Types of Human Design Readings

Did you know that there are various different types of Human Design readings that you may need at different times in your life? In this article, we’ll explore some of the types of readings and when you may need to get them. We’ll also explore the most important Human Design reading you will get and why.

This article is based on this 20 minute video. 

How many Human Design readings do you actually need to have in your lifetime? 

I have had at least four human design readings at different phases in my life to look at different things. If you’re new to human design, you may not be aware that there are various ways to look at the chart, various things that you can pull out of the chart. And the chart that you get when you first go down the Human Design rabbit hole,  shows you so many things that are impossible to take it all in at once. You can’t get all of the information out of it on just one reading. So I personally recommend that you have readings at times when there are turning points in your life. We’re going to talk today a little about the general turning points where people benefit from getting a reading.

Your most important Human Design reading and what you need to get from it

Your most important Human Design reading is the first one. There are three things that you need to get from that reading: 

• a good understanding of your energy type, 
• your strategy for releasing resistance and interacting with the world, 
• and your decision making authority. 

Your first reading sets you up for your Human Design experiment. Your Human Design experiment helps you to realign your energy so that you can live your life as truly yourself. So if you have not had your first reading, just know that everything you get from the reading after understanding your type, strategy, and authority, is gravy. 

So your first reading is the most important. When you have your first reading, make sure you walk away with a good understanding of these three most important things. Understand them well enough so that  you can begin to put them into practice, observe them in your life, and open yourself up to integrate more of what’s on this chart.

Readings for going deeper into your Human Design experiment

After you start your Human Design experiment, you’ll want to go a bit deeper.  Here are some of the ways that you can look at your chart more deeply.

Human Design mentoring and coaching: As life comes up, you’ll experience your design through different challenges.  Human Design mentoring or coaching can help you to make sense of your life experiences in the context of your design. Each session provides a more detailed look at specific aspects of your chart for the purpose of raising your awareness about the way you’re living out your design. By raising your awareness, you’ll come to see where you’ve been conditioned to operate counter to your true nature. A Human Design coach or mentor enables you to consciously navigate your experiment and deconditioning process so that you align with your design with more ease and grace.

Relationship readings: Relationship readings involve your Human Design chart and that of another person.  It can be you and your spouse, you and your children, or anyone else who has been an important presence in your life. 

Relationship readings that involve you and a significant other can give you more acceptance and compassion for yourself and the other person. Parent/child readings can help you support your child without second guessing yourself. When you get a reading that involves you and perhaps one of your parents, you’ll come to understand how you were influenced and conditioned by their design.

I like to approach relationship readings from the perspective of the client’s Human Design experiment. I work with you to help you understand yourself in the context of the relationship. We identify the conditioned patterns that play out in your relationship and how you can manage your energy to be more of yourself in the midst of the other person. From there, we may discuss strategies that create more harmony and support between the two people.

Business readings: A business reading can help you to align your business practices with your energy type and strategy. A basic business reading looks at your core strengths, potentials for wisdom, and the way you go about fulfilling your purpose. It may address your decision making strategy, aligned productivity habits, marketing strategies that help you to project your true self into the world, and other things that are specific to your business.

Looking at your design in the context of your work can be very helpful if you are an entrepreneur, in business for yourself, or if you are looking at upleveling or changing your career. So again, business readings are sort of an offshoot of your foundational reading. But if you’re an entrepreneur or if your life’s work is like the core of your life, then it’s important for you to take a look at your chart through the lens of your business. 

Readings for Turning Points in Your Life

There are turning points in your life where you will probably innately sense that you need a reading. You may have come to human design because you’re at one of these turning points, and you can sense that shift within yourself. You’re looking for some kind of guidance about how you can have more fulfillment, more success, more satisfaction, more peace, or more surprise (depending on your energy type).  

Here are some examples of general turning points when a Human Design reading would be helpful. Maybe you’re undergoing a divorce and you want to get a reading on what happened in your relationship. Or perhaps you’ve had an emotional or spiritual wake up call and you want to tune more into yourself. Or maybe you are looking to make a change in your life, like a geographical move or going back to school, and you want some insight on how to do this by staying true to yourself. These are all examples of general turning points where you may feel the urge to understand yourself more deeply.

Life cycle readings: There are other developmental turning points in life that bring up themes which reflect a shift in your maturity as a human. The types of readings you would get for these turning points are known as life cycle readings. Typically, life cycle readings are done at certain ages when the theme of life switches and we’ll outline them here.

First Saturn return: The first developmental turning point is at your first Saturn return, which happens between 28 and 30. This is when Saturn returns to its exact point in your natal astrology (and Human Design) chart where it was at the time of your birth. The focus of the Saturn Return reading is to examine how you’re designed to use your energy to create a strong foundation as an adult. 

At your first Saturn return, you’re looking at “adulting” … how do you become a full fledged adult in the world. Childhood over at age 28 to 32, and now you’re perhaps looking at having a family, settling down, deepening your career, or finding your career, making money and how to support yourself. These are the themes of Saturn. 

You can look at Saturn placement in your Human Design chart and other corresponding dynamics to determine the personal challenges that you are presented with as you emerge into being a full fledged, self-supporting adult. Usually the Saturn return is pretty bumpy. It’s pretty Rocky. It’s very challenging. And to have the context of what you’re really here for and how you can align with and live that, will help you to keep your eye on the big picture as you navigate the stress of maturing at this time in your life. 

