Have you ever read the energy of a room? For example, the local coffee shop is buzzing with excitement; people are socializing and laughing—and the positive energy fuels productivity. You can also tell when a vibe is just… off. In that case, your anxiety shifts into high alert. But have you ever wondered about your own energy and how others receive it? A self-knowledge system known as Human Design is a tool that can help you understand your energetic tendencies and better engage with the world around you. 

Much like Western astrology, which is generally centered around personality traits, Human Design charts your energy type to learn your life purpose. “Human Design is a system for self-awareness and is based on several ancient wisdom teachings,” says Human Design analyst and astrologer Amy Lea. 

Keep reading to learn more about Human Design, how to find your energy type, and what yours means for your life journey.

What is Human Design?

Human Design is a tool for self-discovery that uses your birth data—that is, your birthday, time, and location—to calculate your energy type. Think of Human Design as the ultimate vibe check—your energetic profile discerns how you channel your energy, allowing you to approach the world (and yourself) authentically.

The system was founded in 1987 by Ra Uru Hu (born Alan “Robert” Krakauer), who reportedly channeled the system over eight days after receiving the basics of the system from an entity he called “the voice.” It draws on elements from astrology, the Hindu Brahman chakra system, the Judaic tree of life, and the Chinese I Ching, explains Lea. By combining these ancient teachings, Human Design gives you a “blueprint” of how your energetic operating system works.

Human Design is like astrology because it brings awareness to your habits, temperament, and strengths. You’re given a chart similar to the wheel of your natal chart, too. But unlike astrology, human design is centered around individuals being the authority of their own lives and operating systems, says Lea.

Although you can get a lot of intel through the basics of astrology, advanced astrology can take a while to fully understand. “Human Design gives you practical steps to understand how you are designed to engage with the world around you, how you can create your most aligned opportunities, and how you can make decisions that are correct for you,” Lea explains. That being said, there are some key terms to keep in mind as you learn more about energy type:

Energy type: This is the core foundation of who you are. There are five different energy types: manifestor, manifesting generator, generator, projector, and reflector.

Strategy: This is how your energy type engages with the world to fulfill their energetic potential. It discerns how you’re designed to attract and interact when most aligned with your energy type.

Authority: This reflects how your energy type makes decisions. “So some people have this emotional authority, some people have an authority that's instinctive. At the core of it, all of the authorities lead to the same place, which is the body,” says Lea.

Not-Self: This centers on where you’re sensitive to the world around you or traits, behaviors, or patterns you may have adopted based on your environmental conditioning.

Gifts: These are the strengths that come innately to your energy type.

How to find your Human Design energy type

You’ll need your birth time, birth date, and birthplace to find your Human Design energy type. Plug your birth data into an online generator like this one, or you can book a reading with a Human Design analyst.

Human Design energy types

Manifestor

Manifestors are a unique bunch. They’re the spark, explains Lea; they’re our world's leaders, creators, and trailblazers. “They're people here to initiate new things into the world,” says Lea. Manifestors, as the name suggests, start trends and possess an innate ability to influence those around them. These powerhouses require routine solitude to regenerate, explains Lea, adding that “they tend to need a lot of autonomy and freedom in their life.” The authority (how they make decisions) of a manifestor is to lead and direct. 

Manifestors’ strategy—how they engage with the world to fulfill their energetic potential—is to inform before they initiate. Lea explains that this allows others to be in the loop before the manifestor initiates something, specifically if the manifestor’s actions impact them. This can mitigate conflict and reduce any resistance that they may meet.

That’s likely because manifestors are a hub of creative energy, but they also generally hold a position of power (or possess a powerful aura) and are prone to burnout. “When they're just out initiating and starting things all the time, it can leave the people around them to be a little bit discombobulated,” Lea explains.

According to Lea, the gift of a manifestor is initiating that spark. When they take the leap of faith, they make magic, solidifying their influence on the world around them. They don’t necessarily need collaboration or even permission from others to thrive in what they set their minds to—they’re deeply in tune with the universe and are empowered by their independence. 

