A Summary of the Seven Human Design Authorities

What is your Human Design Authority?

Your Human Design Authority is the way you are designed to make decisions. We often hear things like ‘trust your gut,’ ‘follow your heart,’ ‘don’t think with your emotions,’ but this advice isn’t actually meant for everyone. Not all of us are meant to trust our gut, some of us need to wait for emotional clarity, some of us need to speak and to hear ourselves, while others need to be in the right environment to tune in. We are all deeply unique and individual, and Our Authority is how our body informs us that knows what's best when making a decision. So often we let the mind run the show; how many times have you wanted to do something then started to be filled with questions, doubt and confusion about if it would be good for you or not? Our mind will always question things, that’s its job to get information, but it’s job isn’t to make decisions. That lies in our body.

If you’ve been following Human Design for a while, or even if you’re new, you will likely have heard people say “Follow your Strategy and Authority” over and over again and there is good reason for this. Human Design can be very complex and deep, but if you’re following your strategy and authority then the rest of your design, all the nuanced and deep information, will simply flow because you are flowing with life and the way you are meant to engage and interact with it. You really do only need S&A, that’s where the magic and genius of the system lies.


THE EMOTIONAL AUTHORITY

Emotional definition and Authority lies in the Solar Plexus, and it is so powerful that no matter what else is defined in the chart, if the solar plexus is defined, you have emotional authority. Having emotional definition sets the tone for the emotions in a space, anyone with an open solar plexus is picking up on and amplifying your emotional energy. It’s incredibly special in the sense that it’s both an awareness center as well as a motor center.

About 50% of us are emotionally defined, therefore 50% of us are emotional authorities. When you have emotional authority you need emotional clarity before making a decision. This can look different for everyone depending on what channels they have defined, or the frequency and length of their wave, and what the decision is. If you feel forced to make a decision in the now, try experimenting with waiting. At the very least give yourself say 5 minutes for small decisions, sleep on it for larger ones, and for more impactful decisions such as relationships and career, give yourself at a week to come to clarity. 

If you have an emotional authority, there is no truth in the now and you may never have 100% clarity on the decision you’re trying to make, which can make this authority difficult. Also note, if your emotional Solar Plexus is defined through a conscious or unconscious channel. If it is defined through an unconscious channel you may feel that your emotions are something you don't resonate with, those around you will see your emotions but you may not feel as though you’re overly emotional, it’s something you will have to come to learn.

There are 4 different wave types for emotional authorities so it’s important to understand which wave you have, as that will allow you to understand the mechanics of your wave and the flow of it. Waiting can be very difficult for emotional types, especially if you have an undefined or open Root center, which can feel like being hurrying to be free of pressure. When you have this setup you are designed to wait, but with the Root pressure, chances are this will lead to being impulsive, which if you are an emotional type you know the feeling well.

Some problems that can arise with your emotional authority is that your wave literally paints your reality. When you are in the high of your wave, everything is a great decision, you have to have the thing NOW because it all feels great and right! Then the next morning, you’ve hit the low of your wave and are feeling guilty for the decisions you made from that high space and everything is painted by that low. Nothing seems to work out, nothing seems right and everything being pulled towards you is coming from that space of your low. It’s only when we come to neutral space can we see the information (because anything that happens in our highs and lows is information to make the best decisions we can) from the highs and lows and come to the best decision we can make in that moment.

Ra says on emotional authorities, to play hard to get and to always put off making a decision.

The Waves:

Source Wave: Channel 59-6
This wave is the source of all the waves coming out of the Emotional Solar Plexus. This channel in itself is very powerful and is known to penetrate the aura of others, breaking through barriers, as well as be penetrated because it is so inviting that others tend to feel the power generating from it and want to tap into it, invited or not. People with this channel or either of these gates, may find that people want to tell them their deepest, darkest secrets, even random strangers they’ll never see again!

This type of wave tends to seem fairly stable until it is triggered by someone.

