Integrating Polarities: Determination vs. Versatility
Nov. 28 - Dec. 3: The Sun is in Human Design Gate 9 (Focus) opposite the Earth in Gate 16 (Skills)
Hey friends,
Hope you had a great day of gratitude, however you choose to spend this time off work.
We continue on through the work of Integrating Polarities, a series that focuses on practicing the art of wholeness - weaving opposites, moving beyond the binary, and bridging the divide.
Every 5–6 days, as the Sun enters a new gate in the Human Design Mandala, I’ll share a timely transmission you can read like an integrative horoscope for the days ahead.
Before we dive in, I wanted to thank all of you who have pre-ordered one of my Human Design MANDALA 64 decks! They’ll ship this week, so this is your last chance to get in on this batch- you still have time to order one using the link below.
Mandala 64: A Human Design Learning & Oracle Deck
This Week’s Transits:
The Sun 🌞 is in the Gate of Focus (9)
The Earth 🌍 is in the Gate of Skills (16)
Fri, November 28- Wed, December 3 : Focus vs. Skills
As we continue into Sag season, the raw power of the centaur-archer evolves as he focuses his sight on the horizon, aims his bow and arrow, and shoots. The season of winter looms ahead, a clear, singular, focused strategy is key for this time of year as we begin the descent into the darkness.
Across the sky, we can ground into the memories of early summer, when the Gemini gate of Skills reminds us to enthusiastically diversify our interests and interactions like a bee pollinating all the different flowers, paying attention to what feels natural and in flow. The skills that we honed since May will come in handy this week, as we focus in on their applications when we need them most.
Saturn just stationed direct on Thanksgiving after months of retrograde motion, and Mercury stations direct on Saturday the 29th after 3 weeks of communications chaos. These direct planetary stations are happening in perfect timing as the sun moves through the gate of Focus— this weekend and early next week will feel less about reviewing and more about aiming our arrow straight toward the structures and dialogues that can move the needle forward in our lives.
Let’s dive in.
The I’Ching, Human Design, Gene Keys, and Zodiac
🌞 Sun in Gate 9: “Focus”
I’Ching: “The Taming Power of the Small” (Wind over Heaven)
Gene Keys: Inertia → Determination → Invincibility
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Bodygraph Center: Sacral
🌍 Earth in Gate 16: “Skills”
I’Ching: “Enthusiasm” (Thunder over Earth)
Gene Keys: Indifference → Versatility → Mastery
Zodiac: Gemini
Bodygraph Center: Throat
(Want to know which of these gates you have defined in your bodygraph? Download your Human Design Chart here to follow along with this series in a personal way.
If you have a gate defined, you will probably be more familiar with it’s energy, and it can be interesting to look at it’s polar opposite gate too! )
This week, the assignment is to balance determination with versatility.
Gate 9: Focus
The Sun in Gate 9 brings us into the field of Focus, which, in the I’Ching, is called The Taming Power of the Small. Coming right after Hexagram 34 in the Mandala, which is known as The Power of the Great, Hexagram 9 is a reminder that subtle forces can guide immense outcomes. The image is Wind over Heaven, evoking a light and persistent breeze moving across a vast landscape, shaping it grain by grain.
In the Gene Keys, the journey moves from Inertia to Determination to Invincibility. The shadow of inertia is that feeling of a snowball effect, where we just keep going toward where we’ve already been rolling because the force of gravity is too powerful- not necessarily because we’ve chosen the right direction. With the Gift of Determination, we still have this same quality of movement, but is more awake, more aware of the goal and the specific direction we’re headed. The siddhi of Invincibility is the spiritually transcendent level of this energy, when that focus of determination becomes a force that nothing can interrupt, like roots shooting downward before a plant bursts through the soil.
In the bodygraph, Gate 9 lives in the Sacral center, so its wisdom is found inside the body, not in the mind. This gate carries the intelligence of repetition, craft, and follow-through. Sagittarius season often brings large visions, wild horizons, and grand declarations, and Gate 9 grounds that by asking where the big energy actually wants to land. It doesn’t shrink the centaur’s power or vision, but it gives it a particular horizon to ride off into.
The heart of this hexagram is the practice of choosing one thing and giving it genuine attention. Focus here is the kind of energy that makes musicians return to practicing their scales, writers return to crafting brilliant sentences, and herbalists return to the soil.
