Lately, I’ve been spending time daily to immerse myself into the worlds of Human Design (HD) and Gene Keys (GK). For those who are not familiar with these, you can do a Google search to get your free profiles for each one, and there are lots of free resources online to explain what every detail means.
Both of these are based on a synthesis of Astrology, Vedic philosophy, Kabbalah, and probably most pronounced of all: I Ching.
Both are cosmic transmissions that came to their founders as downloads. Human Design was created by Ra Hru Hu (formerly Robert Allan Krakower); Gene Keys was created by Richard Rudd. Richard was one of the early students of Ra Hru Hu and spent 7 years studying and teaching Human Design, including writing books on it, before integrating many of its elements into the Gene Keys. The gate numbers in HD and the key numbers in GK are the same. At the fundamental level, both go back to the 64 hexagrams at the heart of the I Ching.
If you haven’t seen the hexagrams, here they are, on the outermost rim of this diagram below. Each hexagram is comprised of 6 rows of lines. The solid one represents Yang, or masculine. The dashed one represents Ying, or feminine. Six is an interesting number because I talk about in many of my previous posts on the six types of soul fragments. Also note that certain gates (and key) numbers correspond with the 12 astrological signs.
So what is the difference between HD and GK?
Disclaimer: I’m not an expert nor representative for either school. There are more intricacies I’m learning on a daily basis, but so far discovering more details and diving in deeper has not changed my perspective on what makes them different.
The answer lies in this (as it always seems to do for me): by tuning into the energetic signatures of the 2 founders. Because…at the core, our creations are energetic extensions of ourselves.
Let’s start by looking at their photos.
On the left is Ra Hru Hu; on the right is Richard Rudd.
Immediately obvious to me is that Ra is primarily a Purpose fragment, while Richard is primarily a Discovery fragment. If you can’t tell from their photographs, you can also go on YouTube and listen to them talking in their videos. Listen to the cadence of their voices, what they are projecting, and it will gradually become clear.
Let’s start with HD. Perhaps because it’s been around longer (but I personally don’t believe that’s the main reason), it has way more followers. There are many online groups dedicated to both but the HD ones have a zealous drive that the GK ones don’t. People who are into it, have this obsession with it. At the same time, there are plenty of people who are “recovering” followers of HD and claim that it is cultish.
So…what’s going on?
Here’s what I know: Purpose fragments are the ultimate power players among the soul fragments. They have impact, and it’s big impact. This means they have power and they usually have quite a bit of money as well. But we don’t even need to know if someone actually has power or money. When we meet a Purpose fragment, they simply project that type of aura. The one of a charismatic and confident leader. the ultimate salesman. People want to follow them because people want power and certainty in life. They get the masses moving. For those who are already familiar with HD and/or GK, they are the ones with the 5 in their HD Profile (like Ra himself is a 5/1), and are predominantly Line 5s in their GK hologenetic profile.
For more of a refresher on Purpose fragments, check out my previous post HERE.
On the down side, they can often over sell and under deliver. Many politicians, CEOs, military generals, religious leaders…often fall into this category. They also like the concept of fraternities and brotherhoods. Think Knights Templar, Skull and Bones, secret societies. The men are well-known throughout history but there are plenty of women Purpose fragments too. This is why I chuckle a bit when I see Diversity and Inclusion initiatives focus on bringing in women at all costs into management positions or board positions. What typically happens in those cases is they are still promoting mainly Purpose fragments, but women this time. Like promotes like. By putting a woman’s face and name on a roster, it’s only changing the surface form. Energetically, nothing much has changed. Of course, this is not saying those women wouldn’t make good leaders. But to say there has been a massive paradigm shift or transformation would be a stretch.
So back to Ra Hru Hu. Do you notice the cold, hard power he projects? Even when he’s laughing and smiling, it’s undeniably there. With this whole fraternal vibe, it is no wonder that the movements and structures they create have a cultish bend. And it doesn’t even matter if they consciously say they don’t want to be worshipped. Jesus is a Purpose fragment. The documentation of his life doesn’t show him seeking out hero worship or guru worship. He didn’t ask for the Catholic Church to be created. But hey, it still was, and it can arguably be called the biggest cult of them all. It was also a by-product of the previous Piscean Age. We were in the Kali Yuga then, and collective consciousness was low, so people gravitated towards anyone they perceived as “enlightened” leaders. People lost touch with their personal connection to Source, so they relied upon these “messengers” to be their connection. It’s a classic example of giving our power away. We can laugh at it now, but we’ve all done it in the past, and it wasn’t so funny at the time.
