Last time, we explored Gateway 31, known as the Gate of “Influence”. Now, the Sun has moved on into Gateway 33, the Gateway of “Retreat”. And here, the word “retreat” doesn’t mean running away from life, but going into oneself. Gateway 33 has the ability to go inwards, to review all kinds of life experiences and compile them into stories. So, we might say that this Gateway is very much part of the oral tradition. It’s involved in telling stories and relating myths, which has a very particular and important place in the makeup of the human experience.

 

 

So, with that in mind, let’s have a look at the Human Design Life Themes associated with Gateway 33:

 

The Personal Life Theme: The Four Directions

The Sun is in Gate 33, and on the opposite side we have the Earth in Gateway 19, which is the Gateway of “Approach”, which focuses on recognizing everybody’s needs. In a sense, it’s looking for ways to re-connect people to their life. We’re living in a duality here, and Gateway 19 picks up on what it is that people are missing, what it is they need to reconnect with in order to experience that unity.

The Unconscious Sun is in Gate 24, the Gateway of “Returning.”  This is the Gateway the mental refining process wherein the mind chews over a problem or situation and comes back around with an answer for it. And then we have the Unconscious Earth in Gateway 44, which we call “Patterns” because it can instinctually read people and situations. It can track the stock market. It can track the fashion trends. It can track all kinds of trends. So, together this opens up the Personal Life Theme of The Four Directions.

 

• Gate 33 – Retreat – Recharging and assimilating life experiences by withdrawing.

 

• Gate 19 – Approach – Reaching out to find how life connects us all.

 

• Gate 24 – Returning – Cycles of deep thought give way to innovation and transformation.

 

• Gate 44 – Patterns – Embracing and celebrating life, challenges and all.

 

People with this Life Theme often have a part of their life that is all about exploring. They’re extroverted, they’re going out and mixing it up with the world. And then there comes a time when the tide turns around, and it’s time to go back in, sit by the fireplace, recount the stories, maybe put it in a journal, and to try and figure out the meaning of it all.

It’s very much a life of following the tides. You follow the tide out by going into the world and exploring everything it has to offer, and then you follow it back in by disappearing into your cocoon to process everything you’ve experienced so you can tell your story, or sing your song.

 

Notable people born into this Life Theme: Martha Stewart and Dhani Harrison.

 

The Fixed Life Theme: Retreat

As we move on into the 4/1 Profile, we still have the Sun in Gate 33, and the Earth in Gate 19. But now, The Unconscious Sun is in Gate 2, the Gateway of “Receptivity”, which is the most Yin of all the Gateways, And the Unconscious Earth is now in Gate 1, “Creativity”, the most Yang of all the Gateways.

 

• Gate 33 – Retreat – Recharging and assimilating life experiences by withdrawing.

 

• Gate 19 – Approach – Reaching out to find how life connects us all.

 

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

 

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

 

This particular Life Theme can be drawn toward the extreme. If you have this Life Theme you have an uncanny ability to slip into different arenas of timing and read into different spheres of life experience. You might find that you go very deeply into experiences in order to point the way for other people and show them that there is more to life than this lifetime alone.

 

Notable people born into this Life Theme: Tom Brady (American Football superstar quarterback).

 

The Interpersonal Life Theme: Refinement

 Now the Sun moves into the 5/1, 5/2, 6/2, and 6/3 profiles, and we find ourselves in the Interpersonal Life Theme of “Refinement”. So, we still have the Unconscious Sun in the 2nd Gateway, and this Gateway is very receptive. Gate 2 examines life to see how we receive clarification and find our orientation in life. The Unconscious Earth is still in Gate 1, “Creativity”. So, there’s a natural tendency for ingenuity and originality here.

People with this Life Theme are in for a very mutative lifetime. Wherever they go, they’re constantly in a state of refining the world around them. It can be a bit of a thankless task sometimes, constantly refining things, cleaning up and rearranging things in ways that benefit the world.

If you have this Life Theme you might feel that it’s always your job to straighten things up or to say things clearly for people, and people don’t necessarily appreciate you for it. You can walk into a room full of people, that’s really messy, physically and energetically, and by the time you leave, everything’s been cleaned up a little bit. You just naturally bring benefit into the world around you through your presence and your activities. But when you see things that need refining and communicate about it in a resolute way, it’s not always what people want to hear. People aren’t always ready to be told that things in their life, or the world around them, need to be changed.

 

Notable people born into this Life Theme: Barack Obama and Neil Armstrong.

 

That’s the essence of this Life Theme. 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 31, 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.