In the first post of the Human Design and Projection series, we talked about the six definitions of projection and looked more closely at psychological projection. If you missed that post, definitely start there because it offers important context about what we will talk about in this post.
In this post, we will begin looking at the ways that projection in certain Human Design contexts are completely unrelated to psychological projection and what they mean, instead.
I’ll start with a dive deep into the projector aura and why a projector type is called a projector.
By the end of this post, if you are NOT a projector type, you’ll better understand:
- what the projector aura is doing when guiding you
- what it really means to recognize and invite a projector
- why it can feel so uncomfortable to be guided by a projector
- gain clarity about who you recognize/invite and who you don’t.
If you ARE a projector type, you’ll come away with the following:
- the mechanics of your aura
- better language to explain what you already know
- permission to let go of attachments to recognition and invitation.
Let’s do it.
The Confusion Around Projectors and Projection
As you likely already know, I am a projector type. I also have the great pleasure of being a 5/2 profile and a chart filled to the brim with both the 2nd and 5th line projection fields. And, with Human Design Gate 28 in my chart 4 times, I am obsessed with shadow integration work (projection is one of the primary ways of identifying shadow).
Projection is a topic near and dear to my heart.
Before I got into Human Design, I talked about it all the time with my clients, on my blog, and in my courses. And I still talk about it today inside the map portal.
As I’ve mentioned many times before, when it comes to learning about my 5/2 profile (the double projection field), it was like my entire past became clear. I experienced instantaneous clarity and healing. And most of my journey with Human Design has been about unwinding that even further.
My Journey With Being a Projector and Clarifying What It Means To Project
Being a Projector type wasn’t a big revelation for me, though.
I had long figured out that “waiting to be recognized and invited” was the best method for success. I wouldn’t have said it that way, but I had actively practiced it for many, many years.
There was never any confusion about what my aura does when around others, though. I knew that I could see people on the deepest levels and that being seen by me could be very uncomfortable.
I even had the nickname of “Emotional Dominatrix” with some of my clients. I could very easily spot where their suffering was coming from and what they needed to do, in their inner world, to come back into “alignment.” And the results were miraculous (often to my own surprise!).
So, getting the label “Projector” wasn’t all that surprising, once I actually understood what it really meant.
“I’m not “that kind” of person.”
The confusion about being a projector kicked in when I shared with someone that I was a Projector type, and they were shocked. They seemed to know more about Human Design than me and said something like:
“Oh, I’ve never seen you as that kind of person.”
I was like, huh?!?
This was a person who had demonstrated deep recognition and invitation to me. And it made no sense to me that guiding someone back to their center would warrant a “not that kind of person” response.
As I dabbled more and more into Human Design, though, it became really, really clear.
I noticed A LOT of conversations in the Human Design space that went something like this:
“All projector types do is run around projecting their bullshit onto other people.”
I saw multiple Generators telling Projectors that they were “projecting” and to sit down and shut up. And this was in situations where the Projector was not attempting to guide them but simply shared their own personal experience.
(So, uh, who was the one projecting there? 😎)
Seeing projectors being told to sit down and shut up – just for expressing their own experience – hit me in my core; if you are a projector type, you know what I mean.
But it didn’t stop there…
I also saw many projectors being really hard on themselves. They assumed they had deep psychological issues for “projecting” all the time. And they seemed to believe that they really should just sit in a corner and be quiet.
Heartbreaking.
So much unnecessary suffering. On all sides.
After watching all of this, I could clearly see that we were dealing with semantics, not devils in disguise. And that people just didn’t understand the meaning of projection for Projector types.
Human Design Semantic Problems Abound
As I got deeper and deeper into Human Design, it became obvious that this wasn’t just an issue with projection and projectors. There are a ton of semantical issues in the space – that mostly stem from a lack of understanding Human Design mechanics and taking interpretation as fact.
My Human Design gate 62 became lit up like a firecracker.
I don’t say that as a dig against anyone, including Ra.
But, to point out that meaning is subjective. Including the meaning of words; they shape-shift, take quantum leaps, and become something new with each new generation.
And for whatever reason, in Human Design, many words don’t mean what we assume they mean.
TBH, I can’t even wrap my head around some of the words used in traditional Human Design. They are often very limited without even capturing the essence of the energy.
I’ve even heard Karen Curry Parker say that Ra intended to re-write the Rave I Ching with more empowering language but that he passed before he could. She has quoted him as saying that he wrote the Rave IChing FOR the not self.
All that to say, this confusion around what it means to be a projector is part of all that.
Not unlike how people assume that manifesting in Human Design is the same as “new age manifesting” or the “law of attraction.” (It isn’t.) Or how the word consistency implies rigid ways of being when talking about defined and undefined aspects. (It doesn’t.)
With the Projector type in particular, interpreting what it means to be a Projector became associated with psychological projection. And I still see that happening today.
