The official name for Human Design Gate 27 is The Gate of Caring. But I call it The Empowered Caretaker because it’s primary action is to care of others from the abundant overflow of your own self-care.
About Human Design Gate 27 – Gene Key 27
Archetype Name: The Empowered Caretaker
In Action: care for others from abundant overflow
Keywords: radical self-responsibility, caretaking, and nurturing
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Official Gate Name: Caring
Human Design Definition: The enhancement of the quality and the substance of all activities through caring.
Core Theme: Nourishment and protection for survival.
Bodygraph Center: Sacral center and connects to the Splenic center via human design gate 50.
Tropical Sign: Taurus
(Want all of the correspondences and keynotes for the gates of your incarnation cross? The Human Design Map is for you.)
The Energy Spectrum of Human Design Gate 27
All energy in the Human Design chart exists on a spectrum of potential.
On the “positive” end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 27 is the energy for finding the balance between self-care and caring for others. Gate 27 takes responsibility for its values, needs, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions to ensure healthy relationships. And from this place, has immense energy for caring for others – especially sick, young, or in need.
On the “negative” end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 27 is the energy for taking incorrect responsibility for other people’s needs. It self-sacrifices and cares for others in an attempt to prove that it is worthy of safety, love belonging , and support.
If you don’t like the results that the “negative” side of the spectrum is creating in your life, you can raise the frequency of Gate 27 with a number of boundaries, practices, and tools.
(I cover the practices for the gates of your incarnation cross in the Human Design Map.)
The most important thing to raise the frequency of gate 27 is to understand and honor your needs. In addition to basic needs like food, shelter, water, your emotional, mental, and spiritual needs are also important. Your Human Design will reveal these needs (the boundaries, tools, and practices I recommend are, in essence, your needs.)
My personal contemplation of Human Design Gate 27 (Gene Key 27)
Gate 27 is defined in my conscious South Node.
The nodes are like petri dishes where we can watch ourselves grow into our full purpose (our incarnation cross).
In a lab, the scientist will put a specific strain of bacteria in the petri dish and add a growth-enhancing solution. The scientist can then observe the growth of the bacteria as it happens inside the dish.
The nodes work the same way on the conscious side.
The full potential of our purpose is the bacteria, life is the growth solution, and the container we watch it all unfold in is the dish.
Before our Uranus opposition (around age 42), we witness our growth by observing ourselves in the energy of our South Node. And after our Uranus opposition, we will witness it by watching the frequency of our North Node.
At the time of this Gate 27 update, my Uranus Opposition was a few years ago.
Most of my thirties were spent healing old karmas related to finding the balance between caring for others and caring for myself.
For most of my life, I put myself on the very back burner. I drowned my needs in food, alcohol, drugs, and sex with strangers.
When I got sober and quit binge eating, there was a huge wake up call for me to focus on what I actually needed.
Taking those addictions away left me with gaping holes I didn’t know how to fill.
It has taken me many years to work through it. And despite my Uranus Opposition being behind me, there are still layers to work through. Because, just like our charts, there are many layers to explore and heal.
As I often remind my Human Design Map clients, we incarnate for expansion, and being “done” with healing is an illusion.
But, without a doubt, becoming aware of my Human Design has definitely helped me understand myself and my needs in a much clearer way.
In particular, my 5/2 profile has been one of the most helpful.
With line 2 on the unconscious side, my body needs plenty of alone time. And I like my days to feel like a dance with life, with plenty of time and space to just be in my natural flow.
That time and space allows my gifts on the conscious side to fully blossom.
With devotion and practice, it also shows me more about what I need and how to take the best care of myself. It helps me see the fine line between being in service to others and my own well being.
And, I’ve noticed that, true to the full potential of gate 27, my desire and ability to care for others is a natural byproduct of taking care of myself.
When I am well-nourished on all levels, I actually have the energy, the mental clarity, the emotional bandwidth, and the spiritual foundations in place to give to others very freely.
I can be generous without a hint of bitterness or resentment. I love talking to my clients inside the Human Design Map portal, my personal relationships feel balanced, and my needs are no longer on the back burner.
And while there is always room to grow, my energy has freed up in a way that allows me to focus on taking risks, going into the shadows, and playing the game of life (human design gate 28 in my North Node) like never before.
And I absolutely look forward to where I’m headed from here.
Now it’s your turn to contemplate Gate 27
When you stand in the truth that the gifts of Gate 27 are always available to you (whether it’s defined in your chart or not)…
In what ways do you care for others?
Are you giving from the overflow? Or are you trying to pull from a dry well?
What do you really need to be able to give from overflow?
(Not sure? I’ll tell you the most important practices for you based on your Human Design in the Human Design map.)
I encourage you to take some time with these questions. Take them out into your world and let their answers reveal themselves to you. Intend for deeper levels of clarity about gate 27.
And, if you have gate 27 in your Human Design Incarnation Cross, be sure to check out the Human Design Map where I go super deep into each gate of your cross.