Astrology & Human Design: Placidus House System W/ Gates

One really interesting way you can use Astrology with Human Design is looking at the Placidus House System. I'd say you can do this with Whole Sign, but everybody would have the same Gate(s). If you take the time to look at each House and see the Gate associated with it, it can tell you a lot more pinpointed information about that house. So let's use my Birth Chart as an example!

I'm only going to do this for a couple of my Houses, but let's take a look at the 1st House first. My 1st House lands on 26°42' Pisces. In Human Design, that is the Solar Plexus Center's Gate 36. It's called the Gate of Crisis and it comes with a fear of inadequacy. The keynote for this is: "Driven by the hunger to have the challenge of a new experience. Nervousness about one's sexual/emotional adequacy." Now this is really interesting because what is the 1st House all about? It's our SELF-EXPRESSION, our SOCIAL MASK. It is the identity we project outwards.

Now if we look at these two TOGETHER, you can tell that my SOCIAL MASK and the way I express myself socially is tied to a FEAR OF INADEQUACY (which I fully admit). In the beginning of my life, it was a common theme/fear I had to deal with. I was always driven/passionate about being PERFECT. I feared being inadequate in any way. I wanted to be the best thing around. I was also DRIVEN by my "hunger" for a new experience. As I've aged, that fear has died down quite a bit, but the point here is that the entire way I express myself is DRASTICALLY tied to Gate 36. The way I conduct myself socially (and on to the external world in general) is tied to my HUNGER for new experiences, reaching new heights, and trying to be "perfect".

We can even take a look at my 4th House. It starts at 28°22' Gemini. In Human Design, that's the Identity Center's Gate 15. It's known as the Gate of Extremes and the keynote for it is: "Love of Humanity, embracing different rhythms and extremes of behavior." What is the 4th House about? That's our home/family life. That's where we feel the most comfortable. That's our roots and our psychological foundation. This is actually pretty ironic because my family is pretty crazy and all over the place. Gate 15 is all about embracing the different extremes & ranges of human behavior. I've had to do that all of my life. And it's actually where I feel the most comfortable. I like being around all kinds of different people. I like being around all kinds of extremes and it honestly started with my family and how I grew up.

  Gate 15 is literally all about loving all the different ranges of human behavior (or at least learning to). It's about being in tune with and accepting those different ranges/extremes. That's why I have a lot of different kinds of friends. I like "weird" people. I like erratic people. I like being around "normal" too. That's how I grew up and how my family raised me. I learned to be accepting of different behaviors, cultures, and environments. I also learned to be comfortable with all the different extremes. It's a big part of my psychological makeup.

  But now let's look at the 6th House! That's all about self improvement, our routines, and how we manage our health. Mine lands on 14°55' Leo which is the Identity Center's Gate 7. This is known as the Gate of the Role of the Self in Interaction (it's a mouthful, I know). The keynote here is: "Direction or directing by looking forward. Leading by influence." This is actually pretty ironic because the way I set up my routines (and go about my health) is directly tied to me "looking forward". I am always thinking about the future. I am always trying to look 2/3 steps ahead as if I am playing Chess.

Since I am future-oriented, I am always trying to improve myself in some manner. I'm always trying to manage myself, my health, and my life in such a way that I am minding the future and trying to direct myself to the future I envision. The other part of Gate 7 is all about being a leader. I like to lead by example, so everything I do in terms of my routines, health, and self-improvement is me trying to set an example, too. I want people to do right by themselves, so I have to practice what I preach and be AN EXAMPLE.

So as you can see, it can be VERY beneficial to look at your Birth Chart using the Placidus House System and applying the Gates to each house. They can tell you A LOT about how you go about that area of life. It'll also help give more specific information about the planets within that house, too. Astrology and Human Design go pretty much hand in hand. Together, they can teach you A LOT. So learn to use em!