So, you’ve just downloaded your bodygraph, now what? You’re in the right place, keep reading to learn the basics of how to read your Human Design chart. (If you haven’t got your bodygraph yet, click here to download your HD chart for free!)

A traditional chart has Red down one side, Black down the other side and the centres are coloured a mix of green, yellow, brown and red (example below).

If you are serious about understanding and learning to read you Human Design chart I would highly recommend getting a traditional chart rather than the more modern branded charts with mixed colours.

Your Human Design Chart is made up of 100’s of pieces of information directly related to you and how you are designed to be your true self, and therefore thrive. Knowing where to start to understand your chart can feel overwhelming.

Human Design is ultimately about two things: 

1. Decision making
2. How you interact with the world around you

These two actions create and define the life that you live every day. Take a moment to realise that the accumulation of your all your past decisions and interactions are the only thing that have brought you to the moment you sit in right now.

To chance our life, we need to become aware of our decision making, responses and interactions with the world on a daily basis. 

Understanding the basics of Human Design

Before diving into reading the image of your Human Design chart, make sure you have a solid understanding of your: 

• Type (Manifestor, Generator, Projector etc)
• Strategy (How you are designed to interact with the world around you) 
• Authority (How you are designed to make correct decisions). 

Now you can move into de-coding the other elements of your chart!

When looking at your chart you’ll see 2 main parts: 

1. The main Body Graph in the middle, which is made up of 9 centres with various gates and channels connecting those centres together. Some of the centres, gates and channels will be coloured in and some will be white.
   
2. Planet symbols and numbers in a table running down either side of the Body Graph – one in red and one in black

What’s Me vs What’s Not Me

In your Human Design Chart, you will see some Centres and Gates that are coloured in and some that are white. 

Put simply, the areas that are coloured in are part of YOU. These are gifts, skills, and energy you have consistent and reliable access to. The coloured in areas in a Human Design Chart are processors and transmitters. They take information and energy, process it and transmit it outward in a regulated and sustainable way.

Coloured in Centres are also called ‘Defined’ Centres.

In contrast, the White areas of your chart are receivers and amplifiers. 

This includes all white centres and white gates and channels. These are areas of your chart that take in information and energy from the environment around you and amplify it. This energy is inconsistent and not reliable. It fluctuates, being available sometimes and not others.

Therefore, our task with Human Design is to learn to live from our defined areas – our sustainable energy – the true us. 

When we try and live from the white areas, we become distracted and lost.

Understanding your Centres & Gates in Human Design

The 9 Centres of your Body Graph

1. Head: inspiration & questions
2. Ajna: concepts & ideas, opinions, answers & beliefs
3. Throat: communication, manifestation (speaking things into existence) and expression.
4. G Centre: sense of identity, sense of direction in life, sense of self-love
5. Heart: self-worth, will power, relationship to material things and the ego
6. Solar Plexus: nervous system, emotions, moods/feelings & passions in life
7. Sacral: vital energy (get up & get go energy), response/responding (taking action), sexual energy
8. Splenic: intuition, survival instincts (fight or flight), immune system
9. Root: drive, adrenaline, sense of stress & pressure

When looking at the Body Graph, we notice some centres are defined and undefined. Defined centres are where we have consistent processing and a stable transmission of energy. Undefined Centre are where we have inconsistent access and unreliable energy. 

We can look at our chart and see from the above which ‘themes’ of energy are stable and reliable for us and which are less reliable and unstable. 

This is the first step to reading your chart – recognising the stable (what is you) and the unstable (what isn’t you).

The planets, their symbols and how to find your Gates

On each side of your Body Graph, you’ll see a red column and a black column. 

The symbols represent the planets, and next to each planet there is a number. Each of these numbers corresponds to a ‘gate’ activation in your chart.

Where you see a number next to the planet, if you look on your chart and find the corresponding number in one of the energy centres you will see it is ‘activated’ meaning it has a red or black line coming out of it.

You will notice the gate theme ties into the theme of the Centre that it sits in.

Examples: 

Gate 48 – The Gate of Depth is about intuitive knowing. This gate sits in the Spleen – where manages the theme of intuition and survival.

Gate 16 – The Gate of Skills is about accumulating and sharing skills with the collective. This gate sits in the Throat – which manages communication and expression. 

When we go a layer deeper, each of the planets also has a different energetic theme. 

