Last time, we explored the Life Themes with the Sun in Gateway 8, the Gateway of “Contribution”. Now, we move on into Gateway 20, the Gateway known as “The Now”. Gate 20 Lives in the present tense. We’ve got all these references from our past to draw from, we’ve got all kinds of concepts and ideas about what the future may hold. But what’s happening right now, in this moment? It’s important to remind ourselves that that life itself is present tense. You can be burdened with problems, worried about the future, and overwhelmed by the complications of life, but the moment you snap into the present tense, there’s no problem. You can always dive back into the problem matrix again, but in the present tense, there’s just this moment, and in this moment, you have the possibility to totally reconnect into yourself.
With that in mind, let’s have a look at the Human Design Life Themes associated with Gateway 20:
The Personal Life Theme: The Sleeping Phoenix
With the Conscious Sun in Gate 20, we find ourselves in the Personal Life Theme of “The Sleeping Phoenix”. The Conscious Earth is in Gate 34, the Gateway of “Power”. So, people with this Life Theme are highly empowered people with a lot of raw sacral energy. These two Gateways also make up one of the three most common channels in Human Design. I call it the Channel of being “Busy, busy, busy”. Because the power that’s coming through has an urgency to it. It wants to have an expression in the now. This pure sacral energy needs to be expressed in the present tense.
Gate 20 – The “Now” – The Gateway to knowing is simple: be present in the here and now.
Gate 34 – Power – Power is only great when its display comes from inner balance.
Gate 55 – Abundant Spirit – A spirited nature has the means to access abundance in all of life’s arenas.
Gate 59 – Intimacy – By dissolving barriers we establish union
On the Unconscious side, we’ve got the Sun in Gate 55, the Gateway of “Abundant Spirit” and I would say it’s the least reasonable Gateway in the whole of the I Ching. The Unconscious Earth is in Gate 59, the Gateway of “Intimacy”. So, people with this Life Theme are often several years ahead of everybody else. They can envision what’s coming into the world before anybody else. But, when they try to communicate it and put it out there, people are often mystified by it. And so, the Sleeping Phoenix sometimes has to backpedal a little bit in order to make the connection.
What is a phoenix? It’s a magical bird that arcs up into the sky and then comes crashing down in a ball of flames before rising again from the ashes. In essence, it sacrifices itself to heal others and create beneficial changes in the world.
I’m not saying that people who have this Life Theme can necessarily perform miracles, but they do have the ability to join these energies together in the present tense. The miracle is in the now. Because it connects into all these other realms, all these other possibilities. So, the Sleeping Phoenix is wakening.
We’re moving into an age of awakening. We’re coming out of an age we call “Planning”, which has been guided by the more logical, rule-based systems, and we’re moving into this age of the Sleeping Phoenix, a time of empowerment of individuality which is going to affect everyone on the whole planet. Any kind of “blame-game” is over, as now everyone needs to take personal responsibility for everything in their life.
Notable people with this Life Theme: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bob Dylan, Queen Victoria, Miles Davis, Richard Wagner
The Fixed Life Theme: NOW!
The Sun moves on into the fourth line of Gates 20 and 34, and we enter the Fixed Life Theme of “NOW!”. The Unconscious Sun has slipped into Gate 37 here, the Gateway of “Family” and “Friendship”. Meanwhile, the Unconscious Earth has gone into Gate 40, the Gateway known as “Deliverance”. This is one of the three places on the wheel where the opposite Hexagram makes up the Channel (the others being 43-23, and 20-34). Here we have 40-37, which is the Channel of Community.
Gate 20 – The “Now” – The Gateway to knowing is simple: be present in the here and now.
Gate 34 – Power – Power is only great when its display comes from inner balance.
Gate 37 – Family – Clear interrelationships are necessary for the stability and wellbeing of everyone.
Gate 40 – Deliverance – Using willpower to differentiate between struggle and liberation, you attain what you want.
So, here we have a particular Life Theme that is connected through two Channels. One is “busy, busy, busy” and the other is tapped into the family and the community. So people with this Life Theme can be really emphatic. Whatever it is that comes up, they have to deal with it right now. It’s a very potent, very urgent Life Theme.
The Interpersonal Life Theme: Duality
The Sun then moves into the fifth and sixth lines of Gates 20 and 34, and we find ourselves in the Interpersonal Life Theme of “Duality”. We’ve got the Emotions linked into to the Willpower through the 37/40 Channel on the Unconscious side, and we’ve got the 20/34 Channel on the Conscious side, which connects the Sacral to the Throat. So again, we’re looking at an extraordinarily powerful Life Theme. And we call it “Duality” because it has this very clear dichotomy between either serving the needs of the community and the family, or being “busy, busy, busy” on the very personal front.
It’s very easy for people with this particular Life Theme to accomplish massive things in life. They have this potential for unstoppable creativity and production. But they’re always balancing between these two extremes. Sometimes they’re just going for it, and other times they’re looking for what it is that fits within the context of the family and the community.
Other notable people with this Life Theme: Stevie Nicks, Helena Bonham Carter, John Wayne, Jack Kevorkian
That’s the essence of the Life Themes associated with the 20rd 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 20, 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.