Quantum Human Design™ Chart Orientation
Quantum Human Design™ is a synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern science. It's a tool for understanding your unique energy blueprint, key decision-making strategies, and highest potential.
As you explore your design, you'll see where you might unconsciously be holding yourself back. You'll also remember and fall (back) in love with who you really are. You'll learn to understand others in a new way. When you augment Quantum Human Design™ with the Quantum Alignment System™, you'll clear stuck energy, reprogram your nervous system, and allow the highest expression of YOU to shine through.
You could spend multiple lifetimes learning all the ins and outs of these systems, so I'll share a foundation here that will prepare you with the basics. You can get your free chart here if you want to reference it along the way. At the end of this post, you'll find links to additional resources if you want to take it deeper at your own pace.
There's a lot here. Pause at any time and know you can come back and pick up where you left off.
If your eyes glaze over at the complexity, here is the upshot of any QHD chart: You are here to be YOU and shine your light. Period. 🌟
And now to geek out on the details...
What IS a QHD chart?
Your QHD chart is based on your birth date, time, and location. It maps planetary positions onto a bodygraph, creating the unique blueprint of archetypal energies that your soul is called to explore in this lifetime. Below are two different software representations of my own chart (left: Genetic Matrix, right: BodyGraph Chart).
While your chart will look like some variation of the above depending on software and your own configuration, the image below shows the larger context of where the chart comes from. To orient yourself, imagine that you're looking down at a cross-section of the earth at the equator. Just as we observe the sun moving through the constellations of the zodiac, the planetary bodies move counterclockwise from earth's frame of reference through what's called the "mandala."
The quarters on the mandala are in Traditional Human Design language. The corresponding quantum names are in the bottom left.
The mandala contains the human design quarters or "seasons," western/tropical astrological signs, Chinese I' Ching hexagrams, and human design gates and lines. You can think of a "gate" as a little slice of the sky, and a "line" as an even smaller slice within the gate - like minutes (gates) and seconds (lines) on a watch.
Now that you know where the chart comes from, let's go back to the chart itself. One of the most fundamental things you'll notice is that some parts of the bodygraph are colored in and some aren't. The parts that are colored in are called "defined," and the parts that are white are called "open" or "undefined." See the image below for additional information.
Another thing you'll notice is that there are two columns of symbols and numbers. Different chart software programs typically show different column headings and colors. Generally, the column on the left will be red or the lighter of the two colors, and the column on the right will be black or the darker of the two. On the bodygraph, the color of each defined gate will correspond to the color of the column it came from. As mentioned in the image above, if a gate is defined in both columns, it will have both colors.
So why the two columns?
The column on the right contains the planetary positions by gate number (in front of the decimal point) and line number (after the decimal point) at the moment of birth. The column on the left contains the planetary positions approximately 3 months prior. (Many people ask about premature births - 3 months prior is relative to the actual birth date, not the due date.)
There are many interpretations of what the different columns mean. The leading QHD interpretation is that the left column is the Life Purpose and the right column is the Soul Purpose. My personal interpretation is that these manifest as "doing" energies on the left and "being" energies on the right. As you learn and experiment with your own chart, see what resonates most with you!
The following image guides you through the planetary symbols and provides additional information about the nodes and Chiron / Kiron.
The next image guides you through the nine centers. The quantum names for the centers are followed by the traditional names in parentheses. (Note: Quantum Human Design™ is a more recent, higher-vibration language/interpretation of Traditional Human Design created by my mentor, Karen Curry Parker, who studied with the original teacher of Human Design, Ra Uru Hu.)
The centers roughly correspond to the Hindu chakras, with two exceptions. The Heart chakra is split into the Calibration Center and the Resource Center, and the Solar Plexus chakra is split into the Self-Actualization Center and the Creative Center.
Some key information specific to your chart will be your Type, Strategy, Authority, and Emotional Themes. The Strategy and Emotional Themes are determined by your Type. Each Type has various options for Authority. The table below summarizes this information and shows the percentage of the population for each of the five QHD Types. Again, Traditional HD names are shown in parentheses. (Type and Authority are determined by the relative configuration of your defined centers. All Types except Calibrators have at least two defined centers. Calibrators have no defined centers.)
For an overview of how each Type moves through the world energetically, check out my blog post, Synergizing Two Energetic Systems.
The last two chart elements we'll cover in this post are Profile and Incarnation Cross.
Remember the line numbers that go with each gate? Your Profile comes from the line numbers of your Soul Sun and Life Sun, as shown in the image below. You'll also see the archetypes for each of the six lines in both quantum and traditional language. These archetypes lend a nuance or flavor to the archetypes of the gates.
Your Incarnation Cross comes from your Soul Sun/Earth and Life Sun/Earth combination, as shown in the image below. These are some of the most prominent energies in your chart. The theme of your cross will give you insights into your most fundamental and powerful purpose in this lifetime.
Congratulations, you made it here!
With this foundation of the parts and pieces of a chart, you'll have a better idea of what you're looking at when you see your own.
The resources below will help you dive deeper into the actual meanings and how the elements all work together. It starts with your own chart - when you download yours from the link below, it will include the chart itself along with insights to jumpstart your journey. From there, follow where your curiosity and inspiration lead you!
Self-Paced Resources:
Step 1) Download your free Quantum Human Design™ chart
Step 2) Download a free Introduction to Quantum Human Design™ eBook from my mentor, Karen Curry Parker If you want to take it deeper, here are some additional options:
Join Karen's free Community of Cosmic Revolutionaries on Circle
Join the Understanding Human Design Community for additional support
Enroll in Karen's self-paced Introduction to Quantum Human Design™ course
Explore Quantum Human Design™ Certification to share this powerful self-awareness tool with others
Check out The Encyclopedia of Quantum Human Design™ for the single most comprehensive guide to understanding all the QHD elements
Final cosmic love note: You are an infinite being.
QHD can be powerfully life-changing as you learn to identify and release conditioned beliefs, tune in to your energy and intuition, and remember the inherent greatness of who you are. And, even the story of your design may eventually feel too small. Take what resonates, experiment with it, integrate it, play with it, and yet hold loosely to it. Don't define yourself by it. Let it help you remember the truth of your light, and let the truth of your light lead you to your most natural way of being in the world, whatever that looks and feels like for you, and however that expands and evolves.
Remember the upshot: You are here to be YOU and shine your light. Period. 🌟
YOU get to choose how you experience this adventure called Life — enjoy the process!
Quantum Human Design™ © Karen Curry Parker. All Rights Reserved. As a Quantum Human Design™/Quantum Alignment System™ affiliate, I may receive compensation for referrals made through the links on this page.