Last time, we explored the Life Themes with the Sun in Gateway 57, known as “The Gentle”, or “The Penetrating Wind”. Now, the Sun has moved into Gateway 32, which is known as the Gateway of “Duration”.  What is it that endures? What are the things in life that are built to stand the test of time?

 32 is one of the Gates of instinct. It always has its finger on the pulse. It’s always scanning, checking if everything’s still going the right way. And instinct can happen in a flash. It’s in the Spleen Center, and all of the Spleen Gateways have a quality of instant recognition. It’s our oldest awareness center, and it’s probably the one we’ve strayed from the most. We’ve disregarded it because we’ve all been trained to make decisions using only our minds, which of course causes a lot of chaos in the world.

So, with that, let’s have a look at the Human Design Life Themes associated with Gateway 32:

The Personal Life Theme: The Maya

With the Sun in Gate 32, “Duration”, and the Earth in Gate 42, the Gateway of “Growth and Increase”, we enter into the Personal Life Theme of “The Maya”. And the word “Maya” in this instance means the illusion of the perceptible world. It raises the question: is there something real about this world or not?  And this becomes the conundrum for people born with this particular Life Theme. They’re never quite sure if this is all real or not? It’s essentially an ongoing balancing act. They might put all their energy and trust into something, and it turns out to be nothing. Or they disregard something as complete nonsense and then it suddenly becomes totally evident and clear to them.

The Unconscious Sun is in Gate 62, the Gateway of “Expressed Details”. And on the Unconscious Earth side, we have Gate 61, “Inner Truth”, which is like a cosmic antenna that’s constantly tuning in to find the truth.

• Gate 32 – Duration – Adapting to the latest circumstances in a world of constant change.

• Gate 42 – Increase – Growing your inner and outer resources expands all experiences for yourself and others.

• Gate 62 – Expressed Details – Expressing and defining details that are of value to the present and future.

• Gate 61 – Inner Truth – Authenticity guides us to what we know to be true.

So, here we have Gate 32 in Tribal Circuitry, Gate 42 in the Abstract Circuitry, Gate 62 in the Logic Circuitry, and Gate 61 in the Individual Circuitry. Which means that this is one of these Life Themes that’s balancing in many different ways, constantly probing for what’s real. And I always tell people with this Life Theme that sooner or later they’re going to realize they’ve become overly involved. They’ll put all their juice into something, and build up expectations about what’s going to happen with it, and then the whole thing turns out to be nothing. So, if you have this Life Theme, the question is, what do you do in this situation? Do you get upset? Or do you find the funny side of it? Do you see that there are great stories to be told here? There are great things to be appreciated about the ephemeral nature of life. Are we a physical being or are we a spirit being inhabiting a physical body? So, this Life Theme really tests all kinds of different parameters about life. The main thing is to be alert. Be present.

Notable people with this Life Theme: Frederick Nietzsche, P.G. Wodehouse, Evel Knievel

The Fixed Life Theme: Conservation

The Sun moves on into the fourth line of Gate 32, which brings us into the Fixed Life Theme of “Conservation”. And people with this Life Theme have to be really clear on what’s important to them. What’s substantial? What’s worth conserving?

• Gate 32 – Duration – Adapting to the latest circumstances in a world of constant change.

• Gate 42 – Increase – Growing your inner and outer resources expands all experiences for yourself and others.

• Gate 56 – The Wanderer – The movement and views of the inner world are reflected by those of the outer world.

• Gate 60 – Limitations – Accepting restrictions allows for the possibility of flow and transcendence.

The Unconscious Sun is in Gateway 56, the Gateway of “The Wanderer”, the Gateway of Stimulation, Storytelling, and Traveling and finding out about all of life’s experiences. The Unconscious Earth is in Gate 60, the Gateway of “Limitations”, which has to do with taking care of life’s basic needs.

People with this Life Theme have to be very clear about what it is they’re putting out into the world, constantly checking to see if they’re still on track with what’s originating from inside them. There’s a certain degree of stimulation here—lots of stories, a lot of play, a lot of examining different cultures. But with Gate 60, there’s also a lot of making sure you cover all your bases in life. You need to have a solid foundation upon which to play and explore.

Notable people with this Life Theme: Chuck Berry

The Interpersonal Life Theme: Limitation

Now the Sun goes into the fifth and sixth lines of Gate 32, and this opens up the Interpersonal Life Theme of the “Limitation”.   Again, Gateway, 32 is always testing, probing, seeing what might work, seeing where the limitations are and where we might be able to push things a little further. Then, Gate 42 (Growth and Increase) says yes we can. We can move this thing further. We can make it more substantial. And then Gate 56 kind of tempers this by asking how it all fits between the credible and incredible. So again, there’s this balance in play between limitation and expansion.

What are our limitations in life? Not being able to pay our bills, not having any gas in the car or food in the fridge, not trusting in ourselves—these are all potential limitations. So, the essence of this particular Life Theme is in finding out what is possible, and what isn’t. It’s also very entrepreneurial. Gate 32 has that unique entrepreneurial sense about what’s going to resonate well in the world. It’s always sensing, always checking. Which brings us back to that sense of the Maya, the illusion. Where are the limits? Are there limits? Are we just in a dream here? Is there really no substance to this life, or do we actually have to pay attention to what life reveals to us and play it out?

Notable people with this Life Theme: Sylvia Brown, Zack Efron, Frida Pinto

That’s the essence of the Life Themes associated with the 32nd Gateway. If you want to learn more about Life Themes, you’ll find them all in the Book of Destinies, part of the Human Design Trilogy which is available in all good bookstores and audiobook platforms.

If you want to find out more about Gate 32, we encourage you to dive into our blog series on the Book of Lines.

And if you’d like to learn more about how your Human Design informs and shapes your life, get your Free Human Design Report today.