knowing by design

We all have access to intuition, higher guidance, inner knowing and “psychic” abilities to varying degrees. Our Design can be a good place to look at where we may have natural talents we can nurture, connect to, and where we may particularly receive the intangible based on our unique blueprint.

We can look to our COGNITION, to whether or not you have a defined SPLEEN as well as how you filter life through your STRATEGY + AUTHORITY.

We can also look to some specific GATES in our chart that are defined for insight. Look to which of these gates you have colored in either red or black (or both). If they are red it means this may be even more of an unconscious ability and/or one you will grow into.

We can use this knowledge to deepen our connection with Spirit, Source, our Higher Guidance. Explore each Gates energy on a deeper level here. You can also read about any senses associated with your defined Gates in the Cognitions module and then scroll down for some tips on tapping into your intuition.

*Clair simply means a space or gateway in which you are sensitive to receive information, where you carry an innate receptivity to tapping into your inner guidance.

Clairvoyance

This is often referred to as the gift of sight. This may include visions or seeing lights or auras. You may see things in your outer world or like a movie playing in your mind.

We find this in the definition that lives in our Head or Crown Center. This is supported by the Crown + Third Eye Chakra Archetype. Look to see if you have any definition in Gate 61, 63 and/or 64 or if the entire Center is defined.

What visual tools are you drawn to: tarot, art, nature, film, scrying, etc…?

Pay special attention to your dreams as well if you have any definition here. I tend to go through cycles of getting clear wisdom from my dreams but the more we tune into them, honor them, and intend to connect and remember them, the more access we typically have. You can explore that more through the Third Eye Chakra workshop.

clairaudience

Or intuitive hearing. This can manifest as hearing a voice in your head, music or certain tones. I often ask a question in stillness or meditation and sometime I get an actual answer. With my Splenic definition it is often quick and doesn't repeat itself. This can also manifest as all manner of knowing around things you hear. Another way this shows up for me is hearing the perfect song, sometimes I will ask for guidance through shuffling my music or the next song that comes on the radio. What is your relationship to sound, to music, to mantra, to chanting, to speaking/channeling with your voice?

Gate 57 is the most intuitive gate in the chart and often referred to as Intuition or The Psychic Gate. With definition in this gate acoustics and vibrations become a major player in your life.

If you have this Gate defined in your chart, are you listening?

Claircognizance

Gates 24 + 61 both connect you to that feeling of just knowing. You don’t know how you know but you know. If you have the full channel 24-61 this is the Channel of Awareness. It’s healthy to release the need to have clarity and know why you know. Trust in your inner knowings. Surrender to the mystery. And wait to be invited to share. This can also be an auditory energy.

Gate 32 connects us to our intuition around bringing our dreams into reality. When you tune in, you know what’s worth truly pursuing.

Clairsentience + SYNAESTHESIA

This is an inner knowing through feeling, often feeling guided by our literal feels or emotions. You just know.

If you have Gate 19 defined you can typically feel into the energy or vibration of your environment. This can include sensing other people’s energy and suffering. This is the most sensitive gate in Human Design and includes sensitivity to emotion as well as touch. I have this one and I am incredibly sensitive to other peoples feelings and even fabrics or an annoying tag in my shift. People with this energy also often feel deeply connected to animals + can benefit from having a pet.

Cultivating a healthy relationship and awareness around your emotional landscape can be helpful in nurturing this specific gift.

Synaesthesia is the ability to crossover senses. This is a result of sensitivity to your sensory environment, emotional patterns + moods around you, energetic fluctuations, colors and auric fields.

CLAIROLFACTANCE OR CLAIRSALIENCE

An energy of intuitive smell. Gate 44 is the Gate of Smell. This is the energy to “smell a rat”, to sense when something is off through your sense of smell, to sense the truth. If you don’t like the smell of something; a place, a person, pay attention, that is your inner guidance.

You may also find you receive information through smelling things that aren’t actually in your environment.

elementals + the otherworld

Gates 5 + 15 are tied to the natural world and foster deep connections to animals, nature, the elementals, etc.. I love this book on exploring this energy.

Gate 19 is also tied the unseen realms including faeries, spirits, and angels (as well as animal communication).

SENSES OF THE BODYGRAPH

Gate 17 > Right Eye (Mind)
Gate 48 > Taste (Mind)
Gate 57 > Right Ear Now (Mind + Body)
Gate 44 > Smell (Body)
Gate 6 + 37 > Touch (Body)
Gate 22 > Left Ear Wave (Mind + Body)
Gate 36 > Feel (Mind)
Gate 43 > Inner Ear (Mind + Body)
Gate 11 > Left Eye (Mind)

Members can read more about the Gates + find support for integration here.

nurturing + cultivating your gifts

These are gifts and they can also require strengthening our container and practicing healthy energetic autonomy as well as protecting our energy through good boundaries when needed. We want to make space for them to come in as well as practicing good self stewardship and nervous system regulation so that we can “hear” them.

the 12th house + tapping in

What element do you have on the 12th House? For instance if you have Sagittarius on the cusp, your 12th House is ruled by Fire; Cancer, water; Virgo, Earth, Gemini, Air, etc… You can utilize this element to help you tune into your gifts. You can also just notice what you feel drawn to in these suggestions as it may be b/c of your Moon, Sun or other placement.

