Human Design Series - The Archetypes

The basic premise of Human Design is that we embody five energetic archetypes. You'll fall into one of these five, depending on your birth data, and the type is the first place to start working with your chart.

If you take to searching the interwebs about Human Design, you’ll see other sites talking about the "roles" each type is here to play, but I don't like looking at it in that way as I don’t enjoy being boxed in to a label, do you?

Instead, I look at the five energetic types to understand how your unique energy works and interacts with others.We constantly influence each other energetically; for example, think of a time when you walked into a room and immediately felt energized and excited. That's energy and human interactions of energy at play. It also works the opposite way: you've probably walked into a room, noticed the vibe was off, and felt uncomfortable. The more you pay attention to how you feel in your body, the more you'll be in tune with your intuition. 

The Chart

The geometric shapes you see are energy centers, and the activation of the gates (the tiny numbers in each shape) connecting channels to each energy center determines the definition.

Get your chart here to learn your type and keep reading for details.

p.s. If you don't know your time of birth, either try to get it as close as possible (morning, afternoon, night), or if you have no idea, choose 12:00pm. Generally, the Type will be correct even without the accurate time.

Initiator* (Manifestor)

The connection of an energy center designated as a motor connected to the throat characterizes this archetype. However, the sacral center remains undefined. Because this type doesn't have a defined sacral energy center, they may find that they can't sustain their energy like others do. And, because Initiators are said to be a small part of the population (approximately 9%), they may feel different than others, but not sure why. People with this archetype may feel like they can start many projects but the follow through is tough. They may not love to see these through to the end, preferring to pass them on to someone else, while they go back to idea-generation.

So what do you do with this archetype? If you have this type, you may immediately notice that you’ve always operated in this way - coming up with great ideas and wanting to find someone to take that idea and run with it. It doesn’t mean you can’t follow-through and see a project to the end, that part may just be less fun than coming up with your ideas. Initiators also tend to move very fast. If you have this energy, you may notice that you've worked through everything before taking action because you've accessed an internal creative flow that doesn't depend on outside influences. Basically, you don’t need other people to come up with ideas and usually you have a way forward before you’ve even shared your thoughts.

A big part of having this energy is making sure you’re telling people what you’re doing so they don’t feel left behind!

Alchemist (Generator)

Definition of the sacral center characterizes this archetype, creating sustainable energy. The sacral center is a source of energy and shows the person when they align with decisions. This type does not have a motor connected to the throat, and the lack of the motor connection to the throat, the Alchemist types may get frustrated when trying to make something happen. Don’t worry - you’re not alone, most archetypes can’t “make something happen” the way we’ve all been taught. Wild, right? No wonder so many people burn out of their jobs. The Alchemist types make up about 36% of the population.

Waiting to respond is a strategy for knowing when to take action on an idea. I know! The idea of waiting to respond to something outside yourself when we’ve been told to just go do it can be frustrating. This doesn’t mean you don’t take action on ideas, it just means the timing may need to catch up with you. Connecting to your intuition through yes/no questions is essential to working with this archetype. The Alchemist type also has a unique learning cycle that looks like stair-steps. Generally, a certain amount of learning occurs until you hit a plateau. In the plateau, you can feel frustrated that things aren't moving fast enough and think you're on the wrong path. The plateau is the wrong time to jump off, and the perfect time to tune into your intuition to help you figure out if it really is the wrong path or you’re just gathering energy for the next push.

Time Bender (Manifesting Generator)

A Time Bender is a combination of the Initiator and Alchemist and make up about 34% of the population making the two Alchemist types the largest group of archetypes. If you have one of these two archetypes, you may feel connected to the idea of sustainable energy (i.e. you can work long days over a period of time). Along with the sacral definition, the Time Bender type also has a motor connected to the throat.

Like the Alchemist, the Time Bender still has to wait, which can feel frustrating to someone who also accesses an internal flow that doesn’t depend on external influence. The desire to skip steps to get to the answer is a characteristic of the Time Bender. Sometimes, these missed steps have to be corrected, so it helps to be aware of this tendency. The Time Bender has the same stair-step learning cycle as the Alchemist.  If you have this type, you may also notice that you have many hobbies or interests and juggle them pretty easily.

The strategy (knowing when to take action) for a Time Bender is the same as the Alchemist, with a twist. While the idea of waiting to respond to what you’re being shown by other people or the environment around you is still the driving strategy, the Time Bender type also has access to the internal flow and can become frustrated when things don’t seem to be moving fast enough. You also may need to learn to inform people around them of your plans. As someone who lives with two people who have this archetype, my experience is definitely that they tend to make decisions and act on them quickly and I’m constantly having to ask what’s up. Honestly, it was beyond frustrating because my husband is this type, until I figured out what was going on.

Orchestrator (Projector)

No sacral definition or motor connection to the throat characterizes the Orchestrator archetype. Like the Manifestor type, Orchestrators do not have sustainable energy. This type is a minor part of the population (about 20%) and, like the Manifestor types, may feel different from everyone else around them.

The Orchestrator type tends to take energy around them and process it differently, as well as be someone other people project onto, which can be really difficult to discern. If you have this type you may be more at risk for burnout, especially if you’re in an environment/career that is draining. Burnout for an Orchestrator can look like hitting a wall after decades of attempting to fit in and work the way everyone else does. At least that’s my personal experience! As an Orchestrator type who is highly sensitive, I burned out 20 years into my engineering career. This doesn’t mean other people who have different archetypes don’t burn out, they do - it’s just that for Orchestrators, there’s a specific type of burnout that tends to be more prevalent.

The biggest challenge for an Orchestrator is learning how to wait for invitations and which invitations are the ones to accept. This doesn't mean someone with this type sits around during this process, it’s possible to issue invitations (tell people your ideas) and then wait to see who approaches you to help implement. Another challenge is recognizing that you may need more rest than you thought and must be in tune with what your body needs. Self-compassion and self-acceptance are vital to work toward for someone who carries this archetype.

Calibrator (Reflector)

No defined energy centers in the chart characterize the Calibrator type. People with this type tend to be highly sensitive because of all of the openness in the chart (people with other types can also be highly sensitive). They may find themselves feeling disappointed when they sense what needs to change so everyone can live to their fullest potential, but aren’t. Understanding that this archetype serves as a mirror is crucial to living a fulfilled life with this level of sensitivity.

This type makes up the most minor portion of the population (about 1%), and may feel very different from most people. The Calibrator type is also said to be a lunar being, meaning that they wait a complete moon cycle (28 days) when making big decisions. If your chart shows this archetype, I invite you to reflect on how you’ve made decisions in the past like, where to move, when to move, buying a car, buying a house, etc. If you’ve been acting on these types of decisions around a month after you’ve thought about it, and judging yourself for being too slow, give yourself some compassion.

A challenge is to embody what you feel and sense and use that to be a mirror for others. However, it is not your job to fix anything. Another challenge for this archetype is to learn to trust Universe/Source/Diving timing.

*Quantum Human Design™ is a trademark of Karen Curry Parker. Traditional language in parentheses.