Understanding how to use the Rave I'Ching

Hi all,

I wanted to explain some detail about the Rave I'Ching and how to use it.

First of all you can get the Rave I'Ching from www.humandesignamerica.com

For those of you who don't know, the Rave I'Ching is a book that gives a brief description of the Hexagram (Gate) and a description of each of the 6 lines for each Gate. You will also see the names of the Incarnation Crosses. This book was written by Ra Uru Hu.

Looking at a specific detail of a chart is tricky because the whole is the sum of it's parts and if you pull just a part and look at that without the whole it won't make much sense. So, keep in mind the type, strategy, authority, defined centers/channels/gates when you look at a line. Always step back and look at the bigger picture.

What you will find as you begin to study charts is a thing called "genetic continuity". The pieces seem to have continuity and a theme that relates back to the type/strategy/authority/profile/cross. It always does. You begin to see a theme for the life. You begin to see the paradox in the life and the complexities.

What I have noticed for myself is that it takes time to understand lines. Some of them read like riddles or poetry. Don't look too closely at them because you can get easily confused. Just as the I'Ching (Chinese Book of Changes) can take a lifetime to understand, the lines take time and they make much more sense if read and digested in context with the entire chart. It's best to start with your own chart and meditate on your own lines over time, or at least this is what has worked for me.

So, if you have your I' Ching, go to page 11 and we will use this as an example. On this page you will see the "chop" for the Hexagram 11 = Peace. The gate of Ideas. You will see a description of the gate: "A Harmonic condition in the individual or society that permits assessment before renewed action." This statement is a description of the Hexagram (gate).

Then below this are the lines and their descriptions. There are two sets of descriptions. One sounds positive and one sounds negative. It is the "this" and the "that" of the line. Or the light and the dark. We all get to experience the light and the dark. When we are following our strategy and authority we get to experience more of the light. When we are acting from the "not-self" we get to experience more of the dark. You will recognize yourself in each of these areas when you read your own lines.

There is a name for each of the six lines as well. Sometimes the name of the line says it all and you don't have to read the lines at all.

The 1st line description for every Hexagram will give you the foundational understanding of the Hexagram.

You will see in some cases, on this page a one sentence line introduction in blue. This is not the case for all lines, only some. So, when there is a description in blue it means that this is what you are learning. If there is no blue description then it is just a given. So, some lines are a learning process and some lines are simply just as they are, a characteristic of you.

OK - now it gets even more complex:

You will see in the book that there are planet glyphs associated with the lines listed next to them.

Because the planets are in a particular position in the sky at the moment of birth they will activate the Hexagram and a line within that hexagram when you are born.

Sometimes if certain planets activate certain lines they "fix" that line either in detriment or exaltation and this is noted by the up pointed pyramid or the down pointed pyramid you will see on your chart, and on page 11 in the book (and on all the pages in the book).

So, for example, if you look at page 11, line 4 you will see that the moon exalts this line and the sun puts it into detriment. Meaning, if you have your moon in your chart in the 11th Hexagram, line 4, then this position is exalted. This means that most of the time you experience the more positive description of the characteristics of this line in this Hexagram. It does not mean that you never experience the negative side of this line but the positive side is emphasized in your design.

And, if you have the Sun in your design in this Hexagram and line then you will experience the more negative influence of this line.

Keep in mind though when we speak of positive and negative I'm only speaking of this and that and there is no judgment of good or bad. I have a couple of detriments in my design and I know they are perfect for me in context with my overall design. So it is important not to see this as bad.

The influences of the negative aspects of the lines via not-self are far far worse an experience than the permanent fix's we have in our designs!

Ok - so this basically explains the I'ching and how to use it.

To complicate things, if you have a planet in the 'harmonic' gate that fixes the opposite gate it will put that gate in exaltation or detriment too. So taking our example above if you have channel 11.56 in your design and the sun is in either 11 or 56 it will fix line 4 in detriment for gate 11.

This next piece is very fascinating:

Composite charts and transits can put our lines in exaltations or detriments too. So for example, if I had Hexagram 11, line 4 and someone's Sun was either in Hexagram 11 or 56 (56 is the other end of the channel) then that would put my line 4 in detriment for the duration of the transit or the duration of the relationship.

I hope this was clear and helpful.



Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

The Manifestor

Know Yourself - by Lynda Bunnell

In my last Newsletter article (click here to read) I gave you a brief introduction to the Four Types... The Manifestor, Generator, Projector and Reflector. And I said that we would explore each type. We will begin with the Manifestor.
Each Type has a correct way in which their energy interacts with those around them and with life. Once we have our Human Design Analysis, then we know our Type, Strategy and Authority. And once we know these things, we know how to make decisions correctly for our life. When you really think about it, making decisions is the most important thing we do in life. As most of us have experienced, just one incorrect decision can really take us off our path in life.

If you come into the world as a Manifestor, you are here to “initiate”. The Manifestor is the only one of the four types that is designed to initiate. The other three types are not initiators and they can become very frustrated and bitter from the resistance they meet when they do initiate.

Manifestors are rare beings. They make up only 8% of the population. One of the things Human Design reveals to us is how we humans can operate in the world with as little resistance as possible. It shows us how we can align our energy (our design) with the environment. It shows us the different types of people and their roles in life, and how each type is designed to operate correctly with little ‘resistance’.

Manifestors are very powerful beings and they are usually unaware of their power. Each decision they make has an impact or consequence which affects the people in their life. Most Manifestors are unaware of the impact they have on others so when they go through life just doing their thing without considering how they impact others they are usually met with resistance. It is the powerful Manifesting aura people sense in Manifestors that causes them to feel the need to control the Manifestor, and this creates resistance in the life of the Manifestor.

When a Manifestor is confronted with resistance they become angry. They do not like dealing with resistance. They do not like someone questioning them or controlling them. Manifestors have an aura of being able to go through life without the need of others. And, in a way, it’s true. They don’t ‘need’ the other in terms of creating what they want to create because they are the one type that is designed to initiate.

However, it’s because of this aura that people try to stop and control Manifestors. To other people the Manifestor seems out of control. This theme of being controlled begins in childhood. From the start, the parents are aware that they have a child that can and will do what ever he wants. This creates the dynamic of the parents controlling the child. If you have a Manifestor child the best thing to do is to teach her/him to be polite and ask permission before going off to do what she wants and explain that by asking permission she will avoid getting into trouble.

Unfortunately most Manifestors have been so controlled in their lives that they are not living up to their fullest potential. They have been so beaten down by control that they are out of touch with their own power and have become either very passive or very angry people.

Each Type has a Strategy. The Strategy for a Manifestor is to Inform. Once a Manifestor has made a decision, he needs to settle in and consider all the people that will be impacted by his decision. Before he takes action toward his new decision, he needs to inform those that will be impacted. If he does not then he is setting himself up for resistance. If he informs he will meet far less resistance. It does not mean people will like his decision but fewer people will be concerned with trying to control him.

In the next IHD Newsletter we will talk about the Generator.

Love Yourself As You Are,


Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

The Human Design System

I found this article on the web today. It was published in Kindred Spirit Magazine and written by Richard Rudd. Enjoy….

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Journeying deep into our individual genetics, The Human Design System claims to show how every one of us has a unique design and a specific purpose to fulfill on this planet. In a most simple and graceful way, it gently nudges us away from the bustle of our everyday lives and reminds each of us why we came here in the first place. Some of the Kindred Spirit team have had individual readings and have found the information both fascinating and useful.
Here Human Design analyst Richard Rudd introduces The Human Design System in the first half of a two-part article.


