Human Design Authority
In Human Design, your Authority is your inner guidance system and the one that will help you open the doors and attract the opportunities that are right for you. This tool from Human Design can have the one greatest impacts on your life and the way you move through life. It can support you in making aligned decisions and know how to trust your inner guidance system - even (or especially) when it goes against what might feel logical or what everyone else is doing.
Most of us are used to making decisions mentally. “thinking” is what we typically rely upon in western culture. When we make major life decisions from our mental state, they can often be in deep conflict with our innate embodied wisdom; causing us to go into our Type’s not-self themes of anger, frustration, bitterness or disappointment. They usually end up not working out well for us either. Authority is deeply tied to Type and Strategy and is determined by the defined centers in our chart. It’s important to know your Type and Strategy; and to make decisions based on your Authority.
Using your Authority can require some experimentation as we are often used to relying on the mind to make decisions. When we give our feeling centers more attention and importance, we can tap into a deeper intelligence that is supported by life; and see that decisions made in this way, deeply nourish and support our overall well-being.
Use of Authority increases in importance of the decisions that need to be made. No one needs to wait for an invitation to eat lunch, or respond to an opportunity to buy a jacket or wait a month to go see a movie. It’s the bigger life decisions where it can be helpful to us in discerning what is correct.
Most of the Authority Types are Inner Authority, guided from internal body GPS, but there are two that are external, also called Outer Authority, where guidance comes from connecting with external sources and support to gain our own clarity.
Emotional Authority (Solar Plexus)
When the Solar Plexus is defined in someone’s chart, it means their authority is Emotional. Emotional authority is rooted in feeling rather than thinking. It is not logical and really can’t be explained, it is totally based on feeling into a decision. Think, “This doesn’t feel right.” or “This feels like a good idea.”
Emotions work in a wave, moving from high to low expressions, hope to fear/doubt pessimism and back again. It is by feeling these movements through emotions that emotional authority can be experienced. Once the emotional wave has passed, there will be much more grounded clarity. Emotional authority can be slow and should never be rushed.
Depending on the decision, it can take hours, days or sometimes even months to feel into a decision. That wave can have you in a tailspin of sorts and you can feel like a ship in a storm when trying to make decisions. It is highly inadvisable to make a decision in the midst of this storm, whether what you are feeling is really high or low emotions. It’s best to wait until that wave has passed and you have more clarity and less pressure. This is where your true and reliable decisions will be made. If you make decisions in the midst of your wave, just to be free of the pressure, there’s a higher probability that the choice won’t be in the highest alignment. Patience is key here and can even create magnetism. Don’t give in to the pressure. Create space for yourself and trust the divine timing.
If you are Emotional, can you recall a time when you’ve made a decision in the moment only to regret it the next day? That’s a prime example of not giving yourself time to fully feel into and ride out your emotional wave.
For an emotional being, you must feel the situation or persons over a period of time, from different points in your wave, in order to draw the real truth from it. This is feeling your way through life, and “playing hard to get.” It is sometimes a good idea to push people and decisions away for as long as possible. You will never be sure, it will just feel right or not. Remember: it is about what you feel, not what you think. This can even create magnetism or make you more attractive.
Sacral Authority
Sacral Authority is exclusive to the Generators and Manifesting Generators. Sacral authority is response in the now. It’s that “gut” feeling in the moment. It is the life force or energy lighting up to show whether it is available, or not, for whatever it is responding to.
The sacral only speaks in a voice or sensation that gives an affirmative or a negative response. For some it is Ah-huh (yes), Uhn-un (no) and hmmm (no response, hesitation, or no energy available right now or I don’t have enough information.). Basically, if it’s not a hell yes! It’s a hell no, or not now.
It is important to hear the sound of your own sacral response (auditory) and to feel (visceral) the opening or the closing of your energy’s availability. We are conditioned out of that “lazy” sound of uh-huh or ut-uh in favor of a “polite” yes or no so it’s good to practice.
The best way to tap into the sacral is by using yes or no questions. Open ended questions are confusing to the sacral because they can’t say yes or no to them. Instead of asking, what color do you like? You can ask, do you like blue? If you can’t seem to find the answer to a question, move into asking a series of yes or no questions to gain clarity. Just under 35% of the population has the Sacral Authority; many generators fall here. If so, your natural tendency is to wait for something/someone to show up in your field so you can respond. Your aura is pulling life to itself all the time. You don’t need to “go and get things.” Instead, get familiar with the many ways in which you are already responding all the time. Your sacral life force energy is a response mechanism—it’s either open to giving its energy to something that is healthy for you in the moment, or closed. A response can be signified by a spontaneous sound or body movement toward something. It’s not always about someone asking you a direct question.