Fire: following the little ‘splenic like’ lightning bolt nudges you get throughout your day (to go somewhere, to call someone, to try something new, to slow down (feeling clumsy). When you feel stuck move your body, shake it out, go for a quick walk without distraction.

Earth: following those ‘sacral like’ inner knowings in your gut, tuning in to information you might receive through physical touch (like a touch cognition), connecting to nature and animals. Bring nature to your altar. Offering Spirit plates when you eat + blessings to your food.

Air: breathwork, stream of consciousness writing, noticing when you just know or when you take notice of words around you in your environment or things stick out to you wen you’re reading, drawing daily oracle cards, expressing gratitude to your Guides + Source for their assistance.

Water: get into water while inviting in guidance and wisdom around where you desire clarity, salt water baths to clear the static and noise, take notice of the insights and answers that come through in the shower. Having a good cry to make space. Bless your water and spend time with water in nature.

an exercise in intuition

Take a seat in a quiet place. Take a few deep breaths and clear your mind.

Now think about something that is a big yes in your body, a full body yes. Say in your mind: “yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!” Where do you feel it in your body? What does it feel like?

Cleanse your mental palate. Think of something silly, get up and shake it off, take a sip of water, take a big ole breath.

Now think about something that you know is a no for you. Say in your mind: “no, no no no, no NO!’ Where do you feel it in your body? What does it feel like?

feeling into an answer

Take a seat in a quiet place. Take a few deep breaths and clear your mind.

Think of some quandary in your life, choices you have been trying to decide between. Maybe you have been working it on the mental plane.

Think of option A: Close your eyes and go down the road with it for the long haul. Imagine you have chosen option A, what does it feel like in your body? Where does it take you? What does it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like, sound like? Who’s there? What unfolds as you make this choice? As you imagine taking this path, take note of how it feels in your body. What is your Authority? How does this inform you?

Cleanse your mental palate. Think of something silly, get up and shake it off, take a sip of water, take a big ole breath.

Think of option B: Close your eyes and go down the road with it for the long haul. Imagine you have chosen option B, what does it feel like in your body? Where does it take you? What does it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like, sound like? Who’s there? What unfolds as you make this choice? As you imagine taking this path, take note of how it feels in your body. What is your Authority? How does this inform you?

What clarity did you gain from doing this exercise?

Intuition meditation

This one is from Sonia Choquette.

1. Name a few things you see in your environment to bring yourself out of your mind and practice present awareness.

2. Take a few breaths as you place your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

3. Exhale like you are blowing out candles, blowing all the air out of your lungs, emptying out.

4. Breathe in and then imagine your exhale going down a slide - sigh out ‘aaaahhhh’ to shift your awareness + place you in a receptive state of mind.

5. Notice at the end of your exhale where you land in your body + how it creates a kind of instant quiet in your mind.

6. Ask the question out loud: “My questions is _____________?”

7. Say out loud: “My heart says ___________________.” Letting the response just come through you.

8. Ask ten different questions or variations of your overarching questions.

9. Notice what comes through, maybe it’s a word that falls out of your mouth, maybe you sense a color, sensation, pattern, image, smell, insight, etc…

Some additional tips:

• meditation - spending time quieting the noise/interference + amplifying stillness so that you make space to receive. You can find a guide to getting started with meditation here + some guided ones here.

• keep your bedroom, the spaces around your bed, your nightstands + especially under your bed clear of clutter so your intuition can flow through in your dream state.

• you can watch for and ask for signs in your dreams. The Third Eye Toolbox is a good one for dreamwork. You can also write down a question to your higher guidance for three nights in a row and pay attention to what shows up in your dreams and waking life in response.

• get in tune + intentional relationship with your other five senses and deep dive with your cognition.

• pay attention to signs in your life + ask for them. This is anything that has meaning for you. Some that show up for me are seeing a sequence of numbers, feathers on my path and animal totems that I come across. I also ask for signs when I need guidance. For example: “if “xyz” is something I should do then let me see an owl this week. It may not be an actual owl, though I may hear one or find a feather or it may be that someone sends me a card with an owl on it, etc..

• pay attention to the signs + sensations your body is giving you. It’s all information. Have a conversation with your discomfort whether strictly physical or mental/emotional. What is it here to tell you? What does it need?

• connect to your Heart.

• spend time consciously following life’s little nudges + insights. Set aside time to be intentional about this. Listen to your Strategy + Authority.

• listening to the 852hz frequency helps awaken your intuition. Play it in the background while you meditate, sleep, or work.

• practice gratitude for your intuition. I get little hits about seemingly insignificant things sometimes that will serve me later like grabbing a scarf, a snack or going a different route. When this happens and you realize why you got the hit, thank your higher guidance. Celebrate it when it leads you somewhere you wanted to go, or didn’t even know you wanted. As with anything, what we put out attention on grows + strengthens, and all the seemingly insignificant little moments along your day where you listen in and take action as a result can lead to a strong connection that will serve you in many ways in your life.