Where do our values come from? How do we differentiate between the values that will bring us down and those that will serve us and our communities in the best possible way? The Human Design System points the way.

The sun has moved out of Gateway 32 and into Gate 50, which is part of what we call the Tribal Circuitry. The key word for tribal circuitry is “support.” So, the values here are all related to maintaining and supporting the wellbeing of the tribe, the family, the community.

In the Chinese I-Ching, the word for the 50th Gateway is “Ding,” which is a word that describes a three-legged pot with two handles and a lid. If you ever go to a temple in China or Japan, you’ll find one of these pots.

So, what’s it doing at a temple? Well, in times of plenty, everyone goes to the temple and puts their incense sticks in the pot and gives thanks. But in times of hardship or famine or war, those in the temple will dump out all the ash, clean the pot, and fill it up with food for the community. So, the symbolism here is that this cooking pot stays there through thick and thin, providing support for the community in one form or another, in good times and bad.

So, let’s see how this theme of support plays out in the Human Design System, line by line:

First Line: Starting Afresh

Here, the line is called “Starting afresh: Eliminating old qualities before honoring new ones.” In times of hardship, you throw out the incense and ash. You clean out the pot and cook something new for the community around you. And in better times, you clean the pot again, fill it up with sand, and get the incense going. You start afresh with what’s needed in the moment: Giving thanks.

It’s a reminder that adopted values may no longer be appropriate in your life and community. What’s needed one moment might simply be useless in the next. The drive for refinement compels you to use any means to achieve your ends. It’s not always easy to disregard tradition and habit, but if that’s what the circumstances demand, that’s what you’ll do.

Sometimes you’ve got to throw out the old ideas, the old traditions in order to serve the community. And this might be a community of just two people, (you and your significant other, for instance). If the values you’ve adopted from past experiences and influences are no longer working, they’ve got to be dropped to benefit the community.

Second Line: Standing Firm

Second lines have a natural way about them. They discover things by apparent chance sometimes. And here, the line is called “Standing firm: Avoiding tempting distractions from your natural way.”

Being firm in your values or giving into outside pressures, you always accept the consequences. The second line can be very easygoing. Sometimes you have to borrow other people’s ideas. Sometimes you have to look at what’s really needed in the current situation. And what’s key here is to avoid distractions as much as possible. Stand firm, recognize what is right and wrong for you and your community in this moment.

When confronted by others’ values, there can be a tendency to be self-defensive and easily compromise. Your challenge here is to answer the question for yourself: “Do I stick with what feels natural to me, or do I take on other people’s points of view and give them more weight than my own?”

Third Line: Clarifying

In the Human Design System, third lines are considered the pioneers. They take risks, they try things out. Here, the third line is called, “Clarifying: Be clear that you recognize and honor your own true values first.” You have your own values, be very clear about that, and trust them.

Honoring your own values, you receive the support you need, but you may regret being assisted. There’s the possibility of commitment issues for all third lines. There’s always the worry of having to pay back the assistance you receive. There’s always the question of whether or not it’s easier just to avoid it in the first place. So, it’s important to be aware that when you require support, you establish the values needed to receive it.

You are likely to overthink in your attempt to balance your values with your need for acceptance. Asking other people for support can make you feel helpless. But that is part of what this gateway is all about: support, and communal support. And that always comes with a bit of a give and take.

Fourth Line: Qualifying

The fourth line always wants to bring people together. It has this quality of being very influential. Here, the line is called “Qualifying: presence is needed in upholding right values in sorry circumstances.”

Let’s go back to the image of the cooking pot for a moment. In lines one, two and three, we see that everything is in the pot and it’s cooking away, mixing well and doing its thing. But when we get to the fourth line, there’s this area where the food doesn’t always get cooked in quite the same way. The fourth line can be slightly isolated. There’s a potential for the soup not to get completely cooked, or the values not to be completely fulfilled.

Pretty much everyone I’ve come across with the 50th Gate with the fourth line has been dealing with a situation in the world, or in their lives, where they are surrounded by people who have compromised values in some way. So, the question for the fourth line is “Do I give in to the poor values or do I seek to be influential in raising the values?” On the one hand, the lower values are easier to play with because they’re less challenging. But in a sense, your whole effort in life is to try and raise the values of everything around you.

Fifth Line: Enhancing

Fifth lines always have the potential for leadership, for giving guidance to everybody else. Here, the line is called “Enhancing: Maintaining alertness to recognize which values serve best.” It has to do with what we might call our internal radar system.

You can tune into the reality of the moment and be alert to which values serve best. Fifth lines always have this view into other realms, other possibilities. But it always comes down to finding the most practical possibility, the one that’s truly needed in this moment in time.

You grow wise enough to uphold appropriate values when pressured to change them. Again, we see this need to trust in yourself even when others might not understand. Appropriate values are not always understood, they aren’t always easy. And upholding appropriate values sometimes means doing away with the traditions and habits that others might find comfortable or safe, but don’t actually serve the needs of the community in the moment.

However, it is important to take care that you aren’t pushing things too much. In a rush to get on in life, you can disregard the real values that serve yourself and others. Sometimes you just want to get it done, no matter what. As the world continues to speed up, life has a way of putting this urgency on us, this pressure to produce. If you get caught up in that, you might find yourself overlooking the values that are really going to serve people.

Sixth Line: Invigorating

The sixth line here is called “Invigorating: Consistently supporting the values that serve one and all.” Sixth lines always have the potential overview of everything, the ability to see what is really needed in a situation, and how to bring about the greatest benefit.

You set an example with clarity and wisdom, whether you relate closely with others or not. You see the values that will enhance and invigorate and ask yourself, “How do we bring the light up to a higher level? How do we bring about maintenance in people’s lives? How do we give people the sense they’re being looked out for?” So, you have the potential to really provide an extraordinary level of high value input.

The strength of your inner harmony compels others to realize the essential values in life. And what are the essential values in life? To be sovereign, to be yourself, to live your life. So you can really invigorate others to get their lives together, to take better care and be more present.

You might have an occasionally moody nature, and there is a tendency to allow your clarity to become obscured by trifles. But, when you’re feeling clear inside yourself, when you’re looking out for yourself and the environment around you, and holding a high sense of values, you set the example for others. And the world becomes a very, very beautiful place.

That’s the 50th gateway, the cooking pot. We’ll check in again soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about the Human Design System, and discover how your own Design informs and shapes your life, get your Free Human Design Report today.