A bright light of clarity for Projectors
To clarify some of it, I make it clear inside the maps of Projector types that being a projector is unrelated to psychological projection.
I do not want anyone to use their projector-type label as a weapon against themselves. I want them to recognize their brilliance and own the power of their aura.
And, to be clear here, this isn’t to absolve Projector types from the weight of psychological projection, either. Projector types can absolutely project their shadows onto others.
As you will see in later posts in this series on Human Design and Projection, recognizing the places where you are projecting shadow can be a very powerful tool in your life.
But that is completely unrelated to how the projector aura works.
The Projection of Projectors
To decouple the function of the projector aura from psychological projection, let’s go back to the definitions of projections.
You may remember from the post on psychological projection that one of the definitions of projection is this.
the presentation of an image on a surface, especially a movie screen, such as:
- an image projected on a surface.
- the ability to make a sound, especially a voice, heard at a distance.
Let’s take that one step further by looking at the definition of a projector (outside of the context of Human Design). There are only two:
- an object that is used to project rays of light, especially an apparatus with a system of lenses for projecting slides or film onto a screen.
- (archaic) a person who plans and sets up a project or enterprise.
When we are talking about the Projector aura, the “movie projector” kind of projection is what we are talking about.
Simply put, the Projector aura works like a movie projector.
How The Projector Aura Works
To be clear, I am not super up to speed on the mechanics of a real movie projector. I can’t tell you how they work, exactly.
But I do know that a movie projector is taking a teeny tiny image, shining a bright light through it, and making it big enough for the viewer to easily see it.
You’d never be able to watch a movie by looking at the film, you need the bright light and amplification to see it clearly.
The projector’s aura is like that; it has the “mechanics” necessary to shine the light into dark places and make the image big enough for the other person to see it.
More specifically, the projector aura is cone-shaped, and the pointy end penetrates deeply into the G center of the other person.
It can, of course, illuminate and amplify the beauty. But, it doesn’t discriminate. It makes the distortions clear enough to see, too.
By shining a bright light onto the G and making the image big enough to see, the other person gains a “can’t unsee” clarity about their direction in life.
The projector then uses their preferred system to guide that person in a more authentic direction. For me, that system just happens to be Human Design.
Why It Can Feel Uncomfortable To Be Around A Projector
Projectors are magic, if I do say so myself.
Because of the sharpness of the pointy end of the aura, we get to the heart of the matter very quickly. We go deep and fast.
But it isn’t exactly comfortable to be poked like that, especially when the thing being illuminated and amplified is misalignment.
As humans, we are hardwired to feel righteous shame when we are out of integrity and misaligned with our inner wisdom. So, it isn’t uncommon to feel shame when being guided by your chosen projector.
Obviously, being poked in your core wounds and feeling shame isn’t something we all put at the top of our to do list every day.
But, despite the popular misconception, feeling shame is not a problem.
How To Deal With the Discomfort of “Projector Guidance”
Truth be told, if you want to move in more authentic directions, it is essential that you become more comfortable with processing shame in an empowering way. Like I mentioned before, righteous shame is the emotion we feel when we are out of integrity. It is an important signal when becoming more authentic.
But, there are three important things to note.
- Because shame has been such a taboo topic in our culture, we often use code words to describe shame. Some of those code words are:
- guilt
- embarrassment
- humiliation
- remorse
- regret
- bad
- Unfortunately, in western culture, we tend to use shame to shut down rather than wake up. In fact, shame has been connected to the fawn response of the nervous system.
- There are three types of shame, not just righteous shame:
- tribal shame
- righteous shame
- mixed shame.
All of them are pointing to integrity in some way – just not the SAME way.
I cover all of them in detail and provide tools for working with them in the map portal. If you are one of my map clients, login to the portal, go to the deconditioning toolbox section, and you’ll find the info on shame inside the“See Your Shadow” lesson.
In short, we feel tribal shame when we believe that we “should” act the way the tribe expects of us. Cancel culture, body shaming, toxic religion, and patriarchy are all rooted in tribal shame.
Tribal shame usually shows up in the form of thinking that you are bad, wrong, broken, fucked up, or something to those effects.
And, when we don’t work with it effectively, we use it to force parts of ourselves into the shadows (and psychologically project them onto others!).
The first step in working with tribal shame effectively is understanding that feeling shame is not proof of anything. It actually has great wisdom to offer.
When you experience tribal shame, that is your body letting you know what is expected from you is not in alignment with your deeper calling and purpose.
On the other hand, when you feel righteous shame, it is letting you know that you are misaligned with your deeper calling and showing you the places where you are not being true to yourself.
Righteous shame is your body letting you know that it’s time to revisit your values, principles, and ways of being. And to start reorienting your actions toward your deeper calling and purpose.
Finally, mixed shame is when a little bit of both is happening, meaning there is some “truth” in both your own alignment AND what the tribe expects of you.
