This series explains the energy of each gate around the Will Center so you can learn to leverage willpower and make your impact on the world in ways that are correct for YOU. For each gate, we’ll cover the circuitry of the gate, its gifts and challenges, its “impact,” and practical ways to apply this information. The Introduction to this series can be found here.
Circuitry
Every gate energy belongs to particular circuitry within the chart, which is like an electrical circuit board. This circuitry shows the evolutionary role of the gate energy and how the energy moves through the chart. Each Circuit Group has two Circuits within it.
Circuitry of this Gate
Circuit Group: Tribal
The Tribal Circuit Group is concerned with survival of the tribe. It provides support and protection for family and community and transforms individual ambition into teamwork. This is group energy in which the good of the tribe/family comes first.
Circuit: Ego
The Ego Circuit energies govern the structure of how we function in groups, including laws, values, business agreements, marriage, families, communities, and management of resources. It contains emotion, but no logic (that’s in the Collective Logic circuitry).
High Expression of this Gate
If you have the Gate 21 defined in your chart, you are here to control your circumstances and you generally thrive in positions of control within your family, tribe, company, or community. Control is both a “need” and a “gift” for you.
The highest expression of Gate 21 is in supporting the sustainable abundance and wise use of resources for your family/tribe/business through your dependable skills and care, and your natural focus on the material world.
You are likely to be conservative with resources and spending, while the electromagnetic energy—Gate 45—is more likely to spend and be generous (or possibly frivolous) with resources.
You are willing to work hard, but to feel successful you must have some amount of control over your situation. You particularly like to take good care of your own belongings, and you are willing to care for the resources and possessions of others if you feel the deal is fair.
You have a strong drive for independence and dislike feeling dependent on or controlled by others. The deep lesson of this Gate 21 energy is in learning to surrender to what you cannot control (which, let’s face it, is most things in life!). Trying to control things that cannot be controlled is a recipe for frustration and feeling like a failure.
Low Expression of this Gate
In the low expression of this energy, you may be trying to prove that you are in control, your ego may try to dominate others, and you may have trouble delegating responsibilities to others for fear of losing control of the project or situation.
Gate 21 can be “control freak” energy causing you to dig your heels in, be very stubborn, engage in power struggles, and push with your ego and will (whether your Will Center is defined in your chart or not).
All of these behaviors can potentially cause burnout and even heart problems. Gate 21 is related to the heart muscle in the body and the stress of being in control, or not being in control, or striving for control can lead to stress-related problems.
Plus, there is a gnarly conundrum within Gate 21 energy: you want control for yourself (and for your ego), but this is tribal energy so your control must serve or benefit others in some way or there will be tribal consequences for you to face.
Ego Impact of this Gate
From an ego perspective, your impact with Gate 21 comes from the power of control. You want to control people and processes in order to determine circumstances and outcomes.
To be effective (and beneficial to the tribe), control must be exerted correctly, according to Type, or you will meet with strong resistance. Manifestors must inform before assuming control. Generators and Manifesting Generators must first respond to the circumstance before taking control. Projectors must be recognized and invited into a role with control. Reflectors must sense that others need someone to take control and then step into that role if they have the energy for it.
Tips for Using this Energy
-Pick your battles carefully! Don’t spend precious energy on little power struggles and become too drained to take on the important challenges.
-How do you do that? Learn to recognize when your Gate 21 energy kicks in and wants to have control, then make a conscious choice about whether it’s worth the effort (or the consequences).
-If you can’t control some of the big circumstances of your life (who you work for, where you live, etc.), at least successfully control what you CAN control—what you eat, wear, watch/listen to, your self-care, etc.
-Make peace with what is outside of your control, which is nearly everything! The only real control we have is over our thoughts, beliefs, and choices. Choose wisely, and the rest will unfold naturally.
Next gate moving clockwise around the Will Center:
Gate 40, with the impact of “withhold.” If your Gate 40 is defined, notice when you have the impulse to withhold resources (including attention and affection) in order to exert influence in a situation.
