Head Center in Human Design

What the center is for

The head is where wondering starts. Curiosity, "what if" thoughts and the itch of an unanswered question are all attributed to it. According to the system, it sends this pressure down to the ajna, which turns questions into concepts and opinions.

It is not a decision maker. No authority in the system belongs to the head, and no type depends on it. Teachers say its job is to prompt thought, and the rest of the chart decides what to do with the prompt.

Gates and connections

The head can only be defined through the ajna, and there is no other route. If you see a filled head, you will also see a filled ajna with at least one of those channels between them.

When the head is defined

A defined head is described as having a fixed way of generating questions. The inspiration arrives steadily and from the same direction, whatever is happening around you. People with it may find that they always have a project, a puzzle or a topic they are turning over.

The system also says a defined head can be a source of pressure for other people.

Watch for

If you share every idea you have, those around you may start to feel they should respond to all of them. A defined head is advised to pick which thoughts to pass on.

When the head is open

The system says an open head takes in the questions of whoever is nearby. You might leave a lecture with ten new puzzles that you did not have before you went in, or come home from work carrying a problem that belongs to a colleague.

This can be an advantage. An open head can look at questions from many angles because none of them is fixed. The cost is that you may feel pressed to find an answer to everything you encounter, including things that are not yours.

The not-self theme in the system is trying to answer every question.

Try this

Choose which questions deserve your attention and let the others go unresolved. A question you can put down is not necessarily a question you failed.

A few ways to notice the difference

• After a conversation. Do you leave with your own questions or with the other person's? If theirs, that points toward openness.
• Ideas every day. Do ideas appear for you every day regardless of where you are? That points toward a defined head.
• A friend's anxiety. When a friend is anxious about a decision, do you start worrying about it yourself? An open head is said to take that on.

These are prompts for reflection and not a test.

What this looks like in your chart

Look for the small triangle at the very top. If it is filled in, it is defined. It becomes defined only through one of three channels, 47-64, 24-61 or 4-63, and each of them also fills the ajna below. If it is pale, it is open.

Our free chart calculator shows which of your centers are defined. The guide to reading your chart explains defined and open centers together.

Nothing in this description has been tested outside Human Design. The method page explains how this site frames the system.