Gate 10: The love of being alive as yourself
Human Design is first and foremost about recognizing, honoring, and loving our own uniqueness as a differentiated being.
This is something we can identify most immediately by our behavior day to day – what we do and how we move through the world, making choices and engaging with other people.
The Gate of the Behavior of the Self, Gate 10, is the nexus of this expression. When engaged correctly it fosters self-empowerment and self-love, which by example empowers others to do the same.
A Love Gate
This supremely important component of our bodygraph is located in the G Center, our source of love, direction and identity born from our Higher Self.
Gate 10 is one of four love gates in the bodygraph, and its claim is love of the Self. The Incarnation Cross formed by the love gates is called The Vessel Of Love, each gate representing a different part of this sacred vessel or chalice.
Gate 10 is the lip, and through it spills forth the self-love and acceptance so which becomes accessible to the entire Collective.
In the Bodygraph
The Gate of Behavior forms not one but three key channels in the bodygraph. From an energetic/mechanical perspective, our behavior is fueled by our battery (the Sacral Center), informed by our instincts (the Spleen), and expressed through our voice and action (the Throat).
The Integration Circuit
Gate 10 forms two channels in the Integration Circuit, a core network dedicated exclusively to self-empowerment (aka survive and thrive):
- The Channel of Exploration with Gate 34 in the Sacral Center. This is fuel-injected selfhood, pure power to be you in all your myriad unique ways and the conviction to go in your correct direction.
- The Channel of Perfected Form with Gate 57 in the Spleen. This exquisite vein melds acute instinctual survival awareness with the impulse of pure self, a frequency which hones behavior to align with the most authentic version of Self. It is influential, modeling the love and joy of simply being and staying alive.
Individual Centering Circuit
Gate 10 also reaches for one gate in the Individual Centering Circuit, another that puts empowerment above all else, this time empowerment of the other through the self.
This is Gate 20 in the Throat, the Gate of the Now, and the 20-10 is the Channel of Awakening. Here we meet the threshold of self-manifestation via voice and action, rooted in the present moment.
An Important Role Gate
In a very mundane way, our behavior reveals the role we are here to play on the stage of life. One of the first things we learn when we step into the world of Human Design is our Profile.
Did you know that your Profile name is derived from the keynotes of Gate 10, regardless of whether you have this Gate defined natally?
First, recall that each gate is further divided into six lines of a hexagram, and their keynotes offer shades of nuance to the archetypal delineations of the gate.
For example, I am a 4/6, an Opportunist Role Model, because of the keynotes below:
Line 1: The Investigator needs to establish a secure foundation by research and study in order to feel safe and prepared.
Line 2: The Hermit is here to be called out for their natural talents, yet needs to hide away to hone them.
Line 3: The Martyr learns by experimentation so the rest of us don’t have to.
Line 4: The Opportunist networks with others, quietly influencing us one-on-one.
Line 5: The Heretic has tricks to help us solve our problems, often sharing radical solutions and other ideas with the Collective.
Line 6: The Role Model is here to be an example of how to live as our individuated, authentic Self. They begin their life as a third line and transform over the course of three distinct stages involving the transits of Saturn and Kiron.
Gate 10 Defined or Undefined
Those who carry Gate 10 or one of its channels are inclined to have an unwavering – even rigid – sense of identity, as well as self-acceptance and love. They have potential to exude self-confidence and to model their core values with influential integrity.
On the other hand, those without Gate 10 defined – especially if the G Center is also undefined- can be very flexible and adaptable in their behavior and tastes.
Treading the Tiger’s Tail
Alokanand Díaz reminds us that the I Ching name of this gate is Treading, referring to the act of walking on the tiger’s tail. To be yourself is, after all, to be different. To behave in ways perhaps unfathomable to those around and love doing it.
The Love of Mutation
Gate 10 is in the Quarter of Mutation, the section of the mandala most concerned with mutation of the species. To love being yourself is to embrace mutation.
Polarities reveal important aspects of the axis it describes. Gate 15, directly across the wheel celebrates the love of extreme expressions of our Collective behavior.
The tension between the two creates a bridge between Spirit (the Self) and Form (humanity in all its expressions).
Challenging Expressions of Gate 10
Although it might not be immediately obvious with a love gate, there does also exist the potential for negative expression (as with all the gates). For example, the energy we are describing can be extremely melancholic.
More destructively, because love and hate are two sides of the same coin, when the frequency of Gate 10 is grossly distorted the potential for hatred might be terrifyingly real.
