S2E41 Defense & Protection In Human Design

In this episode, I cover the Defense Circuit in Human Design, a subcircuit of the Tribal Circuit which is the energy for creating something new with someone else and then ensuring whatever you created survives to maturity. I talk about what it means to have this energy and how it influences careers, relationships, and your impact on the world. Whether you have this circuitry defined in your chart or not, this episode is for you. I’ll explore how the environment and others in your life with activations in this circuit influence you, and share insights on how to relate to those with a lot of this circuitry while honoring your own design.

Transcript

The Human Design Defense Circuit is a sub-circuit of the Tribal Circuit and it is responsible for creating something new with somebody else,

With somebody in your tribe,

And then ensuring that whatever you have created survives to maturity.

This something new can be a family,

It can be a new baby,

It can be a business,

A creative project,

A partnership,

And more than that.

Today,

I'll go over what the circuitry is,

How people with strong activations in the circuit impact others,

And little hint,

I actually have strong activations in the circuitry,

So we'll see what happens.

And I'm also going to cover the emotional themes of this energy as well as how it applies to business and relationships.

Whether or not you have the defense circuit in your chart,

You're going to be impacted by this energy through your own design or through your environment,

The impact that you receive from people that have the circuitry as well as planetary transits.

This episode applies to everyone regardless of how your design is configured.

Welcome to Heart Centered Human Design,

The show that empowers heart-centered entrepreneurs to use human design and emotional intelligence to create meaningful success,

Work-life balance,

And transform their passion and purpose into impact and prosperity.

I'm your host,

Vanessa Najda,

Human design mentor and business coach,

And I love sharing the system with you so that you can use it to be on purpose and fulfill your potential.

So circuitry in human design is how your energy moves through your body,

Through your chart,

Through your design,

And through your life.

We all have different circuitry,

And when you're looking at your chart,

Anything that is colored in your chart is defined,

Meaning that you have consistent access to this energy.

This is how your energy flows through your chart,

And this is what you use to impact others.

You can think of this as your nature.

Anything in your chart that is in white is considered undefined.

This is more of your nurture.

This is where you are designed to gain great wisdom by taking in the energy of other people that have this part of the chart defined and also learning through planetary transits,

Learning through your environment.

And again,

As I said,

There is incredible wisdom in the undefined parts of your chart for you because you get to experience these energies in an unlimited amount of ways versus in the defined areas in your chart where you get to experience the energy in a very consistent way.

Neither is better or worse.

They are just different.

We all have access to all of the energy in the chart.

It's just some of it is consistent for us and other parts of it are inconsistent.

The defense circuit is a small but powerful sub-circuit of the tribal circuit,

And this is focused on creating,

Nurturing,

Survival,

And protection of the tribe.

You can think of the tribe as your loved ones,

People you are close to,

Your community,

Your business,

People that you interact with regularly in general are part of your tribe versus the collective which is more of humanity as a whole.

The circuit only has two channels and it connects the energy resource of the sacral center to the instinct and intuition,

The survival instinct of the spleen center and the emotional intelligence,

The emotional awareness of the solar plexus center.

So we have two awareness centers here,

The spleen center and the solar plexus.

So instinctual awareness and emotional awareness connected to the energy resources,

That consistent life force and workforce energy of the sacral center.

Now this means that anybody that has either one of these channels defined is automatically going to be a generator or a manifesting generator because it defines the sacral center.

You can have activations in the circuit without having the full channel.

You could have any one of the four gates in the circuit without having a full channel and not necessarily be a generator or a manifesting generator.

But if you have the entire channel,

You're definitely going to be one of those two types.

Now the defense circuit is deeply tied to the survival of the tribe.

This is the energy that keeps us healthy,

That keeps us alive,

That keeps us thriving.

And this is one of two aura busting circuits in the human design body graph.

So the first one we talked about a few weeks ago is the centering circuit,

Which is the individual aura busting circuit.

And the defense circuit is the tribal aura busting circuit.

And what that means is anybody standing next to somebody that has activations in the defense circuit is naturally going to be pulled more into tribal energy.

And tribal energy is very much about support,

Supporting the tribe.

And this can be an interesting dynamic.

If you are somebody that has activations in the defense circuit and you're with somebody who's highly individual,

This can actually create a little bit of resentment.

Or if you are somebody like me,

I have activations in the defense circuit and the tribal circuit as well as the individual circuit.

And there can be this push-pull energy of,

Am I going to be more tribal and do what needs to be done to support the tribe,

Which can involve self-sacrifice?

Or am I going to do what I want to do,

What is best in alignment with my individual creative,

Mutative energy?

