The Lines in Human Design

When diving into your human design chart, the lines offer a further layer of nuance and depth.

In the Human Design chart, each planet activates a gate, which is a smaller impulse of each zodiac sign. We then have the line, which is a smaller impulse of each gate. There are 64 gates in the chart, and within each gate, there are 6 lines.

Each layer here adds depth and nuance to your chart. For example, you could have your Sun in Gemini, in Gate 16, Line 2. This would read as 16.2 in your Human Design chart.

We primarily discuss the lines in the context of profile—the two numbers you see listed with the elements of your design, such as 5/1 or 1/4 that describe the role you are here to play in life—because profile is connected to your Sun and Earth placements, which play the biggest influence in your chart.

However, we see line frequency in any planetary activation in the chart. For example, in my own chart, I have a 5/1 profile, but I am dominant in 3rd line planets, so I feel and live that energy in a big way.

In Matthew Perry’s chart below, you will see that I have circled his conscious and unconscious Sun and Earth placements in his planetary activations. Matthew is a 3/5 profile, which comes from the 3rd line activation of his personality/conscious sun and earth placements on the right, and the 5th line activation of his unconscious/design sun and earth on the left.

Line Frequencies

There are 6 lines in Human Design that build upon each other. The first 3 lines (1,2 and 3) carry a personal frequency, and the second 3 lines (4,5 and 6) carry a transpersonal frequency.

The 1st Line: The investigator, seeker and authority. 

The 1st line is all about sensing what is missing or insecure, getting to the bottom of things and establishing solid foundations. These people are our innate seekers, researchers and investigators.

The 2nd Line: The hermit, natural and passionate one. 

The 2nd line is all about naturalness – they have an innate genius that is waiting to emerge through the right ‘calling’ in life. These people are our hermits who are here to immerse in their curiosities.

The 3rd Line: The martyr, anarchist and mad scientist. 

The 3rd line is all about experimentation and trial and error. These people are here to bump into things, so that they can share their wisdom about what did and did not work with the rest of us.

The 4th Line: The opportunist, connector and influential leader. 

The 4th line is all about the network and establishing trust in communion. These people are gifted at bringing others together and supporting those in their network. For them, it’s all about quality over quantity, and if you break their trust it’s really difficult to repair.

The 5th Line: The heretic, problem solver and messenger. 

The 5th line is all about practicality and solutions. These people are usually gifted problem solvers. They can be naturally seductive, alluring and mysterious, but they have to watch out for the projections others place on them. Clear communication is key.

The 6th Line: The role model, buddha and objective observer. 

The 6th line is all about teaching, educating and leading as an embodied example. After their first 30 years, these people tend to relax into an observer role where they are integrating life and all they have experienced. These people are our visionaries and futurists with so much wisdom to share.

How Each Line Works in Your Profile

The way the lines work in your profile is that the first number is what is conscious to you – this is who you think you are. And the second number is conscious – this can be harder for you to see in yourself but often easily recognisable by others. Through deconditioning and living your design, you will find that you start to notice the 2nd number more and more.

Again using Matthew Perry as an example, the 3 in his profile is conscious to him and the 5 is unconscious.

Profile is an incredibly insightful piece of your design that describes the role that you are here to fulfil. Are you here to use your depth in an influential way or to solve problems? Are you someone who learns through experimentation or research? Profile describes all of this and more and I find to be an affirming piece that can be very practically applied to business and everyday life.

If you want to go deeper and explore the lines of your profile, our personalised Human Design reports cover this part of your chart in depth. You can learn more about them here.