I cannot tell you exactly how you will know the difference except to say tht all three will feel different in your body.
If you are a map client, in the Deconditioning Toolbox section of the portal, you will find tools for processing your emotions in the All The Feels lesson.
A loving reminder…
If shame comes up when you are being guided by a projector, nothing has gone wrong.
And you actually want it to happen.
You cannot change what you cannot see; shame is a natural byproduct of seeing where you are out of alignment.
Now, listen.
I am not saying that processing shame is easy. When we feel shame, it truly does feel like we are the worst human being ever to walk the earth. That shit is hard.
But that is why recognition and invitation are so important.
It is an intimate and deeply vulnerable experience to be guided by your chosen projector; facing those parts of ourselves takes immense courage.
It hurts when you realize that you are living a lie or that you are rejecting your most precious gifts. You don’t want to feel amazing when you are lying to yourself!
Which brings us to understanding recognition and invitation.
What is Projector Recognition and Invitation?
I’m not going to get on a whole soap box about this. I’ve written about this many times before.
But, I will say that when you recognize a projector, you are energetically communicating that you see the gifts of their penetration and the insight they bring to their chosen system, even if you aren’t saying so.
What is being communicated energetically versus verbally are often very different things. And projectors are highly sensitive to that distinction.
All that to say…
Recognition is necessary for a true invitation to occur.
Things like general posts on social media aren’t an invitation. And when a projector has a bright idea, it isn’t their “soul inviting them.”
The invitation is specific to the Projector and is for guiding or developing intimacy (including platonic intimacy).
A projector does not need an invitation to speak their truth, just to live their life, or follow their inner compass.
The invitation isn’t even a true “need.”
A projector can still see what they can see in the other person, even without an invitation to express what they see.
Similar to how the Manifestor type doesn’t actually need to inform in order to initiate, the invitation simply makes things more obvious and comfortable for everyone.
The invitation also helps the Projector preserve their energy for people who are ready, willing, and able to be penetrated by them. It helps them tap into success rather than bitterness. The invitation is FOR the projector.
Remember, our Human Design strategies are just that – strategies. They are an interpretation of mechanics.
Strategies are not rules we must follow or hoops we must jump through. They are starting points of experimentation.
What you are doing when you invite a projector to guide you…
When you invite a projector, whether verbally or not, an invitation lets them know that you are ready to be deeply seen by them.
You are ready to be vulnerable and want them to show you what they see. Even if it stings, bruises your ego, or brings up shame.
You are energetically saying:
I am open to being truly seen, confronting my shit, and begin moving in a more aligned direction.
You have not invited a projector if you don’t feel that way about yourself and the projector.
You can also recognize a projector without inviting them. You can even give a pseudo verbal invitation when you don’t recognize them.
But, make no mistake, the invitation cannot be faked. It isn’t even personal; it’s karmic. And as with so many things, we often learn about them in hindsight.
When recognition and invitation are real, both parties will feel it in their bones. It might not even make any logical sense at all. You will have this inner knowing that magic is afoot and that the projector is just the one to help you get there.
It is amazing and will be a win-win for everyone.
A hot tip for Projector Types
Listen, I know you have some amazing insight and guidance to offer the world.
But, for your own well being’s sake, keep waiting if you don’t sense the kind of openness I’m talking about in this post. Even if the other person says words that seem like recognition and invitation.
Just like for the person recognizing and inviting you, it will be abundantly obvious when it is real.
And despite some really common and terrible advice, don’t assume recognition and invitation *just* because someone has paid you, invited you to a social event, or asked you to participate in something.
If they don’t want exactly what you have to offer and how you offer it, it isn’t a real invitation to guide or develop intimacy.
That doesn’t mean you don’t engage in those types of things, that you stay home, or sit in the corner with your mouth shut.
Trust your inner compass about where you go and who you hang out with.
But if you don’t sense the depth of openness to be seen by you specifically, it just isn’t an invitation to guide or develop intimacy. It is an invitation for you to be present.
Which means, it will benefit you (and them) to not share the deep shit you see within them. Don’t give unsolicited advice. And don’t try to force them to see what you see.
Wait. It will be worth it. The people that you are here to guide will eat up your insight like candy. Trust that that is true.
That’s a Wrap on the Projector Aura
With that, I hope that it is clear that the Projector type has nothing to do with psychological projection. And that when a Projector is “projecting” it is really about illuminating and amplifying someone’s internal alignment.
In the next post, we will talk about Projected gates and channels, which is a separate topic from being a Projector type.
Projected gates and channels apply to EVERYONE because everyone has at least one projected gate defined in their chart.
And, for most people, since most of the chart is projected, you will actually have a lot of projected gates or channels.
That is why everyone, on some level, craves recognition and invitation.
But we’ll dig into all that soon enough.
p.s. Do you feel it in your bones that I have soul-penetrating guidance to offer you? Invite me here.