An Intro to Human Design | Unpacking the Profiles | 6/2 Role Model/Hermit
“Excuse Me, I Have On Too Much Jewelry” by Antoinette Cauley. Cauley is a local artist here in Phoenix and her show “A’int Nobody Prayin’ For Me” is hanging right now at monOrchid on Roosevelt Row in the Phoenix Arts District. I caught this show recently and HOLY SHIT is it powerful. I felt such a strong sacral YES about so many of her gorgeous vibrant canvases that I was this close to figuring out a way to purchase one (a lot of my favorites were already sold or wayyy out of my soon-to-be-a-student-again budget, and deservedly so!). Luckily, she sells limited edition prints of her work via her website (a print of “Whole Life I Been a G” will be gracing my wall shortly) and I DEFINITELY encourage you to head on over to her website, read her story and support her work if it moves you the way it moves me. #notsponsored #justafan.
Those with a 6/2 profile are a mix of 6th line Role Model and the 2nd line Hermit traits and energies.
Before we get into what it means to be a 6/2, a little bit about the profiles and what they mean for our Human Design: if the incarnation cross is what we're here to do during this lifetime, the profile gives us invaluable insight into how we're meant to do it. Our profile shapes the way we walk through the world and provides SO MUCH MORE MEANINGFUL INFORMATION than our type alone does. It's how all these elements combine (our open and closed centers, our type & strategy, our authority, our gates and channels, our profile and our incarnation cross) that gives us the most accurate picture of not just the blueprint for our energy, but the impact we're meant to have and the lessons we're meant to learn during this lifetime. For the 6/2, the 2nd line represents how your mind works/how we think, and the 6th line represents how you behave/walk through the world.
FUN FACTS
Famous 6/2s: Barack Obama, Emily Brontë, Marilyn Monroe, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, Elton John, and Charles Dickens.
6/2s are most romantically compatible with: fellow 6/2s and 3/5s.
6/2s also get along really well with: 2/4s, 4/6s and 6/3s.
The 6/2 Role Model/Hermit Profile
Looking to crush the competition during your next bar trivia tournament? Make sure there’s a 6/2 at the helm of your team.
Want someone to nerd out and swap podcast and documentary recommendations? To binge-watch Jeopardy with? Ask your friendly neighborhood 6/2.
As a profile, 6/2s are the seekers. They tend to be super curious and love exploring new topics and learning new information. Spend enough time around a 6/2 and you’ll find yourself asking “wait…where did you learn that?” fairly frequently.
6/2s also hold high standards for themselves and others. They usually set big goals, using their values and ideals as their compass to set their target for what they want to achieve. When a 6/2 is thriving, they are able to maintain a healthy sense of possibility (not blind optimism, mind you! 6/2s sense what can be achieved if everyone is trying their best, working together for the common good, sharing their gifts, etc, but also remain grounded in reality). If profiles had a “not-self” theme, for a 6/2, it would be extreme pessimism and burnout.
One of the lessons a 6/2 is here to learn is around trust and balance. Let’s take famous 6/2 President Barack Obama as our case study. He’s is such a fantastic example of this healthy optimism and sense of possibility fully-embodied.
When he first ran for office in 2008, his campaign slogan was “Change We Can Believe In.” He wasn’t talking about blind optimism; he was challenging us as Americans to nurture our sense of what’s possible even in the face of adversity and challenge, leading chants of “Sí! Se puede! Yes, We Can!”
On November 9th, 2016 (I know, I know, maybe you blocked that day out…apologies for bringing it back up) after 45 was elected, President Obama addressed a super divided country, saying the following:
“So this was a long and hard fought campaign. A lot of our fellow Americans are exalted today, a lot of Americans are less so, but that’s the nature of campaigns, that’s the nature of democracy. It is hard and sometimes contentious and noisy and it’s not always inspiring.
But to the young people who got into politics for the first time and may be disappointed by the results, I just want you to know, you have to stay encouraged. Don’t get cynical, don’t ever think you can’t make a difference. As Secretary Clinton said this morning, fighting for what is right is worth it. Sometimes you lose an argument, sometimes you lose an election.
You know, the path that this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag and sometimes we move in ways that some people think is forward and others think is moving back, and that’s OK. I’ve lost elections before… [t]hat’s the way politics works sometimes. We try really hard to persuade people that we’re right and then people vote. And then if we lose, we learn from our mistakes, we do some reflection, we lick our wounds, we brush ourselves off, we get back in the arena, we go at it. We try even harder the next time.” (source)
I like to think of President Obama as a pragmatic optimist, and that’s how 6/2s operate when they’re in a healthy state. They see the best in people, in situations, in themselves, without ignoring the obstacles or challenges or incongruities. They are natural born leaders who want to shape the world around them in that image, but they learn pretty quickly that not everyone walks through the world with that same vision or goal. It’s HOW they respond to that difference and those realities that proves important in determining a 6/2’s happiness and overall sense of fulfillment.