Like when a politician declares “I will lower your taxes” with all the conviction in the world, HD is a deterministic and certain system. Very mechanical and mental. In my previous career as an engineer, if I were to have come up with a system, it would resemble HD. Now the beauty of HD lies in its practicality. It is easy to get into and implement in our lives right away. Like an instruction manual for how to jump start your car, it is excellent at answering the HOW questions. Super crisp and clear. When we take someone who is feeling lost in life, floating about with no direction and hard to focus, or feeling stagnant in some part of their life and needs a jump start, this can be a real spark in the dark. We can start using it right away and generate relatively quick results. Fast turnaround. Especially in business. Purpose fragments are all about that jet fuel energy, the speed, the momentum, and the physical results to show off as trophies. This is why people get obsessed with it. It’s about as close to a get-rich-scheme as there is out there. Is it any surprise to hear that Ra himself was an advertising executive in his previous career? When a salesman or advertisement asks “what if I told you the one missing ingredient from your lifestyle routine that is keeping you from losing that stubborn fat? What if I told you to get started in my program for the first few weeks it’s all free? Would you do it?” Of course many of us would. It’s hard to say no.
In summary, HD has a masculine energetic signature. In our current society that is still hyper focused on hustling and doing, it hits a familiar internal note within most. It’s the note of achievement. Recognition. Power.
This isn’t wrong. As usual, we should go into it with awareness of its blind spots. This allows us to integrate its strengths and highlights but not be boxed in by the structures of its own unconscious limitations.
The self-limiting factor of HD can be summarized in its certainty. Masculine energy has immense power but lacks longevity. Something that is too hard is also brittle, and can suddenly break. This is why Purpose fragments often seem invincible when they are in the public eye but could totally fall apart behind the scenes when they experience health issues or those “Tower” moments (in Tarot language).
When we first come into contact with HD, we are craving answers and certainty. It feels so good to know that I am a Pure Generator, 2-4 Hermit-Opportunist with Sacral Authority. Now let me go look up those descriptions. They tell me all that I am, and all that I’m not. And I just need to follow the HD blueprint on how to live my best life and make the most of what I inherently have.
To that I would say, yes…it’s important to understand what we inherently have (based on our birth date, time, location). Good to recognize the HD guidelines and recognize the situations we get ourselves into. It teaches us to walk the path of least resistance, accept our destiny, and flow with it. For someone who has been up against roadblock after roadblock in life and business/career, this is much needed. It cuts through a lot of confusion and crap.
However, I wouldn’t go so far as to identify with the labels and put myself in those exclusive boxes. The reason is that it creates separation. If there’s a certain “right” way to do something, then it automatically pits it against all the “wrong” ways to do something. It takes the mystery, potential, and infinite possibilities out of our lives.
Many of us want stability. We want certainty. We want financial security. And that’s all OK. Go for the structural approach of HD, and once we attain a certain level of it, aim higher. It’s like the baseline. The first step in stepping out. A worthy starting point.
What I see missing from HD is the concept of evolution. Or involution (internal transformation). It is difficult to get Purpose fragments to do shadow work. Because they have an astronomically high conscious perception of themselves, doing shadow work to them would be like admitting to being a scam artist of sorts. Like here I am this enlightened messenger of God, this alpha with a strong guiding hand, but you’re saying I have to confront internal demons? No way! I don’t have those!
Evolution and especially involution requires a belief in change, starting internally first. But because HD is so fixed, it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for that change to happen. Initially yes, because we’re coming to terms with our design, so we have to let go of the resistance to it, and flow into it. But once we’re more or less living by it, where else are we supposed to go? It’s like even the places we’re going are already on the horizon, and we can see it, so there is no sense of mystery anymore. Consider it like a long list to check off…sure we still have many more items to go, but at any point in time we already have the list at hand, and know what’s on it.
Sometimes that feels good. And sometimes it doesn’t. Herein lies the Dilemma.
The underlying energy of Human Design is about fixing. Just like when something is mechanically broken, we take a screwdriver and fix it.
However, the underlying energy of Gene Keys is healing and transformation. That is the realm of Discovery fragments, or the Line 6s. There is a gentle feminine energetic signature about it.
GK is a slow brew. It’s so subtle at first, most will walk right past it without noticing.
While I’m on the topic, let me talk about Discovery fragments in general. These fragments are fascinatingly deep, and according to GK, Line 6s are the teachers of mankind, and if given enough patience to refine, will be the line to heal all lines. Richard Rudd, the founder of GK, is most definitely a Line 6.
