Last week, we explored Hexagram 1, which showed us how we contribute to the expanding creativity in this Universe. Now, as we progress through the Human Design Gates, we’re going to look at the 43rd Hexagram, which is the one we call “Breakthrough.” And we call it Breakthrough because it has to do with that moment when you get an insight. One moment you’re minding your own business and then suddenly something different just opens up inside you. It penetrates creatively into the reality around you, opening up new opportunities you never saw before. 

When the Sun is in the 43, we get the 23 as well. Those of you familiar with Human Design Gates will know that the 43-23 is a channel of expressing individuality. Here, we’re not expressing thought processes. We’re not expressing beliefs, ideas, opinions or concepts. We’re expressing knowing, which is a whole different thing.

Knowing is not the same as knowledge. Knowledge is something that’s been put on a library shelf somewhere. It’s something you can find on the internet. Knowing is an entirely internal thing. It’s in the Individual Circuitry in Human Design. And the individual circuitry is very much about acoustics.

So, we see that 43 is very much in the inner ear. It’s something that goes off inside the head and takes you by surprise. We get a flash of inspiration, we get an insight, we get a frequency that patches us into something we weren’t expecting. So how do we express this?

The whole trick with this channel, with the Human Design Gates 43/23, and particularly with the insights, is: can you find the language that expresses it clearly so that other people can get it? Because very often we have to call this the channel of “Genius,” when you manage to put something across and everyone goes, “Ooh, wow, amazing. Where’d you get that from?” Or alternatively to “Freak,” when everyone says, “Hang on a minute. You’re saying these things and we’re feeling really nervous here. We’re leaving now.” So having the right speech skills is the bottom line here. 

This 43 has the potential to be one of the more powerful Human Design Gates. It can completely break fossilized concepts, ideas, habits, resolutions, or traditions, and rearrange these things in an innovative and creative way. But doing this requires that you have the speech skills and know how to use them.

Let’s see how this plays out line by line:

First Line: Being Vigilant

The first line here is called “Being Vigilant: No need to rush blindly into employing new insights.” First lines always give the foundation to a hexagram, and here the foundation is to be vigilant. When you get a new insight, when you get that breakthrough, be vigilant. There’s not always a need to act on it right away. The insight is there. Hold it. Stay with it. Be with it. It’s not about thinking your way through it.

Your resignation and intent are needed to replace “old ways” and implement new insight. This is something that has completely broken into new territory. So you need a lot of grounding and internal presence. You need strong resolution to implement transformation from your insights. If you speak on it when there’s no one there to hear it properly, it won’t have an impact. It will sound like nonsense.

You have aesthetic admiration, but sometimes a difficulty implementing your insights. You recognize the beauty of the insight. You see the amazing possibilities that might come from it. But you don’t want to ruffle everyone. You’d rather just keep everything calm and cool. Sometimes it’s easier to let it be, but if you give into this impulse, your insights will never see the light of day.

Second Line: Being Resolute

The second line here is called “Being Resolute: A clear mind gives access to clear outcomes.” The second line is the natural line. It comes from a place of innocence. And with that comes the potential complication of being in denial. It dithers and asks, “Did I really get that insight?”

You tend to be actively engaged in avoiding anyone who might complicate your life. The second line has all these extraordinary insights but has a tendency to back away from them, never giving them a chance to come to fruition. You back away into your own insight; you don’t want any challenges. You don’t want anyone to tell you otherwise.

Staying true or not to your way of relating insights affects whether they ever become a reality. The transformation has to happen on the inside. You break with the old patterns. You step forward into a new way of doing things, a new way of life, and suddenly you realize you’ve assimilated these insights in a way that can bring about personal transformation. And that will in turn lead to transforming everything that comes through you—all your interactions, your relationships, and whatever it is that you create and put out into the world.

Third Line: Being Resilient

The third line always has an issue around commitment. “Do I get involved here?” it says. “Is this something really important for you to be involved in, or should I move on to the next thing?” And here, the line is called “Being Resilient: Standing Your Ground in Implementing Your Way.”