Uranus opposition: The next major turning point is at the Uranus opposition, which happens around the time of your late thirties to early forties. This is when Uranus is opposite on the astrology wheel to its place in your natal chart at the time of your birth. In the system of Human Design, we see the Uranus opposition being more significant for people who do not have a line 6 in their profile. This is the phase of life that comes after the adulting themes of the first Saturn return. It’s a phase where you may find yourself looking for deeper meaning and a way to express your uniqueness.

Uranus is the planet of spiritual growth and unexpected change. It’s about your unusualness. You could be compelled to explore what is unique about you that I can begin to develop so that you move into more fulfillment, more of my spiritual fulfillment, my emotional fulfillment in your life as I move forward. This is a time where people experience what’s known as a midlife crisis. Even though we’re living longer  and the midlife crisis could be experienced a little later, the first wave of that could be experienced at this time. 

Think about the typical markers at this phase of life. You’ve had kids. You have the job/career. You’ve probably created stability in your life. And now your attention turns to what else is there? This is a turning point where you may want to look at your chart to understand how you can align with what would bring you more fulfillment and how you can make a meaningful contribution. 

Chiron return: Fast forward ahead, about 10 more years, and we’re into the late forties, early fifties. This is the time of your Chiron return. Chiron is an asteroid that was discovered in 1978, and is known in mythology as the wounded healer. The Chiron placement is not on your traditional human design chart, but there is a Chiron gate.  However, when you get a reading about your Chiron return, your reader can look up that gate for you. 

The Chiron return in Human Design is known as the time of blossoming. You reach a level of maturity around age 48 – 52 that brings about a new phase in your life. I often see this show up for my clients as a second midlife crisis. The role of a parent may be coming to an end. The unfulfilled dreams of youth may be resurfacing again. And anything that was left unhealed earlier in life may present itself for healing. In order to truly blossom, you must deal with your proverbial achilles heel.  

This phase of life is especially important for people with a six in their profile. Sixth line profiles retreated from the trial and error experiences of youth 20 years before.  And now it’s time to come down from the “roof” (as it’s known in traditional Human Design) and blossom into the fulfillment of their role model purpose.

The theme of blossoming is true for everyone regardless of your profile. This is a time where you have an opportunity to bloom into one’s purpose… fulfill one’s mission… or to deal with and heal the stuff that stands in the way of one’s fulfillment. So the Chiron return is a great time to look at your Human Design chart and go deeper into your healing and personal development. 

Second Saturn return: Fast forward, 10 more years, and you’re at the second Saturn return. This is the turning point that I’m currently experiencing. Around the ages of 58 to 62, many people are considering retirement. There can be a sense of winding down from the hustle and grind of life. And, at least in my personal experience, there’s a feeling of getting a second chance at adulthood. The focus turns to cultivating a foundation that supports late adulthood… aka growing old. 

It’s similar to the first Saturn return in that the themes can be around money, income, home, community, and whatever else is important for a strong foundation. However, there is also an emphasis on fulfillment through joy.  My personal inquiry has been around what structures I need to have in place so that I make a contribution through what I truly enjoy?

A good look at your chart at your second Saturn return can review where you’ve been in the past as you look forward to the future.  You can get some clarity about what’s next in terms of your contributions to life, to the planet, to your family and how you’re hardwired in your design to live through this phase of your life. 

Uranus return: If you’re lucky enough to live into your eighties, you experience your Uranus Return at around age 84.I have yet to read for someone who is in their Uranus return.  This is when the themes of your unusualness really come home to be lived out. It’s a time to look back on all of the life cycles and how they played out. It’s an opportunity to gather up all of one’s life experiences from the past and distill them down into the legacy that was created. More on this later when I do a Uranus return reading.

I hope this article gave you a good idea of when you can most benefit from a Human Design reading and what you can get out of it at certain junctures in your life.  You don’t necessarily need to wait for a specific circumstance or turning point to receive a Human Design reading. You can benefit from a reading whenever you feel the need to deepen your understanding of who you are and how you operate. You can get a reading to iron out the sticking places in your life and relationships. 

How I like to do Human Design Readings:  I’ve been trained to do life cycle readings, relationship readings, and of course the foundational readings. But the way I love to work is to start where you are in your personal journey through life and your Human Design experiment. If that’s at the beginning, that’s where we start. If it’s a little further down the road, we go there. I love introducing people to the foundation of their chart. And as you come back for more, we integrate the appropriate information for where you are in your relationships, your life cycles, and your Human Design experiment. You could say that my style of reading is eclectic in that respect.  

Your first reading with me always touches on the foundation of type, strategy, and authority, just to be sure that you’re solid in your experiment. Then we go from there, focusing on you, what you need to know about yourself and your design, and taking into account where you are in your life. After your first reading, you have a variety of options for follow up sessions. You can get relationship readings, coaching and mentoring for aligning with your design. We can look at business/career, or pull out nuggets in your chart that shed light on your most pressing concerns. We can even go a bit broader and bring in intuitive guidance that’s based on the energy of your chart. 

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