The inspiration came from a mystical experience. And Ra argues that people have the right to question and test whether the design works for them.
Human Design is a self-knowledge discipline that integrates Verdict Philosophy, Astrology, Ching, and Kabbalah. It classifies personalities into 5 types: Manifesting Generators, Manifestors, Reflectors, Generators and Projectors. These types dictate how one is supposed to exchange energy with the world.
Benefits of the Human Design
- Helps you to know who you truly are
- Helps you focus on what you can do better and without hindrances.
- Therapeutic because it helps you reconnect with the inner self
- Helps you to harness your intrinsic power to achieve your purpose
- Helps you to know your type and the strategies for making decisions.
Look at Human Design as a manual that gives you instructions on operating this device called life. If you read the instructions correctly, you are sure to live a more fulfilling and purposeful life. Human Design is your personality blueprint, a tool that brings together mysticism, spirituality, and science to help you discover who you are truly meant to be.
Strategy and Authority in a Human Design Chart
Strategy defines behavior and decision-making in Human Design. In other words, it is what you need to implement your design or personality. To live authentically, you need to make decisions according to your strategy since each personality has a unique strategy. Conversely, authority is like an internal check mechanism that determines whether a decision is suitable for your alignment or not.
The Body Graph
This type of horoscope displays 64 hexagrams of I Ching, flanked by 12 planets on the left and right. The 64 planets are called gates. A gate will be activated based on when a particular planet was positioned when you were born. And the position of the planet 3 months before your birth is also taken into account.
Each of the 12 planets activates a specific gate, whether on the design or the personality side. The red planets represent your unconscious design, imprinted before birth. Black planets on the right symbolize your consciousness/personality at birth. And the 12 planets in the Human Design chart include the Sun, Earth, North Node, South Node, Moon, Mercury, and Venus. Others are Mars, Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune.
Channels
You create a channel when two gates connect, a sort of communication between one center and another. Channels are borrowed from Kabbalah, a Jewish discipline based in mystic philosophy. Channels are important because they show your Type, Strategy, and Authority. It is possible to have more than 5 channels, but finding a Reflector without one is not unusual.
How to Read a Human Design Chart
We discuss how you can read your body chart in 5 simple steps. Continue reading to learn more.

Locate the Centers
Your body graph has 9 centers which are the energy carriers within your body. You will notice that some are colored while some are white. The colored gate is defined/fixed, meaning you are not open for conditioning there. The white gate is open, meaning you can receive what you don’t have.
Identify Your Type
The type defines how you are supposed to operate and create in an empowering and fulfilling manner. There are 5 types: Manifesting Generators, Manifestors, Reflectors, Generators and Projectors. Each type has its own:
- Strategy- the way you are designed to make decisions
- Aura – how your energetic field communicates
- Signature – Living in perfect alignment
- Not self-theme –Not aligned
For example, Generators have open and enveloping Aura. Their strategy is to respond. While their signature is satisfaction. And their “not-self-theme” is frustration.
Find Out What Your Authority Is
Strategy is about how you make decisions, but authority is how you determine whether a decision is suitable for your alignment. In other words, strategy plus authority should help you arrive at your signature. There are 8 different authorities.
Know Your Profile
Your profile is basically how you live your purpose. We have 12 profiles in Human Design. To arrive at your profile, you need two numbers. The first is the personality Sun gate number, and the second is the number just after the design Sun gate. The first number represents your most conscious state and the second what you are not conscious of.
Incarnation Cross
Your purpose in life is known as the incarnation cross. It doesn’t come automatically, which means it’s the product of conditioning and correct decisions. Note that your incarnation cross or purpose is not something you must force. Just live your life correctly by obeying to your strategy and authority, and you will eventually get there.
Conclusion
Just like Astrology, Human Design can be very fascinating. As such, there is always the urge to learn how to read your chart all in one sitting. We recommend you take it slowly because the elements involved are many and can be overwhelming to take at once.