The official name for Human Design Gate 39 is The Gate of Provocation. But I call it The Sacred Provocateur because its primary action is to provoke heightened states of emotional and spiritual awareness.
About Human Design Gate 39 – Gene Key 39
Archetype Name: The Sacred Provocateur
In Action: to provoke others to step into self-responsibility
Keywords: being provocative, clarity, and being a force of transformation
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Official Gate Name: Provocation
Human Design Definition: The value of obstruction in provoking analysis, assessment, and reevaluation.
Core Theme: Pressure to find passion and spirit in life and to emote. In this context, pressure is not necessarily a problem. It’s really about acting from the amount of pressure that is correct for you.
Bodygraph Center: Root center and connects to the Solar Plexus center via human design gate 55.
Tropical Sign: Cancer
(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 39
All energy in the Human Design chart exists on a spectrum of potential.
On one end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 39 is the energy for using pressure to find passion and spirit in life. When gate 39 takes full responsibility for its emotions and allows others to do the same, it transforms emotional energy into clarity. Its most sacred gift is provoking heightened states of emotional and spiritual awareness.
On the other end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 39 is the energy for taking responsibility for other people’s emotions and being a people pleaser. It can intentionally push other people’s buttons in revenge or as an attempt to hurt people.
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 39 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 39 is to notice the places where you take responsibility for other people’s emotions and transformation. Then, consciously give that responsibility back to them. Rituals such as Burning Contracts by Karla McLaren are excellent for this.
My Personal Experience with Human Design Gate 39 (Gene Key 39)
With the full 57/20, I often sit with things for a while before fully expressing them. And that is exactly what happened when I was contemplating this gate.
Gate 39 is undefined in my chart, but my husband has it in his conscious sun.
So, when I first started writing this post, I thought the words would just flow out of me.
But by the mystery of Grace, that isn’t what happened. I was provoked into something deeper and more clarifying.
I had an intuitive knowing that something was “coming through” the 57/20 and that I just needed to be present until the words popped in.
Then, shortly after the witching hour on the day of the original writing, I was struck by the etymology of the word:
Provocation.
Pro is a word element that means forward, forth, toward the front.
Vocation has a couple of different meanings but the roots of it are call or calling.
In the Gene Keys, there is a placement in the Pearl Sequence called vocation which is also the core wound in the Venus Sequence.
(If you are in business, you’ll learn how this placement relates to your audience and marketing inside the Human Design Map portal.)
The Gene Keys “vocation” and “core wound” correspond to the unconscious Mars placement in the Human Design chart. When we heal the core relational wound, it awakens our life calling and becomes our vocation.
My unconscious Mars placement is gate 59 line 5. Human Design Gate 59 is the gate of “dispersion” and is all about breaking down the walls to intimacy and vulnerability.
Mars is where we “must” express energy outward like an arrow. It can be aggressive and passionate. And if we don’t express the energy effectively, those arrows turn in and cause harm in our inner world.
And while none of that might seem related to the 39, all of these connections went off like a clarity bomb in my brain.
In that clarity, I could see so clearly the role that my husband has played in bringing forth my vocation.
I’d been married to him for just over 14 years when I wrote this post, and I already knew that he is provoking. There has always been something about him that has felt like it calls me out – even when he isn’t saying a word.
I think part of it is my 5/2 profile, for sure, but with him, I have to own my shit in a way that is more subtle, under the surface, and mostly unspoken.
It has challenged me to open up, to be vulnerable, and break down walls that I didn’t even know existed before I met him.
And, as discussed in the Gene Keys Pearl Sequence, it has absolutely unlocked so much for me in the realm of prosperity and the work I do in the world.
Before now, I had never thought of gate 39 in quite this way. It’s a strong connection to vocation and what we express in the world.
It seems pretty obvious now. Gate 39 pokes the bears. And it seems only natural that the best ones to poke are the sorest spots.
And while my husband isn’t a Projector (he is a mani gen), gate 39 is a projected energy. Which means that it cuts deep. All projected energy does.
As a Projector myself, I know how important it is to wait for recognition and invitation. It is completely exhausting to try to guide someone that isn’t open to it. And I’ve learned not to waste my energy on someone who doesn’t want to be provoked. Because if they aren’t ready to wake up the bears, nothing will help them see it.
And my M.O. is usually quite blunt and direct. I don’t tend to sugar coat and I call ‘em like I see ‘em. The people that need that, love it. It is what they most crave. (Sound like you? Grab your map and meet me in the portal.)
But, what my husband and this contemplation has shown me is that projected energy isn’t always about a grand display of ugly crying. It can also cut deep very quietly and it sneaks up on you.
No matter how it gets expressed, provocation is always directing us back to authenticity, integrity, and the most valuable contribution we can make in the world. So good to know, right?
Affirmations for Human Design Gate 39
Using your Human Design to create affirmations is a powerful way to activate the full potential of your chart. Here are some affirmations for Gate 39:
I am provocative AF.
I love to be mischievous.
I push buttons in those that are ready for transformation.
Inside your Human Design Map, you’ll get a full list of empowering beliefs for your type + strategy, authority, profile, and all four gates of your incarnation cross and show you how to go from affirmation to full-on embodiment. In the meantime, be sure to also check out my post on how to make Human Design affirmations work.
Now it’s your turn to contemplate Gate 39
When you stand in the truth that the gifts of gate 39 are always available to you (whether it’s defined in your chart or not)…
Do you take full ownership of your emotions? Do you let others do the same?
What provokes you? Why? (Perhaps it’s related to your core wound/unconscious mars?)
In what ways do you provoke others? Why?
Are you open to greater and greater levels of emotional and spiritual awareness?
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 39.
And, if you have gate 39 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.