What does this mean? Let’s look at the lives of Discovery fragments.
As children they are incredibly sensitive souls. However, in the masculine society we have created, they often experience trauma after trauma as children. They do not conform to the homogenized education system in modern society. For the boys, they can’t be told to “man up.” While this does no favors to any boy, most Purpose fragments will “shut up and go with it.” They’ll even appreciate it once they beat out other kids in competition and become “the best.” In due time, they will perpetuate this mentality upon their peers and their own children. Many Discovery fragments I know have Purpose fragment fathers who are larger-than-life, incredibly successful, and often mean and aggressive. But…Discovery fragment children simply do not respond at all to this kind of “boot camp” indoctrination. When pressed too hard, they break down and fall apart completely. Some never recover. When we hear about eccentric geniuses who are borderline insane, but often have mood swings so bad they can’t get out of bed, that’s them. Many of these Discovery fragment children, especially boys, never grow up. They are so emasculated by their parents that they are dependent on them and live with them into adulthood. Their full genius is never allowed to organically flower and become a gift to the collective.
This is why these fragments are the last of all the six fragments to come into maturity. They require patience, first from their families, and then from the collective. As children, they won’t understand this, and they won’t know how to ask for patience. But as adults and parents, it is important that we do, and not be so quick to label them as “losers.”
For the ones who are not so restricted by their families growing up, or have somehow been allowed the freedom to roam and explore, their early adult lives are still one tumultuous ride followed by another. Negative manifestation after negative manifestation. Wild sex, orgies, drugs, alcohol, gambling, homelessness, love triangles, secret affairs, exotic travels, betrayals, divorces, money made and money lost, witnessing death by horrible means, near-death experiences, kidnapping, prostitution, abusive partners and relationships of every sort under the Sun, keeping toxic company and never letting those people out of their fields, etc.
To clarify, Purpose fragments seem to share many of the above type negative manifestations, especially with the divorces, betrayals, near-death experiences, and major upheavals in career. However, the biggest difference between the two is that while Purpose fragments get punched hard, they always punch back harder. Because they are so energetic, they may fall often, but they get up just as fast. This is why they accumulate much success and power while they are young. In fact, they are the fastest to manifest external success and recognition in life.
On the other hand, Discovery fragments do not punch back. They take the hit and fall apart. And stay down for a long, long time. Some never recover and end up in insane asylums if they have no one willing to take care of them. Over time they develop a certain “pain ego,” where victimhood becomes an integral and central part of their identity.
So while you’ll hear Purpose fragments talk about their spectacular failures and “downs,” they’ll almost always talk about their own conquests and “highs” in the same breath. Fall down a million times, get up a million and one times. They would rather die than be associated with victimhood. It’s just not in their vocabulary.
Discovery fragments, however, love to sink into the darkness and how “wronged” they were by life in general. It’s like they almost revel in that state of victimhood and believe it’s what makes them special and divine.
That is, at least when they are younger. I use a benchmark of thirty-five years old for Discovery fragments. This is when many of them start to settle down into energetic maturity. It doesn’t fully culminate though, till usually around forty. Of course, every individual’s life experience is different, depending on their other soul fragment makeup. And for some, because of their environments, they never make it to maturity. I see this very often in third world countries, where even without war and extreme poverty, mental health is still a taboo topic and emotions are swept under the rug. There is no space for nurturing these gentle souls.
But, when we do witness a Discovery fragment blossom like a flower, it is one of the most breathtaking and divine moments. They have experienced the whole spectrum of human suffering and come out on the other side, transcended and transformed. They resemble bright beacons of light, and not in any externally flashy way, but rather like a pond that is still, serene, ordinary, but also possesses incredible depth, stretching into the infinite. They have a wisdom that has come with the passing of time and trials, and are here to share their knowledge to everyone with humility and love. While extremely fragile in their youth, if they are able to complete their metamorphosis, they become the most resilient people in their mid to late adulthoods. They lead the most satisfying lives, aging with grace and joy, because they are able to see the wonder, mystery, and potential in everything.
I don’t know too much about Richard Rudd’s life, but based on his public biography and some of his personal contemplations, it’s very obvious he has led the full life of a Discovery fragment. He studied metaphysics in university, traveled the world and lived in many places in his twenties, studied under all types of different teachers from different cultures, dated a variety of women, enjoyed his psychedelics, didn’t really care too much about money, settled down and had a family later in life, and is the type of person to have many colorful tales to share around the dinner table.