And the solution to this conundrum when it comes up for you is going back to following your strategy and authority,

Which will lead you in the right direction and help guide you into the correct next steps for you.

Now,

The other tribal sub-circuit is the ego circuit.

And we'll be talking about that next week.

This one is very much focused on agreements,

Commerce,

And business,

Whereas the defense circuit is very much focused on protection and sustaining itself.

So things like armies live in the defense circuit because it is about protecting the tribe and protecting specific things.

Now,

This energy can be kind,

Loving,

And nurturing,

But it can also be pretty ruthless depending on what is going on,

If it feels threatened,

And if it feels the need to really jump into protective mode,

It can become quite ruthless.

Now,

Ultimately,

This is about making sure that we're taking care of what we are creating.

So this circuit very much centers around nourishing the tribe,

Establishing and enforcing the values of the tribe,

Creating intimate bonds with others so we can create something new,

And overall ensuring the survival of the tribe.

And when we get to the very nitty-gritty bottom of this,

This is about promoting the survival of our species through that genetic imperative to make more,

To create something new.

This is very much where mating lives.

The channel of mating is part of the defense circuit,

And we'll go more into that shortly.

It also nurtures and preserves that which has been created so that it can grow to maturity and it can thrive.

The defense circuit is one of the most powerful circuits in the entire design.

In the high expression of this circuit,

People that carry this energy are natural caregivers.

They are nurturers.

They are protectors.

They can have very warm energy that draws people in.

They are committed to sustaining life and to supporting their loved ones,

Their tribe,

And their community.

And again,

This can be through caregiving.

This can be through leadership.

And it can also be through creating safe spaces for others.

There is a deep sense of responsibility for the well-being of others.

In the low expression of this energy,

This can show up as overgiving,

Codependency,

Taking responsibility for things that they are not actually responsible for,

Feeling trapped in obligations.

And it can also become very overprotective,

Controlling,

And emotionally reactive.

And you can think about,

Again,

The military here.

There's a lot of things happening in the world where this energy is showing up in its low expression.

There can also be a lot of resentment and burnout that shows up in the circuitry when people are taking responsibility for things they're not responsible for and protecting,

Nurturing,

Or caring for situations that are not actually theirs to care for.

So we have the three centers in this chart.

This all starts with the energy resource of the Circle Center.

This is life force and workforce energy.

It is very creative energy.

And this is really where that energy comes from to do the hard work that is involved in caregiving,

In raising children,

In creating something new.

Now,

I will say you don't have to have this center defined in order to have that energy because,

Again,

You will take this in from other people.

This energy will be available to you when you need it,

When you're following your strategy and authority.

If you do have the center defined,

Then you are going to have that sustainable energy for this work,

Provided that you are doing it in a response.

But just remember,

Anybody with a defined Circle Center,

Your strategy is to respond,

Not to force,

Pressure,

Push,

Or hustle something into being because you think that's what you want,

But to actually operate in response.

Then we have the Spleen,

Which is where survival instinct and intuition lives.

This,

When it's connected to the Circle Center,

Can,

Through very quick,

Intuitive response,

Guide decision-making about protection,

Caregiving,

And safety.

And I'll give some examples of this later because I do have Channel 2750 in my design.

And the Spleen,

Of course,

Is also about that heightened awareness of threats,

Of when there is danger,

When the tribe is being threatened.

The Spleen Center is always scanning the environment for these types of threats.

And when it's connected to the Circle Center through the 2750,

It will respond very quickly and go into protection mode when any kind of threats become apparent.

Then on the other side,

The Circle Center connects to the emotional solar plexus.

And this is all about emotions and bonding and creating something new with somebody else through intimacy.

The emotional wave,

Called the source wave,

Also lives here.

This emotional wave can be a driving force behind the bonding,

Intimacy,

And the protection of the defense circuit.

Anybody that has the solar plexus defined through the defense circuit is going to have emotional authority,

Like anybody with a defined solar plexus.

And it's really important for them to learn to navigate the emotional wave without letting that wave dictate their decisions.

Remember,

You want to gain clarity over time,

Anytime there's emotional definition in the chart.

So anybody that has the source wave has emotional authority and needs to learn to wait for emotional clarity before making those big decisions and not getting caught up in the fluctuations of the wave,

Which are generally triggered by things happening in their relationships.

So the two channels of the defense circuit.

We'll start with the channel of preservation,

The 2750.

And in BG5,

This is known as custodianship.

This is the one that connects the sacral center to the spleen center.

And this is about caretaking and protecting.

It's about nurturing.

