In the most basic terms, a BodyGraph Chart is your roadmap to life. Everyone has a unique BodyGraph that is determined by your time and place of birth. Our charts are so rich with transformative information that even Human Design experts can get overwhelmed.
Don’t worry, Quantum Human Design strives to make Human Design approachable and easy to understand.
What Is Human Design?
A synthesis of astrology, the I’Ching, Kabbalah, the Hindu Chakra system, and quantum physics, Human Design is a relatively new science of self-discovery. The entire system was transmitted to Robert Alan Krakower during a mystical experience in Ibiza, Spain, from January 3–11, 1987.
A voice told him that this system was crucial to helping people on the planet make vital shifts in consciousness for the evolution of mankind. Krakower emerged from this experience a changed man, and soon after he changed his name to Ra Uru Hu.
Ra was told that while he was one of few people who consciously received the information about Human Design, the energy of the system was transmitted to all of us, and it belongs to all of humanity. He was a reluctant messenger and mystic at best, but he spent the rest of his life sharing the theory of Human Design.
His courage has helped people discover who they really are, what they are here to do, and how they can go about living an authentic and abundant life. Human Design is not a religion. It doesn’t matter whether you come from a Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or metaphysical background. Knowing your Human Design simply helps you know how to become the person you were created to be in an easy and joyful way.
How To Get Your Free BodyGraph Chart
The first step on your Human Design journey is to get your BodyGraph chart.
Go to www.freehumandesignchart.com to get your free Human Design chart or BodyGraph. Human Design charts have three basic parts: the bodygraph, the birth chart, and the keynotes.
At the bottom of your bodygraph chart, you will see a section called Keynotes, which is a short summary of the most important parts of your chart. The keynotes tell you:
- your type and your unique decision-making strategy,
- your authority—whether you are spontaneous or whether you need time to make good choices—and
- your emotional theme—which emotion you may find most challenging in your life. (Rest assured, if you live true to who you really are, you dramatically improve your experience of your emotional theme.)
What You Need To Get A Human Design BodyGraph Chart
In mainstream astrology, you only need to know your date of birth to know your sign. Many refer to Human Design as the “new” astrology, and in order to start your journey in Human Design you will need your: date of birth, time of birth, and the city, state, and country where you were born.
How Do I Read My BodyGraph Chart?
Each Human Design chart has three parts: the bodygraph, the birth chart, and the keynotes. To start, we need to look at the chart as a whole. If you look closely at the chart, you might see some visual evidence of the influencing wisdom behind Human Design.
For example, the geometric shapes (called centers) look very similar to the seven chakras. If you turn the chart upside down, it looks very similar to the Tree of Life from the Kabbalah. Or you may notice that sixty-four numbers appear on the chart. These numbers, called gates, correlate to the sixty-four hexagrams from the I Ching. In the I Ching, a hexagram is composed of six stacked horizontal lines where each line is either yang (an unbroken or solid line) or yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the center).
Though you can see pieces of these ancient wisdom teachings in the bodygraph chart, Human Design is something new and unique, a brand-new tool to help people in a brand-new way.
Human Design Types
The five types are written in the language of Quantum Human Design™ and traditional Human Design are the Manifestor (Initiator), the Manifesting Generator (Time Bender), the Generator (Alchemist), the Projector (Orchestrator), and the Reflector (Calibrator). You can find your type at the bottom of your Human Design chart in the Keynotes.
Each of the five personality types has a unique strategy for making decisions and being in the world. Knowing your type can help you develop confidence and trust in your capacity to make reliable decisions for yourself.
Strategies
Your strategy is determined by your Human Design type, and it is probably the most important knowledge gifted in your Human Design bodygraph chart. It gives you vital information about how to make the right choices for you, and how to recognize when you are on the right path.
Following your strategy offers you the opportunity to experience events and circumstances that are correct for you, while not following your strategy can bring events and experiences into your life that may not be beneficial in the long run. Follow your strategy and you will truly fulfill your personal destiny.
Because learning to follow strategy effectively can take months or years of practice, you can benefit from coaching by a Human Design analyst who can provide you with feedback and encouragement.
Authority
Knowledge of your Human Design type and strategy will allow you to use your authority as a tool to know if an opportunity is right for you. Authority aids you in making decisions and is separated into two categories – Inner and Outer Authority.
Authority From Inside The Body
In regards to inner authority, Ra Uru Hu said, “What you can trust to make decisions, and it is never the mind.”
Inner authority draws on our internal intelligence. Meaning that when someone with inner authority allows themselves to listen to their body, they have access to all the information they need. The challenge with inner authority is shutting off the mind and tuning out other’s voices. You have inner authority when you have a defined Spleen, Solar Plexus, Sacral, or Ego.
