There are seven authorities in Human Design (for example sacral, ego, self-projected.) Authority and strategy are the two key starting points for your Human Design experiment. Together, they form the foundation for making decisions that feel more aligned, easeful, and true to who you are.
According to Dr. Karen Curry Parker, leading expert in Human Design and Quantum Human Design: “Following your Strategy and Authority at the beginning of your Human Design experiment helps you remember your OWN definitions of what you love and what’s right for you.”
You can explore the main components of this revolutionary system in my introduction to Human Design, where you will get familiar with strategy, authority, energy types, and the origins of the system itself.
Table of Contents
What are authorities in Human Design?
In Human Design, authority is the way you are meant to make decisions that feel correct and just right for you. It is a unique, inner guidance system that you follow to reclaim your decision-making process and feel aligned with your choices. Here are the seven Human Design authority types, from the most common to the rarest:
- Emotional Authority
- Sacral Authority
- Splenic Authority
- Ego Authority
- Self-Projected Authority
- Sounding-board Authority
- Lunar Authority
Your authority is determined by a specific, defined energy center and a combination of other energy centers. A center is defined when it is colored in, whereas it is open when it is mainly white with zero to some activated gates.
If you are starting out, playing with strategy and authority is the easiest way to begin your Human Design experiment in everyday life and experience more alignment and expansion. It won’t probably be alignment and expansion 24/7 or right away but: you will start seeing what it means – through your body – to experience less resistance in life.
Learning about the different strategies and authorities in Human Design helps you not only become more of yourself, it also helps improve your relationships with others. You start comprehending how we are all truly unique.
To truly begin your Human Design experiment you will need to know your Authority. Combined with your Type this becomes your Strategy & Authority, the bedrock of personal development through Human Design and ultimately the only information you will need to make correct decisions in your life.
Jovian Archives
What is the difference between inner authority and outer authority in Human Design?
Even though it is not vital information, there is a difference between them.
Inner authority describes an authority that relies on your body’s knowledge and wisdom to make decisions. So:
Emotional
Sacral
Splenic
Ego
Self-projected
Outer authority describes an authority where you gain clarity from your environment or from sharing your perspective with others to see what kind of feedback you receive.
Environmental authority
Lunar authority (it is considered either an outer authority or no authority depending on the source.)
The Impact of Authorities in Human Design for Highly Sensitive People.
As an HSP myself, a sacral generator with an open solar plexus, an open throat, annnd a split definition, here’s my take.
Learning about your authority gives you a mega permission slip to be yourself, to excuse yourself for all the times you thought you were wrong, and use it to your advantage. At the same time, learning about the other authorities of Human Design helps you realize that we are all unique, and oftentimes people act like they do because they were born this way. It’s not personal.
Take someone with splenic authority, who is more or less used to making ‘snap decisions’ and would expect you to do the same. You may find it difficult because you are not built for that. Like me, for example. I wasn’t built to make snap decisions. I mean, I can make some (thanks to my defined spleen and sacral). However, most of the time I just stand there with my mouth slightly open, pondering and worrying that it is taking me too long to answer.
Perhaps I’ve been in a triggering environment, with lots of people and noise. Perhaps I’ve been around people I would rather not be with, and I get asked to decide on something. It would be probably too much for me, considering all the other information I’ve already taken in – that I will need to process later in the day. Making a quick decision (that I am happy with) isn’t just something I would be able to do, right then and there!
What do I do in these cases, instead?
At least, I show myself compassion and grace. I know I am not that brilliant friend. I need a day to decompress from two hours in a social outing. I am emotionally drained if I have hung out with unpleasant people or if I have been exposed to too many stimuli. I try not to attach to the image I project (which is a huge theme for me as a 3/5) and focus my energy on strengthening my boundaries, energy, and aura for the rest of the day.
If you suspect you are a highly sensitive person or someone you love may be one, check out my article 5 Signs You’re Living With A Highly Sensitive Person (Or You Are One.)
Emotional Authority.
We will start our journey into the inner authorities of Human Design by talking about emotional authority.
50% percent of the population have a defined solar plexus, hence emotional authority. In fact, if your solar plexus center is defined, it overrides any other center in a chart that determines authority. It makes you an emotional: generator, manifesting generator, projector, or manifestor.
The main thing to remember about a defined solar plexus & emotional authority is this: you are supposed to wait for clarity before making a decision.
Please resist the urge to make a decision when you’re super excited or very pessimistic about a possible choice. Something almost every Human Design teacher I have learned from (including one of my favorite experts, Jenna Zoe) uses the following warning to help emotional authorities:
There is no truth in the now.
