Human Design Variable Arrows: What Do They Mean & What Can They Tell You?
Articles / Human Design
Human Design Variable Arrows: What Do They Mean & What Can They Tell You?
Variables are considered to be a more advanced area of Human Design, so it’s recommended that you get very familiar and comfortable with your Energy Type, Strategy, Authority, and even Profile before diving too deep into the variables. The variables are super interesting though, so I’ll give you a general overview of each arrow, and when you are ready to experiment with them, the recommended flow is to start with the top left arrow, and then go to the bottom left, and then bottom right, and then top right.
Okay, so basically, the four variable arrows that are found at the top of the BodyGraph show us how we are designed to take in, experience, process, and filter things (like food, information, energy from people, sensory data, etc). Each of the arrows on your chart will either be pointing left or right, and the “rightness” or “leftness” of each variable gives a general overlayer to it. Left-pointing arrows show us where we are designed to be more active, strategic, focused, planning, analytical, and goal-oriented. Right-pointing arrows show us where we are designed to be more passive, receptive, peripheral, intuitive, imaginative, and open-minded. It is important to note that neither left nor right is better than the other (despite what societal programming may have taught us).
The direction of each arrow is determined by the combination of what is called Colour and Tone. Colours and Tones are the deeper layers of each variable and are indicated by the little numbers that can be seen beside the arrows (if you have generated your chart on my website, you will see them). When you look at the list of information below your BodyGraph on my website, there is some Colour and Tone information listed there, and they are listed as Determination/Digestion, Cognition (or what I like to call Body Sense), Environment, Perspective, Motivation, and Sense (which I like to call Awareness Sense). There is actually one more, deepest layer called Base, but I’m not going to get into that here.
At this point you’re probably wondering what each of the four arrows tells you about your design, so here is a general overview of them:
As you may know from this article where I go into more detail, every Human Design chart illustrates two sets of data or information that create two different components or sides of your design — the body (also called the design) side, and the personality side. The data for the body component of your design is listed to the left of your BodyGraph and is illustrated in red. The data for the personality component of your design is listed to the right of your BodyGraph and is illustrated in black.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that the two components of your design come together to create the unique human being that is you, however, we tend to identify more with the personality component of our design since it is the part that we are mentally consciously aware of (we are not mentally consciously aware of the body component of our design).
So corresponding to this, the two arrows on the left side of your BodyGraph come from the body component of your design, and show you how your brain and body are created to get proper internal and external nourishment through your correct dietary regimen and environment, and the two arrows on the right side come from the conscious mind/personality component of your design and deal with your mind and awareness. The two arrows on the right also show you how to achieve your cognitive potential using your specific Motivation and Perspective.
To get more specific…
Top Left Arrow: (Your Brain and Body, Determination/Digestion, and Cognition/Body Sense)
The top left arrow is determined by the placement of the Sun and Earth in the unconscious/body component of your design. This arrow tells you about your brain and body, and if they are wired to be Active or Passive.
If your top left arrow is pointing left, your brain and body are designed to be Active. Active brains have a high level of mental activity, and require more food and nourishment to fuel the activity and maintain optimal functioning. If your top left arrow is pointing left, your body is also designed to be physically active and will do best when it gets to exercise on a regular basis.
If your top left arrow is pointing right, your brain and body are designed to be Passive. Passive brains are said to have lower levels of activity. Because of this passive style of functioning, it requires less food/fuel to sustain optimal functioning. Just to be clear, having an active or passive mind does not have anything to do with intelligence, it’s just the way that the brain functions. So if your top left arrow is pointing right, your body is also designed to be more passive and requires less physical activity for optimal health.
The top left arrow also indicates your ability to cope with heat. If your top left arrow is pointing left, you are able to handle heat better than those who have this arrow pointing right. If your top left arrow is pointing right, your brain is not as well equipped to deal with heat, and you may be uncomfortable in the heat, or experience heat-related illnesses. If your top left arrow is pointing right, it is important for you to manage the temperature of your environment and whatever you take into your body (whether it be food, drink, or different forms of energy) to make sure that you don’t get too hot.
The Colour and Tone of the top left arrow tell you more about how your body and brain are designed to function, specifically your Determination (also called Digestion) and your Cognition (which I like to call Body Sense).
Your Determination/Digestion is how you are designed to take in nourishment, specifically food and drink. There are six different Digestion types, and each one of the types has two subtypes which are determined by the direction that the arrow is pointing. The Digestion types and their subtypes are: direct light, indirect light, high sound, low sound, calm touch, stimulant touch, hot thirst, cold thirst, open taste, closed taste, consecutive appetite, and alternating appetite.
Your Cognition or Body Sense can be thought of as your strongest sense, or the sense that your body is designed to use in order to process information and navigate the world. I like to think of Cognition as one of our superpowers. The six different Cognitions are: touch, feeling, inner vision, outer vision, taste, and smell. You can think of them literally (like literally having an acute sense of smell or taste) or you can think of them metaphorically (like being able to “smell” when something is not right or having great “taste” in art).
Bottom Left Arrow: (Your Relationship to Your Environment & People in it + Your Ideal Environment)
The bottom left arrow is determined by the placement of the North and South Nodes in the unconscious/body layer of your design. This bottom left arrow represents your relationship to your environment and the people in it, and it tells you about the environment that supports you in living out your unique destiny in alignment with your design.