Tribal Wave: Channels 19-49 & 37-40:
This wave is all about touch and needs, because it’s based in the tribal circuitry. This wave ratchets up and up until it’s set off, then it comes back down. Picture this; as the spouse, lover, partner, parent, child or friend that lets things go and doesn’t bring it up in the moment. One day, they explode on you for something that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is to them because they never told you all the other things that bothered them as they happened. That’s what this wave is all about.

Individual Wave: Channels 22-12 & 39-55
This wave is all about moodiness and melancholy, because it’s individual (any individual channel is going to have an element of melancholy and moodiness, it’s just how it operates, it learns through emotional depth). This wave is also very passionate, when it’s in the mood it’s all about the auditory. It can literally fall in love with a voice. This wave moves along with short spikes up and down but seems to be stable most of the time. This wave needs to know when to be social or not (12-22 is the only social individual channel) it needs to follow how it feels in the moment to know if it can be around others or not.

If you have this wave, know when to be alone to shift into another part of your wave, remember they tend to spike up and down quite quickly so they won’t necessarily be stuck in a high or low for too long. It’s also an intense wave because of this, because it is so passionate and romantic. This wave is the wave that romance novels are made from.

Collective Wave: Channels: 41-30 & 36-35
This wave goes through a steady rise and sharp fall, it's all about desires and feelings, but it’s all about the collective. This wave tends to crash due to unmet expectations, so if you have this wave, be careful about attaching expectations to things, you will set up your wave to crash that way. This is all about doing things for the experience and not for expectations.

THE SACRAL AUTHORITY

The only types with Sacral authority are going to be Generators (and Manifesting Generators). This is that gut knowing, that in the moment hell yes and hell no that so many of us are told to chase. Sacral beings and Sacral authority are known to respond to things with Sacral sounds, things like uhn uh or uh huh among other grunts and groans. They are often told from a young age to use their words rather than sounds but this is how they know if something is right for them or not.

In the moment, Sacral beings will either respond with a Hell yes or a hell no and if it’s a no, it’s just a no, not right now.

It’s important to tap into and test your Sacral response, you may feel that when you make a decision based on this knowing your body is quite literally pulled in the direction of the thing you are responding to.

If you’re a Manifesting Generator with emotional authority it’s still important to tap into and take in the information from your initial sacral response (if you can feel it, some emotional types say they don’t feel their sacral response) but ultimately pull it through your emotional wave before making a decision.

It is through this Sacral response that Generators know what is right for them or not, what boundaries they need to set or now and how they can directly interact with the world around them. If there is any hesitation from a Generator then the answer is a no and if you have a Generator in your life and notice this and notice them saying yes anyway, know that the are going against their Sacral response and help them honor that gut feeling.

If you feel like you need to reconnect with your Sacral response, which can happen after years of conditioning not to trust it, find safe people that can help you connect with it through yes or no answers. Once you establish your relationships with your Sacral it will be easier to tell when your decision is a yes or no.

THE SPLENIC AUTHORITY

If your authority is Splenic then you don’t have a defined sacral or emotional solar plexus so you are either a Manifestor or Projector.

The Spleen is the center of fears, intuition and health and the spleen speaks to you once and moves on, unlike some of the other authorities. This is an in the moment, spontaneous ping or an inner knowing, followed by fear based questions. The spleen speaks softly once and is done so nourishing your body and keeping it healthy is a great way to stay in tune with your spleen.

Experiment with this and work to get out of your mind. AS we have learned, our mind is full of questions and doubts and can easily make you second guess the quiet in the moment response of your spleen. If you have this authority and allow your mind to ask questions, you’ve missed your in the moment chance to make that decision. The mind needs to take a back seat if you have this authority.

THE EGO AUTHORITIES

Ego Manifested
If you have an ego manifested authority this means you have your Will/Heart Center connected to your throat, no sacral, emotional, or splenic connections to the throat. Like Self Projected, it’s very important to listen to what you’re saying in the moment, listen to what comes out of you through your voice.

As with all authorities it’s so important to get out of you head and into your authority, you won’t find the answers you’re looking for in your head. When you have this authority you are a Manifestor, so don’t try to control what’s coming out of you, just listen to it. You ego will speak the truth.

Ego Projected
If you have this authority you are a Projector, with your Heart Center connected to your G Center. If you have this authority waiting for the invitation is crucial to making the correct decision for you, you need the people in your life to come and invite you to things. This is a rare authority and because it’s coming from the Heart Center, which is a motor, you either will have the will to do something or not.

When you are following your strategy you have a powerful ability to transform and lead. Remember, the Heart Center is a motor and goes through cycles of working and needing rest so make sure you’re getting the rest you need when your will center is not in the doing phase.

THE SELF PROJECTED AUTHORITY
Self Projected

If you are a self projected Projector then you have your G Center connected to your throat and you need to hear yourself speaking out loud to make decisions. It’s important for you to have safe people in your community that you can bounce your thoughts off of so you can listen to what you're saying. It’s important to have safe people who understand your boundaries and to understand that you just need a safe space to hear yourself speak. That’s how you make the correct decisions for yourself. You can also speak out loud to your phone and record or journal, anything that gets things out of your mind will help you gain clarity of what the correct decision is for you.

This is a very in the moment authority, listen to what you’re saying in the moment, that’s where your truth lies.

THE ENVIRON(MENTAL) AUTHORITY
If you have environmental authority (also known as a Mental Projector), this means that you have either the Head + Ajna defined only or Head + Ajna + Throat defined, with no definition below the throat.

Your environment is so important for you because you have so much openness below the throat. If the environment is wrong, then the people are wrong, so this will help guide you to make the right decisions for yourself. If the environment is wrong, find a new place that feels right. You are taking in information from all that openness you have in your design.

Because you have your Ajna connected to your throat as the only definition in your design, make sure you are paying attention to not get caught up in the mental trip that can come from that. The mind is powerful and wants to question everything, so really feel into the environment you are in to get clarity on the correct decisions for you.

THE LUNAR AUTHORITY

Reflectors are the only type to have a Lunar authority because they don’t have any definition. It's important that they allow a lunar cycle to flow through the transiting authorities to come to the best decision they can.

During a Lunar Cycle, 28 days, the transiting energy will allow the Reflector to feel and sample all the 6 other authorities and in getting information from each authority they can best come to the right decision for them. It would be very helpful for Reflectors to track the transits when they are making a decision.

Of course, if the decision is small it’s not realistic to wait 28 days to decide on where you’re going for dinner tonight, for example but knowing how important your environment is can be helpful in making decisions like these.

If you’re out somewhere and the environment or the table doesn’t feel right, don’t feel any shame in asking to move or going to a different place.

What Human Design calls Outer Authority is really just the information that comes from your open/undefined centers. Once we follow our strategy and Authority correctly we can take in the information that is coming from this Outer Authority and not allow it to make decisions for us but to find the wisdom and the beauty that can be found in these centers.

So much of our decision making process comes from the not self and conditioned open/undefined centers so we really have to experiment with and work with our Strategy and Authority to understand the best decisions for us.

Now that you have a glimpse into the seven Human Design authorities, what do you think? Do they reign true with you? Let us know in the comments!

If you want fun tools while you study human design, The Aura Market offers unique digital (and physical) products for you to use (or give as gifts to friends, clients, and colleagues). Explore our notepad bundles, glyphs bundles, bodygraph files, and the first of its kind - Canva Templates for content creation!



Dive deep into all the human design types, authorities, centers, and profile lines below: 

• Generators: the Magnetic Creators
• Manifesting Generators: the Multi-Passionate Geniuses
• Projectors: the Guiding Forces
• Manifestors: the Bold Visionaries
  
• Reflectors: the Mystical Mirrors
• the Seven Human Design Authorities
• the Nine Human Design Centers
• the Six Human Design Profile Lines 
• Digital Products for Human Design Study and Content Creation