Over time, when tamed by our determined actions, small can become powerful. Determination aligns the whole system with a single direction, so that the work required of the season can become lighter and the path can become clearer. When you no longer scatter yourself to the winds, but instead root into consistent actions, you become someone who knows how to stay with what matters.
Gate 9 teaches that what looks small often carries the greatest influence. Focus becomes a form of prayer that can shape our lives.
Gate 16: Skills
With the Earth in Gate 16 this week, the ground beneath our feet has the pulse of Enthusiasm, as the I’Ching calls this hexagram. The trigrams that it’s composed of are Thunder over Earth, forming an image of thunderous energy arising from receptive soil, symbolizing how genuine excitement can arise and spread when properly grounded.
The Gene Keys describe this energetic progression with the shadow of Indifference, the gift of Versatility, and the siddhi of Mastery. Indifference is the flat space before inspiration stirs. Versatility is the excitement you get by remembering that inspiration comes when you act first, think later, and aren’t afraid of trying new things. Mastery arrives when you find love in the acts of doing, and your enthusiasm for life starts to build a true skill in one area or another. You know something so intimately because you love it so much that improvisation becomes natural.
Gate 16 lives in the Throat center, which means this is where energy wants to be shared. Stories spill out, and ideas animate your voice before you have time to shape them into anything focused. Gemini adds a quick wit to the mix, a curiosity that moves between topics like a bird hopping between branches, a bee pollinating flowers. There is a liveliness here that enjoys connecting the dots and speaking out loud simply to see how it sounds in the air.
Enthusiasm in this gate is when you stop overthinking it or trying too hard, and simply follow the thread of what lights you up while doing it. Think of a musician who has practiced scales for years, suddenly catching a melody that wasn’t planned. Their fingers know what to do because they have been preparing for that exact moment.
The Earth here gives weight and substance to what wants to be expressed. It anchors creativity in the body so the voice carries truth instead of performance. It also creates an appetite for experimentation. Try this technique, follow that idea, and see where the rhythm leads. Mastery becomes a living thing rather than an achievement.
Integrating Focus & Skills
With the Sun in Gate 9 focusing your lens and the Earth in Gate 16 animating your voice, the next few days hold a kind of creative coherence, a beautiful balance between the fire of Sagittarius and the air of Gemini. The details you tend become the skills you share. Enthusiasm rises from the ground up and invites the world in.
Integrating Gates 9 and 16 means letting focused devotion and expressive enthusiasm work as a single rhythm. Gate 9 gathers your energy into something precise, giving your attention a clear anchor, while Gate 16 animates that anchored focus with skill, play, and voice.
When they move together, your creativity becomes both grounded and alive. You can stay with the small steps long enough for real momentum to build, and when the moment of expression arrives, it carries substance, confidence, and ease. This pairing turns practice and dedication into artistry.
THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENT (Nov 8–Dec 3):
Gate 9: Focus Your Fire
This week, let your attention go where your body- your gut- is actually asking you to. Honor the tug toward the small, specific thing that wants your focus, rather than the pressure to take on everything at once. Gate 9’s assignment is to work with what is right in front of you and to trust the cumulative power of steady presence. Precision is its form of strength. Small actions taken with real commitment move mountains over time, so choose the grain of sand that matters and give it your full yes.
—AND ALSO—
Gate 16: Express What Is Alive for You
This week, it will feel grounding to let your voice rise from genuine engagement rather than performance. Gate 16 asks you to speak from the part of you that is awake, curious, and responsive in the moment. Skill builds when expression stays connected to the body and the breath. Instead of trying to impress or perfect, let your words carry the energy of what you are actually experiencing. This gate thrives on enthusiasm, play, and lived truth, so allow your communication to come from presence. It will feel better, land cleaner, and create real connection.
Together, gates 9 and 16 remind us to stay focused on the horizon while also staying playful and enthusiastic about to the variety of what life has to offer.
Is Gate 9 or 16 defined in your chart? Let me know how it shows up for you:
The next gate the Sun will enter (on December 4, right before the full moon) is Gate 5, the Sagittarius Gate of Fixed Rhythm. It is across the wheel from the Earth and the Moon in Gate 35, the Gemini Gate of Change, reminding us to hold steady to the rituals that keep us anchored while remaining open to the changes that have to happen to move life forward.
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Cheers,
Alison
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