What to know about Authority
Authority
/əˈTHôrədē/
n.
Human Design:A personal and internal decision maker, based on definition. The authority is never the rational mind, and each authority operates differently in the body.
One of the cornerstones of the Human Design system is Authority. While the rational mind is incredible at quantifying and calculating, comparing and contrasting, it is not actually capable of making a decision from our inner truth. The mind can weigh whether something may be beneficial in terms of material gain, or how closely something is aligned to the collective’s value systems, but it cannot directly tap into the authentic voice of the higher self. Your Authority defines your internal decision-making process.
Many small decisions are being made all the time, and our basic human needs do not require permission from our inner Authority to be met. It is imperative, however, to rely on this mechanism for our big decisions—such as career moves, relationships, physical moves, and major purchases. In order to make decisions that are in alignment with our health, growth, and wellbeing, we must be attuned to our Authority. Some of us already, very naturally rely on this internal decision-maker. And for some, it takes a little deconditioning and embodiment work to reconnect.
Authority works in tandem with Strategy. They are energetic partners that steer us toward experiences in alignment with our growth and progression. If Strategy is how we move through the world, Authority is the innate metal detector for what is correct and harmonious. Read on to learn about the seven types of Authority and examples of how they can be expressed with your Strategy.
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Emotional Authority
When the Solar Plexus center is defined in a chart, an individual has Emotional Authority. The Solar Plexus is both a motor and an awareness center and its definition means that the individual has a distinct emotional wave that they are continuously riding. Their defined Solar Plexus will condition those around them who are undefined or open in this center
It is imperative that you tune in to your own emotional wave. Taking the time to learn its ebbs and flows, or peaks and valleys, will help you to know when to make a decision and which decision is the correct one for you. In the body, this feels like noticing when and where you’re holding tension or when you are feeling a ramping up, and soothing your extremes with deep breathing, movement, journaling, or creative endeavors. For some folks, touch will be an important regulator.
For major decisions, it is necessary to let yourself process a range of emotions and give yourself at least 24 hours to cycle through your emotions. Committing and making decisions in your feelings will lead to chaotic or discordant events further on. You may get yourself locked into a fate of sorts, playing out the decision you made in order to get out of it. When making decisions, you may never feel 100% about an answer, but you will feel about 60-80% sure and in the best cases, emotionally neutral.
Many folks struggle with impatience, but when you respect your emotional authority it gives you the opportunity to do things on your OWN TERMS. Take time away from the issue or decision to process the feelings, and allow yourself to not commit to feeling one way about something right off the bat. For you, there is only truth over time.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
If you’re a Generator or Manifesting Generator, this means that after your defined Sacral center has responded to a stimulus or question, give yourself time to feel all the feelings about your decision before acting on it. For Manifesting Generators, this is a good time to use your visualization skills, and then wait until you are emotionally neutral or 60-80% clear before you respond or inform others of your plan.
If you’re a Projector, this means that when you receive an invitation whether literal or energetically, give yourself time to feel all the feelings about your decision to accept or decline. Wait until you are emotionally neutral or 60-80% clear before you act on the decision.
If you’re a Manifestor, this means that when the urge to initiate strikes, give yourself time to feel all the feelings about your plan, before you inform others. Then, when you are emotionally neutral or 60-80% clear, inform others first and act.
*Again, this is for major decisions. Not whether you should stop at the coffee shop on your way to work.
Sacral
When the Sacral is defined without the definition of the Solar Plexus, an individual has Sacral Authority. The Sacral center is the motor center of creativity and vitality. Its definition will condition others around it who are undefined or open.
The defined Sacral hums along pleasantly until something comes into the aura that sparks a response. This could be an energy, a verbal question, a visual sign... When the Sacral responds, the vibration changes tone and can actually create a sound that travels up and out of the throat. A sound like “ah-HUH!” when it is attracted to something, or “UHN-un” when it rejects something. When reconnecting with the Sacral vibration, it can be easier to sense the changes and the responses than the continuous hum. If the hum seems to stop as a response, if there is a hesitation, the answer is “not right now” or “can you ask me again later?”
Many folks are told as children that they must use proper words such as “Yes, please” and “No thank you” instead of the natural sounds that emerge from the Sacral center, and this change of language transfers the process of response from the Sacral to the mind in order to form language. This cuts off the innate connection to the Sacral. Through practices with response, Sacral meditations, and movement exercises, one can restore and strengthen this connection.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
For Generators and Manifesting Generators with Sacral Authority, it is paramount to form a strong and clear connection to your Sacral center and its vibrational frequency. Your responses are your guide.
Splenic
A defined Splenic center, without definition in the Sacral or Solar Plexus center, gives an individual Splenic Authority. This is the center of body awareness, the lymphatic system, and full existential living, so the authority of this center is one of the oldest and most intuitive.
We usually hear that Splenic Authority is quiet or difficult. As this is my personal authority, I would like to reframe these judgements. Splenic Authority is not a response. It is often “quiet” because it is constantly taking in information, tasting, touching, smelling the human experience, and saying “yes, this is okay.” When it senses something off, and this truly is a subliminal sense, the Splenic center will kick, flip, jolt, shock, or zap a signal to the individual’s consciousness. It may even seem to be completely out of the blue. Most of the time, I experience these shocks as flushes or draining in my lymphatic centers, as complete thoughts, and even clairvoyances (like seeing myself already doing something). So, I do it. Most of the time, though, I am making healthy decisions for myself without thinking twice. If I let my body do the “thinking” it is just naturally what I gravitate towards, and I think this is also an expression of Splenic Authority. It’s as if my corporeal antennae are leading me toward what is healthy and correct for me.