You may already be familiar with the fact that you are constantly feeling and emitting emotions. Depending on your unique chart, you also have certain emotional waves that help account for the specific way in which you experience and manage them. For example:
- How long it takes to reach clarity for smaller decisions;
- How long it takes for a bigger decision;
- If the emotional wave is subtle so you don’t relate to having ‘big’ emotions or
- It manifests as big highs and sudden big lows.
These are all pieces of information that help you understand how long it usually takes to reach a neutral, emotional state, as well as clarity: in other words, a place to make the most aligned choice.
What I love about you, emotional authority peeps.
I love that you have instant access to your emotions, you know what you are feeling and you can offer support to other people. Because you know emotions, period. As a pure sacral generator myself, I kind of envy that!
Sacral Authority.
If you have sacral authority in Human Design, it means that you are a generator or manifesting generator; you have a defined sacral and an open solar plexus. Welcome to the other 50% of the population!
In Human Design, sacral authority is all about responding to anything that comes your way with a yes or a no. Anything that isn’t a clear yes in your gut and in your body, is a no. For example, if someone asks: “Do you want to have sushi tonight?” and you feel nothing inside, like a halt of energy, then you could take that for a no in that moment.
Sacral authority is about recognizing, moment to moment, what feels like a yes in the body. It usually sparks joy, satisfaction, and expansion. The more we learn what a yes feels like, the more attuned we become to the clues. Not just that.
The more we learn how good it feels to say yes, the faster we can create a life focused on satisfaction. Which, by the way, is also our signature as generators and part of a manifesting generator’s signature. A huge part of your deconditioning as a sacral authority is trusting yourself enough to say no, trusting that you won’t miss out on anything truly valuable for you.
Life as a sacral generator with sacral authority.
What I found surprising when I first learned about authorities in Human Design with my first teacher, is that generators and manifesting generators have karma around desire to work on. We must reclaim our desires and be able to say no to anything that doesn’t spark joy because our joy is contagious and lifts up all the other energy types.
This is one of the reasons why Human Design feels like a true experiment to me, as I documented in Walking the Talk: grateful for Human Design and Spiritual Practice.
Splenic Authority.
If you have splenic authority, your spleen center is obviously defined, which means:
– Your solar plexus and your sacral are open;
– You are either a projector or a manifestor. We are now entering a series of authorities of Human Design where you can only be either this or that energy type.
The spleen is all about instant, inner knowing and intuition. The kind of knowing that gives you sudden information and, quite dramatically, doesn’t repeat itself.
Therefore I suggest two things:
1) Write down whatever your intuition tells you as soon as it hits! – Those are instant hits and they won’t come back to refresh your memory, so make sure you always have some sort of support ready to record your thoughts. You will be able to revisit them any time you want and work with them if necessary.
2) Learn to trust these instant communications – The more you trust your intuition, the more you will notice it was right all along and you will want to follow it again. It may sound counterintuitive, especially if you compare it to an emotional wave that must be ridden before deciding but it works for you!
Embrace the quickness that is innate with a splenic authority in Human Design.
You were born to act from that millennia-old place of wisdom that surges from the body, gives zero notice, and won’t repeat itself. I have a defined spleen and I am pretty proud of myself whenever I get to follow its nudges because they lead me where I am supposed to go.
Ego Authority.
You automatically have ego authority (also called Heart Authority) if the ego / heart center is defined and all of the authority-bearing energy centers below (sacral, spleen and solar plexus) are open. You can be either a Projector or a Manifestor.
With Ego authority, you have a direct line with desire and whether you want something or not. We know that society has conditioned us into believing that material desires may be selfish, and ambition can be perceived as a negative word. However, your authority – your decision-making process – is all about embracing healthy selfishness.
There is really no way around it: your heart wants what it wants so you have to go for it, regardless of the nature of your desires. Moreover, with this center you have innate motivation and willpower to go after them so there’s no point in holding out. Regardless of whatever it is you are desiring, please ask yourself:
- Do I want it? Do I selfishly want this for myself, for my own good?
- Will this make me feel empowered and motivated? If the answer to both is yes, then go after your desire.
However, if you are going after something because it will make you look powerful, empowered, and all around cool, then please, drop it.
In fact, with Ego authority, you may want to achieve a desire in order to prove something to the world. Always go back within to check if that something will feel right, empowering, and all the good stuff. Not just ‘for show.’
If I were to give you a reading, I would offer advice and guidance based on whether you are a manifestor or projector, in addition to all the other juicy features of your bodygraph.
Self-Projected Authority.