Every once in a while, a human being uncovers a paragon, something that captures the quintessence of the beauty and mystery of the universe surrounding us; Mozart’s symphonies for instance, or Einstein’s equations.The Human Design System is such a paragon. By unravelling the mysteries hidden within one’s own genetic code, it shows how our very thoughts, feelings and longings are all part of a beautifully orchestrated pattern. To recognise this pattern clearly in your own life is to celebrate your uniqueness without fear. The result is that life can be far easier than we ever imagined possible.
The mystical origins of Human DesignIn 1987 an extraordinary event took place on this planet. For the first time in recorded history it was seen with the naked eye from a mountaintop in Chile. Human beings actually witnessed a supernova. A supernova is the death of a star, a vast explosion of such intensity that it can barely be imagined. According to the source of the Human Design System, that star, now known to scientists as 1987A, bombarded our planet with a deluge of subatomic information with its dying breath.At around the same time on another mountainside, on a Mediterranean island, a man had an experience that shook him to the roots of his being. When he emerged from that experience, which lasted eight days and eight nights, he could barely remember who he was. Even his name had changed and from that moment he became known as Ra Uru Hu.He had become disillusioned with his life as a professor of physics in Canada and sought an escape from the world on Ibiza, where he ended up living as a hermit in a ruined hut. It was here, living wild in the mountains, that Ra received The Human Design System from what he calls ‘The Voice’. This voice gave him immensely detailed and scientific knowledge about the nature of our universe. It even had its own language, referring to human beings as ‘raves’. As a sceptic and a scientist, Ra had no belief in things mystical. In fact, at the time, he didn’t even know his own astrological sign. It is difficult to comprehend exactly what happened to him during those eight days, so in his own words, this is what took place.
‘I was conditioned to believe that science fiction was a genre of literature, that mystical revelation was simply a more antiquated form of the same, and that God, if not dead, was most likely a concept.‘On the evening of January 3, 1987, all that changed. I was “penetrated” by a “Voice”. It was a terrifying experience. My hair literally stood on end. In the shock, a flood of water drained from my scalp.‘The Voice said: “Are you ready to work?” For eight days and nights, I worked, transcribing in detail The Human Design System.’(From the foreword to The Rave I Ching.)
The scienceDespite its mystical origins, Human Design has its roots deeply embedded within the very latest theories in quantum physics. On a sub-atomic level we are all connected like cells within a giant body, that of the universe itself.The Human Design System is founded upon this very premise: that the universe is a living entity, and that we are living in a vast information-feed, consisting of countless minute particles now known to physics as neutrinos. Up until a few years ago, the neutrino itself was half-fictional, in that it was simply a hypothesis. Now science has proved that neutrinos bear mass, and that they pass through us at the rate of about three trillion per square inch. Neutrinos are made in stars, like our sun, and could be seen as the modern day equivalent of what the ancients used to call ‘chi’ or ‘prana’.We live in a dualistic universe. The sun is our ‘yang’, we, the earth are the ‘yin’, and the neutrino is the mercurial intermediary. All life on earth is thus generated and in a sense ‘programmed’ by the sun and, to a lesser extent, the stars. It is also intriguing to think that not only are we humans programmed by the celestial bodies, but we also programme them as well. Remember, the neutrino is not pure energy, but extremely fine matter. Thus, every neutrino that passes through us is changed, and conveys something of who we are out into deep space. Just like the human body, every cell is interdependent upon every other cell and communicates its presence to the whole.
The synthesisThe Human Design System is a pure synthesis of the latest scientific discoveries and the wisdom of the ancients, and like any synthesis, Human Design is far greater than the sum of its parts.On one side we have quantum physics, biochemistry and genetics, and on the other, the four of the great esoteric systems of the world: astrology, the Hindu chakra system, the Judaic Kabbalah and the Chinese I Ching. It is an alchemist’s dream.
Human Design and geneticsOne of the keys to Human Design is the use of the I Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, evolved more than 5000 years ago. Strangely enough, this ancient system, which charts the cycles and seasons of life, happens to bear an extraordinary similarity to the profile of human DNA – there is an exact correlation between the two disciplines.DNA is made up of two strands of nucleotides, one strand being a perfect reflection of the other. This basic binary is also the foundation of the Yin and Yang of the I Ching. Our genetic code is also made up of four ‘bases’ which are arranged in groups of threes. Each of these chemical groupings relates to an amino acid, and forms what is known as a ‘codon’. There are 64 of these codons in our genetic code.Similarly, in the I Ching there are only four basic permutations of yin and yang, which are also arranged in groups of threes, known as ‘trigrams’. In the same way that the two strands of our DNA reflect each other, each trigram of the I Ching has a partner, and together these create the ‘hexagram’, the basis of the I Ching. Just as there are 64 codons in DNA, there are 64 hexagrams in the I Ching (see Genetic Table right).All human beings share this same basic genetic code, and yet each of us is unique. From the DNA of a single human hair, a forensic scientist can pinpoint its exact owner, out of billions of human beings. In Human Design, the four bases of our genetic code manifest through our chemistry as four basic types of human beings; manifestors, generators, projectors and reflectors. Each type functions very differently, and will be discussed below.
Human design and astrologyHuman Design also relies upon astrological calculation to configure two separate moments of imprinting within the neutrino stream. Many people new to Human Design assume that because of this it is similar to astrology. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although we draw upon the ancient science of astrology in order to arrive at the correlation with our genetics, the similarity ends there. Like astrology, Human Design produces an individual chart (known as a ‘rave chart’), and like astrology this chart is calculated from the time and place of birth. However, astrological data in Human Design leads to exact placement in the body. Through the intermediary of the I Ching, the position of every planet at the time of birth gives us a ‘genetic thumbprint’ left in the neutrino stream.Using The Human Design System, we can examine the nature of the forces that were gathered around us when we were born. It is as though our birth leaves a vapour trail in the ethers. We can then isolate this imprint, and transfer it into a biochemical map of the body, known as a ‘Bodygraph’.
What can we learn from Human Design?So what is all this really about and what do these charts tell us? In a single statement: they remind us of what we already know about ourselves, deep within our hearts. Human Design is in essence a yin teaching. It shows us that human beings are primarily receptive by design. Our prime directive, if we have such a thing, is patience. Buddha used a term known as ‘correct action’, and this is what we manifest when we live our true nature or design. Action that does not come from harmony is desperate action, and usually does more damage than good in the world. Human Design shows us that there is no purer alchemy than simply being yourself.On a deeper level, it is a simple means of harmonising our individual flow within a greater flow. It is about what the ancients called ‘being in harmony with the Tao’.
How does a chart work?When you look into your own Bodygraph, it is as though you are looking at the blueprint of a car. The body is, after all, our vehicle through life. Now, consider how you might feel if you had been driving around in your faithful old car for years and when you took it to a mechanic he told you that all this time you had been driving in first gear?! A Human Design analyst is like the mechanic that shows you how to operate your car, and having shown you, he leaves you the manual so that you can verify the truth for yourself. Human Design is not another therapy. This is not the kind of mechanic that will fix your oil leak for you; rather he will tell you what kind of model you are driving, and how to drive it in such a way that you will never have another oil leak again. To be yourself is to be fundamentally healthy.
What do the colours mean?The first thing you learn from an analysis of your Bodygraph is what is fixed and consistent about your nature. This can be seen wherever there is a centre or a channel in your design that is drawn in colour (see the example of Mozart). In Mozart’s design, the ‘self’ (the yellow diamond-shaped centre) is connected to the sacral centre (the red square) by the ‘channel of rhythm’. This is in turn connected to two further channels, the ‘channel of the archetype’ and the ‘channel of the transmitter’. When you put these three together, you have a man who is here to transmit archetypal rhythms into the world. Wherever you see colour, that represents a part of your nature that is fixed at birth.
The power of conditioningThe magic of Human Design is that it shows us clearly where we usually get stuck in our lives. The nature of our society is that it tends to condition us directly away from our very nature. This conditioning begins the moment we are born. According to our designs, we all fit differently into society.Human Design knowledge is of the greatest benefit to children and parents, since knowing a child’s design means that they can be guided in the direction of their nature, rather than away from it. For most of us as adults, the road back to our true nature is simple, but difficult.
The white centresThe secret of how we are conditioned in life lies in the white centres in our design chart. Wherever you see a centre or channel in your design that is not coloured in (known as an undefined centre), you are looking at something that is deeply attractive to you. The white centres are where we are not fixed; they are what we long for. At the genetic level, we are only interested in what is different from us. Look again at Mozart’s chart. You can see clearly that his throat centre is the only centre that is not drawn in colour. The throat centre is where we express ourselves. What Mozart most longed for in his life was to express his music, but how and when it was expressed was never in his hands. If he had understood this, he might have felt less frustrated in his life. Undefined centres are where we are designed to be conditioned by others.Through understanding the basics of our own design chart, we can see exactly how and where we are conditioned by the forces around us. In this way, we can take advantage of our conditioning, rather than trying to escape it, which is an impossible task. Take the example of someone with an undefined spleen centre. The spleen centre represents our immune system and is one of three awareness centres in humans. It is our spontaneous instinct for survival. If you have an undefined spleen centre (the brown triangular centre at the bottom left) you love to be spontaneous, but there is nothing more dangerous for you than being spontaneous! If those instincts are not a fixed part of your nature, then you cannot rely on them. Some people are designed to live spontaneously, while others are designed to take more time over their decisions.In Human Design, wherever there is a limitation in our design, there is also always a gift. Thus those of us who have to take longer in making up our minds can also gain a deeper understanding into our life process. In the same way, those of us who are more vulnerable and less fixed in our nature are also more sensitive and often have an uncanny ability to ‘read’ the people around us. These undefined white centres in our design are the places where we can ultimately attain wisdom.Knowing and understanding our design protects us from being a victim of our own conditioning. We are all conditioned all the time, whether by the chemistry of those around us or by the ‘neutrino weather’ from the greater cosmic environment in which we live. Science is now increasingly showing us how we are affected deeply, not only by the moon, but also by sunspot activity thousands of miles away.
Human Design readingsAs a Human Design analyst, one of the first things my clients usually hear from me is: ‘Don’t trust me, and don’t believe anything I say.’ The reason for this is that Human Design is an experiential system based on logic, and logic requires repeated testing. You have to see for yourself that it works. It has to get in under your skin and reprogramme every cell in your body with YOU. This takes a full seven years, since that is how long it takes for every cell in our body to be physically renewed. In a Human Design reading you will learn where your inner authority lies; that is, you will see what you can rely upon in your nature to consistently make clear and correct decisions in all areas of your life. You will also see where you are vulnerable to conditioning, whether that be through your mind, your emotions, or even through your very identity.When you receive a personal reading from a Human Design analyst, this often strikes a very deep chord within you. Many things about yourself which you or others might find difficult to accept can then be acknowledged as part of your genetic code. An example might be if you have a gene which demands that you begin new things without ever finishing them. Some of us are designed this way, and as long as we understand this, we can accept it as a unique part of our nature without self-judgement or guilt. There is always someone in the world with the opposite design – the ones who are great at finishing off what others have already begun!
Living your designHearing your design and living your design are two very different things. To live according to your nature takes great courage. For most people who come to Human Design readings, the greatest challenge is patience. You can learn to understand your design intellectually, but there are no workshops in living your design. That can only be learned from life itself.To follow your design, your true nature, is to realise that your life is choreographed by forces that are far beyond the understanding of the mind. When the mysterious ‘voice’ began to explain The Human Design System back in 1987, one of the first things it told us was that the universe itself has not even been born yet. We were only conceived at the big bang. For this reason, there are many things that we still cannot know, since the full splendour of what we are has not yet been revealed. The very most we can do is simply accept the nobility of who we are as individuals, and enjoy being part of a great adventure that goes beyond our own lifetimes. This is the secret that the Human Design System truly offers us: that life is designed to be effortless, and that to live out your nature is to see your role in the great mythic play of life. It is to realise that the unique role you have been given is the very one you have always dreamed of.Here are some simplified examplesof channels that can occur in people’s charts:The channel of transitoriness:people who don’t stay with one thing for very long.The channel of initiation:people who are usually highly competitive.The channel of the alpha:people who are natural born leaders.The channel of charisma:people who are endlessly busy.The channel of the prodigal:people who require frequent periods of retreat in their lives.
The Human Design System is symmetrical and logical, and once a rave chart is drawn up it is simple and easy both to analyse and explain.


