I took a lot of time away from consciously thinking about human design.
This was a really healthy thing for me, because I had been overthinking everything in the context of human design and, as a result, boxing myself in in a lot of ways (more about “leaving human design” here).
Now that I’ve had some time away, I’m more able to reflect on my two human design charts – tropical and true sidereal (AKA cosmic).
And actually, I was “away” so long I needed to re-read that comparison post to refresh my mind 😝.
[P.S. If you want to do your own comparison, you can get your tropical human design chart here (affiliate link), and your true sidereal/cosmic human design chart here. It’s free to calculate the basic versions of both charts.]
I’m about to go into more detail, but TL;DR: I’ve been feeling more and more like my tropical human design chart most accurately describes me.
This is based on simply observing and noticing how I live my life, how I approach things, how I feel and when, the way I naturally eat when I’m not thinking about it, and so on.
In addition to my observations and reflections, I’ve also been learning more about astrology. After stepping away from HD, I moved toward what seemed like a simpler, more foundational system.
Interestingly, I didn’t bother much with true sidereal astrology. I looked into it briefly, including the 13th sign of Ophiuchus, which would be my Sun sign with true sidereal astrology. But I never really felt pulled toward it.
I also noticed that many well-known, amazing astrologers use the tropical calculations. And the things they say seem accurate (for example, Dr. Michael Lennox’s daily red robe astrology updates).
This of course brought up the reflexive question of, “If I lean toward tropical astrology generally, why would it not fit for my human design chart?” (Just to reiterate, this blog post is a personal reflection, not a statement of tropical or true sidereal being right or wrong.)
And I didn’t have a good answer for that. Both systems (astrology and HD) are based on the positions of the planets at the time and place of your birth. So, combined with the questions I was already having about human design, looking more into astrology was the final element that brought me back to tropical human design.
I’ll also add that many people I consider to be wise and intuitive never stopped using tropical human design. This doesn’t mean anything necessarily, but it did another layer to my own internal dialogue and questions.
One thing I really want to talk about is my HD determination, because this has been a sticking point in my mind.
In true sidereal human design, my determination is “consecutive appetite.” This essentially means eating one thing at a time. Many interpret this to be literally one ingredient at a time. No oils, no herbs, etc. This eliminates a lot of dishes.
I experimented with this but I honestly hated it. I do sometimes eat one ingredient at a time and enjoy it, but I very often (and very intuitively) enjoy meals that involve many things mixed together. Think burritos, pastas, soups, salads, bowls, etc.
When I thought about that more, my tropical human design determination of “high sound” was more fitting. High sound is not necessarily about noisy or loud environments while eating. It’s more about the level of information you’re taking in, like ingredients or flavours, but it could also be actual sound, like music, conversation, and so on.
And “high” doesn’t necessarily mean it always needs to be a lot at once. The way I view it, “high” refers more to sensitivity, and the level of information can vary day to day or meal to meal. That could translate to needing a lot of information at once, or as little as possible.
Based on my own intuitive eating, this means that sometimes I really want a burrito with all the fixins, and sometimes I want a plate with grape tomatoes, olives, and boiled eggs, which sequentially. It varies, but whatever the inkling is, it’s important to listen to it, because the sensitivity is high.
Determination in HD is also one of those things that really benefits every other aspect of your design once it’s all “in order.” How could this key piece of my chart feel off in true sidereal human design?
I don’t know much about HD history, so I don’t really know when determination came into the picture and became a “thing.” It might not be as important as it seems, so maybe this one piece being off in my chart wasn’t a huge deal.
Either way, it really stuck out for me, which is why I’m describing it here.
Perhaps more notable is what my living experiment showed me about my energy.
It’s not manifesting generator energy (there’s also debate about whether the types even matter because they were a later addition to the human design system, but alas, I’ll keep referring to them).
My energy is definitely more projector-like. And if I’m not moving energy through and out of my body, it really impacts my sleep, mood, focus – everything. I really need to empty out all the energy I take in throughout the day, which is a very projector thing.
(Get your tropical human design chart at Genetic Matrix – affiliate link.)
P.S. Click here to read more of my popular human design posts.
There’s one final thing I’ll mention, because I just noticed it as I was re-reading my comparison blog post…
In my tropical human design chart, I have two channels: Surrender (26-44) and Struggle (28-38).
Here are the descriptions for each I shared in the comparison blog post:
26-44 – Surrender
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- This channel is about improving upon old concepts and replacing the old with the new. It’s also called the “channel of the entrepreneur” for its ability to recognize what will appeal to others.
28-38 – Struggle
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- This channel is about the struggle to find purpose, and the deep sense of searching for that.
My little foray into true sidereal human design is literally these two channels combined. I struggled with trying to find a sense of purpose and tried to improve on an “old concept.” In some ways, I (subconsciously) thought that I would find a sense of purpose hidden in a new and improved human design chart. As if a chart would give me answers.
I’m not saying that either tropical or true sidereal human design is better or more “right” than the other. They’re both just information. They’re both tools at your disposal. You can choose how to use them, or not.
And while I may be “back” to the tropical version of things, I’m definitely not as intensely into human design as I was before. It’s information I know is available to me when and if I want it, but not something I’m diving into daily.
In general, limiting the amount of information I take in – of any kind – helps to keep my mind clear and unfettered.
So, that’s where I’m at with human design! What about you?