Authority From Outside The Body
Only 3% of the population has outer authority – mental projectors and reflectors. Those with outer authority are here to give others their perspective and knowledge. Mental Projectors can bounce ideas off of other people to get clarity. Reflectors rely on their strategy of waiting for a lunar cycle before making decisions.
Human Design Profiles
Your Human Design Profile is another important part of understanding your Human Design and discovering who you are. Your Profile is the theme of how you learn, and it illuminates how you will travel on your life path. You can find these numbers on your bodygraph Chart
Your Profile consists of two numbers, which represent two kinds of energies that work together to create your experiential learning style—the gate lines in the conscious and unconscious sun. The first number is an aspect of your life role that you are conscious of and that you probably relate to easily. The second number is an aspect of your life role that is unconscious but that is also a strong part of your personality.
The six lines can combine the conscious and unconscious to create twelve different Profiles:
1/3 Investigator/Martyr (Resource/Explorer)
1/4 Investigator/Opportunist (Resource/Stabilizer)
2/4 Hermit/Opportunist (Responder/Stabilizer)
2/5 Hermit/Heretic (Responder/Visionary Leader)
3/5 Martyr/Heretic (Explorer/Visionary Leader)
3/6 Martyr/Role Model (Explorer/Adept)
4/6 Opportunist/Role Model (Stabilizer/Adept)
4/1 Opportunist/Investigator (Stabilizer/Resource)
5/1 Heretic/Investigator (Visionary Leader/Resource)
5/2 Heretic/Hermit (Visionary Leader/Responder)
6/2 Role Model/Hermit (Adept/Responder)
6/3 Role Model/Martyr (Adept/Explorer)
Upper Trigram
Lines 1, 2, and 3 in the Profiles are intrapersonal lines and are energies that are self- focused and all about personal experience and understanding.
Lower Trigram
Lines 4,5, and 6 are intrapersonal energy, self-focused, and all about personal experience and understanding.
The Incarnation Cross
Your Profile and your Incarnation Cross are what determine your purpose on Earth. There are 192 Incarnation Crosses within Human Design and they form our human experience. Your Profile is how you experience your Incarnation Cross.
Your Incarnation Cross is something that will slowly emerge over time. As you decondition yourself from social expectations and begin to live in harmony with your individualized design.
Human Design Centers
In Human Design there are nine energy centers which may be defined or open. The way that your centers are defined, or open, are the building blocks of your type and authority. The configuration of the Centers in the chart tells you about how your energy works in the world, what you’re here to learn from others, and what you’re here to give to the world.
Defined centers have fixed and consistent energy. This energy will always be there for you and radiates out to impact others. Defined centers have their own issues, but in general, they are much easier to deal with than the sometimes traumatic experiences of open centers. To live out the beauty and the deep impact of your defined centers, you have to live your Human Design strategy. It will empower you to always know what to do.
Open centers are white, undefined, and mutable. The energy here is inconsistent and depends on your environment and mood. Understanding your open centers will empower you to work with your energy instead of being victimized by the energy you take in.
To look at Centers more in-depth, you might like this article Human Design Centers
Does My BodyGraph Chart Control My Life?
We are all individuals and cannot be controlled by our charts. However, we can use our charts to guide us to our best possible life. Human Design is a complex system, filled with all kinds of details and information. It’s easy to be seduced by all the intricate elements of your chart and to miss the bigger message hidden in that amazing triangle.
While each piece of Human Design is fascinating, powerful, and intriguing, just like each one of you, the real beauty of the system lies in its simplicity.
Be yourself.
Follow your decision-making strategy according to your type, and you will not only discover who you truly are, but you will be perfectly aligned with a life that is an authentic manifestation of your soul’s purpose in this incarnation.
New to Human Design? Start Here.
If you’re feeling intrigued but also a little overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Human Design brings together a lot of ideas, and it’s normal for things to feel unclear at first. You don’t need to understand everything right now for it to be useful.
The most important place to begin is with your own chart. Your Human Design chart is a map of how your energy is designed to move, make decisions, and interact with the world. It’s not about fixing yourself or becoming someone else — it’s about understanding how you’re already wired so life can feel less like resistance and more like flow.
If you haven’t generated your chart yet, that’s the best next step.
Already have your chart? The most helpful way to move forward is by starting with your Type. Your Type shows you how your energy works in the world and gives you a clear, practical entry point into Human Design.
Dr. Karen Parker is one of the world’s most recognized authorities in Human Design and the creator of Quantum Human Design—a modern, empowering evolution of the original Human Design System. As a TEDx speaker, international best-selling author, and sought-after thought leader, she has dedicated more than 30 years to helping people unlock their authentic potential and live with purpose, vitality, and joy.