Even after years of abusing my olfactory system by smoking ☠️, my sense of smell and taste has always been very strong. I feel instinctual cues in my skin that are subtle, almost as if my pores open to what is good for me and close or stand the hairs up on my skin toward what is not correct for me. When making decisions, I can only know what is good for me in the moment, so I practice flexibility and patience. And even though I may be gathering insight that others do not have, I try really really hard to not act from assumptions.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
Whether you are a Projector receiving an invitation, or a Manifestor with the impulse to initiate, you will have a physical sense—an affirmative recognition from the body—of the decision that is healthy or correct for you. It may feel like something “smells right” or a relaxing of your muscles, an opening of your pores or a flushing of the skin. It can change from situation to situation and some messages may be louder than others. But with Splenic Authority it is important to allow your body to get as much information as possible.
Ego/Heart
The Heart center is the motor center powered by the ego, or better known as the will. The word “ego” tends to get a bad rap, but think of this center as the home of the conscious, functioning being on the material plane. Our will-power is derived from this center and it drives great and material transformation. Only 37% of the global population has this center defined at all, and even fewer have Ego Authority.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
Manifested Ego Authority is all about trusting the voice to speak from the Heart. Although driven by the heart, this Authority is expressed through the Throat. When you are allowed to speak, freely and uncensored, you will hear the truth from your heart in your own voice. For folks with Manifested Ego Authority, it is important to have a partner, friend or even a therapist to just listen and allow you to blab. It’s in the moments when you are not thinking, but just letting your voice express itself, that you recognize your truth.
The rare Projected Ego authority is someone with definition between the Heart center and the G-center (through channel 25-51), without direct definition between the Throat and Heart, or any defined centers in the lower half of the bodygraph. When you have Projected Ego Authority, your will-power drives your higher sense of self and you have the ability to have a great impact on the world through your identity. Therefore it is incredibly important to follow your strategy of waiting for the invitation, and then your authority will ask “What’s in it for me?”. Your heart will lead you to what is correct for you to receive. This may feel like an actual pulling in the upper chest or the sternum.
For either, it is important to establish a clear and direct line of communication with your Heart center.
Self-Projected
If you have no centers defined below the G-Center, you are a Projector with Self-Projected Authority. Your authority comes from your direction in life, your identity and your connection to your higher self. I like to describe a defined G-center as similar to bowling. You cannot help but be in your own lane or else you hit the bumpers or fall into the gutter.
Because of the direct G to throat connection, it is correct for you to talk out your issues or decisions in order to hear what is correct for you in the frequency of your own voice. Best to let yourself ramble. Do not think about what is coming out, do not get hung up on mentally processing the situation. It is the sound of your voice and the fluency with which you communicate that will resonate with the expression of your identity. This can feel like an openness and a softness in the throat, as well as an uplifting sensation as if the core of your being was shining up through and out of your mouth.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
When you receive a literal or energetic invitation, talking out your decisions with a neutral sounding board will allow you to hear your inner truth in your voice.
Mental/Environmental
Disclaimer: This is not an Authority about using the rational mind!
Instead, it is about attuning to one’s environment and using the voice to hear the truth through one’s thoughts. If you have no centers defined below the Throat, you are a projector with Mental or Environmental Authority. Firstly, because you do not have a defined G-Center, you are incredibly sensitive to your environment; mirroring back the energy of the people and place around you. When you’re in the wrong environment, life can feel off, disjointed, or like you’re in the “upside-down.” Your health will suffer greatly from the incorrect environment and you are not to make any major decisions except to get out. Regardless of what anyone else may say, you are someone who can almost live by the geographical cure.
Once you’re in a place that feels better, more supportive and expansive, find someone to be a sounding board so that you can ramble out your thoughts. This process is necessary because of the Ajna to Throat definition, and helps you to hone and recognize your truth.
You will need to recognize when you are talking from a place of emotion, from insecurity, or the rational mind. Inner truths are not always rational, and very often our fears, insecurities and reason will try to dispel or upstage this truth. But when you hear it from your own voice, you know it, and that is correct for you.
With this definition and authority, you are incredibly vulnerable to conditioning from those around you. It is important that the folks who are your sounding boards do not bring their own opinions or egos into your processing space, but instead ask open ended questions only when you’ve hit a wall. You will determine so much of what is correct for you through the process of the ramble.
What does this mean with my Strategy?
When you receive a literal or energetic invitation, check your environment and tune into how it may be affecting the invitations you are receiving as well as how you feel about them. Then talk out your decisions with a neutral sounding board will allow you to hear your inner truth in your voice.
Lunar
If you have no centers defined, you are a Reflector, and you have Lunar Strategy/Authority. As a Reflector you live by a totally different set of rules from the other types and when aligned, you are immensely powerful. You are the most sensitive to your environments and the folks you surround yourself with. You are constantly sampling the energy around you through every center of your bodygraph, but that does not mean you are completely mutable. Your defined gates serve as default filters for energy. They are your innate traits and gifts. You have the distinct ability to share an objectivity that no other type can.
Because of your sensitivity to places, people, and transits, the lunar cycle is your guide to the decision-making process. It provides a consistent and stable measurement, wherein you experience the energy of all 64 Gates as they relate to the issue at hand and the potential solutions. It is helpful for you to find folks that are good sounding boards for you to talk out what you experience during this time.
You are here to be surprised by life, to find joy in the unknowing. As with all authorities, “waiting 28 days” is not about every little decision. Eat when you feel hungry and buy a new sweater if you need one, but then allow yourself to be surprised by the feelings or chain of events thereafter. It’s appropriate to wait 28 days when it comes to major decisions such as career moves, relationships and geographical moves—unless you’re in an unhealthy environment, then get out however you can. It is when you are in healthy environments and with a community of support, that you will make the most harmonious decisions for yourself.