THE NINE CENTRESHEAD – Inspiration: The Pressure Centre from AboveAJNA – The Mind/Conceptualisation: The Centre of Mental AwarenessTHROAT – Expression: The Centre of ManifestationHEART/EGO – The Will Power MotorG – Identity/Direction/Love: The ‘Higher’ SelfSACRAL – Sexuality/Creativity: The Fertility MotorSOLAR PLEXUS – Emotions: The Centre of Emotional AwarenessSPLEEN – Defence/Cleansing/Intuition: The Centre of Splenic AwarenessROOT – Kundalini/Stress: The Pressure Centre from Below


The Genetic TableThe Genetic Table (see diagram) represents the exact mathematical correlation between the ancient Chinese I Ching and the human genetic code.
Four types of human beingsOf the infinite possibilities that lie within our genetic material, Human Design shows us clearly that we humans are perhaps not as complicated as we like to think, for there are only four basic types of human being! Of course, there are millions of differences within these types, since each of us is unique. Each of the four types below operates according to a set of very simple natural laws.• Manifestors are pure energy beings. They are designed specifically not to be controlled by anyone. They often meet a lot of resistance in life because of this, and they can end up feeling very cut off from people. As with all the four types, when they understand the simple laws that govern their nature, life can suddenly be a lot easier for them.• Famous manifestors: Adolf Hitler, Paul McCartney, Alice Bailey, Sigmund Freud, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.• Generators are designed to respond to life. Unlike manifestors they have no idea of where they are going until they respond. Therefore they have to wait until life initiates them first. Generators are potentially the most powerful of all the types, but unless they understand how they work, they are the most frustrated people alive.• Famous generators: Mozart, The Dalai Lama, Prince Charles.• Projectors are people whose specific gift is to work with and guide the energy of others. They alone can understand both manifestors and generators. They also have a design to wait, and the key that unlocks their power is recognition. Unless they are recognised, they are powerless. Once they are recognised, they can achieve almost anything.• Famous Projectors: Ramana Maharshi, Osho (formerly Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh), Karl Marx, Princess Diana.• Reflectors are the rarest of the four types, since they have nothing fixed in their nature to rely upon (none of the nine centres is coloured in). These people can be the wisestpeople among us, since their life rhythms are directly governed by a celestial body: the moon. But if they do not understand how their design works they can feel deeply lost and overwhelmed by life.• Famous reflector: Uri Geller.

The Attraction field

Hi all,

I've been thinking about this concept of Attraction - I've heard lots of talk and read lots of stuff about the "attraction field". That we attract what we think or we attract by the vibe we put out there. Or we attract what we resonate with. Our thoughts attract our reality. Or, our thoughts create our reality, etc. I'm wondering if it is really our thoughts that create our reality.

After listening to Ra's radio program on the theme of the 'nodes' it got me to thinking about my own nodes a lot and I have been doing a lot of reflecting around this. I've been wondering about how the nodes play into the concept of "attraction field".

In Human Design terms we are an attraction field. The Magnetic Monopole which sits in the G Center pulls to us all the people, places and experiences we are supposed to have in order for the potential of who we are to have an opportunity to express fully. It's our not self mental strategy/conditioning that messes this up and causes us to get off track with our purpose.

To get the details of what the Magnetic Monipole pulls to us, among other things, we can look at our Nodes in our Design chart. Our 'node' (the horseshoe shaped symbols in our charts) position in our chart represent the 'environment' that we live in, and the environment that we live in shapes how we see life, and our experiences of life. It's our learning environment.

I'll use myself as an example....My Personality nodes are the 34/20 (channel of Charisma; gates of 'power'(34) and 'contemplation'(20)).

My environment has always been filled with both powerful people and people who contemplate. A big part of my history (23 years) was spent in the corporate world and it was filled with power. I had to look at Power from many angles. Mainly I interacted with people in powerful positions. I saw power plays, I was involved in power maneuvers, I had confrontations with power. I saw all types of power from both ends of the spectrum.

And on the other hand, I lead a very spiritual life; a life of contemplation (20); In my personal life away from work I spent my time with others who were on the spiritual path. I studied many forms of contemplation and it permeated my reality.

It felt like a very dualistic life. Power/Contemplation. Like I was living two lives that were so very different.

Most of the challenges and lessons in my life have been around dealing with people on power trips and getting into confrontations with them. I used to allow myself to be sucked into these dramas. I'm doing my very best now to use 'contemplation' and waiting out my wave when I'm presented with something like this. My old habit was to react. My father was constantly getting into power struggles and he has the 34!

So, my environment has been and is teaching me how to recognize power that is out of balance, how to use power in a healthy way, what is this thing power, etc. and to contemplate (wait) before engaging with anyone on a power trip or just don't engage with them at all. Walk away. The best thing for me to do is to stand up for myself with my truth and then let it go. If the other person does not let it go then it is not my problem.

'They' say that we attract to us the lessons we need to learn until we get them and if we don't get the lesson that the message gets 'bigger' and bigger. This does feel true. I'm thinking that the Nodes are a big part of our attraction field and will give us clues as to what we are going to attract/be involved with in order to grow and develop.

The other thing that I have noticed about the 34/20, which is also called the channel of being busy, is that the environment around me is very busy! And, if I am not careful and not coming from my sacral response and waiting out my wave, I can get sucked right up and into that busyness and realize later that it was not for me.

It was great to get the insight that the 34/20 is my environment and not necessarily me. Truthfully, I can be very lazy and my buzyness comes and goes. Rest is important to me and a requirement.

In looking back on my life the 34/20 has certainly played a HUGE part in my growth/lessons and development.

Other areas in our design where the attraction field exists are the areas in our design that are white or have no definition. These white areas are where we experience the environment. It is what we are attracted to because it is what we are not and we are always curious about what we are not. Not only are we curious about what we are not but we actually attract what we are not so that we can have that experience.

This is especially true for the white spaces in our designs that have been defined by our parents or siblings. This represents the long term conditioning field we grew up in and when we leave home we continue to be drawn to these same conditions and definitions because it is familiar and we get to play out the same scenarios as adults because of this. That is why we continue to pull to us the same issues to look at over and over again until we transcend them.

I think the transcendence comes when we stop reacting to the circumstance in the same way as before. Transcendence comes when we can have a new experience of ourselves in relation to our environment. When our interpretation of the event changes then our experience of it changes. This is the key.

Anyone out there care to look at your own nodes and see if you can see how they have impacted your life? Or just share your own thoughts about this if you like.

Lots of love,

Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

Open Ajna

I have a sense - don't know if I can fully express it into words yet, but that there are "Dimensions of Listening". And each person lives in their own Dimension of Listening. It's different for everyone based on their Design. For example, if you have an open Solar Plexus then your ability to listen is colored by the "not self" theme of trying to avoid confrontation. Does this make sense? Sandra mentioned how she experienced the open spleen as wanting to give answers to make the other person feel better, etc. I'm just really curious about what drives us and keeps us from feeling fully. For example, if we give answers to make others feel better then what are we avoiding by doing that? Are we avoiding feeling their feelings so we block what is happening? And why do we want to "make" them feel better? Thank you all for being so open to exploring this.

