Last time, we explored the Life Themes with the Sun in Gateway 19, the Gateway of “Approach”. Now, we move on into Gateway 13, the Gateway known as “Listening”.  It’s in the Abstract Circuitry, which involves sharing experiences. And the 13th Gateway is very adept at pulling stories, and often secrets out of people, which is why we call it, “The Listener.”

 

 

As we move into Gateway 13, we move out of the season of Mutation, which gave us a lot of upheaval in the last weeks and months. Now, we’re entering a new season, the season of Initiation. It’s a time of new starts, new beginnings. So, Gate 13 really signals a change in direction and a change in focus. The most important thing to appreciate about entering the Quarter of “Initiation,” and setting a new course in life, is the ability to Listen.  Everyone has a story to tell. Life has a story to tell. Gate 13 expands our abilities to attune to each other and the world around us. In this time of global unrest, we have the opportunity to expand our horizons by listening to what is real in human experience, and what do we want from life? Love is the only game in town, however, we have to be clear about that. Listening is a vital key to align ourselves through sympathy, empathy and kinship in these times.

 

With that in mind, let’s have a look at the Human Design Life Themes associated with Gateway 13:

 

The Personal Life Theme: Direction (The Sphinx)

With the Conscious Sun is in Gate 13, we find ourselves in the Personal Life Theme of “Direction”.  Each one of the Gateways in this Life Theme is in the Self Center, which some people call the G Center because the letter G looks like the shape of the Fibonacci Sequence. The G connects us into everything through perfect geometry. So, each time we enter one of these directional Gates, they’re pointing the way for us, realigning us in our journey together.

On the Unconscious Earth side, we have Gateway 7. In the traditional I-Ching, this is known as the Gateway of “Army”. I call it the Gateway of “Uniformity”, because it seeks to find out how all things come together so that they can move in lockstep toward a secured future.

 

• Gate 13 – The Listener – Pursuing common goals to expand all varieties of human experience.

 

• Gate 7 – Uniformity – Finding common intent and promoting shared future interests.

 

• Gate 1 – Creativity – Self-expression aligns with the natural expansion of the Universe.

 

• Gate 2 – Receptivity – A natural connection to unseen and sometimes inexplicable inner guidance.

 

Gate 13 is the Gateway of the Listener. And there’s a huge difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is passive, whereas listening requires that you engage with your environment and take it all in. So, this whole season of Initiation starts with listening. What’s the story here? What’s going on? What do I pick up on? What’s being said? And sometimes more importantly, what’s not being said?

Gate 13 is brilliant at picking up on things that are unsaid and unheard. It just picks up the frequency on a very profound level. Then, the 7th Gateway gives it form, gives it a direction, gives it a possibility of how it can come out. Gate 1, on the Unconscious Sun side, gives it that great creative potential to move in a novel way. And on the Unconscious Earth side, Gate 2, the Gateway of “Receptivity”, contributes to the possibility of starting out in a very clear and new direction sourced from a profound inner guidance.

Notable people with this Life Theme: Amal Clooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gertrude Stein, Norman Rockwell

 

The Fixed Life Theme: Listening

The Sun moves on into the fourth line of Gate 13, and we enter into the Fixed Life Theme of “Listening”. Gate 13 with the fourth line is a very interesting line. I call it “The Whisperer”. You’ve probably heard of dog whisperers and horse whisperers. People with Gate 13 with the fourth line are people whisperers. They have an ability to tune into people on a deeper level. Many of the healers I know have Gate 13 with the fourth line, and when they’re with their clients, they’re able to listen on multiple levels. They’re getting what the client is saying, but they’re also tuned into their body, their psyche, their emotions and their spiritual nature all at once. And they can pick up on all of it without any words being spoken.

 

• Gate 13 – The Listener – Pursuing common goals to expand all varieties of human experience.

 

• Gate 7 – Uniformity – Finding common intent and promoting shared future interests.

 

• Gate 43 – Breakthrough – Receiving new perceptions and reforming old ways and habits.

 

• Gate 23 – Assimilation – Peeling away the non-essential to reveal what is substantial.

 

Gate 7 with the fourth line has a very different approach to life. It is still invested in getting everything into lockstep and organizing things in a unified way. But with the fourth line, if somebody chooses not to be in agreement, it’s fine. They can go and do something else—just as long as they don’t interfere.

The Unconscious Sun has gone into Gate 43, “Breakthrough”, and the Unconscious Earth into Gate 23 “Assimilation”. Those of you familiar with Human Design will know that this makes up this channel we call “Structuring”, which brings about completely new ways for us to express and arrange our lives. This Channel comes with a voice, and it’s the voice of “I know”. So, people with this very rare Life Theme can tune into things that nobody else has a clue about. And the trick, if you happen to have this Life Theme, is to be able to know this about yourself and honor the fact that you have this great ability.

 

The Interpersonal Life Theme: Charades

The Sun then moves into the fifth and sixth lines of Gate 13, and we find ourselves in the Interpersonal Life Theme of “Charades”, also known as “Masks”.  The fifth line is very much a leadership line. But while it’s highly adept at giving guidance to people, it has to be really careful not to put all its energy into rescuing people. And the sixth line has the ability to see the big picture. It has the overall view of what’s going on and where things might be headed.

If you have this Life Theme, you’ll come across people who are really lost in their lives. They’ve gone off track and can’t quite find their way back. You, with the 13th Gate with the fifth and sixth lines, are able to really listen and help people get back into their orbit again. You have a natural empathy and attunement to whatever this person’s situation is. You can pick up on exactly what it is that someone needs in order to shift things and get themselves unstuck. And sometimes it’s something small. A hug, a joke, a smile can make somebody’s life feel all better. It can be the starting point where everything starts to change.

So, I call this the Life Theme of “Charades” or “Masks” because this ability that they have is extremely powerful. It makes them a target for all sorts of projections, demands and expectations. If they’re not careful, they could end up constantly rescuing other people at the expense of their own fulfillment. So, it can be very important for them to be able to conceal what it is they’re doing. To mask themselves in order to make themselves unavailable until they’re really called on and clear to get involved.

Notable people with this Life Theme: Charles Dickens, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, James Spader, Jules Verne

 

That’s the essence of the Life Themes associated with the 13th 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 13, 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.