Channels in Human Design
All 36 channels of the bodygraph by circuit: name, centers and a short interpretation. The chart calculator will show which channels are defined in your chart.
What a channel is
A channel connects two centers and consists of two gates. If both gates are active in one person, on the same side of the chart or on different sides, the channel is defined, and both centers are defined along with it. There are 36 channels in total. Gates 10, 20, 34 and 57 each belong to three channels at once and form the “Integration” group; every other gate belongs to just one.
Channels are divided into circuits, groups with a common theme. In the tables below, the channels are sorted by circuit.
Individual circuit
Channels of mutation and individual knowing: a person does things their own way and thereby inspires others.
| Channel | Name | Centers | What it gives in the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-8 | Inspiration | G Center — Throat Center | In the system, the channel gives a steady need to express yourself in your own way and to set an example. Such a person is thought to inspire others not with advice but with their authentic style. |
| 2-14 | The Beat | G Center — Sacral Center | The channel connects the direction of life with the resources of the Sacral. It is thought to give the energy to follow your own course and the ability to manage resources when there is a response to the work. |
| 3-60 | Mutation | Sacral Center — Root Center | The channel gives an energy of change that comes in pulses rather than according to plan. In the system, periods of quiet are normal here: the new matures inside and shows itself when its time comes. |
| 10-20 | Awakening (Integration) | G Center — Throat Center | The channel gives the ability to live and express yourself in the present moment while staying yourself. In the system, such a person's behavior reminds others of the right to be themselves without apology. |
| 10-34 | Exploration (Integration) | G Center — Sacral Center | The channel gives the energy to follow your own convictions and act in your own way. A person with it is thought to persuade by personal example rather than by coaxing, especially when acting from response. |
| 10-57 | Perfected Form (Integration) | G Center — Spleen | The channel gives a fine intuitive sense of how to behave in order to stay safe and in good shape. In the system, this is a survival skill through the right behavior at every moment. |
| 12-22 | Openness | Throat Center — Solar Plexus | The channel gives emotional expressiveness and sensitivity to mood. In the system, such a person's words deeply move others, but they land better when the person is in the right mood and others are ready to listen. |
| 20-34 | Charisma (Integration) | Throat Center — Sacral Center | The channel gives the ability to turn energy into action at once and to be very busy. In the system, it is important that this busyness is a response to what truly engages you, not to everything that comes along. |
| 20-57 | The Brain Wave (Integration) | Throat Center — Spleen | The channel gives instant intuitive understanding that is put into words in the moment. Such a voice of intuition is thought to speak once and quietly, so it is easy to miss if you don't trust it. |
| 23-43 | Structuring | Throat Center — Ajna | The channel gives original insights that come suddenly and whole. A person with it is thought to need to explain their ideas in simple words and at the right moment, otherwise they won't be understood. |
| 24-61 | Awareness | Ajna — Head Center | The channel gives a mind that returns again and again to questions that have no ready answers. In the system, clear understanding is sometimes born of this circling, but it can't be forced to appear. |
| 25-51 | Initiation (Centering) | G Center — Heart (Ego) | The channel gives the courage to go toward the unknown and pass through shocks. Such a person is thought to be the first to live through upheavals and thereby clear the way for others. |
| 28-38 | Struggle | Spleen — Root Center | The channel gives persistence and a readiness to fight for what gives life meaning. In the system, the main thing here is to choose a worthy goal, otherwise the energy goes into stubbornness for its own sake. |
| 34-57 | Power (Integration) | Sacral Center — Spleen | The channel gives powerful energy that instantly connects with an intuitive reaction. In the system, this is the ability to act quickly and precisely when the situation calls for it, while staying in response. |
| 39-55 | Emoting | Root Center — Solar Plexus | The channel gives deep shifts of mood and creative sensitivity. Melancholy here is thought not necessarily to be a problem: inspiration is often born of it, if it isn't rushed. |
Tribal circuit
Channels of support, agreements, resources and intimacy: looking after “your own”.