Anyway here is the list

Open Ajna "Not-Self" behavior:

- Giving in to the pressure to have an answer
- Being so used the conditioning, not really being aware that there is pressure to have an answer - it's become a habit
- Not being fully present because the open Ajna is working to develop an answer or comment while pretending to listen
- Finishing other person's sentences before the person gets a chance to finish expressing their thought
- Impatience with listening because they already know what the other is going to say (or they think they do)
- Pressure to Tell people what you think they want to hear or giving answers you think they want
- Needing to be mentally "certain" about things
- Being a "know it all"


Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

Why Strategy and Authority?

Why Strategy and Authority?

Why are Strategy and Authority Important? Strategy and Authority align us with our true self and our purpose in life. They connect us with all that is correct for us which includes the people we should spend our time with, where we should spend our time and our connection with the natural rhythm of our life.

If we get all these great things from living our Strategy and Authority, why then, for some of us, is it an effort to align ourselves with what brings us this joy and happiness? Why is it an effort to let go of not-self actions and behaivors?

The answer is the 'The Mind'. The mind has an insidious grip on us and it is very powerful. All of our mental processes, our thoughts, our rationalizations, our justifications, are all so powerful. They tend to take over and dominate our life. Often these mental processes are so absorbing of our awareness that we become completely out of touch with our true self and our feelings.

If we don't know how we feel then how can we know what makes us happy? Our society conditions us to live as our 'not-selves'. We are told what will make us happy and we believe it, and we slowly allow ourselves to be homogenized with society through this conditioning. We believe what we are told so much so, that who we are at our core is masked by what we are told we 'should be'. We are not nurtured and guided to become who we truly are at our deepest level. We are not nurtured to discover what makes us happy from the 'inside out'. We are trained to become what we are told to become... from the 'outside in'.

We may ‘think’ we know what will make us happy. Have you ever thought that if you could just attain a certain thing that you would be happy? Only to discover once you attained that thing that it left you feeling empty? This is a common experience.

Many people have become numb to what brings them joy and makes them happy because of the conditioning of society and our family of origin which tells us to think and behave in certain ways. We are told what should make us happy and bring us joy and we go out into the world to make this happen.

So, think about it for a moment - We start out in life being told what will make us happy, so now the mind thinks it knows what will make us happy. The mind makes all the decisions in life based on these notions. We get that job, husband, house, dog, friends, etc., all based on what our mind thinks will make us happy. This is how we get trapped in our ‘not-self’ life. We end up making not-self mental decisions based on not-self conditioning. It’s a vicious cycle.

And, of course, many people are not happy. We wish our life were different. We are tortured by measuring ourselves against who we are and what we think we should be. We are confused and depressed because what we have worked for and aspired to does not make us happy. We start asking “where have I failed? What is wrong with me? I 'should' be happy. There is something wrong with me. I need therapy. I need antidepressants to feel better so that I can be happy with my not-self life”.

Ok, so now here you are in your 40s or 50s and you have years and years of building a life on a false foundation, on not-self mental strategies. How do you transition to a true-self life? How do you undo your not-self life so that you can create a solid foundation and a life that represents who you really are? How do you find out who you really are? How do you dissolve the old and create a space so that the new you can emerge? It seems daunting; after all, you have commitments, a family, and a career, you a have a life!

This is tricky business to let go of the mind, to let go of what we thought our lives should look like. And you can't let go of the mind from the mind. You have to trick it. You have to bypass the mind and surrender to your body and what ‘it’ wants. Before we can surrender to the body we have to be able to hear the body and get in touch with what the body wants.

How do we do this? With the mind having such a grip on us, how do we surrender our mind to our body – to our ‘knowing’? How do we know what our ‘knowing’ is?

So what is the answer? This is where Strategy and Authority come in to play. These simple tools will empower you to live your life from the ‘inside out’.

When I first became aware of my own strategy and authority it took time for me to get a full sense of it. It took effort to work with it and I made a lot of mistakes. But over time I saw how it was working for me and I saw how my life was changing and how I was changing. I liked what was happening.

Now my experience is like being a passenger in this body. I am watching and feeling what is going on in the body and in my life. Now my mind has something new to do. It’s very entertaining to watch and feel what’s going on in the body in relation to outer circumstances.

It’s almost like watching a movie without being disconnected from the movie; I feel very connected to my life but from a different perspective. I’m less caught up in it and much more observant and reflective.

It’s a step by step, moment by moment following your strategy and authority process. You can take a more radical approach and make some big changes in your life by letting go of the things you know are not working for you. I did both of these things. I let go of a life that was not working and then I began to watch and listen.

It takes awareness moment by moment to make decisions that are true self decisions rather than not-self decisions. True self decisions do not come from the mind. After a time, maybe 7 years, there is no effort any longer. It’s natural for you to respond to life from your true nature.

Eventually the confusion disappears and is replaced with naturalness. Some circumstances in your life will probably change. Not-self relationships will either shift to true self relationships or fall away. You may realize that your job or where you live is not correct for you any longer, etc.

Will doing this bring up stuff for us to look at? Yes it will, and this is where the healing happens. This is where the deconditioning happens. When there is an inner conflict between your strategy/authority and you’re not-self, it’s a great time to bring out the WaveMaker or just feel into the feeling or whatever other technique you use. Each time you do this you are taking a step closer to a true self life.

Your not-self is masking your pain and your unresolved issues and by addressing the inner conflicts that emerge as you follow your strategy and authority you get an opportunity to look at your unresolved issues and heal.

So many wonderful things happen when you begin to live a true self life. Your purpose begins to unfold, the misery of comparing yourself to others disappears, and you find inner peace because you know your life is unfolding perfectly. True self-acceptance settles into your daily life. Stress dissipates and bliss settles in for the duration.

Live the life that you were meant to live. It's worth everything you will go through to get there.

Be fully self-empowered,

Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

The Human Design System
Understanding the Centers

Questions from the Undefined Centers


HEAD

Am I trying to answer everybody else’s questions? Am I making decisions about my life from my mind?

AJNA

Am I trying to convince everyone that I am certain? Am I holding onto concepts that do not serve me? Am I ridged in my beliefs? Am I letting my mind run my life? Am I trying to figure out my life from my mind?

THROAT

Am I trying to attract attention? Am I trying to be a doer? Am I worried about what I am going to manifest? Am I acting like a Manifestor? Am I initiating the conversation?

G

Am I looking for love? Am I looking for purpose and direction in life? Am I trying to find out who I am? Am I worried about the future? Am I aware that in order for me to be with the right people I need to be in the right place? Does my environment feel correct?

EGO

Do I feel and think I have something to prove? (I.e., am I smart enough, successful, sexy, etc.)? Do I say yes when I mean no? Do I value myself (are my prices too low)?

SPLEEN

Am I holding onto relationships, jobs, and places that are not good for me? Do I know when I am being abused? Do I end abusive relationships or do I hang on with the hope that they will change?

SOLAR
PLEXUSAm I avoiding confrontation and truth? Am I afraid and hiding from the consequences of upsetting someone? Do I hide my truth so I don’t rock the boat and have to deal with the consequences?

SACRAL

Do I know when enough is enough? Do I stop when I need rest? Do I “know” when I need rest? Do I honor the inconsistency of my energy?
ROOT
Am I in a hurry to get things done so I can be free of the pressure? Am I letting the pressure of the outside world run my life?

Introduction
To say it simply, the purpose of Human Design is to show us our role and contribution within the whole of life. And, most importantly, it shows us how to embody and live into our role.

It is so important to honor our individuality and to live our design. Human Design helps us to drop what I call the “should conditioning” and it shows us how we can simply be ourselves and let our uniqueness shine.

In looking at a Human Design chart there are four basic entry points to look at. They are “The Profile,” “The Type,” “The Incarnation Cross,” and “The Centers.” I believe that “The Type” and “The Centers” are the two most important aspects of Human Design.

The Centers

Understanding the Centers in our Body Graph (chart) can provide us with great insight in terms of our interactions with the environment and, most importantly, in how we interact in our relationships.

The Centers provide insight to the aspects most vulnerable to conditioning, and understanding this can help us be more discerning in our relationships and more compassionate with others and ourselves.

There are nine centers in the Body Graph. They are (from the top of the diagram) Head, Ajna, Throat, Self (G), Heart (Ego), Spleen, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root. This report will describe the functions of these Centers in detail. Take a look at your own chart while you read through them.

There are “Defined” and “Undefined” Centers. A Center that has color is Defined. A Center without color is Undefined. Whether a Center is Defined or Undefined plays an extremely significant role in understanding a person’s chart. The Defined and Undefined Centers come in any possible configuration. See example of Defined or Undefined Centers below:

When you have an Undefined Center this Center is open to the environment. It is like a window or filter. It is here in the Undefined Center that you “take in” the environment— this is the area in your life where the environment influences you. The environment includes people, places, events, and things. These Undefined Centers are where we get “conditioned”.

When you have a Defined (or fixed) Center it operates in a very specific way and is not open to the influences of the environment. The Defined Centers are actually defining the environment. An individual with many Defined Centers is considered to be “fixed” or unmovable in their process in life.