Your own resolve or insecurity relating to your personal insights affects all facets of your life. This insight is coming from inside you. It’s something that can resonate very deeply and profoundly within you. So, the question is: can you hold your ground while you are implementing it, while you’re putting it out?

When aligned with your insights, you resist any criticism in achieving your purpose. Whatever comes at you, you can respond with, “Thank you for sharing.” “Nice.” “I’ll take that into advisement.” “I’m following my own truth here.” “I’m following my own insight here.” On the other hand, you can become unsure in the soundness of your insights when challenged by others. This can cause you to back away from it completely and just carry on as you were.

Fourth Line: Being Restless

The fourth line is always looking to draw people together and influence others.  When you get this insight, you have an urge to share it, an urgency to let people in on the news. And here the line is called, “Being Restless: If you are unable to hear sage advice, you remain indecisive.”

So, what is this sage advice? The sage advice is to hold your horses. Hang on a minute. Do you have the right people in front of you before you start telling everybody what it is you’ve got? Are you just going to start blurting everything out, or are you going to get the sense of what it is that’s happened to you before you start sharing it?

If you insist on implementing insights that are obviously not feasible, you will be distressed. It’s hard to surrender to life circumstances when your mind emphatically craves change. The fourth line can be very disruptive. You throw out insights, expecting everyone to get it, and then you realize that people don’t get it at all. This can leave you feeling really left out, fragile, like nobody wants to be around you or be engaged with your insights. You’re putting out something that you sensed was very profound, but it just doesn’t carry across. And as someone who loves to bring people together, this can be very upsetting. 

Fifth Line: Being Forthright

The fifth line is the line of leadership. You are the natural teachers. And here the line is called “Being Forthright: Implementing any new insights requires great thoroughness.”

As a fifth line, people look to you to provide leadership and guidance because you have the overview, you have the vision. And this vision can be quite powerful. But it requires thoroughness. It requires reality checks. Fifth lines can very easily go off into the unreasonable. So, what this line is saying is to be forthright, to be practical, to deliver what is really needed in a way that people can get it. You grow through implementing your personal insights or succumb to irrelevant input. 

You have a hopeful expectation that others will readily agree with your fresh insights. But, with the 43, you really can’t presume anything. People are either going to get it or not. It’s up to you to relay the insights. They are unique to you. Nobody else has it. You’re wanting to put something forward, but nobody else has the same viewing of it. So that’s the whole challenge here: How do you express something completely novel in a way that has a clear and practical impact for people?

Sixth Line: The Hollow Bamboo

The sixth line always sits at the top of the hexagram. It has the view of everything and just wants to see how people are going to get this insight. You’ve had this insight. You see how things can go forward. But how can you present it in a way that doesn’t cause complications? And here, the line is called, “Redirecting: Fostering acceptable and practical growth from insights.”

Your careful objectivity ensures that your insights will lead towards lasting transformation. That is an amazing thing with the sixth line. You can present things in such a way that people cannot help but just be fascinated by them. Of course, you must remember in this situation, with the sun in the 43 and the Earth in the 23, that there is the need to be really grounded in what it is that gets put forward.

If you are attracted only to the brilliance of your insights, you may easily become ostracized. That’s the penalty for not being able to express things in a way that is functional, useful, practical, and easy for people to comprehend and implement into their lives.

You utilize your objectivity to review your insights and assure that they are useful to others. From the sixth line, it’s possible to get insights about all kinds of different things in life. Everything can become an insight. You have the ability to relay these insights into the world. But the world is very much working on a collective basis, following the rules, following what’s always been done. The world is very attached to its traditions, habits, and customs. That’s why it’s so crucial to stay grounded when attempting to communicate these potentially paradigm-shifting concepts.

So, there we are, that’s 43rd Gateway. We’ll check in again soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about Human Design Gates and discover how your own Design informs and shapes your life, get your Free Human Design Report today.