Family Penta
In Human Design, a family of three to five people comes together as a Penta — a shared field with functions of its own. The calculator combines the charts of the parents and children and shows who in the family sets the direction, keeps memories and traditions, maintains the rhythm of the home and provides for everyone, and which functions the family is missing.
You need three to five people; empty members are not counted. If you don’t know a time, clear the field: that chart will be calculated for noon. Names are used only as labels.
Twelve family functions
The Penta reads 12 gates and 6 channels between the G Center, the Throat and the Sacral Center. For a family, they are usually named as follows:
| Channel | What it gives the family |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | self-expression and example |
| 7-31 | direction |
| 13-33 | memory and traditions |
| 15-5 | rhythm of the home |
| 2-14 | providing for the family |
| 46-29 | openness to the world |
In the system, a child is a full member of the Penta: their gates cover functions on an equal footing with the adults’. Gates that no one has are gaps, where the family’s attention and tension flow.
How it is calculated
A full chart is built for each person. For each of the 12 gates, the calculator marks who has it; a channel is complete if both of its gates are present somewhere in the family.
The chart of a single child and what they take in from each parent is shown by Child’s Human Design. If your family has six people or more, calculate it with the large-group calculator in “Family” mode.
An Honest Look at the Method
Human Design is a modern system that Ra Uru Hu described in 1987. Its rules are precisely defined and therefore calculable, but none of them has been tested as a way to describe a person or predict how relationships will turn out. We calculate by the system’s rules and write the interpretations as a description of what the system holds, not as knowledge about you. More on the system’s origins is on the Human Design page.
Frequently asked questions
Should grandparents be included?
In the system, a Penta includes those who live together and are around each other all the time. If a grandmother lives with you, yes; if you only see each other on holidays, it is better to calculate without her.
Is a gap in the family a bad thing?
No. It is a function the family should agree on consciously: for example, who keeps the rhythm of the home if no one has gate 5 or 15.
How does a family Penta differ from a business one?
The gates and channels are the same; only the names of the functions differ. The business version is the Penta for Business.