Judgement vs. Far-Sightedness: Integrating Polarities #2
September 26-October 2, Human Design Gates 18 & 17
Welcome to the 2nd installment of Integrating Polarities, my new series here on Cycles of Time.
In a time of great divisiveness on planet earth, my goal with this project is to explore the integration of seemingly opposite themes in order to get in the practice of integrating polarities, moving beyond the binary and bridging the divide.
I’ll be writing about the sun and earth’s transits around the Human Design Mandala, with a transmission coming out every 5.5-6 days, when the sun enters a new gate as it travels around the Zodiac.
These transmissions are timely, sent out at the beginning of each sun/earth transit into a new gate, and they can be read like an integrative horoscope for the themes of the days ahead.
To learn more about the background of this project, read the first transmission.
Transit Report: Saturday, Sept. 27 - Thursday, October 2
☉ The SUN is Libra, in the Gate of Correction (18), opposite from
⨁ The EARTH in Aries, in the Gate of Opinions (17).
🌞 Sun in Gate 18: “Correction”
I’Ching: “Work on What Has Been Spoiled”
Gene Key 18: Judgment → Integrity → Perfection
Zodiac: Libra
🌍 Earth in Gate 17: “Opinions”
I’Ching: “Following”
Gene Key 17: Opinion → Far-Sightedness → Omniscience
Zodiac: Aries
Integrating Polarities: Judging vs. Following
As we move deeper into the fall here in the northern hemisphere, the sun activates the 2nd gate of Libra season: Gate 18, the Gate of Correction. Known as “Work on what has been Spoiled” in the I’ching, the next few days carry a conscious energy of judging what is wrong with our circumstances and correcting/perfecting them.
On the opposite side of the wheel, the earth is in Aries Gate 17, the Gate of Opinions. This gate’s gift is Far-Sightedness, and it is about welcoming in opinions from all angles without judgement. Paul O’Brien of the I’ching blog Divination Foundation says this about Gate 17: “Those who wish to acquire a following must speak the language of their followers. Those who wish to be loved must become the imagined lover of their beloved.Those who wish to prosper must bend with the pressures of the world.”
Right now, we are called to stand firm and make our judgements about the multitudes of happenings in the world. Libra is represented by the scales of justice. This season (and this pivotal moment in human history) is demanding that we understand our definitions of justice and integrity, that each of us does our part to work on correcting what has been spoiled. This gate seeks to improve systems, people, and patterns, ultimately bringing things into greater alignment with truth and integrity.
But the earth in the adaptable gate of Opinions reflects to us that the act of judging and correcting can easily be taken too far. We all know too well the online comment sections that can turn into brutally polarizing battlefields, the rampant cancel culture that reminds us that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind… When we’re too caught up with our own sense of what is just, true, and perfect, we are unable to hear other perspectives.
My mom has her sun in the gate of Opinions, and I’m always blown away by how much she loves hearing other people’s stories and weaving them into her own experience, helping her to form far-sighted and accepting opinions. She’ll get into deep chats with everyone she meets, and every time I talk to her she is excited to sharing the stories of all the interesting people she’s connected with in the past few days- she’s never judging them, just open to their perspectives and integrating them into her own opinions.
I also have several family members and friends with The Gate of Correction, Gate 18, defined in their charts as well. I can see their tendency to want to improve upon situations, and I have talked to some of them about the pleasure they find in the act of critiquing things in order to make them better. Gate 17 is in the Ajna or 3rd eye center in the Human Design Bodygraph, and Gate 18 is in the Spleen center- both of them hold the energy of trusting the present moment- this week’s sun gate is more about using discernment and trusting your judgement in the moment, and the earth gate is about being open to a wider perspective without needing to correct it.
(Want to know which of these gates you have active? Download your Human Design Chart here to follow along with this series.)
In seasonal/ecological terms, I think about the Gate 17, the second gate in Aries season, as a baby ram exploring the world with wide eyes, being open to opinions of others, and using it’s new voice to bleat out it’s own opinions, too. On the other side of the wheel, Gate 18 the second gate of Libra season evokes the scales weighing out the fruits of the harvest, using judgement and a sense of responsibility to decide what needs to be improved or corrected in order to properly store the food as we head into the colder months. In the Daoist Wuxing cycle, Gate 18 is in the season of Metal, a time of cutting out the fluff, refining, and paring down to the basics, while Gate 17 is in the season of Wood- upward growth and infinite potential.
Earth gates in Human Design are energies that help us feel grounded, rooting into the opposite energy so that the sun gate’s energy can rise with a brighter shine. This week, when we ground into and understand the energy of following, being adaptable, listening to the opinions of others, and having a far-sighted or omnicient approach, we’re better able to fix what is spoiled than when we get too fixated on our individualized sense of correction.
Ultimately, Gate 18, Correction, sees what is broken and longs to refine it, carrying the impulse to heal and bring integrity back to something that has gone bad. Gate 17, Opinions, organizes patterns into frameworks of meaning, offering visions of what could be based on being open to many opinions. Together, they weave critical insight with guiding perspective: 18 diagnoses, 17 prescribes. The integration for this week is learning to hold both, sharpening our perception without falling into harsh judgment, and shaping opinions that are spacious rather than rigid.
THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENT (Sept 27-Oct 2):
Make it a point to Love your Power of Discernmen. Honor the part of you that sees what is off, what is spoiled, what longs to be corrected and refined. Let your eye for what needs improvement come not from judgment, but from devotion to integrity and the desire to uplift life into its best expression. (Gate 18)
—AND ALSO—
Love your Open-hearted Vision, your mind’s gift for perceiving patterns, naming possibilities, and offering perspectives that stretch beyond the moment. Hold your opinions and others opinions lightly, as guiding stars instead of rigid dogma, and let them expand into far-sightedness that connects you with the larger order of things. (Gate 17)
Is Gate 18 or 17 defined in your chart? Let me know how it shows up for you in the comments!
The next gate the Sun will enter on Friday, Oct. 3 is Gate 48: The Gate of Depth. It is across the wheel from the Earth in Gate 21: The Hunter. This polarity will bring us us a central tension between deep, intuitive wisdom and the material world of control and resources.
Until then, may you find balance between judgement and far-sightedness, allowing spaciousness and open-mindedness into your acts of correcting what needs improvement.
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Next Wednesday (Oct 1): Libra Breathwork Journey
If you’d like to learn more about the energies of Libra season and resource yourself with an embodied breathwork experience, I’m hosting a Libra Season Workshop & Breathwork Journey next Wednesday, October1 at 5pm MST on Zoom.
In these monthly sessions, we chat for about an hour about the archetype of the season, and then I guide you through a 45-minute conscious-connected revolutionary breathwork session. Next week we’re tapping into Libra’s sense of harmony and balance.
(Paid subscribers/ Embody the Revolution members, remember to use code EMBODY for a free ticket).
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I have been looking for just this! I am a HD student looking to deepen my awareness and understanding of the transits. Thank you, look forward to following this series :-)
Thank you so much for this! I don’t have either gate defined in my chart, but your analysis and prescription for this week are spot on and so helpful for navigating through a tricky situation.