The Seven Human Design Authorities
In Human Design, authority is the part of your chart that the system says you should use to make decisions. It always comes from one center, and only one of seven authorities applies to you. Which one depends on which centers are defined, taken in a fixed order of priority.
Seven ways to decide
All seven
The seven authorities in priority order
Go down the cards from number 1 and stop at the first one that fits your chart.
Wait out the waveEmotional authority
Clarity over a wave of moods
- Yours if
- Solar plexus defined
- Who has it
- All types except Reflector
- How long it takes
- Hours, days or longer
Trust your gut responseSacral authority
Gut response to a question
- Yours if
- Otherwise, sacral defined
- Who has it
- Generators, Manifesting Generators
- How long it takes
- In the moment
Follow your first instinctSplenic authority
Quiet instinct that speaks once
- Yours if
- Otherwise, spleen defined
- Who has it
- Manifestors, Projectors
- How long it takes
- In the moment
Check what you truly wantEgo authority
Check of what you want and can promise
- Yours if
- Otherwise, heart defined
- Who has it
- Manifestors, Projectors
- How long it takes
- Minutes to hours, often by talking
Hear yourself talk it throughSelf-projected authority
Hearing yourself speak
- Yours if
- Otherwise, G center joined to the throat
- Who has it
- Projectors
- How long it takes
- During a conversation
Listen as you talkMental authority
Sounding board and surroundings
- Yours if
- Otherwise, only head, ajna or throat defined
- Who has it
- Projectors
- How long it takes
- Several conversations
Give it a full monthLunar authority
Observing a choice across a month
- Yours if
- No center defined
- Who has it
- Reflectors
- How long it takes
- About 28 days
How to find yours
TwoInks lists your authority as soon as you calculate a chart, and the guide to reading your chart explains how to check it by eye. The priority order matters more than it looks. A Generator with a defined solar plexus and a defined sacral has emotional authority, not sacral, and waits out the wave before committing.
Three speeds
The seven fall into three groups by how they work.
In the moment. Sacral and splenic authority give a quick signal that is felt rather than reasoned. The teaching for both is to notice the first reaction, because the mind tends to talk over it.
Over time. Emotional and lunar authority both need a stretch of days. Emotional authority follows your own mood wave, and lunar authority follows the Moon's cycle. Neither is meant for snap decisions.
Through words. Ego, self-projected and mental authority all use conversation to bring the answer out. The difference is whose voice matters: your own will, your own speech, or the reactions of trusted listeners.
A worked example
Take a chart where the spleen, heart and throat are defined, and the sacral and solar plexus are open. Go down the cards. The solar plexus is open, so it is not emotional. The sacral is open, so it is not sacral. The spleen is defined, so the answer is splenic. The heart is also defined, but it ranks lower, so it does not decide. If the same chart had a defined sacral too, the sacral would come first.
Which types get which authority
Generators and Manifesting Generators always have a defined sacral, so they end up with emotional or sacral authority. Manifestors have emotional, splenic or ego. Projectors have the widest range: emotional, splenic, ego, self-projected or mental. Reflectors always have lunar.
What authority is not
It is not a prediction that your decision will turn out well. The system describes authority as a way of choosing in line with your design, and it does not claim to remove risk. It is also meant for decisions that matter. Choosing what to eat for lunch does not need a three-day wave.
Authority is one more claim from Human Design, a belief system without scientific support. A practical way to test it is to pick one real decision, follow the steps for your authority, and record how it felt afterward. The method page explains what the chart calculation does and does not establish.
Questions
Updated
How many authorities are there in Human Design?
Seven: emotional, sacral, splenic, ego, self-projected, mental and lunar. Mental is also called no inner authority, and any one chart has exactly one of them.
Which Human Design authority is the most common?
Emotional, at roughly half of all people in the figures teachers quote. Sacral comes next in the same figures. These numbers are community estimates and not counts.
What if two of my centers could be my authority?
The priority list settles it. You take the first defined center on the list, so a defined solar plexus always beats a defined sacral, and a defined sacral beats a defined spleen.
Is authority more important than strategy in Human Design?
The system puts them in sequence. Strategy sets the approach, such as respond or wait for an invitation, and authority is then used for the actual decision inside it.
Does everyone have an inner voice to follow?
Not according to the system. Mental authority means no center that supplies an inner signal, and Reflectors rely on a lunar cycle. Both are told to use other people and time instead.