The Undefined Centers are the areas in our life where we go to school. They are the environment. They are NOT who we are. We learn about ourselves through the influences of the environment. We are designed to learn, master, and become aware of the things that the Undefined Centers bring to us or show us about ourselves. The trap we fall into is that we “think” we are the Undefined Centers and we get caught up in the conditioning of these centers.

For example, if you have an Undefined Heart Center then one of the schools you go to is the school of the Ego. You will learn all about the ego of others and how their egos impact you. If learned correctly, you will learn that trying to prove yourself to others, making promises, or willing yourself to do something is incorrect for you. You will learn to notice when others are trying to get you to cooperate with them by manipulating you to make promises or to cooperate with them. You will learn that you do not get involved with “games” of competition or control. You will potentially learn to observe these things in others without getting drawn into the drama.

When reading about the Centers, keep in mind that we all have been conditioned in life to function and behave in ways we think best serves our survival. Based on our open Centers, we develop survival strategies from birth that we think make it “easier” to function in our relationships and in society.

Because the Undefined Centers are so vulnerable to conditioning we grow up thinking that the Undefined Centers are “who we are.” In truth, the Defined Centers are who we are—or who we are becoming.

It goes like this: Most of us come into this world with both Defined and Undefined Centers. Based upon the world around us, i.e., parents, siblings, culture, neighborhood, friends, town, state, country, we get conditioned to thinking that we are this or we are that. As we grow into adulthood we realize through experiencing a lot of pain in our lives, that this is not who we are after all—it was just the outside influences and conditioning. We are really something else. We are the Defined Centers. So, we spend a good deal of our adult lives undoing the conditioning from the Undefined Centers.

Note: This report is designed to provide you with a general understanding of the Centers. However, there are specific details within the Centers that apply to our individual designs. These details can only be provided through a personal, private session.


The Mind Centers
The Mind consists of two Centers, the Head and the Ajna. These are the two Centers located at the top of the Body Graph.

These are the Centers of Inspiration (Head) and Conceptualization (Ajna). The Head Center is the place that governs inspiration and it is through the Ajna that we conceptualize and make sense of the Mind.

One of the most important things to understand about the Mind is that the Mind wants to be in control of the decision-making process in our lives. We have been trained and conditioned throughout life to think things through and make logical decisions. In truth, the Mind is for processing thoughts, taking in new concepts, learning, communicating, etc., and not for making the decisions in our lives.

There are specific Centers in the Body Graph that guide our decision-making process and they are all below the Throat. Each one of us has a specific way that we can make reliable decisions or get in touch with our inner knowing to guide our lives. This is very specific to the individual and will be covered in a future report.

When you have an Undefined Mind, you experience a great deal of mental pressure because you are open to the mental field that is all around us. You take in all this mental pressure from the outside. The Head Center is one of two pressure centers. Mental pressure could include the pressure to figure something out, the pressure to think about things, the pressure to hold onto a belief, or the pressure to make a mental decision. Quite often a person with an Undefined Mind will have headaches from all the pressure.

For example, you could be standing in line at a store and someone is thinking about taking a vacation and all of a sudden you get inspired to look into taking a vacation! This encounter was no accident. You needed the inspiration to look into taking a vacation. Now, whether or not this is the correct vacation or correct time for a vacation, can only be determined by your inner guidance. You certainly don’t want to take someone else’s vacation!

Another aspect of having your Centers Undefined is that you can read other people’s thoughts and can often finish their sentences during conversations. A person with an Undefined Mind will frequently say, “I knew he was going to say that!” In truth, they really do know what the other is going to say because they are being influenced, conditioned, or imprinted by the thoughts of others.

The key with an Undefined Mind is to use it as a filter. In other words, take in the impressions from the mental field and observe them and let them go. Filter the information without attaching to any of it. Notice what your mind is doing but don’t give it any importance. After all, it’s just an antenna picking up what is going on in the mental field.

When you have an Undefined Head and/or Ajna you need to be aware that you can be easily influenced and mentally talked into things. The other red flag to be aware of is that you can put off thinking about things that are important because you don’t want to feel the pressure. Undefined Head Centers just don’t want to feel the mental pressure so they don’t “think about things” or don’t “deal with things” even when it is necessary to do so.

When you have a Defined Mind Center you have a very specific mental process that is basically unchangeable. You need to go through your own mental process or, in other words, mentally do it your way. Depending upon the details of your Defined Mind, you may have a very abstract or logical thinking process or a combination of these things. Or, you may have a very individualistic mental process.

An Undefined Mind is under great pressure to answer everyone’s questions. If you have an Undefined Mind, you need to ask yourself, “What am I not wanting to think about that I need to think about?” And, “Am I still trying to answer everybody else’s questions?” Also, with an Undefined Ajna, ask yourself, “Am I still trying to convince everyone that I am certain?” “Did I allow myself to get talked into this decision?” “Did I make a mental decision?”

A Defined Mind influences the environment and has a very specific way in which it mentally processes. It contributes to the general mental field in the environment. A Defined Mind would influence an Undefined Mind. So, if an Undefined Mind makes a mental decision, it is a guarantee that it’s not “their” decision. It is a decision that has been influenced by a Defined Mind or the outside mental pressure field.

The Throat Center
The Throat Center is the Center of Manifestation. All the Centers in the Body Graph are moving toward the Throat Center. There is tremendous pressure on the Throat Center because there is tremendous pressure and conditioning in our lives to manifest.

Depending upon the details of your specific Throat Center, it explains what you want to “become” in this life. Whether the Throat is Defined or Undefined, there is a push to “be” something in this life and the details of the Throat tell this story.

We have all heard this before: “What do you want to ‘be’ when you grow up?” A child is under pressure throughout life to answer this question. This is because we live in a world where we must manifest. It’s all about manifesting.

An Undefined Throat Center feels the pressure to manifest and often gets in trouble trying to manifest without really knowing all the details of how to manifest or what to manifest. They can go through life feeling very frustrated in their efforts to manifest.

Very few of us (8% of the population) are designed to initiate and act out manifestation. Most of us are designed to respond (70% of the population) and, through response, we naturally and effortlessly manifest. It is important for you to understand your “Type” so that you know your best strategy for manifesting.

An Undefined Throat Center also feels great pressure to talk. You will find that Undefined Throat Center people talk more than Defined Throat Center people. The Undefined Throat Center people feel the pressure from the environment to talk. In many cases they talk when they should be listening and/or waiting for the right opportunity to talk. Another way to look at this is that they are trying to manifest when it is really best to wait for the right “timing” to manifest or talk. These people need to be initiated into the conversation.

With an Undefined Throat Center and the constant pressure to manifest, you can experience problems with the throat like losing one’s voice or having sore throats or even more serious conditions. I have talked with clients with Undefined Throats that have experienced all kinds of throat problems. Understanding how your specific Throat Center is designed to operate can be very helpful.

A Defined Throat individual generally knows what they want to become in life but not necessarily “how” to get there. They, too, can miss the boat by trying to manifest before the “how” shows up in their lives. Without the proper timing and the how, they can really spin their wheels trying to manifest. These people can become angry and burned out.

Another trap that the Undefined Throat falls into is trying to attract attention. So, you need to ask yourself, “Am I still trying to attract attention?”

Someone with an Undefined Throat can feel a lot of pressure to talk when they are with someone who has a Defined Throat. Conversely, a Defined Throat will often have the “words taken right out of their mouths” in the presence of an Undefined Throat.

The Self Center

The Self Center is also known as the G Center and the Center of the Higher Self. This Center takes us down our path in life. It acts like a magnet as we move through life. Imagine that above us there are invisible streetcar cables running in all different directions like a grid. The Self Center has a cable that is connected to this grid and as we move through life the Self Center will present to us the opportunities for the experiences that we need so that we move down our evolutionary path.

The Self Center represents love, direction, and identity. It represents how we love and are loved and how we give and get direction in our lives. It represents our relationship with our Higher Self. It also represents our identity. Examples of how it represents our identity are: I am a role model, I am a leader, I am a listener, etc.

A person with an Undefined Self Center does not necessarily feel that they know the direction they are headed in life. They are rarely sure that they are heading in the right direction. They can also be very confused about love and try to hold onto love when it is time to let go. They can also be confused about their identity because they identify with so many different people and things.

If you have an Undefined Self Center (G), you need to ask yourself, “Am I still looking for love?” “Am I still looking for my direction or way in the world?” “Am I still trying to define myself?”

A person with an Undefined Self needs to understand that the environment guides them. It literally presents guideposts for love and direction along the path in life.

For example, a person may show up in their lives and offer an opportunity for a new direction or a new relationship. The Undefined Self needs to pay attention to these guideposts. They do not necessarily have to go in the new direction or get involved in the relationship offered. They do, however, need to pay attention. If they do go with the offer it is important to remember that they do not owe the guidepost (person) anything for initiating them onto a new path. The guidepost is simply an agent of the Universe showing up at the right moment in this person’s life to possibly send them into a new direction.

