The Body Graph in Human Design
What is a Body Graph?
A is the Human Design body chart: a map calculated from your date, time and place of birth. It combines , 64 and 36 to show, in a single drawing, how your energy flows, where it is consistent and where it depends on others.
Two calculations make it up: the one of your birth and the one about three months earlier. This double imprint is what sets the apart from an astrological chart.
Six steps, in the order you learn to read a chart. The diagram follows: at each step it lights up only what is being talked about.
1The nine centres
These are the nine shapes of the drawing. Each holds a function: thinking, expressing, acting, loving, feeling, holding pressure. On your chart a centre is either coloured or white. Coloured, it works consistently and you can rely on it. White, it takes in and amplifies what others put out: that is where you learn the most, and where you are most easily influenced.
Click a centre on the diagram to see what it governs.
2The sixty-four gates
The small dots set all around the centres. A gate lights up when a planet stood at that place in the sky at your birth, or about eighty-eight days earlier. Each gate carries a theme, inherited from the sixty-four of the .
A gate lit on its own stays an available theme, not a flow.
3The thirty-six channels
The lines joining the centres. Two facing each other form a channel: it then joins the two centres, defines them both, and circulates between them an energy that does not switch off. It is the channel that colours a centre, never the gate alone.
This is where is decided: which centres are joined, and to what.
4The two columns, black and red
On either side of the drawing, thirteen planetary positions, twice. The right column is calculated at the moment of birth: that is Personality, what you recognise in yourself. The left one is calculated about eighty-eight days earlier: that is Design, what others notice before you do.
Two calculations, one drawing: that is what makes each chart unique.
5The four Variables, or PHS
The four above the drawing. Together they form the PHS (), four transformations: Digestion, Environment, View, Motivation. They come neither from the nor from the : they derive from the positions of the Sun and the Nodes, in both calculations.
This is the second layer of reading, the one you tackle after the Type.
6Colour, tone and arrow direction
Each carries two figures beside its : the colour large, the tone small. The colour tells the why of the function, the tone the how. And it is the tone that sets the arrow's direction: to the left, the function narrows to a point; to the right, it sweeps wider.
The diagram never gives a score. It says how, not how much.
The nine centres, one by one
Each centre carries a function and a fixed number of . Defined, it works consistently; open, it picks up and amplifies what others emit.
| Centre | What it governs | |
|---|---|---|
| Head | The pressure of the question. This is where inspiration comes from, and the urge to understand. | 3 |
| Ajna | The mind that gives shape: analysing, comparing, conceptualising. It thinks, it does not decide. | 6 |
| Throat | The place of manifestation: speaking, doing, showing. Everything that comes out goes through here. | 11 |
| G Center | Identity and direction: who you are, and where you go when you follow your own thread. | 8 |
| Heart | Will and self-worth. The only motor that needs rest between two efforts. | 4 |
| Spleen | The present instant: intuition, health, the fear that protects. It does not repeat itself. | 7 |
| Solar Plexus | The . When it is defined, clarity comes with time, never on the spot. | 7 |
| Sacral | Life force and work force. It is the one that answers, with a sound, before the mind argues. | 9 |
| Root | The pressure that sets things moving: stress, momentum, the urge to begin. | 9 |
| Total | 64 |
The four PHS transformations
together form the PHS, . Each is given by a specific planet, in one of the two calculations, and holds a fixed place above the drawing.
| Transformation | Planet | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| V1 | Memory and Digestion | Design Sun | top left |
| V2 | Environment | Design Node | bottom left |
| V3 | View | Personality Node | bottom right |
| V4 | Motivation | Personality Sun | top right |
A Body Graph in figures
- 9 centres, whose number defined determines the Type
- 64 , spread across these centres
- 36 , each formed by two facing
- 26 planetary positions, thirteen per calculation
- 8 PHS figures, one colour and one tone per
- 1
The 9 Centres
Energy hubs that replace the 7 chakras. Each centre governs one bodily and psychological function. Defined = coloured (reliable), open = white (receptive).
Explore the 9 centres - 2
The 64 Gates
The 64 of the , each anchored in a centre. These are the raw , each with its own energetic theme and voice.
