It gives me great pleasure to present an interview from that fount of Human Design knowledge, Kim Gould, whose website \u201cLove Your Design\u201d is such a refreshing running resource to read and enjoy.\u00a0 The Human Design System is an amalgam of 4 spiritual systems: Astrology, Kabbalah, the Chakra System and the I Ching.\u00a0 It\u2019s still very new to me, and I hope you find it just as fascinating!\u00a0 I like the philosophies behind Human Design, and particularly its unconditional nonjudgemental approach, which gives you permission to be yourself.\u00a0 There\u2019 s nothing like beginner\u2019s enthusiasm\u2026<\/p>\n
Lana<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0 Kim I love the approach of your blog.\u00a0 It seems to have a lot of old baggage swept away and is very futuristic, and has drawn me to investigate the Human Design System. As Astrology is amalgamated with other esoteric systems, how do you feel that changes the Astrological picture?<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> <\/em>Astrology gives me an immense wisdom bank to draw on when looking at how the archetypes play out in the Human Design Chart.\u00a0 I draw from sources like Martha Lang-Wescott’s research on the Asteroids.\u00a0 It’s great to know that there’s some solid observation behind the interpretations given.<\/p>\n My own observations of how a planet plays out in various Gates and Centres could expand our understanding of the meaning of that planet.\u00a0 As we find links between Astrology and the I Ching, Tarot, the Kabbalah and other systems, we begin to see new links, new ways of thinking about the planets.<\/p>\n A great example is the new Dwarf Planets. We can see what energy centre they were in at the time of their discovery and what specific hexagrams of the I Ching (Gates Human Design) they have moved through since then.\u00a0 For slow moving planets like Eris and Makemake this brings clarity to the newly arising archetype.\u00a0 Makemake has been in the Solar Plexus Centre\/Chakra since the middle of 2006, in a gate that connects our emotional and sexual energy.\u00a0 Since Makemake was only discovered in March 2005, knowing about its placement in this Gate helps us understand that some of the foundational archetypal meaning of Makmake must be about the emotional and sexual experience, and how those two energies interact in a person’s life.<\/p>\n Lana<\/em><\/span>: \u00a0That\u2019s fascinating, especially about the dwarf planets.\u00a0 Could you tell us a little of the background and origins of the Human Design System, and how you relate to that, e.g. how it has evolved for you.<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> The Human Design System was originally revealed in 1987 to a man by the name of Ra Uru Hu.\u00a0 The original elements have been evolving ever since, with various people taking them in different directions.<\/p>\n The underlying ‘system’ is a precise correlation between the hexagrams of the I Ching and the horoscope.\u00a0 Each hexagram is 5\u00b037’30” of horoscope arc.\u00a0 Each hexagram in the I Ching has 6 lines each of which is 56’15” of horoscope arc.<\/p>\n So for example, today (22 March) the Sun is at 1 degree Aries 31’32”.\u00a0 In Human Design that would be Hexagram 25 line 4, except we call them Gates rather than Hexagrams.\u00a0 To take it a step further, we then place that Sun position on the chart and Gate 25 is always found in the Heart Centre, in a position that relates to a connection between Ego and Innocence \/ Unconditional Love.<\/p>\n Unlike Astrology, a Human Design chart uses two sets planetary activations.\u00a0 The standard chart uses the Natal Activations plus an additional Pre-Natal Activation, taken at 88 Solar degrees prior to birth.\u00a0 This Pre-Natal Activation gives us access to a simple, natural self that operates under our conscious awareness.\u00a0 We can literally see our sub-conscious at work in this layer of the chart!<\/p>\n I believe Human Design is a unique tool that brings us a whole new way of thinking about who we are, and how the human race is evolving. \u00a0 There are many ideas in Human Design that are quite different to astrology.\u00a0 Like, astrology though, each chart has its own\u00a0very unique flavour and exploring that uniqueness is very liberating and empowering.<\/p>\n My personal journey has involved a lot of time spent alone contemplating what the transits reveal about the elements of the System.\u00a0 I’m very tuned into the collective consciousness, and I pick up the subtle shifts and can then share that information with others through writing in my blog and doing readings.\u00a0\u00a0 It has always been very important to me that the person I’m working with has some sense of recognition of what I’m telling them, even if sometimes the new concepts of self take a while to sink in.<\/p>\n Lana<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0 Yes, I have recently realized that if you make a statement about something someone hasn\u2019t yet experienced about themselves it makes no sense to them!\u00a0 Right now I have a queue of people with a host of basic questions about Human Design \u2026What would be the best way to start learning about it?\u00a0 And as a question, to kick-off, many people are curious to know if there is any advantage to having centres filled in, or blank?<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> <\/em>Well Lana let’s organise a Q & A webinar or blogtalkradio show with talkback and they can ask all the questions they want.\u00a0 I’m writing a series of courses at the moment – some free some paid – which will be available soon.\u00a0 There’s quite a bit on the web.\u00a0 People can get a free chart on my site.<\/p>\n In answer to that last question, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in any element of the system.\u00a0 A coloured centre has a different quality to an uncoloured centre.\u00a0 We call the coloured centre ‘defined’ and they have a constant way of operating in the world.\u00a0 When a centre is not coloured, or undefined, it is always being affected by the people around you.\u00a0 There is perhaps a bias towards the coloured or defined Centres, but I don’t share that view and often approach the chart by focusing on what’s not defined since that is where we are most sensitive and can develop the most wisdom in life.<\/p>\n Lana<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0 Are you trying to drag me into the world of 21st<\/sup> Century technology with talk of a Webinar?\u00a0 In that case, I can\u2019t say no!\u00a0 Here\u2019s my next curiosity: Of the four systems used within the Human Design System (Astrology, Kabbalah, the Chakra System and the I Ching)\u00a0 I am most puzzled about how the I Ching is used.