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Gate 23: Genius or Freak?

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We’ve all had it – a flash of insight that makes us want to shout “I know!” from the rooftops. This urge to articulate a personal knowing is Gate 23 at work. And yet of course, knowing something is not the same as being able to communicate it to another person. Translating our unique knowing requires finesse and timing. 

The concept of knowing itself is an important keynote of the Individual Circuit, which is where we find The Gate of Assimilation. More precisely, it is located in the Throat Center, pointing up to Gate 43 in the Ajna, where the mind processes its ideas. 

Because Gate 43 is both the harmonic gate (the other side of the channel) and the polarity (on the opposite side of the Mandala) of Gate 23, the 43-23 is a relatively common channel to have defined in one’s chart. This is because the nodes of the Moon as well as the Sun and the Earth are always in opposite positions.

Gate 23 and the Throat

Mechanically speaking, Gate 23 assimilates concepts from the Ajna through the Channel of Structuring and prepares them for ariticulation. The Throat is our hub of expression, action, and manifestation, and each of its gates has a unique voice.

Because the knowing of the Individual Circuit operates on a pulse, the voice of Gate 23 alternates between I know and I don’t know. And yet we cannot explain how! 

Not only can we not explain how we know, we cannot plan when or if we should shout it from the rooftops. This is a core truth of the Throat Center: our voice, expression and deeds are only aligned when the timing is right. They cannot be controlled by the Mind. 

With the Throat Center in general – and the Gate of Assimilation in particular – the word timing cannot be overstated. It is imperative that you wait until the correct moment to express what Gate 23 has assimilated.  As always, defer to your elegantly simple Strategy and Authority to know when to speak. Divine timing, after all, is perceived by the mind only after it is felt in the body.

Most people have experienced the sting of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, of putting your foot in your mouth as the saying goes. Or maybe people just look at you a little odd when you say things. The 43-23 is dubbed From Genius to Freak for exactly this reason!

It’s helpful to remember that the whole purpose of Individual energy is to present the mutations needed to further humanity’s evolution. Think about mutations in the natural world. They happen because an individual specimen “randomly” manifests a new characteristic or behavior. 

In the ancient I Ching, the hexagram for Gate 23 is called Splitting Apart. Each spark of knowing is unique, splitting apart from old ways or ideas. The Collective’s job, however, is to preserve the status quo. It is naturally wary of the Individual, whose sometimes radical innovations and insights might upset the apple cart.

A closer look at the Human Design definition of Gate 23 sheds further light on its nuanced machinations: The awareness and understanding which leads to the acceptance of diversity. Because the Individual is not well-tolerated by the Collective, the acceptance of diversity is important. After all, the Individual is diverse by its very nature.

A possible pitfall of Gate 23 is the tendency to be bossy or to insist on something over and and over. And it bears repeating that with all the gates of the Throat center, there is always the risk of speaking at the wrong time.

It is fitting that Ra Uru Hu had the 23-43. Maybe the whole notion of Strategy and Authority began as a simple flash of unique insight, which he was then able to translate to the rest of us. 

Have you experimented with your Strategy and Authority?

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