The official name for Human Design Gate 7 is The Gate of The Role of Self in Interaction. But I call it The Shepard because its primary action is to inspire transformation by showing people how to access their inner strength and power.
About Human Design Gate 7 – Gene Key 7
Archetype Name: The Wise Shephard
In Action: to stay true to the highest vision for the collective
Keywords: offering guidance, empowerment, and mindful watching
Download All 64 Human Design Gates Cheatsheet (for free!)
Official Gate Name: The Role of Self in Interaction
Human Design Definition: The point of convergence. By design, the need for leadership to guide and order society.
Core Theme: Directional leadership and influence.
Bodygraph Center: G center and connects to the Throat center via human design gate 31.
Tropical Sign: Leo
(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 7
All energy in the Human Design chart exists on a spectrum of potential.
On the “positive” end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 7 is the energy for offering empowering wisdom, guidance, and advice to others. Gate 7 has an innate understanding that forceful leadership is the mask one wears when one does not understand their true power. They “lead from behind” by showing others that accessing their own inner power is how magic and transformation occur.
On the “negative” end of the spectrum, Human Design Gate 7 is the energy for being on a power trip and insisting others bend to your will. It may try to rally people around its personal beliefs rather than what is best for the collective or boss others around without their consent.
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 7 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 7 is to trust in your vision and the legacy you are leaving behind and wait for an invitation before guiding others.
My Personal Experience with Human Design Gate 7 (Gene Key 7)
A couple of years into my coaching career, I worked with a coach that was helping me create the vision of what I wanted my business to be.
This was over a decade ago – long before I knew anything about Human Design or even what my true talents were.
But I vividly remember a conversation we had because it was like a tiny light in a dark sea of confusion.
She asked me to name a celebrity that I wanted to be like and started listing out names.
She said many of her clients wanted to be like Oprah.
And, before I knew what was happening, I said:
I don’t want to be like Oprah. I want to be like Oprah’s mentor.
Because I didn’t know anything about Human Design, I didn’t know that I have the full 31/7 channel in my design. And I certainly hadn’t fully owned my natural abilities to guide and lead.
But I did know that I didn’t want to be the star of the show.
I wanted to be behind the scenes empowering others with the truth of their being – helping them to own their gifts, talents, and sovereign power – and making their unique contribution to the world (Human Design Gate 8).
Since that sacred conversation with that coach, I’ve gone on to coach, guide, and mentor people who are doing amazing things in the world.
And nothing has delighted me more than watching someone go out into the world – taking a tiny nugget I offered them – and make pure magic with it.
Today, it looks completely different than it used to because I don’t do one-to-one coaching anymore. I only offer the Human Design Map.
But I still get to witness the power of showing others how to access their innate power. Whether it is seeing a post on social media, a quick DM, or an email exchange, it is one of my greatest honors, and it will never, ever get old.
Affirmations for Human Design Gate 7
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 7:
I stay true to the highest vision and guide from that place.
I show others have to access their power and magic happens.
I lead by empowering others.
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 7
When you stand in the truth that the gifts of Gate 7 are always available to you, (whether it’s defined in your chart or not)…
Do you enjoy empowering others?
What has been your experience with being guided into your innate power?
In what ways do you lead from behind? Are you able to fully own the ripple effect of that?
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 7.
And, if you have gate 7 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.