I was recently having a conversation inside the Human Design Map portal where mechanics versus interpretation came up. This is something that has been coming up a lot, both in the portal and in conversations I’ve been having in IRL.
It is an important conversation to have because when we confuse the two, it greatly diminishes our autonomy and free will with the Human Design system. And it can create limitations where none exist and shape your identity in ways that won’t be fruitful.
And, I’m not about that life.
There are limitations in this world, and as Human Design Gate 60 so beautifully shows us, limitations are the root of creativity. We need them for true creative magick to happen.
But, as Gate 60 also shows us, some limitations are only in the mind. When we focus on the imagined limitations, we have no energy left to be creative with the real ones.
And living according to someone else interpretations as if it is fact is one of the most prominent ways we get stuck in false limitations.
So, yeah, it is an important conversation. Here is an edited and expanded version of what I said to my map client:
If you are a map client, you can find the whole conversation in the discussions inside the channel’s course, where we are talking about all sorts of fun things like the lines, karma, and planets :D.
Note, if you have not started the channels course, you will need to complete the welcome lesson in that course before it will let you see the rest of the material.
—————
As you’ve gathered, I often see things differently than Ra.
He and I are on the same incarnation cross, almost the same profiles, but we are on opposite sides of the mandala. He was a 5/1 LAX of the Clarion (51/57, 62/61) and I am a 5/2 LAX of the Clarion (57/51, 62/61).
I deeply relate to him but, true to our opposition on the mandala, often don’t agree with how he interpreted the mechanics.
Which, I think is a good point to bring up. There are mechanics and then there is interpretation of mechanics.
The mechanics are the correspondence “downloaded” by Ra from “the voice.” You could also say that the mechanics are “the facts” of the Human Design system. (Though, I would only call them “facts” in the context of Human Design itself, not in the collective.)
Interpretation is the layer of meaning that individuals add to the “facts” of any situation, including Human Design.
Interpretation is highly subjective and is a part of our karma and Human Design is like a map of our karma.
On a practical note, interpretation comes from the way our experiences, including upbringing, ancestry, education, etc. have shaped us.
And as we express our interpretation, usually through words, it is “the math” of our experiences plus the “facts” we encounter.
When I’m “looking” at Human Design, I’m looking at the mechanics and interpreting from there.
I am drawing from my own “downloaded” experiences, as well as my deep study of correspondence, High Magick (aka sometimes called Qabalistic Magick), the Kabbalah, the chakras, and astrology.
I am also drawing from my “special interest” in language, words, etymology, etc. My deeply traumatic upbringing and the way I’ve alchemized it wild success plays a big part. And, to be honest with you, all topped off with heaping dose of Grace (Human Design Gate 22).
When I karma’d my way into Human Design, the only system I did not have depth of study in was the IChing. Though, oddly enough, the gates and lines started “speaking” to me almost instantly.
That said, I do not tend to take Ra’s interpretation into account when I’m “looking” at the system. I also do not automatically discount his interpretation either – Ra had some wise things to say and I will always be grateful for the crossing of our rivers.
But when I consider his thoughts and interpretation of the Human Design, I also take into account the context that his interpretation arose from. (white, highly privileged CIS male, nihilist, the system was downloaded while he was on an psychedelics, a manifestor with only projected channels, etc.)
So, all that said, let’s look at gate 27 as an example of Human Design mechanics versus interpretation.
The mechanics of Human Design Gate 27 are:
Gate 27 is 2° to 7°37′ Taurus, ruled by Venus, and corresponds to Hexagram 27, Nourishment, of the IChing.
It is located in the sacral center. The sacral center corresponds to the Hindu sacral chakra and Yesod, sphere 9, on the Tree of Life.
The “voice” called gate 27 the gate of caring and laid out six lines of expression. I won’t list all of those here. (You can see the original ones, with very little interpretation, this Human Design book.)
Then, of course, each of these systems have generally accepted “facts” of meaning surrounding them. For example, the sacral in the Hindu chakra system is generally accepted as the chakra of creativity and sexuality.
And the different systems “correspond” because they resonate on the same frequency bands. It is just that the different systems have different words and ways of explaining them.
Human Design, through that original “download” from Ra, brings all of that together into one “language and explanation” and is what we call “mechanics.” The synthesis is the mechanics.
The layer of meaning that gets added to the mechanics is interpretation.
Now, let’s look at gate 27 from the perspective of interpretation:
Ra’s interpretation of gate 27 was very “fixed”. It was, if you have it in this line, it will express in this one way. He spoke about it in very black-and-white terms, you will care for others or you won’t. He basically calls anyone with 27.2 (me!) an asshole who will never get what it means to care or be cared for. (My interpretation of what he said ;)).
Richard Rudd, of the Gene Keys, interpretation is through what he calls the shadow (selfishness), the gift (altruism), and the siddhi (selflessness). And in his signature spiritual and poetic way, he calls “key” (aka gate) food for the Gods.
Whereas my interpretation tends to be more practical and I see all of the human design gates on a spectrum, rather than fixed.
I call gate 27 the empowered caretaker. With my map clients, I am often answering questions about how one gets to a place of being empowered in their caretaking. Or how to find the balance between caring for one’s self and caring for others.
I’ll tell you about practical experiments to try, how to love the parts of you that feel hard to love, and you will never hear me tell you that you are fucked because of this or that gate and line.
————–
The conversation with my map client goes on to discuss other things related to their question and how I don’t agree with Ra’s interpretation of specific things related to channels.
But, for the sake of this post, I’d also like to add that interpretation isn’t right or wrong. Just like there are not right or wrong decisions.
And when we strip Human Design down to mechanics, we are able to become more empowered in how to approach our design. We take off all of that meaning and choose it for ourselves. That is empowerment.
In fact, and I know I’m opening a whole can of worms here, but even strategy and authority are interpretations of mechanics. They are often presented as mechanics but, in reality, they are the meaning that Ra made from specific patterns in the chart. They came about a decade after the original “download”.
That doesn’t mean type, strategy, and authority aren’t useful. You will even find them covered in your Human Design Map. Because, in some cases they are very helpful and in others, they aren’t. I’m brewing on a whole thing about decision-making and HD authority right now. Stay tuned for that.
But I do say all of this to help you understand the power of what happens when you take interpretation as fact.
Accepting someone else’s interpretation as fact puts you in unnecessary boxes. And if you aren’t deliberately choosing your interpretations, you are likely limiting yourself in completely unnecessary ways. It is the fast track to disempowerment.
Finally, to be crystal clear, when I say interpretation isn’t right or wrong and that you need to be discerning with it, I include how you work with my interpretations.
I try my best to share mechanics versus interpretation when I write about Human Design. But if my interpretation does not work for you, I wholeheartedly encourage you to toss it out.
What I know is that I don’t know. And, at the end of the day, would yield to your knowing about you.
You are your own hero, not me.
You are the one you are looking for.
All of these interpretations, and even the mechanics, are just a mirror for you to see yourself and to come back to your center.