Explore the 64 gates - 3
The 36 Channels
When two connected are active at the same time, a channel lights up: energy flows permanently between the two centres, forming a reliable trait of your nature.
Explore the 36 channels - 4
The 4 Variables
The triangles around the encode the colour and tone of your Diet, Environment, Perspective and Motivation. A second layer of analysis after the centres.
Explore the 4 variables - 5
The Arrows
The direction (left ↔ right) of each triangle. It shows the active or passive, strategic or receptive orientation of the brain for each .
Explore the arrows - 6
The 13 Planets
Two columns on the left: Personality (black, conscious) and Design activations (red, unconscious). Each planet activates one specific gate and line.
Explore the 13 planets
Your personal chart
The , or body chart, is the visible heart of Human Design. It is a graphic representation of your energy architecture, calculated from your birth coordinates. Think of it as a human circuit board: each component has a precise function, and it is the whole assembly that determines how you « work ».
This chart brings four legacies together in a single drawing: the (from the chakra tradition, reorganized), the 64 (drawn from the and matching our 64 genetic ), the 36 (inspired by the paths of the Kabbalah) and an astronomical calculation that places the planets on a mandala in order to determine your .
The double imprint: black and red
The fundamental originality of the lies in its binary structure. Your chart is the merging of two distinct calculations made at two different moments:
This first calculation is made at the exact moment of your birth. It captures the position of the thirteen celestial bodies at that precise instant. The resulting appear in black on your chart and represent what you are aware of, the character traits you recognise, what you call your « self ».
It is like sitting at the top of a hill watching the traffic on a highway: you see clearly what is happening and can think about it.
The second calculation is made roughly 88 days before your birth (technically: 88 degrees of solar movement earlier). It represents your body, your biogenetic inheritance and everything that operates below your awareness, the traits the people around you often notice before you do.
It is like a tunnel: you cannot see what is going on inside, and what comes out of it sometimes surprises even you.
The link between the two: The , housed in the G Center, works like a magnet that holds these two aspects together and creates the illusion of a unified being, while steering your life trajectory.
Reading the colors
The visual look of the rests on a simple but fundamental contrast:
- The colored areas (defined): When a channel is complete, that is, when an at each end links it up, the two centres involved become colored. These areas represent your permanent life force, a fixed and reliable energy, present 24 hours a day.
- The white areas (open): Where you are not defined, you become a receiver. You absorb and amplify the energy of those around you. These are areas of potential , but also of great wisdom if you learn to observe these energies without identifying with them.
- The striped (black and red): Some or are activated both consciously and unconsciously. These « bridges » offer a rare chance to perceive some of your deepest traits clearly.
The components of the chart
The 9 centres
Shown as geometric shapes (triangles, diamonds, squares), the nine centres are the energy hubs of your . Each governs a precise biological and psychological function, from mental inspiration (Crown) to the pressure to act (Root), by way of communication (Throat) and life force ().
The 36 channels
These are the circulation corridors between the centres. When a channel is fully activated, it generates a constant flow of energy that defines the centres at each end. It is the configuration of your that determines , and .
The 64 gates
Located at the ends of the , each gate corresponds to an and to a of human DNA. Each gate carries a specific theme, a quality, a talent, a behavioral predisposition.
The Rave Mandala
To turn your birth data into graphic , the system uses a wheel called the . The sky is divided into 64 equal sections, each covering exactly 5° 37′ 30″ of arc. At the moment of each calculation (birth and prenatal), the thirteen planetary influences sit in specific sections of that wheel.
The result: your contains 26 in total, 13 for the Personality (black) and 13 for the Design (red), matching the 13 celestial bodies tracked by the system (Sun, Earth, Moon, north and south lunar nodes, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto).
A navigation tool
The is not just a static image to contemplate. It is a practical navigation tool, comparable to a city map in which centre would be the « main square », the point toward which all the energy converges in order to express itself in speech or in action.
By studying your chart, you identify the three pillars of the way you naturally function: your Type (how your energy circulates), your Strategy (how to interact correctly with life) and your Authority (how to make aligned decisions). These three elements are enough to start experimenting with Human Design in daily life.
Generate your own free of charge on our home page to explore your chart in detail.
Continue exploring: