Human Design brings in principles from 5 systems: the Chinese I'Ching, the Jewish Kabbalah Tree of Life, the Hindhu-Brahmin Chakras, Astrology and Quantum Physics.
In my series oh so cleverly titled, The Big Five, we are going to take a shallow dive into each system to further understand how each plays a roll in Human Design.
It is important at this point to say that I am no expert in any of the big 5. What I am to share is self-taught, through the lens of curiosity... and my undefined ajna. I will do my best to be as accurate as I can, but this is really coming from a place of personal interpretation.
Okay, my first opinion: I believe the I'Ching plays the largest roll in Human Design therefore it being the reason I began my research here. Full transparency, I am embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of the I'Ching before discovering Human Design....I had a sheltered childhood, okay?
I'Ching or Yi Jing is one of the most ancient of Chinese texts dating back over 3000 BC. "I" means "change" and "Ching" means "script" hence it's name The Book of Changes, and it is considered the world's oldest oracle. Basically, it is a way to get guidance when needed. But its also SO. MUCH. MORE than that.
History of I'Ching
It is said that Fuxi, a beloved deity, created the original symbols of I'Ching, before language was even invented. He believed that the Universe was boundless and empty before two energies came to existence: yin and yang. Clearly a man ahead of his time, he developed the trigram for eight fundamental principles or elements: fire, water, wind, thunder, river, mountains, earth and heaven. Trigrams are lines stacked upon each other: a solid line represents yang and a broken line represents yin.
It is said that King Wen while imprisoned in the 12th century BC, meditated on the eight trigrams to further create the 64 hexigrams by stacking two trigrams on top of another.
Confucius along with other philosophers helped further create the divination text that we now know today.
Sacred I'Ching Geometry
When I first started researching the I'Ching, I landed on this youtube video I will link here . My head kind of exploded when I watched it, but I will do my best to summarize. It speaks about linear progression and the importance of the numbers 3, 6 and 9.
Basically, if you take a cell, and it multiplies, you get 2. Multiply again, you get 4. Multiply again, you get 8... then 16, then 32, 64, 128, 256 to infinity. When you get to double digits, you add them to get a single digit, (example 1+6=7, 3+2=5). Here you will see a pattern of 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, and 5. Over and over again. What is missing from here? 3, 6 and 9.
To quote Nikola Tesla, "If you only knew the magnificence of 3, 6 and 9, then you would have the key to the universe."
3, 6 and 9 is said to be energy, frequency and vibration.
3 is considered energy, or your thought patterns. It is said the key to manifestation is to raise these thought frequencies to 6, then ultimately to 9 when the manifestation occurs.
Wait, what does this have to do with I'Ching?
I promise, I didn't go off topic. To use the I'Ching, you need three casting coins. You can use quarters if you like, but it is recommended you carry them with you in your pocket for a few weeks so they carry your energy.
As you sit with your query, you will toss the coins for a total of 6 times. Heads, or yang, will get the number 3, and Tails, or yin, gets 2. You will add these up to get a number from 6 to 9. For example, you toss a tail and two heads, you get 8. Here is where the 6 and 9 come in. After your 6 throws, if you get a 6 or a 9, these lines change from yang to yin, or vice versa.... it is called the Book of Changes after all. What this indicates is that the dilemma that you are asking about is in the process of change. From here, you then look up your hexigram, read the passage, and sit and reflect on the advice given.
So, the 6 and 9 play a powerful role in the I'Ching as it expresses how there is change or movement in the question you are needing clarity on.
Poetic Intuition
So, each of the 64 Gates in Human Design are taken from the 64 Hexigrams of the Book of Changes. How does this work?
Let's take a look at Hexigram 57. It corresponds with Gate 57, which is the gate of Intuition and is one of the most intuitive gates within our chart. In the I'Ching, it is two wind trigrams stacked. Like our intuition, the wind goes undetected, swirling around, picking up subtle energies. It is called the Gentle, and it speaks about how the wind never ceases.
An excerpt from Wilhelm's version "In nature, it is the wind that disperses the gathered clouds, leaving the sky clear and serene."
I love how the I'Ching is expressed, it is truly meant for contemplation. We so often look beyond us, whether it be a friend, tarot, or through prayer, to help us figure out our next steps. And while the I'Ching is a source of guidance, it is truly meant for us to sit with, to reflect with, to meditate on because as we know, the answer is always inside us.
In Light and Strength,
Comments