When you begin to tap into your authority you may see that your energy and your mind disagree… what?? Going against your life force (listening to your mind, not your body) can cause frustration and degeneration of your projects, work, relationships, basically your entire body and everything you touch. Being in alignment with your life force by responding from your sacral authority gives you a deep sense of satisfaction and regeneration as your energy is being well used. Sacral beings are the ones who can listen to their gut to make decisions.
Splenic Authority
Spleen authority is exclusive to Manifestors and Projectors. Spleen authority is rooted in survival /intuition and is the oldest and most existential awareness. The Spleen knows nothing other than how to survive right NOW. Splenic awareness flows through the entire lymphatic system of the body sensing, feeling and tasting everything. Think of the total sense of alertness that an animal might have, a cat-like alertness. However, for most people this is the hardest awareness to access, as it is quiet and weak compared to the mind and emotions. The spleen only speaks once and never repeats itself.
Splenic Authority requires attuned presence. In this day and age, many people struggle to truly access this ancient awareness. The spleen is basically saying YES until it says NO, and NO can be quite jarring; however it must be obeyed for your own survival. The spleen’s main job is to say NO to anything that endangers your health.
Mindfulness and meditation can help Splenic Authorities get in touch and fine tune their awareness/intuition and authority.
Ego Authority
Ego Authority can be either Manifested (only Manifestors) or Self-Projected (only Projectors) and is rooted in the correct use of willpower. The ego, when properly used, makes a commitment to something that is correct for that being.
Ego (Manifested)
Ego Manifested is exclusive to Manifestors. It can be heard/sensed in the voice or be experienced as the willpower to complete something. What is good for you? This Authority gives them permission to inform, do or basically blurt out without censoring what comes out because others need to hear what you have to say. It also gives them permission to just do the thing. One good way to practice using this powerful authority is to find friends to talk to who can listen so you can begin to hear the truth in your voice.
In order to protect their health and their energy, they need to make sure they’ve had enough rest and downtime before they leap into the next commitment or project.
Self-Projected and Ego Projector
Need to talk it out - hear the words come out of their mouths and hear in their voice how excited (or not) they are with the decisions. Or if seeing resonates more, they’ll need to “see” their decisions projected or reflected through others to get clarity.
it is good to step back and talk it through with a listener who will not try to influence the decision. You don’t need their opinion but use them as a sounding board. When you speak it out to them, the correct decision will bounce back at you and you will know it. You will feel it on your body and have a clear sense of knowing.
Feel free to have conversations about decisions, and also feel free to not feel pressured to take others advice or opinions.
Outer Authority:
Mental Projector (Environmental)
Mental authority, also known as “none” or “environmental,” is exclusive to Projectors. The mental authority can be accessed by hearing the truth in one’s own voice after it leaves the body. “Truth” or the life force that tells us what we have energy for carries a vibration that is discernable in the voice. In this type of Projector, all centers below the throat are undefined, and the person receives sensory information about the environment through their open centers.
Environment helps or hinders these people in feeling clarity or confusion. Going to places that feel good when you have a decision to make can alleviate confusion and allow correctness to flow with ease. In good environments, your body will relax so you can tap into your innate intelligence and truth. If you are in an environment that is incorrect for you, your body will sense it, constrict and everything will feel wrong and you won’t have clarity. It is also helpful to hear yourself voice your experience and thoughts to gain clarity.
Give yourself permission to change your environment when you want/need to.
Lunar
Lunar authority, exclusive to the Reflector, is navigated through the movement or transits of the moon, and is in that sense celestial. This is radically different from all the other authorities. With no consistent life force, lunar authority requires a deep understanding of and surrendering to how the planets are bringing energy into the life.
There is a pattern and rhythm to life and life force energy that seems to ebb and flow or turn on and off. When the Reflector can surrender to and tap into that pattern, they can access all of the energies life has to offer. It’s very helpful if it can be learned, so taking a lunar cycle to make big life decisions will give many different energetic flavors for the Reflector to sample. Sometimes it takes more than one cycle too. The Reflector can witness many different perspectives and see how much life changes in order to give them clarity. This pattern repeats itself every 28 to 29 days, so observing this pattern while considering a decision gives many different perspectives. Many Reflectors find that they benefit from a deeper relationship with nature and the stars. Since Reflectors reflect their communities and environment to the world, environmental awareness and correct physical location is also key.