It is important to note that an Undefined Self is not the one to initiate. They are to wait until the initiation takes place. They must be “shown” their new love or new direction. This can seem very uncomfortable in a society where we are taught to go after what we want. It can feel very uncomfortable to wait while one feels directionless. It can feel uncomfortable to not be in a relationship while the pressures from society, friends, and family tell us we “should” be in a relationship.

The person with the Undefined Self needs to stay unattached to direction and love and learn to love without attachment or expectation. They need to learn to drop the things and people in life that are not working for them so that a new direction or love can come. They need to learn to “mind their own business” with regard to a relationship. This means that they need to go about their own business and let others take care of themselves. This does not mean that they don’t care. You can lovingly allow others their own process. If you are asked to help, and it feels right, then do so.

An Undefined Self needs relationships that enrich and expand their lives. They cannot be in a relationship where they feel trapped. You need to ask yourself, “Do I have absolute freedom and expansion in this relationship?” “Does this relationship add to and enhance my life?”

Generally speaking, a Defined Self typically feels that they know where they are going and they know about love. Of course, there are some exceptions. A Defined Self provides direction to an Undefined Self and an Undefined Self reflects the identity and direction back to a Defined Self.

A Defined Self defines and influences the environment in terms of direction, love, and identity according to their specific design (whether they are aware of it or not).

The Heart Center

The Heart Center represents the ego, willpower, and will. It represents the “I.” What do “I” want, need, etc. When it is Defined it can be very strong willed and it “can be” a very healthy ego. These people can “appear” to be egoists to people with an Undefined Heart Center. In truth, they are to some extent. We are not all here to be “egoless”—just the Undefined Heart people.

An Undefined Heart Center is not here to be competitive, make promises, or will itself to do anything. Making promises and willing themselves can be bad for the health of the heart. Undefined Hearts need to be careful about what they choose to cooperate with or get involved with. An Undefined Heart needs to be careful not to allow others to talk them into cooperating and getting involved in things that are not for them. They can easily over-commit or over-promise just to make another person happy or because they “think” they “should,” only to find out later that they are going to have to break that promise. Undefined Heart people hate to break promises—therefore, it is very important that when they do agree to get involved in something that it is truly right for them.

It is very important for an Undefined Heart not to compete with others or take risks because of pressure or because someone else wants you to. They are not here to “prove” themselves. This is a life of learning—to be “egoless.”

As an example, Undefined Hearts would not will themselves to quit smoking or diet. They quit smoking or lose weight when they are ready. This is not about will power.

For good or bad, an Undefined Heart reflects the ego of the Defined Heart. A Defined Heart meets their ego through reflection from the Undefined Heart. In some cases, this can be very uncomfortable to see oneself in this way.

The Undefined Heart needs to be alert to the influence a Defined Heart can have on them. The Defined Heart does not understand why Undefined Hearts cannot just will themselves to do something, so the Defined Heart will try and impose their will onto the Undefined Heart.

The Undefined Heart individual needs to ask, “Do I still think I have something to prove?” Or, “Do I act like I have to prove myself?”


The Spleen Center

The Spleen is in charge of our immune system and our awareness in the present moment. It is the intuitive awareness in all of us. It is what we call our instinctive awareness in that it just simply operates in the now. Despite its importance, this instinctive awareness speaks only ONCE through our intuition, instinct, or taste! Because it speaks only once, we must learn to listen to it and not override it with our mind.

If you have a Defined Spleen, it is important to listen to your instincts or intuition and not allow your mind to override this “knowing.” The Spleen is the source of our capacity for spontaneous judgment of what is really good or not good for us. It is very important for our well-being. It keeps us healthy and alerts us to potential “danger.”

For example, it can alert us about people, places, food, and events. People with Defined Spleens are always saying to themselves: “I knew it” or “I knew that was going to happen” or “Why didn’t I listen to my instincts!” Because we have been so conditioned to be “mental” beings we think that our mind is smarter than our body. This is simply not true. Our mind gets us into more trouble than we like to admit. So, remember, if you have a Defined Spleen, always listen to your first impression!

In terms of caring for your body, if you have a Defined Spleen, it is important to get regular checkups with your doctor. Having a Defined Spleen can mask potential problems. These people have to be careful not to overload the immune system. When a person with a Defined Spleen does get sick, they can get hit hard and they can get hit unexpectedly.

With an Undefined Spleen, the immune system is vulnerable. This does not mean it is unhealthy or weak. It means there is a need for wisdom—to be wise about one's health and well-being and to pay attention to all the little signals from the body. The body is very sensitive. If you have an Undefined Spleen, you need to be cautious and much more holistic in your approach with what you eat and the type of medications that you take.

If a person with an Undefined Spleen had enough time to heal after a sickness as a child, chances are that person has established a healthy immune system and is very healthy and aware about what their body can handle.

People with Undefined Spleens are sensitive to the lack of well-being in the world and can interpret this as their own lack of well-being. They don’t necessarily “feel good” about themselves. The potential result is a search for “the feel good.” And when someone with a Defined Spleen steps into the aura of a person with an Undefined Spleen, they then “define” the Undefined Spleen. At that moment, the person with the Undefined Spleen feels good. The potential problem with this is that they can misinterpret this “feel good” as something that “is good” for them so they might stay in a relationship because of this chemistry and not because it is a relationship that is good for them. In other words, you can set yourself up for “feel good blackmail!”

The Undefined Spleen person should ask, “Am I still holding on to relationships, jobs, and places that are not good for me?”

A person with an Undefined Spleen can sense when others are feeling good or bad. This can be personalized and interpreted as meaning something about them. When you are not feeling good about yourself, try and remember not to personalize it. It is simply something that you are picking up in the environment.

With an Undefined Spleen, it is not healthy for a person to be spontaneous even though they feel the pressure to be spontaneous. Most people with an Undefined Spleen want to be spontaneous and this can lead to things that are not healthy for them.

The Solar Plexus Center

The Solar Plexus Center is the most powerful Center in the Body—this cannot be emphasized enough! Whether it is Defined or Undefined, the Solar Plexus Center has the most significant impact on our lives. The Solar Plexus Center can also be looked at as the Emotional System of the Body.

A “Collective Emotional Wave” dominates the world we live in. We are all surfing in this sea of emotions, riding or drowning (mostly drowning) in the “Collective Emotional Wave.” The person with an Undefined Solar Plexus is reflecting or mirroring the emotional chaos felt in the presence of unaware Defined Solar Plexus people.

The Solar Plexus is a powerful motor with many purposes—one of which is to release primary action. It is the motor or the energy of the human “experiential way.” It takes us in and out of experiences. This Center is very complex as it dominates the basic things of life like making love, bonding, food, moods, romance, and entering into new experiences.

The Solar Plexus operates in a “wave” of emotional chemistry, and this wave moves from HOPE to PAIN and back again. Because this is such a powerful Center, it is very deep within us and it is the Center we are the most identified with. The energy of the Emotional Wave goes up and down, and this repeats over and over again. Where you are “at” in your Emotional Wave changes moment-by-moment, day-by-day, and week-by-week. It is not something that can be controlled or predicted. However, it can be understood and, once understood, it can be used properly to great benefit.

Here is an example to understand the value of the Defined Solar Plexus: Let’s say I’m a photographer and I’m going to take consecutive pictures of a flower as it is blooming. To really fully understand what it is for a flower to bloom, I will need to look at all the pictures. If I pull one picture out of the sequence to look at, I am only getting one very small perspective or, actually, no perspective at all. So, we could say that to fully experience a blooming flower, we would have to “Wait” for the flower to finish its cycle of blooming. Yes, “Wait” is the operative word here! So, for a person with a Defined Solar Plexus, their motto is: “There is no truth in the now.” Truth for these people reveals itself over time. Time provides us the opportunity to see a different perspective. You get a different perspective when your emotional wave moves to a new place. And, when you wait and allow time, you see and hear things later that were not available to you until your wave moved to a new place.

When a Defined Solar Plexus individual takes the time to absorb things in depth on an emotional level, the result can be clarity, a new perspective, and profound understanding. When you jump into something without first giving yourself the time for clarity, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. This is because you only have a piece of the information that is available to you. This is why we say “there is no truth in the now” for these people.

You’ve heard this before: “It’s not the end result that counts, but the journey along the way.” Taking things in slowly and deeply requires present-time awareness, which keeps you in the moment. It also requires impeccable honesty with oneself. How easy it is for the mind to butt in and try to convince the Solar Plexus to “go ahead, jump in…it’s alright, we have to do this because….” The mind will argue and give “reasons” as to why we “should” do this or that.

Remember, we said earlier that the mind has no “Authority”—it thinks it does, but it does not. The Body has the Authority, and if you have a Defined Solar Plexus, then it is your inner authority—but it can only do its job properly with enough time. A Defined Solar Plexus rules the decision-making process no matter what else is in your Design.

The Solar Plexus dilemma: When we feel its impatient force, we want to act on it immediately. When we are excited about something we feel this incredible wave of emotion. Waiting becomes the hardest AND the last thing we want to do here. Patience, patience, patience, is the motto for the Defined Solar Plexus individual! Patience gives truth time to reveal itself.