Planet themes:

1. Sun – Personality / Life Force 
2. Earth – Grounding and balance
3. North Node – Future Direction
4. South Node – Past Direction
5. Moon – Driving Force in life
6. Mercury – Communication and Thinking
7. Venus – Values
8. Mars – Energetic Dynamics
9. Jupiter – Law
10. Saturn – Discipline and restraint
11. Uranus – Chaos and Order
12. Neptune – Illusion and Spirit
13. Pluto – Truth and Transformation

With this information can then look at the Planet the Gate is assigned to further explore it’s purpose…

Example:

Gate 48 – Gate of Depth – in the Centre: Spleen – in the Planet: Neptune

• This person has a natural wisdom for solutions. (Gate 48)
• These solutions are intuitive (Spleen Centre)
• The potential of this gift is veiled by the illusion of Neptune. This person might struggle to truly see the full potential of this gift despite intuitively knowing it is there. 

And one layer deeper… each Gate has its own ‘strategy’ like the strategies assigned to Human Design Types.

The Strategy of Gate 48 is ‘Projected’ – which means it is designed to be a gift that is invited to be share, no matter if you a Projector, Generator, Manifestor or Reflector. 

This person needs to surrender to the need to share this gift with others until recognised and invited. Only then will the veil of Neptune lift.

A Step-by-step Process

Using Human Design to uncover these strategies is a step-by-step process, mapping out each element before connecting the information. Although we can focus in on individual elements (like this Gate) the full picture doesn’t arrive until we step back and look at a chart as a whole.

Using our chart to understand what is us (definition / coloured in) and what is not us (undefined / white) can help us see where we are spending our energy and time trying to be something we are not designed to be. 

The looking at our gates and planets within our centres to determine key gifts is the next step.

Action: Look at your Centres and their themes to see what you have access to, and what you don’t have access to. You can unlock the secrets of the Human Design Centres with my FREE e-book, click here to download it!

Conscious vs Unconscious elements in your Human Design Chart

Your Human Design chart is created from 2 sets of data. 

The first set is based on your time and date of birth.

The second set of data is based on the time and date 88 days before you were born. 

Human Design is based on the premise that the Soul enters the body 88 days before birth. Prior to this the baby is growing as a physical being however, the Soul has not arrived yet. 

The information for the ‘Soul’ elements of our chart (red gates and channels) comes from the planetary data at the time our Soul incarnated into the womb 88 days before birth.

The ‘Personality’ elements of our chart (black) come from the planetary data from the time we were physically born on Earth. 

Your Soul and Personality 

The Soul (red) elements of our chart are therefore deeply body based and often unconscious to us. These can be gifts or talents that we cannot see for ourselves but others can see them in us from an outside perspective. These are unconscious gifts that we often don’t have immediate access to, but may become clearer over time.

The Personality (black) elements of our chart are more connected to our personality and who we think we are, and therefore often we can identify with these gifts or talents much more – as we can view them as part of us. These are our conscious gifts that we have access to.

Exploring which of your gates and channels are Black (conscious) can help you see what gifts and energy you have available access to. 

Exploring which of your gates are channels are Red (unconscious) can help you see what gifts may be underlying and others may see in you, but you perhaps do not have direct access to.

Integrating your unique Design into daily life

Now that you’ve familiarised yourself with the basics of how to read your Human Design chart, you can begin to integrate this knowledge into your life. 

5 steps you can take to deepen your understanding of your unique Design:

1 – Reflect on your Strategy and Authority: 

Take some time to reflect on your Strategy (how you’re designed to interact with the world) and Authority (how you’re designed to make decisions). How can you align your daily actions and choices with these aspects of your design?

2 – Explore your defined and undefined Centers: 

Dive deeper into your chart to understand the significance of your defined (coloured) and undefined (white) centres. How do these areas influence your energy, decision-making, and interactions with others? Click here to download my free guide ‘Unlock the Secrets of The Human Design Centres’.

3 – Identify your Conscious and Unconscious Gifts: 

Explore the conscious (black) and unconscious (red) elements of your chart. Pay attention to the talents and energies that come naturally to you (conscious gifts) as well as those that may be hidden or underdeveloped (unconscious gifts).

4 – Practise self-awareness: 

Cultivate self-awareness by observing how you navigate different situations and relationships in light of your Human Design. Notice any patterns, tendencies, or challenges that arise, and consider how they align with your chart.

5 – Get a free personalised mini-reading of your Human Design Chart: 

If you’re feeling inspired to delve deeper into your Human Design journey, click here to get a totally FREE personalised reading on your Human Design Type, Strategy & Aura, written by me.

Remember, your Human Design chart is a tool for self-discovery and personal growth. Experiment with the journey of uncovering your unique design and trust in the wisdom it offers.