Understanding Gate 17: the gifts and pitfalls of a logical mind
When the human mind has a doubt, it will test out a series of hypotheses until an opinion that seems logical and correct is found. Gate 17 formulates this concept and wants to share it.
Churning over questions and confusion is the function of the Ajna Center, and the Gate of Opinions specializes in the kind of questions that can be answered in a provable, black and white way. It’s all about the scrutiny of logic that seeks to formulate an opinion.
Constant Awareness
Because Gate 17 is part of the Understanding circuit, it passes through the Splenic Center’s knowing in the present moment. This means that there are constantly new doubts to be considered and resolved, all for the benefit of the Collective.
This is the gate of the Organizer, as well as the Student and the Teacher. It continually takes in data and looks for a pattern. It scrutinizes and assesses until it formulates opinions – ultimately to solve general (Collective) concerns.
Even though the Gate of Opinions operates in real time, it seeks to project its solutions out to the future. It has a way of distorting time, thinking right now about how things “should be” in five years.
A Forward-Looking Gaze
“Look at it this way,” someone might say. We look, and perhaps we decide, Oh now I see! This is always a logical, left brain process, which is why the gate is associated with the right eye (and vision in general). Its gaze looks toward the future and its way of thinking is rigid, in contrast to the Sensing Circuit’s oblique way of making sense of life.
What neither of these circuit groups can see, however, are the needs of the Individual or the Tribe. What does my family need? What do I need? These are not the questions at hand.
Another interesting fact about Gate 17: it’s one of only three other gates that give us special connection to animals (along with the 49 and the 22).
Human Design Circuitry
Gate 17 is located in the Ajna Center and points down to Gate 62 in the Throat, where it can be expressed to others or put into action via the Channel of Acceptance. This name implies that there is something to accept. Is the world ever black and white? Are you always right? The thinker with this gate definition must come to terms with these questions. Reality, as they say, is subjective.
If your opinions become dogmatic, you will stifle evolution. This is one of the lower expressions of this energy. Another, like other gates in the Ajna, is succumbing to anxiety. Every part of the Body Graph has a signature fear associated with it, and in this case the inner dialogue might be, Who will value my opinion?
Ra likened the energy of Gate 17 to a crystal ball, an instrument to foresee the future. The witchy woman behind that ball is telling you the truth about what she sees, or rather, what she thinks she sees. Sometimes logic beguiles us into believing things that are not actually true, and into acting in ways that don’t serve.
Ancient Wisdom
In the ancient I Ching, The Gate of Opinions is called Following, meaning that one thought will naturally follow another. But there is another nuance to this name when you consider the Human Design definition: “The ancient law that those who wish to rule must know how to serve.”
The humility required of this kind of mastery can only come from acceptance. Accepting we will never know.
