Have you ever experienced unrequited love? Or longing for someone you admire to see you amongst the crowd? Or shed tears over being ignored?
To add an extra special touch of suffering, have you also beaten yourself up for needing that kind of recognition, validation, or acknowledgment?
Yes? Of course, you have! Because you are human with all the same archetypal wiring as the rest of us.
(No? Stop lying to yourself.)
And that leads me to today’s topic in my Human Design and Projection series.
Why Everyone, Not Just Projectors, Craves Recognition
When we take a step back and look at the big picture of the Human Design chart, we can actually see why it is so universal to crave recognition.
Yes, even for Generators, Manifesting Generators, Manifestors, and Reflectors.
Why? Because out of 64 Human Design gates, 40 of them are projected. That is 62.5% of the chart. Almost as much as the total percentage of Generators.
And while I’ve never seen any official statistics on this, with a potential of 26 gates being defined in any given chart, basic math would tell us most people will have at least one.
Plus, the chances become even smaller when you add the dance of the planets’ geometry. The outer planets, in particular, can stay in a gate or non-sacral center for years at a time (and vice versa).
And, to add another layer to that, even in the extremely rare chance that someone has no defined projected gates, having them undefined doesn’t mean that the person will never experience that energy. It just means it will be less often. Here is my post on defined versus undefined.
All that said, in this post of the projection series, we will dive deep into the four channel types and create a visual of why everyone “needs” recognition.
(This is not to be confused with Human Design Circuitry!)
Be sure you have your chart handy for this one!
And, if you haven’t already, be sure that you’ve read my posts on psychological projection and the projector aura. Having an understanding of those concepts offers important context for what we will talk about here.
Let’s do it.
Projected Gates and Channels
Here is a bodygraph with all of the projected channels defined:
1-8 Channel of Inspiration
4-63 Channel of Logic
7-31 Channel of The Alpha
10-20 Channel of Awakening
10-57 Channel of Survival
11-56 Channel of Curiosity
13-33 Channel of Prodigal
16-48 Channel of Wavelength
17-62 Channel of Acceptance
18-58 Channel of Judgment
19-49 Channel of Synthesis
20-57 Channel of Brainwave
23-43 Channel of Structuring
24-61 Channel of Awareness
25-51 Channel of Initiation
26-44 Channel of Surrender
28-38 Channel of Struggle
30-41 Channel of Recognition
32-54 Channel of Transformation
37-40 Channel of Community
39-55 Channel of Emoting
47-64 Channel of Abstraction
Projecting Channels
Notice how many projected channels there are. That is a lot of projection!
And remember, we are not talking about psychological projection. We are talking about the capacity to see something on the deepest level and make what you see big enough that others can see it, too, like a movie projector.
Any type, except Reflectors, can have defined projected channels. And all types can have defined projected gates. In fact, many of my Generator map clients are surprised to discover that the gates of their incarnation cross are all projected.
How Projected Channels are Different for Generators, Manifesting Generators, and Manifestors
While the Generator, Manifesting Generator, and Manifestor aura operate very differently than a projector aura, there are some important things to know when you have lots of projected gates or channels.
Your aura is your aura; it doesn’t change because you have projected gates or channels. All types maintain the function and purpose of their aura no matter how many projected channels they have defined.
The Projector’s aura is cone-shaped, made for penetrating “the other,” and is focused and absorbing. It amplifies energy to make it big enough to see.
The Generator and Manifesting Generator aura is open and enveloping and produces more of the energy it responds with. If it responds with love, it generates more love. If it responds with fear or hate, it generates more fear or hate.
The Manifestor aura is closed and repelling. It keeps out anything interfering with its creative process through impeccable boundaries.
The Reflector aura is resistant and sampling. It is like a Teflon-coated mirror, revealing the integrity of its community.
(You’ll learn about the mechanics and auric purpose of your type in the Human Design Map.
But even though the aura’s broad function is based on type, projected gates and channels will have insight to offer others. All projected channels “need” recognition and invitation to reach their highest potential.
Without recognition and invitation, the projected insight will fall on deaf ears and be a “waste” of energy, and yes, might even lead to bitterness.
I’ll talk more about that in the next post. For now, let’s look at the rest of the channel types (again, different from Human Design Circuitry).
Generating Gates and Channels
Here are the Generating Channels:
2-14 Channel of the Beat
3-60 Channel of Mutation
5-15 Channel of Rhythm
6-59 Channel of Mating
9-52 Channel of Concentration
10-34 Channel of Exploration
27-50 Channel of Preservation
29-46 Channel of Discovery
34-57 Channel of Power
42-53 Channel of Maturation
Generating Channels
You’ll immediately notice that the proportion of generating energy is much smaller than projected energy, which is interesting since most people are generators. My hypothesis is that it’s related to how quickly the inner planets move and the dynamic between the two sides of the chart, but I could be wrong about that.
Only Generators or Manifesting Generators will have full generated channels defined. The common characteristic of “non-sacral” beings (Projectors, Manifestors, and Reflectors) is that they will have zero fully defined generating channels, though they can have hanging generated gates.