It's about providing food,

Teaching values,

Teaching the tribe to support and nurture itself.

And overall,

It ensures that people are nurtured for,

Protected,

And provided for.

And remember,

It connects to the survival instincts.

This is about instinct and intuition,

Not so much the emotional aspect of the defense circuit.

Now,

There is potential for burnout here,

For codependency,

For caring and taking responsibility for things that are not actually your responsibility.

So remember,

If you have this channel defined in your chart,

It's so much about operating in response.

Is there,

You know,

If somebody comes to you for caregiving,

Do you actually have the energy to provide that caregiving?

That is what your response will let you know.

And if you get into this place of operating out of guilt or fear,

Like you have to do this,

You can really burn out.

A lot of resentment can be created here,

And this can be very damaging to relationships.

Anybody that has this defined needs to really learn to care for themselves.

First,

To learn to give from a full cup.

Because if you are not nurtured and nourished yourself,

You don't really have anything to give to others.

You'll continue to deplete yourself,

And then you can't care for others if you're feeling depleted yourself.

People with this energy defined can naturally elicit trust in others.

They tend to be very warm.

They tend to be good,

Supportive friends.

And others will naturally look to them for support and guidance.

Now,

This is also where the establishing and the enforcing of laws live.

So again,

If you think about law enforcement,

If you think about the military,

That falls under this particular channel.

So this is the energy to establish and preserve the values that are good for the groups,

Communities,

Families,

And businesses that we are a part of.

Now,

This does connect the sacral to the spleen center.

The spleen is an awareness center,

And this is where our existential fears live.

And gate 50 is the fear of responsibility.

And this can often show up for people as being afraid to take on responsibility or taking on too much responsibility.

And this can be a problem when it comes to business and also when it comes to relationships.

And I'll give an example from my life.

So I have the 2750,

And it's significant in my chart because I have it defined twice.

And when I say that,

I mean I have two placements in the 27 and I have two placements in the 50.

Now,

For a lot of people,

This is not uncommon.

But for my chart,

I only have three different gates where I have more than one placement.

And the 27 and the 50 happen to be one of them.

So I like to say that I have this channel defined twice.

And one of the ways this has shown up for me is that I do not like to take responsibility for things other than myself.

And at a young age,

I made a decision that I didn't want to have kids because I did not want to have that responsibility.

Now,

My siblings all have kids,

And there would be times where we would all hang out together,

My siblings and their kids at toddler age,

You know,

That age when you have to follow them around because,

You know,

They could fall off something.

And whenever we were in those situations,

I would feel responsible that if something happened to my nieces or nephews,

If they fell off something,

If they hurt themselves,

Then it was my fault and I was responsible.

And I would feel so much pressure and I would be following them around.

I'm like,

Don't touch this,

Don't climb on that.

And it was really stressful for me to the point where I actually didn't want to hang out with my siblings and their toddler children because I didn't want that responsibility.

Now,

This is a perfect example of taking on responsibility that wasn't mine.

I wasn't babysitting my nieces or nephews.

I was hanging out with them in a family environment where their parents were present.

And it's actually their parents that had that responsibility,

Not me.

So that's just one example of taking on responsibility that is not yours.

And of course,

This can also often show up in business.

So remember,

If you have this channel defined,

This is very much about operating in response.

What are you actually responding to that you are responsible for and that you want to be responsible for?

You also want to be careful about that fear of responsibility keeping you from doing what you need to do in your business.

This could also show up as in a subconscious way,

Not growing your business because you don't want to get to a level where you need to hire people because then you're going to feel responsible for them.

So these are just some things to keep an eye out to be aware of if you have this energy defined in your chart.

The other channel here is the channel 59-6.

This is known as the channel of mating,

Which pretty much says it all.

In BG5,

You call it the channel of interaction.

And again,

This is the sacral center to the emotional solar plexus.

This is about intimacy.

This is about bonding.

This drives reproduction,

Creating something new with somebody else.

And again,

That can be a baby and it can also be a business,

A creative project,

A partnership.

It's about creating something new.

This is the creative energy of the defense circuit.

This is an emotional wave.

And this wave tends to be fairly neutral,

Fairly balanced,

But it'll be brought to the surface by somebody else.

And when this emotional wave is operating in its high expression,

It can actually come into very emotionally charged situations and bring them down a level so that the people involved can actually communicate with each other and create solutions.

In the low expression of this emotional wave,

It can add fuel to the fire and actually create more problems than were already there before this person entered the picture.

So if you have channel 59-6,

You want to be really aware of your emotional wave when it comes to the surface.