If you have an Undefined Solar Plexus it means that you are vulnerable to the emotional climate of people with a Defined Solar Plexus. If you are not aware of this and how it affects your emotional stability, you helplessly ride the emotional wave or chaos of those around you.

Here’s an example of a new relationship: Let’s say Sue has a Defined Solar Plexus and John has an Undefined Solar Plexus. They meet and fall in love. During the beginning stage of the relationship Sue is really high on her emotional wave. She has so much hope and expectation (attachment) at this stage. John is feeling this (attachment) twice as strong as Sue because he has the Undefined Solar Plexus and is reflecting her “high” back to her. She feels this and goes even higher and this exchange continues. They are really having a great time!

But, what goes up must come down, as they say. Eventually, Sue’s emotional wave starts to come down, her mood changes…she is having a bad day and not feeling all that great (maybe she needs some time alone and does not know it or may not want to admit it). She is just feeling a bit low. John feels this and reflects it back and then Sue goes lower and the exchange continues.

Now, if Sue and John did not know about the “chemistry” of the Solar Plexus, they could get into all sorts of “reason-making” or “projecting” about it. John could be thinking, “She’s not the same woman I fell in love with,” or “Wow, is she ever moody!” Sue could be thinking, “He’s just not as romantic as he used to be.” They fall into the trap of “reason-making” or pointing the finger at the other through blame, shame, and guilt. When what is really happening is that the chemistry has just moved to a new place—a place they have not experienced together before. They get confused because things were so good in the beginning and now they appear to be not as good.

Remember, it’s just the chemistry of the moment. And we get into deep trouble when we try to give reason to our chemistry thus perpetuating our reacting to the chemistry. So, rather than give reason to the chemistry and make the other person wrong or bad, a good way to handle this is to just acknowledge where the chemistry or emotional wave is in the moment and be with the current mood. This could mean taking a walk alone, doing something creative, etc. If we force ourselves to be what we are not because of the expectations of others or expectations we have on ourselves, then we are living in pain and struggle.

Ideally, through time, Sue and John will come to accept the emotional climate in the relationship and handle it just fine. Time is important for both of them. John, being the person with the Undefined Solar Plexus, needs to discover if this is truly an emotional climate that is healthy or right for him. If he ends up being constantly emotionally thrashed around, this relationship might not be the right one for him. Another way to look at this is John could make the choice as to whether this “conditioning” is correct for him. After all, John IS being “conditioned” by Sue’s Defined Solar Plexus.

Of course, Sue has an important decision to make as well. Sue needs to be aware of how John reacts to her emotional wave or moods and also the general emotional climate out there in the world. If John personalizes and overreacts every time Sue goes down in her wave—or has a highly charged emotional response to things in life in general—then he may not be the right mate for Sue. She may not want this type of highly charged emotional response reflected back to her. We all get to choose!

So, you can see from this example that Sue and John both need to take their time and feel whether this is the right emotional climate for them. They will have to ride the emotional roller coaster for a while to see if this is the ride they want to have in their lives on a permanent basis.

If you have an Undefined Solar Plexus it also means that your childhood emotional environment had a tremendous impact on you. The emotional climate you grew up in caused you to develop and use emotional self-protective (“conditioned”) strategies for survival.

As soon as a baby with an Undefined Solar Plexus enters the world it meets an emotional climate. Imagine how this might feel: As soon as the baby is born it feels the positive emotional blast from its Mother and Father. When the Mother gets tired and her emotional wave drops (maybe because the baby is crying and the mother has had little sleep), the baby feels this right away. This child will grow up learning that they do not want to deal with a negative emotional field. It’s too painful and makes them feel tight and uncomfortable inside.

The child learns to hide or make up stories to avoid getting in trouble. At all costs, the child (or adult) may lie or hide the fact that they are sick or did something “wrong” to avoid confrontation so they won’t receive a blast of negative emotion. They feel they could drown in their emotions if they cause anyone to be upset with them. They have been lying and emotionally hiding for years trying to “keep the peace” and “make nice.”

These emotions can build up over the years and explode like a volcano. Those with an Undefined Solar Plexus don’t even know when they are doing it because it has become such a learned and conditioned behavior. They will do anything not to deal with an emotional confrontation. This is deep conditioning that is carried into adult life.

If you have an Undefined Solar Plexus, you will have to learn to deal with emotional confrontation, even though you would rather avoid it at all costs. If you continue to hide from the confrontations, it enforces and enriches the negative conditioning. You need to understand these vulnerable places and not hide from them. This is part of the process of becoming aware and fully alive in life and not living “at affect.” You will need to ask yourself, “Am I still avoiding confrontation and truth?”

The person with the Undefined Solar Plexus needs to use discernment in relationships. They need emotionally responsible and stable people in their lives. Otherwise, they continue to play the game of “making nice” so as not to rock the boat and experience the negative emotions of the other. If they are doing this, they are not being themselves.

If you have an Undefined Solar Plexus, you have come into this life to filter, experience, and know the emotional climate at a very deep level and to be present to it without personalizing it.

Ultimately you can get to a point of “emotional awareness” and feel what is going on around you. If you are not “personalizing” or “reacting blindly” to what you are feeling, then you can really “tune-in” to the various energies and more accurately size-up a situation. You can feel when things are emotionally “charged” or “out of balance” and use this information to help find clarity or guidance rather than being a slave to your Undefined Solar Plexus Center by constantly overreacting defensively or overreacting passively to the emotional climate.

These Undefined Centers are where we get our biggest lessons in life. If we continue to hide and allow ourselves to be held hostage by other people’s fluctuating emotions, we are not allowing ourselves to receive the self-knowledge that is available to us through the Undefined Center.

The Sacral Center

The Sacral Center is the Center of life-force energy. It represents how we respond to life. It is the Center of our sexuality. It represents how we experience sexual encounters with others. It is our response to life and life force energy. It is also the “how” of getting things done. When Defined, these people know how to get things done. You could call this the center of giving birth to life.

When this center is Defined in a chart it means that this person is a “Generator.” These are pretty juicy people. They literally generate life-force energy. The Defined Sacral actually speaks to the person. It speaks in responses of yes or no. People that have this center Defined need to learn to listen to the yes/no of the Sacral. If the Sacral says no and the person ignores it and does it anyway, this can be very detrimental to their health. It actually causes this center to begin to shut down or degenerate. Also, if the sacral says yes and the person mentally talks them self out of it (giving power to the mind) then the same thing happens.

People with a Defined Sacral are not to initiate—they are designed to be receptive. There is a yin/yang quality to them. The yin is receptive and the yang is active. Once the yin responds with a yes then the yang can act. So, this is why we tell these people not to initiate. If they initiate then there is no way for them to know through the yes or no of the Sacral if the thing they initiated is correct for them. By waiting for things to be presented to them (yin) they have an opportunity to listen to the response of the Sacral. If the response is a yes, then they can get involved (yang) and take action. This applies to every part of their lives. These people are learning to trust that things will be presented to them and/or that they will be asked to participate.

People with a Defined Sacral know “how to get things done.” They don’t necessarily know what they should be doing. But once they have been initiated, the “how to” kicks in automatically and it gets done.

If you have an Undefined Sacral then you are a Projector, Reflector, or a Manifestor.
These people do not necessarily have the “how” to get things done and can run themselves into the ground trying to get things done. They look and act like they have it Defined. And this is because they are reflecting ALL of that life force Generating energy out into the world. If you have this Center Undefined, you actually feel like the “super-slave”—always busy and under pressure to be active. You can burn yourself out. You need to ask yourself, “Do I know when enough is enough?” “Have I talked enough?” “Have I worked hard enough today?” “Have I tried enough to make this relationship work?” “Is it time to rest?” “Is it time to stop?”

The Root Center
The Root Center is one of two pressure centers. The other is the Head Center. So, if you look at your chart you will see that the Head is at the top of the chart and the Root is at the bottom—you are sandwiched between two pressure centers. The Root Center is the “fuel” for the rest of the chart. The “Pressure to Fuel” is there to fuel any number of things. It is the fuel to start a new experience, the fuel for the logical process, the fuel for the individual process, the fuel to support the family, the fuel for business and enterprise, etc.

If you have an Undefined Root then you feel the pressure of the outside world. This pressure is the pressure of the “rat race.” It is the pressure to get things done and to keep up with the “rat race.” It says, “I have to get this done so I can take a vacation.” “I have to get this done so I can rest.” The pressure felt by an Undefined Root is tremendous. Other people’s emergencies become yours if you are unaware.

To be aware is to notice the pressure and then make intelligent decisions about it like “Do I really need to get this done now or can I schedule it for Tuesday so that I can rest today?” To be unaware is to feel this pressure and let it run your life. It’s similar to a chicken with its head cut off. It’s running but it has no idea why or what for. These people can end up running themselves into the ground. The Root Center is the center of the adrenals and quite often people with an Undefined Root will be exhausted.

With an Undefined Root you will need to ask, “Am I still in a hurry to get things done so that I can be free of the pressure?”