All 6’s live their life in three phases: (for more info about the 6th line three-part life cycle, click here and/or here)
Phase 1, birth to Saturn Return/around 30, is all about learning through lived EXPERIENCE.
Returning to our example, this is the time when President Obama was growing up in Chicago and traveling the world, attending college, becoming a community organizer, all experiences which shaped his values, vision, and sense of possibility. During this time, he was made aware of his 2nd line natural talents (public speaking, inspiring folx and bringing people together around a common cause, making difficult concepts, like constitutional law, clear, etc) by listening to what others told him he was good at and by feeling into what he sensed were his truest gifts. This was also the perfect time to experiment with career paths, majors, relationships, etc.
Phase 2, Saturn Return/around 30 to Chiron Return/around 50, is all about REFLECTION.
This is the time for the 2nd line in their profile to SHINE! It’s during this time that it’s crucial for a 6/2 to learn the lessons from the first phase as they stand in the power of their natural gifts, resisting the urge to stay small or shrink away from their calling. Again, it’s all about that #pragmaticoptimism : this is what I know to be true, and this is what I know to be possible, even in the face of challenges and obstacles. Through the 2nd line, 6/2s like their hermit-y alone time, and for the 6/2, there’s a push-and-pull during these years between being out-and-about and DOING and being in and still and REFLECTING. Two major life events happened for President Obama during this phase, right on schedule: at 31, right at the start of this phase, he married Michelle Obama (#soulmategoals) and at 47, right toward the end, he first entered the Oval Office as our Commander in Chief.
Quick sidebar re: soulmates: 6/2s are only down for soul-mate level relationships by the time they reach the second phase. Birth to 30 carries the 3rd line theme of “bonds made and broken,” so that’s the time when 6/2s learn who is meant to walk with them through life (who is worthy of renewing the bond with over and over again) and which relationships are better off severed as they are no longer serving anyone involved. Here’s what I mean by “soul-mate level relationships:” 6/2s CRAVE going DEEP with their partners, friends, family members. It’s all about quality over quantity, and they deeply invest in relationships where they feel like not only are they growing, but their partner is growing along with them. Want to win over a 6/2? Emotional availability, a willingness to try something new, even at the risk of looking silly, a sense of adventure, and channeling your own sense of #pragmaticoptimism can go a long way :)
Sidebar within the sidebar re: soulmates: This does not necessarily mean that 6/2s have only one soul-mate and won’t meet their person until this phase! I cannot tell you how many 6th line profile folx have asked me if they’re supposed to break up with their partner because they met them before or after this phase. NO. JUST. NO. If you met your person before this phase, maybe they were meant to walk with you and grow with you through some of your 3rd experimentation…or maybe not. It’s not a simple YES or NO thing.
Sidebars concluded. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Phase 3, Chiron Return/around 50 until death, is all about SHARED WISDOM.
This is the what I like to call the “wise-woman” phase. In many pagan traditions, this is referred to as the “crone” phase, with crone being an honorific term until the #patriarchy ruined it for us. For a 6/2, the experimentation needed to figure out their calling/talents is long over, and they’ve also taken their time to reflect on their experiences sufficiently enough that their experience has evolved into wisdom that they’re now ready to share. During this phase, 6/2s just RADIATE deep wisdom and understanding. Think about President Obama now, deep into his wise-man phase: every time he takes time to issue a statement about the latest travesty of justice that has become America’s new normal, the world stops, leans in, and pays attention. His words carry such weight, beyond the weight bestowed upon the office he once occupied. For a 6/2, by this stage, this deep wisdom tends to be grounded in objectivity: by now, the 6/2 has learned to stand above the fray so that they can provide a more balanced judgment.
One last word about 6/2s and their calling: even though they can be a FONT of general knowledge, their calling is usually super specific. Take LITERALLY ANY of the celeb 6/2s as your example: Jimi Hendrix and Elton John? Specific calling was music. Emily Brontë and Charles Dickens? Specific calling was writing novels. Marilyn Monroe? Acting. Bruce Lee? Martial arts AND acting. They all had their calling as well as their super specific niche within or spin on that calling. If you’re a 6/2, a big part of life is finding and answering yours.