And are you able to bring more stability to emotional situations or are you just adding fuel to the fire?

People that have this channel defined are easily able to penetrate the defenses of others and to create bonding and intimacy.

Now,

The 59 is that the aspect of intimacy and the six is the part of the design that decides if it wants to let intimacy in or not.

So oftentimes this can show up in electromagnetics as well,

Where one has the 59,

One has the six and together they decide if they want to create something new or not.

Now,

With this channel,

You do want to respond to opportunities to create something new and you want to really take your time before you get involved with somebody else to create something new.

When it comes to bonding,

There is always time required in order to allow those bonds to mature,

To really see if there is something there.

Rushing into relationships,

Rushing into intimacy,

Rushing into new projects is never a good idea.

And that is regardless whether you have this channel defined in your chart or not.

You really want to take your time to get clear on if the projects,

The things that you are creating with somebody else are actually correct for you.

Coming to the emotional experience of the defense circuit,

Again,

We do have the source wave that lives here.

This is an emotional channel.

This is very much brought to the surface by your relationships.

It can add fuel to the fire.

It can also,

In its high expression,

Really balance out extreme emotions as they come up,

Especially in groups.

This is really valuable to have also in businesses.

Both channels of the defense circuit are management energy that do really well in large businesses.

And the 59-6 can be incredibly helpful in interacting,

Creating positive interactions between people,

Between communities,

Between the business.

It's important to learn to set boundaries without feeling guilty here.

There can be a lot of guilt in the 27-50 channel.

There can be a lot of obligation,

Taking care,

Nurturing,

Protecting out of obligation versus out of response.

So remember,

Responding is so important and making sure that you nurture yourself before you nurture others.

And inherent in the defense circuit is the energy to use emotional awareness to deepen connections with others instead of creating unnecessary conflict.

When it comes to relationships,

Loyalty and protection are core values here,

But they do need to be balanced with personal needs.

Again,

We want to watch out for codependency here and taking on responsibility that is not yours to take on.

There can be a struggle here of letting go of relationships that are no longer serving.

And in the high expression,

There is the potential to create deep,

Lasting emotional bonds with others.

And when it comes to business and career,

People with this energy can be really great in caregiving and supportive roles.

They are great at supporting their teams.

This is part of large team management strength.

So people that have either one of these channels defined or both do really well in leading in larger organizations.

This energy also works really well in family-owned businesses and supporting your tribe in that way.

Community-based work can do really well with this energy.

Again,

This energy does show up in things like law enforcement,

That 27-50 establishing and enforcing the rules of the tribe.

And you have to be really careful here about the low-high expression of this energy.

It's important to really be careful of overextending and finding the balance between giving and receiving,

Nurturing yourself before you take care of others.

You want to be careful of self-sacrifice and remember that responsibility aspect of this energy is also important.

So not taking responsibility for things that aren't yours,

But also being aware of not letting the fear of responsibility rule what you are doing.

And when it comes to fears,

The other fear that is inherent in the defense circuit is also the fear of intimacy.

This is the one that lives in gate six on the solar plexus.

So all awareness centers have fears and that fear of intimacy can really create problems in relationships and partnerships and creative projects.

And when it comes to fears of the awareness centers,

The thing that you want to understand is that when these fears come up for you,

Oftentimes they are meant to be overcome.

Now,

When it comes to survival instinct stuff,

Yes,

We are designed to have fear.

Fear is important in order to keep us alive,

But it's irrational fears that really keep us stuck.

And one way to know if a fear is irrational or not,

One is,

If I do this thing that I am afraid of,

Is there a potential that I will die?

If the answer is no,

Then it's probably an irrational fear.

The other thing that I always like to tell people when we are dealing with irrational fears or fears that might keep you stuck in your business is the future version of you that already has what you want to create in your life,

In your work,

In your business,

In your relationships.

Is that person engaging in the things that are bringing up that fear for you?

And if the answer to that is yes,

Then you need to allow yourself to feel the fear and go ahead and do whatever it is that you're afraid of anyway,

Because that is how you break through the fear.

That is how you will overcome the fear.

And the more you do it,

The easier it becomes.

Remember,

Following strategy and authority is key and will lead you in the right direction.

It will lead you to the correct lessons that you need to learn and grow in this lifetime.

It's not always going to be easy.

Following your strategy and authority is going to be difficult sometimes.

It will ask you to do difficult things that require you to really stretch and expand who you are,

And that is really a big part of the purpose,

To learn and to grow.

I'd love to hear,

Do you have defense circuitry in your chart or do you know someone that does and how have you observed this energy?

Thank you so much for listening or watching.