If your bottom left arrow is pointing left, then you are predisposed to be an active observer in your environment. If your bottom left arrow is pointing left you are also designed to thrive in an “active” environment that has a feeling of excitement, energy, collaboration, and movement. The ideal environment for someone with their bottom left arrow pointing left, is one that is more stimulating, one that can be actively engaged with and participate in, and one that they can have collaborations and conversations with people in.
If your bottom left arrow is pointing right, then you are predisposed to being observed in your environment. If your bottom left arrow is pointing right, you are also designed to thrive in a “passive” environment that has a feeling of calm and tranquillity — a place where you can take your time, recharge your batteries, take it all in, and nourish yourself.
The Colour and Tone of the bottom left arrow bring more detail and description to what specific kind of environment best supports you and the health of your body. There are six different Environment types and each one of the types has two subtypes which are determined by the direction that your bottom left arrow is pointing. The Environment types and subtypes are: natural shores, artificial shores, narrow valleys, wide valleys, active mountains, passive mountains, wet kitchens, dry kitchens, internal markets, external markets, exclusive caves, and blending caves.
Bottom Right Arrow: (Your Perception of People & The World and Your Perspective/View)
The bottom right arrow is determined by the placement of the North and South Nodes in the conscious/personality layer of your design and tells you about your view or perspective — what your personality thinks about the outside world and its interactions with it, or in other words, how you see and perceive the world and people around you.
If your bottom right arrow is pointing left, you are designed to have a focused view or perception of the world.
If your bottom right arrow is pointing right, you are designed to have a broader peripheral view or perception of the world.
The Colour layer of this variable shows you six different Perspective/View types which are: personal, probability, wanting/need, power, possibility, and survival.
Your Perspective/View and your Awareness Sense (which I will talk about in the next variable) work together, where your Awareness Sense determines the goal, and your Perspective determines the methods of achieving the goal.
Top Right Arrow: (Your Mind, Your Motivation, and Your Awareness Sense)
The top right arrow is determined by the placement of the Sun and Earth in the conscious/personality layer of your design and tells you about your mind and awareness — how you are designed to take in and process information, think, conceptualize, and problem-solve. The direction that the top right arrow points determines if your mind is designed to be either Strategic or Receptive.
If your top right arrow is pointing left, your mind is Strategic. Strategic minds are more focused, analytical, planning, goal-oriented, methodical, systematic, and logical in the way that they process information and problem-solve.
If your top right arrow is pointing right, then your mind is Receptive. Receptive minds take everything in, and are open, flexible, and more intuitive and imaginative. The Receptive mind has a more calm, reflective, introspective, empathetic, and creative approach to processing information and problem-solving.
Remember that neither left nor right is better than the other despite what we may have been conditioned to believe. Strategic and Receptive minds both have their strengths and challenges.
The Colour and Tone of the top right arrow tell you more about how your mind and awareness are designed to work, specifically your Motivation and your Sense (which I like to call Awareness Sense).
Your Motivation is the underlying reason or driving force that is at the deeper level of your mind, and influences your decisions and actions, as well as the way that you see the world. There are six different Motivation types, and each one of the types has two subtypes depending if the arrow is pointing left or right. The Motivation types with their subtypes are: observer innocence, observed innocence, conditioner guilt, conditioned guilt, master need, novice need, leader desire, follower desire, theist hope, anti-theist hope, communalist fear, and separatist fear.
Your Awareness Sense is how you consciously perceive the people that come into your close environment or aura. When someone comes into close enough range where you can feel their frequency or vibration, your Sense is the way in which you process that energy or information. Your Sense is how you take in and use the information that you get from people, what you focus on, and what you’re concerned with. There are six Awareness Senses: Acceptance, Judgement, Meditation, Action, Uncertainty, and Security. Like I mentioned before, your Awareness Sense and your Perspective or View work together, where Sense determines the goal, and Perspective determines the methods of achieving the goal.
Just a note if you generated your Human Design chart on my website (and this is the case for most charts you’ll find online) but below your BodyGraph in the list of information, you will see your Motivation listed, but not the Motivation subtype that corresponds to the arrow pointing left or right. So what you will see listed for your Motivation is either innocence, guilt, need, desire, hope, or fear. I honestly don’t know why, this is just the way that the chart-generating software that I have works. But if you did want to dig deeper into the Tones of this variable, or any other variable, I suggest booking a session with a Human Design guide that specializes in the Variables.
What’s Next?
Check out the links below if you want to learn more about Human Design, if you want to be notified when new articles are published, if you want to see where I sourced my information from, or if you want to generate your Human Design chart for free on my website.
And if you’re now feeling the urge to start experimenting with Human Design, please read my post: Human Design at the Tenth House.
:) Steph
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Click the link below to generate your Human Design chart on my website for free.
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The Human Design System by Ra Uru Hu
From The Book of Letters: A Guide to Human Design Analysis Based on the Human Design System by Ra Uru Hu
The Science of Differentiation: The Definitive Book of Human Design By Ra Uru Hu & Lynda Brunell
Rave Cosmology III: Dying, Death, and the Bardo Stages by Ra Uru Hu
Rave Cosmology VIII: Mystic Monologues by Ra Uru Hu
Rave Cosmology V: Brahma's Night and Beyond by Ra Uru Hu
Living your Design: A New Manual for Awakening by Ra Uru Hu, revised & edited by Richard Rudd
Living your Design: A Manual for Cellular Transformation, Instructor Manual by: Lynda Bunnell
https://www.jovianarchive.com/Products/377/A_Look_at_the_Rave
https://www.jovianarchive.com/Stories/10/Introduction_to_the_Human_Design_System
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