With this-authority, also known as G-Center Authority, we are heading toward the last and rarest authorities in Human Design. Here, only your G-center is defined, while anything else below is open; this makes you automatically a projector.
The most relevant aspect of self-projected authority is that decisions need to be made with future direction in mind. In fact, the G-center is about identity, Self, direction, love, and environment. You can compare it to your inner compass and, as such, it will guide your decision-making process.
You will reach alignment with your decision by asking yourself:
Will it take me where I want to go?
Is this the direction that will make me happy?
As soon so you tap into your – very acute – sense of direction for your life, you will start unlocking the key to alignment.
Another useful factor of self-projected authority lies in using your voice to speak direction and decisions out loud, either to yourself or to other people. Through this process you will get to listen to your voice and reconnect with the essence of your identity. You will know through the responses of your body when something is your truth or not.
The goal of speaking things out loud isn’t, with G-Center authority, so much to receive advice as to grant yourself time and space to unravel your thoughts until you reach clarity.
Sounding-board Authority.
This authority is also called mental authority or environmental authority. Here, you are a mental projector whose only defined centers can be the crown, the ajna, and the throat – in any combination. Therefore, everything below the throat is open. We are now in the territory of the actual rare authorities of Human Design as well as one the two outer authorities.
Now, the fact that it is called mental authority – or that the crown and ajna are defined – doesn’t mean decisions are made with the mind. No authority, energy type, or person in Human Design is supposed to make decisions using the mind.
On a side note. I have always been a ‘supporter’ of the higher wisdom of our body even in the most challenging times, as I have shared in Return To The Body When All Else Fails.
Sounding-board authority is an outer authority because you are not drawing inwards to receive guidance for your decisions anymore. On the contrary, you share your perspectives, outlook, and opinions with your environment and then use the feedback you receive to guide your decisions.
“These individuals need to get the decision out of them and into an aligned environment, so that they can observe and process the choices. It is important that these individuals have adequate time to go to the correct place and process this decision in their own timing.”
Eden Carpenter
Your mind is a gift with its perspectives and your observations are so needed in the world so don’t be afraid to share them! Hearing yourself speak is a powerful way to test your thoughts and future decisions. Lend them your voice to hear its frequency while you speak them out loud.
Also remember that it is critical that you be in a supportive environment: trust your body to understand where you thrive and can share your perspectives.
Lunar Authority.
“Reflectors are only 1% of the population, making this a very rare way to make decisions!” Ana Saldamando.
If you have lunar authority in Human Design, you are a reflector and all of your energy centers are open. Your strategy and authority are the same, that is to wait a lunar cycle or 28 days. You read above that this is the only one of the authorities in Human Design that is considered a no authority because of the absence of defined centers.
As a reflector, you are a lunar being so your decision-making process aligns with the cycles of the Moon or, better still, it happens in cycles.
It should be noted that you don’t have to wait 28 days to decide what you want to have for dinner tonight! We all agree that, for smaller decisions, your internal guidance system works perfectly in getting wherever you need to be daily.
A longer cycle or lunar cycle comes into play the moment you need to make bigger decisions and test whether they’re correct or not.
Every cycle bears its theme so the more you practice awareness of your cycles – particularly their beginning and end – the more quickly you will know how long it will be before you can ‘safely’ make a choice.
This is another authority (along with emotional and sounding-board, for example) where you need some time to choose. My hope is that more and more of us will embody our strategies and authorities of Human Design until we openly declare whenever we are taking that extra time.
Authorities in Human Design FAQs.
Read on to get answers to some of two common questions about the seven authorities in Human Design.
What is my inner authority?
Your authority is the optimal way to make decisions that are aligned and correct for you. Most of them (emotional, sacral, splenic, ego, self-projected) are inner authorities, which means that you tune into the inner clues of your body to seek and find appropriate guidance.
You can discover your authority by getting your bodygraph for free online. I recommend the following websites:
mybodygraph.com
https://www.myhumandesign.com/
What is the rarest authority in Human Design?
Lunar authority is the rarest of the 7 authorities of Human Design and only reflectors can have it. It is also called no authority as none of the energy centers are defined. This is the reason why reflectors are lunar beings and their decision-making process relies on the duration of a lunar cycle.
Authorities in Human Design: Final Thoughts.
All of the authorities in Human Design show that literally no-one is supposed to make decisions with their mind. It all boils down to the body, regardless of whether you have inner or outer authority. Practicing the art of tuning into your authority makes it easier to reach alignment – or at least encounter less resistance.
When you get a full Human Design reading you will unlock the ‘formula’ for living in alignment through many more cool pieces of your bodygraph. Book a reading with me here to get your unique Human Design analysis.
