The Four Types in Traditional Human Design
An introduction to the original types as shared by Ra Uru Hu
Human Design is a complicated system. It’s based on your birth information and has many layers to it. Maybe you’ve even looked up your chart and are like, What is all this?!
The most important thing to know is your type. Understanding your type alone can help you have more success and ease in all areas of your life, including:
your career
your romantic relationships
your other relationships as a parent, friend, or coworker
your health
Each type has a different role in society and operates differently. Understanding your type helps you live more as your true or authentic self.
So how do you know your type? You need to look it up using your birth information. You can look up your type here for free.
As shared by the originator of Human Design, Ra Uru Hu, there are four types of humans. After his death in 2011, subsequent iterations of Human Design changed that to five types.
Here are the original four types and their societal role according to Ra Uru Hu.
1) Generators, the builders
Generators make up around 70% of the population. They are society’s builders. They are gifted with a lot of energy to do work that they love, and this can include building a family. Their gift to the world is their work.
Around half of Generators are called Manifesting Generators as opposed to pure Generators. You will often see Manifesting Generators separated as their own type, but in traditional Human Design they are considered a variation of the Generator type. [I used to share them as a separate type.]
Manifesting Generators are often multi-passionate in the work that they do. They can radically pivot from career to career or juggle multiple interests at once. Pure Generators have a more steadfast, step-by-step trajectory.
The key to all Generators success and satisfaction is to not chase after things or initiate action, but wait to see what opportunities and people show up in their world, and then respond. When they drop out of their heads and listen to their gut instinct instead, they become magnetic to what life has to offer them.
2) Projectors, the guides
Projectors make up around 20% of the population. They are society’s guides. Their gift to the world is their unique perspectives and ability to guide others.
They are not designed to work consistently, like Generators, and their energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. They often burn out in traditional 9-to-5 jobs. The key to Projectors success is to wait to be invited by others to share what they see and know, rather than push their advice onto others.
Projectors are here to be seen and recognized, and even step into leadership positions. But they must be patient and wait for others to invite them, including into romantic relationships.
Projectors will experience a lot of resistance when they try to initiate. Their success comes through invitation only.
3) Manifestors, the initiators
Manifestors make up around 9% of the population. They are society’s initiators. They are designed to have a powerful impact and often have a catalyzing effect on others. They are gifted at manifesting, aka bringing their ideas to life quickly.
The key for Manifestors to manifest in peace is to inform those around them of their decisions before they take action. They are the only type designed to initiate action and make things happen. Often what they bring into the world is bold and innovative. They are trailblazers.
Their initiatory energy is a gift to those around them, though it can sometimes ruffle people’s feathers and make them uneasy. Like Projectors, they don’t have consistent energy and need to rest between their surges of action. That’s usually when their next big idea lands.
4) Reflectors, the discerners
Reflectors make up around 1% of the population. They are society’s discerners. They are here to evaluate what is working and not working in any environment they’re in, and reflect back what can be improved. At a high level, they are here to be impartial judges of humanity and point out injustices.
Reflectors’ sensitivity allows them to be the wisest members of a community. Their gift to the world is seeing what the other types miss and being a non-judgmental mirror for others. Reflectors are designed to have a fluid, chameleon-like identity, so it takes them time to come to their own conclusions. They are meant to wait 28 days before making major decisions.
Place is key to Reflectors’ success. When they are in the right place, the right opportunities and people will flow to them, and they will delight in the surprises life offers them.
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Type is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your Human Design. The next step is to learn your type’s strategy, something you can very practically apply to your life to improve it. I weaved a bit of each type’s strategy into the descriptions above, and I hope you continue your Human Design journey and delve deeper.
To learn more about your unique Human Design, book a 1:1 session with me. I help people make better love, career, and life decisions for themselves.