Gate 42: The power to see things through
There is a sweet kind of satisfaction that comes when we accomplish a goal or simply finish what we start – be it a small task or an elaborate creative project. It feels good to celebrate what we’ve worked for, built, and strived through. It also feels correct to acknowledge when something has run its natural course, to then honor and glean wisdom from its lessons. This could be bringing closure to a relationship that no longer serves, watching a child graduate, or deciding to sell a business. This cyclical engagement with life is the essence of the Sensing Circuit.
Gate 42 represents the energy and staying power to finish what we start. It is expansion and growth, and yet it’s just as much about finishing and wrapping up. Ra called this the gate of “the closer.” Its purpose is ultimately to close the loop of an experience. In this way we enjoy, reflect, learn….and pass it on.
A Natural Sequence of Events
As stories have a beginning, middle, and end, it helps to recognize where we are at any given point. Observing the proper sequence of life leaves fresh soil for the next thing to grow.
If we leave projects unfinished or commitments prematurely, we waste energy and defeat the purpose altogether. We miss out on the gifts Gate 42 offers. For this reason, it’s important to enter into new experiences mindfully and correctly, using Strategy and Authority.
Human Design Circuitry
The Gate of Growth is located in the powerful motor of the Sacral Center. It points down to the Root, making it one of the three Format Channels, each of which sets the tone for the rest of its circuit (and influences the entire design).
Its harmonic in the Root is Gate 53, and together they form the Channel of Maturation, where the stories of the Sensing Circuit are spun. These stories are meant to be felt, lived and experienced in the now, so that we enjoy and benefit from their depth forever.
Here we discover a paradox: the Sensing Circuit not only has zero access to the Spleen’s real-time awareness, it is also continuously rocked by the Emotional Wave of the Solar Plexus.
Though staying in the now is not easy, the solution is to surrender and be inside our experiences, to stay with them moment by moment. Only in this way can we properly process, reflect, and learn from them. The wisdom we share from seeing things through is the fruit of the highest expression of Gate 42.
Inherent Pitfalls
The lower expressions of Gate 42 include feeling a constant pressure to start new things. Or you might be stuck, overwhelmed by all the projects you began but left to collect dust. Or maybe you stay in a relationship that is no longer alive, because you are afraid to let go.
It’s not always easy to know when enough is enough. Again we circle back to the importance of entering experiences correctly, for if we do so, we can avoid many of these Not-Self characteristics.
Be honest about your goals and ambitions. Besides using your Strategy and Authority, it can help tremendously to release any expectations of outcomes. You can relax and trust yourself to know when to be tenacious, and when to let go. Maybe this is another kind of maturity we are meant to acquire with the Channel of Maturation.
Other Esoteric Perspectives
The Gate of Growth requires that things end. Old life experience is composted into new opportunities, edified by lessons we have learned. It brings to mind Death in the major arcana of the Tarot: things must die for things to be born.
Zodiacly speaking, Gate 42 is in the last decan of Aries, where the energy becomes restless. Spring has sprung, and things are growing like mad. It’s a fecundity that promises to deliver. In a few days it will be Taurson season, where we can slow down, enjoy the fruit and smell the roses.