Some famous Discovery fragments throughout history include Rumi, Nikola Tesla, Marcus Aurelius, Saint Augustine, Fuxi (the original author of I Ching!), Ibn Battuta, Niccolo Machiavelli, Khalil Gibran, Manly P. Hall, etc. Note that these all seem to share the genius of words, and their writing has not only survived, but flourished over time. During the dark times of the Kali Yuga, when humanity’s connection to Source has been all but lost, the torch of devotion, higher consciousness, and ordinary love has been carried through by these souls like streams of light in the darkness. And hence why each one of their brand of genius is so rare and unique, never to be seen again.
Also, I’m not trying to leave out Discovery fragment women. It’s just that, under the patriarchy, even the Discovery fragment men have been hard to blossom…so you can imagine what it’s been like for the women. For better or worse, they are one of the two soul fragments (the other one being Creativity) that carry the most physical beauty. The Creativity females carry an innocent beauty of purity, while the Discovery females exude an exotic, seductive beauty. Throughout history, Discovery fragment females were often the courtesans and mistresses of powerful men. Some were quite dark themselves, like Salome. In modern times, many women of both of these fragments work in the modeling and entertainment industry, and you can imagine the kind of suppression and sexual abuse that is going on. There is not exactly a fertile ground for their genius to be born, even if they have attained a certain level of status and fame.
The beauty of Gene Keys is that it’s simultaneously gentle and profound, opening and closing, leading and following, dancing and weaving its way through our consciousness. Ever changing, and ever mindful of the evolution and involution of everything from the cosmos to our DNA. It’s comfortable with not knowing, with uncertainty, with the void, even with its own possible demise. Because it assumes no fixed shape or structure, it’s near impossible to form a cult around it. Naturally, this is also a testament to Richard Rudd’s own character and the journey he has been on. Looking at Richard’s photo and listening to him talk is like drinking tea, while with Ra it’s like drinking coffee.
I would like to point out though, that for those who do undertake the journey of contemplation taught by Richard through Gene Keys, that it can be very slow. Changes are most likely not measurable, especially initially. One would have to assume the deep patience of a Discovery fragment at his/her best to appreciate this.
Another interesting observation I’ve had, is that while Richard’s personal energetic field is pristine, the same cannot be said for most people who are into GK. It really does attract the New Age crowd, the False Light Matrix crowd, and those who are very emotionally broken. Richard himself talks about this quite often, and quite subtly, in his books and videos, where he likes to inject humor into making fun of those with spiritual ego, who rebel for the sake of rebelling, who enjoy being hermits, who heal others to avoid their own healing, etc. Attend any GK event, and probably 90% are women, at least among the newer followers. I’ve noticed that most of these women seem to project an air of hopelessness and powerlessness. In the Zoom calls, their rooms are dim, their postures are slouching, and their voices carry immense sadness and trauma. To put this in context, I’ve met many women who have been through severe trauma, who may even be physically disabled, who have little to no financial foundations, but their voices can still carry power, strength, and hope.
I point this out because I wish these women who are new to GKs, take a moment to look into one thing: feminine energy on its own is also not enough. If you’re in a relatively good place in life, with financial stability, familial stability, and certain achievements already under your belt, you can take all the time in the world to contemplate the GK. It’s a beautiful unfolding process.
But if you’re in a state of hopelessness and disempowerment, expecting to rely solely on the GK is probably not going to help you change your station in life the way you expect or want it to. From an energetic perspective, the reason Richard himself has such good energy and aura is because he is a well-refined product. And by well-refined, I mean that he hasn’t only done contemplation or GK in his own life! He has studied, practiced, and lived every spiritual concept, technique, and lifestyle that he could possibly get his hands on! So, it can be a bit misleading to believe that by contemplating GK and mostly just by doing that, we can attain the level of refinement Richard has reached. As such, the message here is that it takes exploration and consistency and long term willingness to try other modalities. Not that one has to get into say, HD, but to attain faster results, one does have to seek out more direct and proactive modalities. Sometimes this involves paying money, because it’s a very straightforward and masculine form of energetic exchange. It could also involve doing shadow work on a consistent basis. This requires willpower, discipline, structure, and organization and we need not look any further than Purpose, Wealth, and Lifestyle fragments for models of those characteristics.
This is a long post I’ve been meaning to write for awhile! What are your experiences, if any, with Human Design and Gene Keys? Do you recognize the Discovery fragments in your life? How do you feel about the way we parent those children?