People with a Defined Root will usually be well grounded and be a grounding force or a pressure force for the Undefined Root.

What are the Types Concerned with?

This is what each type is concerned with. For example, when getting involved in something this is where they will be coming from:

Generator: Wanting to know Who am I?
(so I know when something is right for me to be involved with, where to put my sacral energy).

Reflector: Wanting to know Who we are.
(through understanding the 'collective we' they know their place).

Manifestor: Wanting to know Who can I impact?
(so they know who to inform).

Projector: Wanting to know Who sees me?
(by knowing themselves they know when someone sees the true self so they know where they belong).

Lynda Bunnell
www.ihdschool.com

Where Does Your Voice Come From?

Where Does Your Voice Come From?
By Ra Uru Hu
It is astonishing how little human beings know about their own nature. Take for example the human voice. Where does it come from? If you ask somebody where their voice comes from, they are going to tell you that the words that come out of their mouth originate in their mind. We tend to be mind oriented. We tend to assume that what we say has been nurtured mentally. We know very little about the actual mechanics of our voice. The focus of the Human Bodygraph is the throat center. The throat center is our center of manifestation, our center of metamorphosis. Biologically, this is where the thyroid glands are. The thyroid and the para-thyroid are endocrine glands which control our metabolism, whether we're fast or slow, big or small. All roads lead to Rome. All roads lead to the throat center. Everything about being a human being is about manifesting. Manifesting has two aspects to it. There is verbal manifestation. It is called communication. This is one of the primary functions of the throat center. The throat center is there to manifest speech. It acts like the diaphragm of your stereo speaker. Anything connected to the throat will speak through the throat, not just simply the mind. The body has four motors: the heart center (the ego and will-power), the solar plexus (the emotions), the root center (adrenaline and stress) and the sacral center with its generative capacity. The second function of the throat center is to physically manifest, to act rather than speak. When the throat is connected through definition to one or any of the four motors, then you have somebody who is a doer. Now, let's return to the first function and think about where our voice actually comes from. Imagine the throat is connected to the heart center. The heart center is the place of our ego. It's the place of willpower. And when that ego is connected through definition to the throat it speaks in the language we all recognize. It says "I", "I", "me", "mine". We know what the general response is to these people. "Why do you always have to talk about yourself?". "Why do you have to be so selfish?". "Why are you such an egoist?". They get conditioned by everyone around them. "Don't be an egoist.", the conditioners demand. The heart center in its biological relationship is connected to our heart, the physical muscle of the heart and the stomach. The moment that somebody whose voice is an ego voice is suppressing that voice is the moment that they are going to have physical problems associated with the heart and stomach. If you have a throat connected to the emotional system by definition, to the solar plexus, you have somebody who is going to cry taking out the garbage. You know what everybody says to them, "Why do you have to be so emotional?". "Why can't you control yourself?". Of course, what the majority are forced to do is try desperately to take control of themselves as a response to the conditioning pressure. They literally give up any hope of ever being themselves. You cannot control what is fixed and defined in you. You cannot suppress it without risking your very health. If you do not know where your voice comes from you are always at the conditioning mercy of others. When the throat is connected to the Ajna center, to the mind, then the mind can speak. There are so many people whose minds, whose ajna centers, are not connected to the throat or whose ajna centers are open and undefined. They are frustrated throughout their life that they never say what they want to say. They think there is something wrong with them. It is not true. We do not know where our voice comes from. When you do know where your voice comes from, it makes an enormous difference in your life. You can express yourself as you are, and not feel guilty in doing so. You can have the understanding to recognize that this is your nature, that if you are an egoist, and you speak through your "I", that is all you can do. It is after all your nature to be that way. We have vast generalizations that are at work in our civilization. We have our prejudices about this way or that way of expressing ourselves. The throat is very complex. It has eleven gates, eleven different potential voices. Think about what it is like for somebody whose throat is open and undefined. We know the defined throat is going to speak and it's going to speak in a voice depending on what it's connected to. The undefined throat is turned on by conditioning and is therefore inconsistent.. If you're at a dinner party, and there are five or six people with a defined throat and one person with an undefined throat, it is the undefined throat that is doing all the talking. They're blabbing all night. Their throat is under enormous pressure from everyone else and when they get home that evening that throat is physically sore. Think about the nature of the undefined throat in a partnership. Your partner has their throat defined, and they have it defined in a specific way. So for example, they have it defined through the channel between the throat and the ego. The ego will speak through the throat and its language will be possessive in expression. "I have" or "I don't have". You have an undefined throat, and your lover has this whole channel and every time you have a conversation together it's always through that channel.Not surprisingly, whether you like it or not, he conversation is always about what you have and what you don't have and it's always material. It is not your voice.It means that the other ten ways that you would have as an opportunity to be able to express yourself, are not available to you. Not only that but you become conditioned to seeing everything in terms of what you have and what you don't have which is not natural to your nature, but the result of conditioning.It is not just a question that you don't know where your voice comes from. In not knowing your Design, your mechanics, you don't know how you're being conditioned verbally by others. It is not that they are doing anything wrong or they are bad. They don't have any choice in the matter. They are unaware of their own design.The throat center is where you manifest and where you articulate, To recognize how things work within you, takes a vast burden off your shoulders. You don't have to be what you're not. You don't have to be under pressure to be what you're not. You can learn to recognize when the forces around you are unhealthy for you, because they do not allow you to be yourself.

Who Has Free Will?
The heart center is one of the body’s four motors. The heart center despite appearances with only four gates is deeply complex. Each gate represents a different biological aspect in our life: the heart muscle itself, the stomach, the gall bladder system and our thymus gland. It is very profound and very powerful. It is a motor and it is the motor that produces energy called "willpower". There is a grand illusion; one of the generalizations that haunt humanity, that "free will" is given. It is not. There are those in the world who have access to willpower consistently. That is, when the ego is defined and connected to the throat or when the ego is defined and connected to the sacral. Only through definition can the ego and its willpower emerge consistently. There are vast numbers of people who are born with undefined ego centers, undefined willpower, and inconsistent willpower. Given the nature of what it is to be a human being, the need to aggressively deal with survival, willpower is something that is exalted. Human beings are seen as handicapped when they do not have this willful capacity. There are so many undefined ego people who have been humiliated into therapies, who have suffered terribly within themselves because of what they perceive as failed will. When somebody comes for an individual analysis with me, and they have an undefined heart center, the first thing that I say to them is never, never make a promise. Once you understand the nature of your type, you will recognize how you are able to deal with the world. If you have an undefined ego center, there is no way that you can be willful and be successful in that willfulness. Ignorance is pervasive. Human Design is a basic educational tool. It belongs with reading and writing and arithmetic. It belongs to children. Imagine what it is like to have an undefined ego center and you are a smoker and you want to quit. You go to a therapist and the therapist happens to have a defined ego, a fixed ego. The therapist is willful. The moment that you sit down with them, they condition you. They fill you up with their ego power. Human beings have an aura. It is very important to grasp the power of what your physical aura is. You don't have to see it as shining glowing phenomena; just recognize that the real exterior of your energy field goes beyond the surface of your skin. Generally speaking, the aura is about twice as long as your outstretched arm in all directions around you. You are at the center of a sphere. It fluctuates. The moment that you step into somebody's aura, you meet them at the mechanical level as well as the conscious level. When you step into the therapist’s office to get help in quitting smoking, you step into their aura and you step into their defined ego. Centers that are white, that are undefined, the moment that they are connected to a defined center, they not only reflect that center, but they magnify it.Reflection and magnification is very important to grasp. When the therapist says to you, "you will", you've got their ego inside of you and it's even stronger than theirs now because you're magnifying it and you say "I will, I will, I will". When the session is over and you go outside, you walk down the street and at the first tobacco stand; you stop, turn and buy yourself a package of cigarettes, light up and feel horrible. It wasn't your willpower. It was conditioned in you. The moment that you broke the aura, you went back to having an undefined, an open ego system that operates inconsistently. Think about how much damage has been done by ego people trying to empower undefined ego people and what kind of pain those undefined people have met in their life when their promises collapse. It is not just that they have to deal with disappointment in others, and the disappointment within themselves, but how strongly this creates a sense of inadequacy in life. It is not true. Life is not about being willful for them. If you have a defined ego and that defined ego can manifest or generate, reach the throat or the sacral, then you can be willful. You can make promises. It doesn't mean, by the way, that you can keep them. It does mean that you will work. When you say to somebody, " I promise I will see you tomorrow", you'll be there. The undefined ego, the open ego, when it promises, "I'll see you tomorrow", will not be able to work at it the next day and then feels guilty. The broken promises add up and that leads to deterioration in the self-confidence and poor relationships. There is no fault, only a lack of understanding of basic mechanics. It is just mechanical. If you honor what you are, and you do not give authority to what you are not, then you are going to be healthy and you're going to have your life. If you have an undefined ego center and you keep on making promises, you are going to do physical damage to your body. You are going to hurt your heart and your stomach. You are going to hurt your immune system.Being yourself is more than just being at ease in life. Awareness is beautiful but health is better. When you recognize, except and live your own nature, you get both.