Keynote - Self Empowerment

When you examine the six Rave circuits closely, you will notice that there appear to be four channels that are “missing”. These are the integration channels. These channels represent the most complex connective field in Human Design.

All the other channels are created by a single connection between two centers and two gates. But in this case it is the only channel system that operates through just four gates - and there are several different ways in which those four gates interconnect with each other. You have four centers connected by four gates, giving rise to the possibility of six channels (see image).

Of these six channels, two (the 20/57, channel of the Brainwave and the 34/10, channel of exploration) belong to the Knowing and Centering circuits respectively. The remaining four channels are known as the integration channels, and do not belong to any circuitry.

The reason for this is that it is through the circuits that we connect to each other. Even the Individual Circuitry empowers the other. But the Integration channels are absolutely individual and separate from the other. The integration channel system is a pure survival mechanism. It is rooted in the splenic survival of the self.

People with definition in this channel system are only concerned with their own process of self empowerment. This is not a channel system that is concerned with whether or not others are being empowered, sharing or supported. There aren't any social channels in the integration channels and you could even say they are the exact opposite of the collective process.

When looking at the centers of awareness, the splenic awareness is our first human awareness, being an existential alertness to guarantee our well being. Shared with all the other forms of life, this is the dominant awareness in our long evolutionary process. Sometime about 4.2 million years ago, when our earliest ‘humanlike’ ancestors began to walk erect, the process of individuation began. The design of these early ‘hominids’ is seen reflected in the integration channels.

Despite the deeply selfish element of these channels, there is, however, a powerful transforming agent that can make an integrative life mutative, and that is the 28th or the 38th gate. In such a case, self empowerment can then open up to the mutative potential of general empowerment.

So when you examine a chart, if you see any of these integration gates and there is no 28 or 38 then you can interpret it as an integration system and give it the keynote of self empowerment. But if the chart includes the Gate 28 or the 38, then the system is going to be more oriented to individual empowerment. In a sense, the 28-38 tones down the self centered survival mechanism and makes it a little more aware of the other.

Important point to tell people who have any of the integration channels: BE SELF SUFFICIENT (your own bank account, your own car, your own life). This is not about sharing. You come together with others as self sufficient beings. Definitely pay your own way at diner.

Case study Using Ra's chart as an example, you can see that he has the 20, the 10, and the 57, evidencing a strong emphasis on integration. Because he does not have Gate 34, 28 or 38, you would interpret his integration with the keynote of self empowerment rather than empowerment. Ra's example shows that self empowerment is his potential to be awake in the now.