| Channel | Name | Centers | What it gives in the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6-59 | Mating (Defense) | Solar Plexus — Sacral Center | The channel gives a strong energy for getting close and the ability to quickly break down barriers between people. In the system, it is tied to the emotional wave, so decisions about intimacy are best not made right away. |
| 19-49 | Synthesis (Ego) | Root Center — Solar Plexus | The channel gives sensitivity to the needs of others and to who belongs and who doesn't. It is thought to be tied to the themes of intimacy, agreements and the principles that relationships rest on. |
| 21-45 | Money (Ego) | Heart (Ego) — Throat Center | The channel gives a tendency to manage resources and take responsibility for the material side of things. In the system, a person with it needs a territory of their own to control and to negotiate its boundaries honestly. |
| 26-44 | Surrender (Ego) | Heart (Ego) — Spleen | The channel gives a sense of other people's needs and the ability to offer what is needed in the right packaging. In the system, this is a talent for persuading and passing on the experience of the past, best used honestly. |
| 27-50 | Preservation (Defense) | Sacral Center — Spleen | The channel gives steady care for others and a sense of responsibility for shared values. A person with it is thought to need to avoid dissolving in caretaking and to keep some resources for themselves. |
| 32-54 | Transformation (Ego) | Spleen — Root Center | The channel gives a drive to grow, rise and turn ambitions into real results. It is thought to help soberly assess which of your plans are truly viable. |
| 37-40 | Community (Ego) | Solar Plexus — Heart (Ego) | The channel gives the ability to build relationships on agreements: I invest in the common good, and the common good supports me. In the system, an honest balance between work and rest matters here. |
Collective Logic circuit
Channels of understanding, patterns and testing: experience shared with society for the sake of the future.
| Channel | Name | Centers | What it gives in the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-63 | Logic | Ajna — Head Center | The channel gives a mind that notices inconsistencies and looks for patterns. In the system, it is good for testing ideas and forecasts, but it tends toward doubt when turned on your own life. |
| 5-15 | Rhythm | Sacral Center — G Center | The channel gives a steady rhythm of your own in work, sleep and habits. A person with it is thought to do best by not breaking this rhythm to fit someone else's schedule — then they feel in the flow. |
| 7-31 | The Alpha | G Center — Throat Center | The channel gives a natural role as the one who sets the direction for the group. In the system, this influence works best when the person has first been recognized and chosen, not when they lead without an invitation. |
| 9-52 | Concentration | Sacral Center — Root Center | The channel gives the ability to focus on one thing for a long time without scattering your energy. It is thought to be a calm, collected energy that needs to find a task worthy of such attention. |
| 16-48 | The Wavelength | Throat Center — Spleen | The channel gives depth and mastery that grow through repetition and practice. In the system, the talent here doesn't unfold at once: it takes enthusiasm and long work on the details. |
| 17-62 | Acceptance | Ajna — Throat Center | The channel gives the ability to put ideas in order and build detailed explanations. Such a person's opinions are thought to be valuable when they are asked for, and the details serve the big picture. |
| 18-58 | Judgment | Spleen — Root Center | The channel gives a constant drive to improve what works worse than it could. In the system, criticism here is useful when it is aimed at the task, not at people, and offered in response to a request. |
Collective Abstract circuit
Channels of experience and feelings: living through things, making sense of the past and telling the story.
| Channel | Name | Centers | What it gives in the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11-56 | Curiosity | Ajna — Throat Center | The channel gives a search for ideas and the ability to turn experience into stories that captivate others. Its strength is thought to lie in inspiring and sharing, not in proving facts. |
| 13-33 | The Prodigal | G Center — Throat Center | The channel gives the ability to gather experience, observe and then reflect on what has been lived through. A person with it is thought to need time alone to draw the lesson and share it. |
| 29-46 | Open | Sacral Center — G Center | The channel gives the ability to immerse yourself fully in what you have agreed to and go through the experience to the end. Success is thought to come through staying true to a choice made from response. |
| 30-41 | Recognition | Solar Plexus — Root Center | The channel gives a strong desire for new experiences and fantasies about what they could be like. In the system, expectations here often diverge from reality, and it is precisely in this gap that experience accumulates. |
| 35-36 | Transitoriness | Throat Center — Solar Plexus | The channel gives a pull toward new experiences and change once the old has grown stale. Experience here is thought to accumulate through trial and error, and value appears when what has been lived through becomes wisdom. |
| 42-53 | Maturation | Sacral Center — Root Center | The channel gives energy to start new cycles and bring them to completion. In the system, it is important to enter things from response; then the experience goes through all its stages and matures. |
| 47-64 | Abstraction | Ajna — Head Center | The channel gives a mind that sorts through images of the past and tries to find meaning in them. Understanding is thought to come on its own once the pressure to figure things out immediately goes away. |
Channels between two people
A channel can also be completed between two people: one has one gate, the other has the other. The system calls this an electromagnetic connection; all kinds of such connections are worked out by Human Design compatibility, and those with the transit by the transits page.
An Honest Look at the Method
Human Design was created in 1987 by one man, Ra Uru Hu, and its claims have never been scientifically tested. We describe the rules of the system as they are and write the interpretations in our own words, not as knowledge about you.
Related in This Section
Frequently asked questions
How many channels can be defined?
From none in a Reflector to ten or more. Most often three to five.
What does a “Personality and Design” channel mean?
The gates of the channel are activated on different sides of the chart: one at the moment of birth, the other 88° of the Sun before it. In the system, such a channel is both conscious and at work regardless of your will.
What are hanging gates?
Active gates that have no partner in a channel. In the system, through them a person looks for people who have the other half.