Generators, via their generating channels, respond to life with love or fear. Life itself offers opportunities to do something, and the sacral says yes or no.
In an ideal world, the response, whether a yes or no, comes from a place of love rather than fear. Because when a generator does what they love to do, they generate more love in the world. But when they do what they hate doing out of fear, they generate more fear in the world.
Generators generate more of the vibration that drives them. (This is one of those rare places where I agree with traditional Human Design terminology!)
Generated energy has nothing to do with sharing insight with others; it is about the work of building, creating, caring, and sustaining life. Therefore, recognition and invitation aren’t necessary for them.
(You’ll find a whole deep dive course on channels inside the Human Design Map portal.)
The Pure Manifesting Generating Channel
The one manifesting generated channel is the 34-20 Channel of Charisma.
Pure Manifesting Generating Channel
Notice how there is only one “pure” manifesting generated channel. That is because it is the only channel that directly connects the sacral (the source of generating) to the throat (the source of manifesting).
If this channel is defined, someone is automatically a Manifesting Generator, but this channel is not required to be a Mani Gen. They could have a Manifesting channel (covered below) AND a generating channel defined without them being directly connected to one another. OR they could have an indirect connection between a motor and the throat (such as root to the spleen to through) PLUS a generating channel.
Either way, Manifesting Generators are not technically a separate type; they are a subtype of Generators.
Everything I said about the aura of Generators applies to Mani Gens; they generate love or fear for the world with their response.
However, with that bit of manifesting energy, Mani Gens tend to move very quickly and are typically multipassionate. I cover that more thoroughly in the maps of Mani Gens.
Manifesting Gates and Channels
Here are the manifested channels:
12-22 Channel of Openness
21-45 Channel of Money
35-36 Channel of Transitoriness
Manifesting Channels
Compared to the amount of Projected energy and even generating energy, we can see that there is very little direct manifesting energy in the chart.
Manifested energy initiates new creative cycles for generators to respond to, projectors to guide, and reflectors to reflect. Manifestation kicks things off, and everyone else sees the creation through.
Anyone with these channels defined is either a Manifestor or Manifesting Generator because they are motors that run directly to the throat (the source of manifestation).
A Manifesting Generator will also have at least one generating channel defined, and the Manifestor will not have any generating channels defined (aka an undefined sacral).
As mentioned in a previous post about the projector aura, “manifestation” in human design is not the same as it is in new-age spirituality.
In Human Design, manifestation is not about your thoughts creating things.
Manifesting is about how easily your body transforms inner motor energy (root, solar plexus, sacral, and will) into action in the outer world. That ease comes from the definition between the motors and the throat. This happens when a motor is directly connected to the throat.
(You’ll find a whole deep dive course on channels inside the Human Design Map portal.)
Recognition is For Everyone
Hopefully, the visuals of the channels and gates reveal why, on some level, basically everyone craves recognition.
Most of the chart is projected energy, and because of the sheer math of definition, everyone has at least one hanging projected gate, no matter their type. I would even venture to say that most people have at least a few hanging projected gates.
Some Manifestors have only Projected channels defined. For example, they might only have a root to spleen to the throat, will to solar plexus to the throat, etc.
And many, many Generators have multiple Projected channels and only one generating channel, which might not always be defined on the conscious side!
So, whether your chart is full of projected channels or you only have a couple of hanging projected gates, the most important takeaway from this post is that it is normal to “need” recognition.
Nothing is going wrong; you aren’t broken, and if you are relatively sure of your birth time, date, and location, your chart probably isn’t wrong.
The Culture of Needing Recognition
Plus, if you are like most of our society, you may feel “triggered” at the thought of having needs at all.
Western culture tends to hold everyone to the expectation of self-sacrifice, especially women. We are often taught that having needs is wrong. And it is often hammered into us to be ruggedly independent and to not need anything from anyone.
(And yet, we are also taught to sacrifice ourselves for others. Talk about fucked up mixed signals!)
Depending on your religious upbringing, you may have even been taught that it is sinful to need anything at all, let alone recognition!
So, resistance to “needing” recognition is in the water and air we drink.
But here is the thing:
Humans are interdependent animals that have needs. We are not meant to survive, let alone thrive, by ourselves.
And, for sure, moving onto the codependent or unhealthy attachment side of the “neediness” spectrum sets us up for a whole fuck ton of suffering and disfunction.
But to live well, we must embrace our needs.
And I want you to know that wanting others to recognize you for the amazing things you have to offer the world is beautiful. It is the essence of the beauty of humans. On some level, we all want to leave the world a better place than we found it.
So, in the next post, you’ll learn how to start working more effectively with your projected energy and how to create more recognition (and possibly invitation) for your unique insights, no matter your type.
In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with this little nugget:
Recognizing yourself opens the doors to receiving recognition from others.
And, don’t forget that if you want a deeper dive into the channels, there is a course inside the Human Design Map portal. If you are already a map client, you will find it on your portal dashboard. And if you aren’t, what are you waiting for? The map itself is just the beginning.