Secrets of Human Design’s “Hidden” Circuitry 

Like a Circuit Board,
Your Chart Shows Your Energetic Wiring

In my view, one of the most fascinating aspects of Human Design knowledge is the explanation of circuitry.

As the electrical wiring in your home has different circuits for different rooms, so the “wiring” in your Human Design bodygraph has different groupings – each with its own significance and its important role in our everyday lives and in the evolution of our human species!

A circuit in Human Design is a path through specific channels and centers of the bodygraph. There are three main types of circuits: Individual, Tribal and Collective. Each main circuit is made of several sub-circuits.

By itself, your chart does not highlight its underlying circuitry. But when you know what to look for, and which of your gates and channels belong to which circuits, your knowledge of yourself and of humanity deepens significantly.

Below is an introduction to each circuit and a very brief description (and chart diagram) of each of their sub-circuits. Be sure to read the last section that ties it all together.

Individual Circuitry

People who have gates and channels within the Individual Circuitry (including the unusual Integration Circuit) are here to bring transformation and evolution to the world. This is the energy for survival, so it was the first circuitry to develop as humans were evolving.

If you carry Individual Circuitry you are here to be different. You are not designed to “fit in” or be part of a group. You are a loner, often an outsider, and the gift of your individuality is the innovative thinking you bring forth. To be happy, you must fully express your uniqueness. You empower others through your example of completely being yourself.

The tribe (family, community) will adopt your unusual thinking if those ideas and inventions are perceived as useful. Thus you as an Individual will impact the larger whole, but indirectly—not through deliberate leadership over others. This is called the “mutative” quality of Individual energy and is a vital piece in the evolution of the entire human experience.

            Knowing and Centering Sub-Circuits

Individual Circuitry has two sub-circuits: the Knowing Circuit and the Centering Circuit. The Knowing Circuit contains energies that involve a deep knowingness that is not based on logic or perception. It goes deeper, to the very truth of things. The Centering Circuit pulls others into its unique expression of individuality and initiates them into the love of self and love of spirit.

Knowing Circuit

Centering Circuit

         Integration Circuit

Although the Integration Circuit somewhat stands on its own, for simplicity we’ll treat it as a sub-circuit of Individual Circuitry because it too brings change through being profoundly unique and different. The Integration Circuit embodies the soul in human form, is deeply intuitive, and needs time to process and integrate what it learns and experiences.

Integration Circuit

Tribal Circuitry

People with a predominance of gates and channels in the Tribal Circuitry are focused on family, friends and community. This Circuit contains the energy for love and war, sex and procreation, laws and rules, business and agreements, and creating and managing resources.

If you carry these energies, you put the good of the family/tribe above your own needs and desires. Emotional energy is found here, along with caring and nurturing, and you will tend to be very tactile and demonstrative. You like to touch and hug and be part of a family and community.

You are deeply impacted by Individual energy and will share with your tribe any Individual innovations in thinking or technology that you believe may help your tribe survive or get ahead. The tribe will naturally adopt those innovations that prove “adaptive,” which means they have perceived value. This is the crucial second step in the human evolutionary process.

            Ego and Defense Circuits

Tribal Circuitry has two sub-circuits: the Ego Circuit and the Defense Circuit. The Ego Circuit contains energies for agreements and marriage, business and community, and the management and sharing of resources. The Defense Circuit is the energy for procreation, raising and educating children, waging war and making peace, and generating and protecting the resources needed by the family/tribe. It is powerful energy that defies logic and reason—it’s very primal.

    Ego Circuit

    Defense Circuit

Collective Circuitry

Those with gates and channels in the Collective Circuitry are focused on the “greater good” for all of humanity. This energy includes logic (the scientific approach) and sensing (the holistic approach). Both are useful for understanding our experience of life and for predicting patterns. Understanding patterns helps us to predict the future (for example, seasonal changes), which helps to ensure our long-term survival as a species.

If you carry Collective energy in your chart, you tend to be visual and are drawn to work that benefits the whole, such as scientific research and government service. You may love to gather stories and lessons from the past, and use them to move us collectively into a better future.

            Understanding and Sensing Circuits

Collective Circuitry has two sub-circuits: the Understanding Circuit and the Sensing Circuit. The Understanding Circuit contains energies for logical thinking, perceiving and correcting patterns, and testing ideas to see which help bring humanity closer to the perfect expression of ourselves and the enjoyment of life. The Sensing Circuit is for abstract and holistic thinking, learning from the stories and experiences of others, and achieving clarity over time.

Understanding Circuit

Sensing Circuit

So What Does It All Mean?

First, at the level of humanity, the circuits explain the exact process of how we grow and evolve as a species. Those with Individual energy are here to be different and innovative. Those with Tribal energy are here to take those innovations and see if they are useful. Those with Collective energy are here to spread and give infrastructure to those changes and innovations that are beneficial to humanity and incorporate them into our human experience. 

At a personal level, understanding YOUR particular mix of Circuitry energies helps you understand your foundational motivations, behaviors, and tendencies.

Most people are a blend of all three Circuitry energies, but often one is stronger than the others. It will help you to know if one of the major Circuits is more dominant in your chart than the others.

At a relationship level, there are some predictable issues that come up when people with different predominant Circuitry interact with each other. More on that topic in future articles.