An Intro to Human Design | Unpacking the Gates | Gate 50 | The Gate of Responsibility | Spleen Center
Artist Aline Brant
Before we dive too deep into this specific gate, a note about how to interpret the gates within your chart:
If the gate is within an CLOSED (DEFINED) center, this is a quality or trait that is fixed and consistent within you, or a lesson that you’re definitively here to learn. You have access to it regardless of whether you’re completely alone or whether you’re in the middle of the masses in Times Square, it’s definitive part of who you are.
If the gate is within an OPEN (UNDEFINED) center, this is a quality or trait that isn’t consistent within you, and emerges primarily when you’re around someone who has the center it lives within closed OR others with this center closed need to be present for you to learn the lesson. For example, I have gate 21 activated within my open Heart Center. Gate 21 brings a competitive energy. When I’m alone, or around others with this center open, I’m not at all competitive. BUT I’ve noticed that there are certain people whose energy hits me in a certain way that bring out that competitive side of my personality that otherwise lies pretty dormant. It’s not their fault, though. It’s not that they’re necessarily DOING ANYTHING that makes me feel competitive. It’s just that they happen to have their Heart Center closed. Think of gates in open centers like light switches that are flipped on, but on their own, no power is flowing to the lamp. When we’re around folks with those centers defined, it’s like the power all of a sudden gets switched on and the lamp lights up. The capacity was always there…the power just wasn’t until the person with the defined center showed up :)
In addition to the open/closed nature of the center where the gate lives, it’s also important to note which LINE of the hexagram the gate lives on. You can find out this information by looking at the black and red columns to the right and left of the centers in the bodygraph.
The first number in the box, usually the largest, is the gate. In the above example, the gate is 21.
The second number after the decimal is the line of the hexagram that gate lives on. In the above example, the line is 4. You can read all about the energy of the 4th line here.
The symbol above the gate and line is the planet where they live. In the above example, my gate 21.4 lives in Mars. You can read all about Mars and the influence it brings here.
Each gate has a slightly different meaning when paired with each line of the hexagram. Combine that with the planetary influence, whether the gate is part of the conscious personality or unconscious design (or both), and whether the gate is in an open or closed center, and you can piece together where this energy impacts your life.
Just a reminder: We GROW into and alongside our charts. Just because it’s hard to see where a gate/line/planet combo is surfacing in your life right now doesn’t mean you should disregard it. Life’s runway is (hopefully) long and energies may surface later.
Artist Aline Brant
GATE 50 | THE GATE OF RESPONSIBILITY
🔑Major keys🔑
In a healthy expression, Gate 50 surfaces as an awareness of our responsibility within each and every situation we involve ourselves in. We’re aware of how our actions impact others and we use that awareness as a tempering influence as we make our decisions.
When we’re super emotionally unhealthy or feeling really vulnerable or fearful, the shadow side of Gate 50 emerges as a avoidance of responsibility, either by refusing to acknowledge where our responsibility lies within a situation, by fearing of taking on any responsibility, by acting irresponsibly OR by over-correcting and taking on wayyyyyyy too much responsibility.
If we have Gate 50 activated in our chart, we’re probably prone to a bit of all of the above, as we all have the capacity for the full range of human experiences. If we have the spleen closed, we carry this energy with us all the time, and if our spleen center is open, others activate this energy within us.
So let’s look at Gate 50 when it’s paired with each of the lines of the hexagram:
Gate 50 on Line 1:
According to the I Ching, Line 1 looks at the theme of responsibility as understanding our responsibilities within the communities that we are a part of (think friendships, family, relationships, colleagues). Through this line, we learn about our role and place within the community. We also learn to understand that respect is earned and not automatically given, and that it takes time to grow our specific skill sets. For example, the first time we take on the responsibility of managing people or a project might not go as smoothly as the 5th or 50th time we do so; we grow into the ability to take on that type of responsibility effectively and need to develop patience with ourselves as we learn.
Gate 50 on Line 2:
Gate 50 on Line 2 is all about aiming high, but maintaining a healthy sense of what’s possible and what’s not. For example, say your dream car is a Land Rover. Line 2 helps make sure that you don’t buy/lease one if you can’t afford the payments. Or maybe you buy an older, used one OR a less expensive SUV while saving up for your dream car. This gate/line combo is all about having big dreams and working toward them (as opposed to expecting them to materialize overnight), and about taking responsibility for the steps that need to be taken to turn them from dreams into reality.
Gate 50 on Line 3:
Line 3 is all about taking responsibility for developing our skills. What I love about this gate/line combo is that it is all about eliminating that sense of entitlement. Say, for example, you discover that you’re a naturally talented musician. You’ve always been able to pick out the major melody of music by ear, say, on the piano, but now you might want to develop that skill more. This gate is all about taking the responsibility of honing your craft seriously, about searching for the right teachers and the right guidance, as well as about practicing and working on your scales and pieces of music on your own. You might dream about playing Carnegie Hall, but you also recognize it takes PRACTICE and GUIDANCE to get there, and you know it’s unrealistic and irresponsible to expect perfection or excellence overnight.
Artist Aline Brant
Gate 50 on Line 4:
Gate 50 on Line 4 is all about lessons learned around HOW you use your skills and gifts. Be careful you’re not overcommitting yourself in a way that’s irresponsible. (ex: If you make a mean cake from a box, maybe don’t commit to making someone’s super-complex from-scratch wedding cake?) It’s all about being realistic about how skilled you are and where your limitations lie, and acting in a way that’s responsible and in realistic alignment with your abilities.
Gate 50 on Line 5:
Gate 50 on Line 5 brings more lessons around the importance of knowing when to ask for help. It’s also about learning to navigate where and when to share your gifts. So much of living our design is learning to intuit and feel into timing and who the right people are to share with or learn from. It’s about being responsible for where we direct our talents and how we grow them.
Gate 50 on Line 6:
Gate 50 on Line 6 is where it all comes together. We’ve learned to hone and develop our natural talents with guidance from the right teachers. We’ve learned where and when to share our gifts. But we also learn that there’s no end to how much we can grow, and we remain committed to that growth.
Do you have Gate 50 in your chart? Did this resonate with you? Let me know in the comments!
Sources:
Curry, Karen. Understanding Human Design. Hierophant Publishing, 2013.
Parkyn, Chetan. The Book of Lines: A 21st Century View of the I’Ching, the Chinese Book of Changes. New World Library, 2012.
Stein, Diane. The Kwan Yin: Book of Changes. Llewellyn Publications, 1989.