Series: Ego Energies of the Will #4 – Gate 40 “Withhold” 

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 40 defined in your chart, you are here to be a hard worker who derives satisfaction from delivering what you promised and from contributing to the tribe through your efforts. Your central challenge is to balance work with rest, so you don’t burn out your energy.

Along with rest you also need alone time to recover your energy and to establish your independence from the tribe. The Gate 40 energy wants to be independent but also wants to belong—a core conundrum for this gate. Gate 40 is considered one of the three gates of aloneness. The other two are Gates 12 and 33.

Part of your work-related satisfaction comes from feeling appreciated and being rewarded for your efforts. Your best strategy for this is to be very clear about boundaries, promises, agreements, and expectations—what you are willing to do and what you expect in return, and what others are willing to do and what they expect of you.

Forgiveness of yourself and others helps to smooth misunderstandings, heal relationship wounds, recover personal energy, and foster a healthy community.

Low Expression of this Gate

In the low expression of this energy, you may be over-promising and over-working to prove your value, ensure your place in the tribe, and earn your rewards. Burnout is a common result especially if you are pushing with Will Center energy (whether your Will Center is defined or open) and not resting. Because Gate 40 is associated with the stomach, overwork can also lead to stomach problems such as ulcers or reflux.

Loneliness (which is different from aloneness) can be a painful low experience of this energy, feeling like you’re on the outside looking in, wanting to be part of the tribe but feeling like you don’t belong.

If you are not feeling appreciated or supported by your tribe/family/community, or if agreements are not being honored, you may withhold the “fruits of your labor” and not share or contribute the results of your hard work. You may also withhold forgiveness as a way of exerting your will.

Ego Impact of this Gate

From an ego perspective, your impact with Gate 40 comes from withholding your work, energy, resources, or forgiveness as retaliation against perceived unfairness in the bargains and agreements of life.

Your drive for independence can cause you to pull away from others (withholding yourself). Then your loneliness pulls you back into the tribe for the interdependence that is the cornerstone of tribal energy, requiring forgiveness and renegotiating agreements.

Tips for Using this Energy

-Make sure you REST and recover from all that you do.

-Make sure agreements and expectations are very clear; renegotiate them as needed.

-Ask for what you need—appreciation, rest, connection, alone time.

-When you feel lonely, let this energy drive you to reconnect you with your tribe/community.

-Recognize your role and place in the tribe even when you are “feeling” like an outsider. In this particular case, trust the evidence around you instead of your feelings.

-Be deliberate about practicing forgiveness. Forgive yourself first, then forgiving others comes more easily.

This concludes our clockwise ride through the gates of the Will Center.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. I’d love to hear your feedback!

And keep an eye out for more series like this one.