\u00a0 Could you explain the use and value of it in the evaluation of a chart?<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> <\/em>I had never even read the I Ching when I first discovered Human Design.\u00a0 And you don’t need to know anything about any of these other systems – Astrology, Kabbalah, Chakras and I Ching – to understand your design.<\/p>\n When I evaluate a chart, I start out by looking at the Centres – what’s defined, what’s connected, what’s conscious.\u00a0 This is a level of evaluation that can easily be overlooked when people want to gain as much information about their charts as possible.\u00a0 But the Centres alone can reveal an astonishing amount of information.<\/p>\n After that I begin to look at the detail of planets and gates.\u00a0 The Gates are the same as the Hexagrams of the I Ching, so it’s important to observe where the personal planets are, they give great meaning to our lives and can be a wonderful source of contemplation.\u00a0 They are often quite startling accurate.<\/p>\n A great example is Princess Diana, who had her Sun in Gate 39 line 1, the commentary for which reads:<\/p>\n “When one encounters an obstruction, the important thing is to reflect on how best to deal with it.\u00a0 When threatened with danger, one should not strive blindly to go ahead, for this only leads to complications.”<\/em><\/p>\n Well Princess Diana certainly did encounter an obstruction that was very dangerous!<\/p>\n As well as the actual commentary that we can find in any I Ching book, we can also look at the structure of the hexagram – is it ying or yang, shallow or deep, how do the trigrams relate to each other?\u00a0 For example, Princess Diana’s Gate 39 is a yang hexagram, it’s trigrams are Water and Mountain, giving a quality of letting go of impatience (water) and struggle (mountain) and allowing time to properly understand a situation – this takes us from a shallow understanding to a deep understanding so that we can move forward with the natural flow (water).<\/p>\n Lana<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0 You seem to use a huge number of asteroids and other heavenly bodies in your work, and enthrallingly so!\u00a0 How important are they, and could you let us know a little about your view of the meaning of Chiron?<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> Well firstly Lana let me say that we can tell a huge amount just from the mechanics of the design.\u00a0 As I’ve said, just knowing what’s coloured in your chart, which centres are connected to each other, what reaches the Throat Centre for expression, where there’s gaps between Centres, etc.\u00a0 These ‘mechanical’ aspects of interpretation are so important.<\/p>\n I use the asteroids to bring a more subtle flow to the energy of the chart.\u00a0 For example there may be quite a difficult gap between, say, the Heart and the Throat. These gaps are often places where people struggle immensely in life and they often have physical symptoms in that precise area of the body.\u00a0 When I look at the asteroids I might find that there is a Dwarf Planet that bridges the gap.\u00a0 This gives us a way to explore how we could create a bridge between those two disconnected parts of a person’s energy field.\u00a0 I also look at fixed positions – fixed stars, the Galactic Centre, black holes, etc, when there is an important connection with personal planets.<\/p>\n Chiron is the one asteroid included in the standard chart.\u00a0 In my work, Chiron is a place in the energy field where we may have specific sensitivity.\u00a0 That sensitivity is always a place of great power, but to begin with we may need to examine the possibility of wounds that need to be addressed. In Human Design we can see which energy centre Chiron falls in, and we also get to see the Pre-Natal Chiron in the chart as well, so we can track family patterns of wounding.\u00a0 I find working with Chiron extremely powerful.<\/p>\n Lana<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0 That spurs me on to use Fixed Stars and deep space objects such as Clusters in my work more.\u00a0 How much of your work is mental analysis, and how much of it is spiritual intuition?\u00a0 And though it is not written yet, how do you see your work evolving?<\/p>\n Kim<\/span>:<\/em> Great questions Lana.\u00a0 I have Mercury and Uranus creating one channel from the Crown to the Ajna, and another with Moon and Ceres.\u00a0 So I work with an inspired creative mental energy.\u00a0 The connection between the two centres means that I can’t separate the Crown from the Ajna – they always work together as a team.<\/p>\n My work is all about evolution.\u00a0 You would be aware of the idea of the archetypal expression of the planets evolving.\u00a0 Saturn is a great example.\u00a0 I also see the I Ching, the Kabbalah and Chakras evolving.\u00a0 As these elements shift, so does our understanding of the Human Design System and therefore our understanding of our energy fields.<\/p>\n For example, my Moon is in a Ajna Gate that says I’m oppressed and exhausted and that’s all there is to it.\u00a0 Not very cheery!\u00a0 When I work with people with this gate in their personal design, I know that they have a role to play in helping people shift the way they think.\u00a0 When we think in the wrong way we create a life that can feel oppressive and exhausting.\u00a0 When we think in a more natural way we create a whole different life.\u00a0 If someone has this Gate in their personal design I can support them to be more empowered by explaining that this evolution in their thinking is actually part of their role in the evolution of all humanity.<\/p>\n I work specifically with helping people to understand themselves in this new reality we are entering.\u00a0 Most of what we know about how to be happy and successful isn’t working anymore.\u00a0\u00a0 Using Human Design I can show people a whole new way to experience themselves and a whole new way to make decisions that is really unique.<\/p>\n My main focus is to help people to recognise more subtle layers of self that have gone unacknowledged, and to support them to bring them into their daily reality.\u00a0 I do that through exploring the different layers of the multi-dimensional charts and the archetypal layer of the natal chart and then helping people to anchor it through the main integrative layer.\u00a0 It sounds complicated, but when it’s your own chart it just flows so easily and naturally because the recognition is there for you.<\/p>\n Kim\u2019s Blog:<\/em><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.loveyourdesign.com\/blog\/<\/a><\/p>\n Kim\u2019s Website is also a mine of information:<\/em><\/p>\n