Manifesting Generator

Manifesting generators, like generators, are builders. They’re creative multihyphenates, equipped with many passions and the confidence to try their hand at many different interests. “We call them our express builders, and they tend to be more multi-passionate,” says Lea. “Manifesting generators might start something, and then they pivot.” 

Like generators, the manifesting generator’s strategy is to respond or “allow opportunities to come to them rather than running around trying to initiate everything as the manifestors do,” says Lea. “Both generators and manifesting generators are designed to follow their gut response that operates as like a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

Lea describes the vibe of manifesting generators and generators as playing a game of tennis with the universe. “Their role is just to allow the universe to serve first,” says Lea. “They don't really know if something's right for them until they give it a go.”

A manifesting generator’s gift is their flexibility and ability to energize those around them. They don’t box themselves in—if something piques their interest while cultivating something else, they’re good at pivoting and feel empowered to exert energy into various industries and projects at hyper-speed.

Generator

Generators are, as the name suggests, the doers. They’re the builders, explains Lea. As far as how their energy flows, it’s far from ordinary. “They're designed to be really magnetic,” Lea says. “It's like they don't have to go out and initiate and make things happen.” All a generator needs to follow through with something is their personal call to do it—they’re motivated by personal satisfaction. When a generator is deeply inspired by something, they zero in on it, cultivating mastery and becoming experts in their fields.

Generators’ strategy is to respond, says Lea. In other words, taking the call to embark on the journey they feel spiritually called to do. “It's more about softening and allowing things to come to them—opportunities or people—and then really surrendering to that feeling they get in their body of ‘yes, this feels exciting for me,’” Lea explains.

Many Human Design analysts see generators and manifesting generators as having the same aura, but Lea explains that these are totally different energy types. Like manifesting generators, generators are more deliberate in their pursuits and tend to have a more sustainable pace, says Lea. 

The gift of a generator is their creative authority. They can build magical worlds and conceive concepts, and because they are personally attached to their passions, they effortlessly maintain a commitment to what they bring to life. 

Projector

Projectors are the advisors of the world. They’re here to teach and provide guidance or insight to those around them. However, they have an untraditional approach. “They're more here to be the people who are kind of directing and particularly directing the energy of the generators and the manifesting generators,” says Lea. Projectors take information in, and their energy flows through spreading knowledge. 

The strategy for projectors is to preserve their energy and wait for recognition. In other words, they can assess an issue and offer effective solutions based on the knowledge they’ve gained. “They have this ability to see and to kind of notice like, ‘hey, we could maybe do this a bit better,’” Lea explains. 

Projectors can take on the teacher-student role unsolicited because of their natural ability to assess and educate, but they mean well. “They notice improvements that can come across as a little bit abrasive if someone doesn't want to hear it or if someone hasn't invited their perspective,” says Lea. It helps a projector to step back and allow a situation to pan out. They can guide others once they get the green light.

The projector’s gift is their wisdom and perspective. “They tend to be gifted at seeing all the moving parts of how something might work together,” says Lea. 

Reflector

Reflectors are the mirrors and beacons of the world. They are meant to reflect things back to the world. “They're kind of our rare unicorns,” says Lea. “They'll help us see things that when we're not operating our best … their role is really to be the judges and the evaluators of our world.” Reflectors are particularly sensitive to their environment and have a keen sense of intuition. 

The strategy of a reflector is based on the lunar phases, says Lea. If you think of the other energy types as being solar energy (their vitality is motivated by action), reflectors are the lunar counterparts, sensing the emotion behind the action. “We call them our lunar type,” says Lea. “Reflectors are more sensing the whole environment. They're very connected to the collective and community experiences, whereas projectors laser in and focus on one person at a time.” That said, reflectors’ energy is mutable and often contingent on the moon’s energy—where it’s at in its 28-29 day transit. 

Reflectors have a knack for leaning into the collective energies. That’s because their sensitivity gives them unique insight into emotional cues and the overall temperament of society at large. Because of that, Lea explains that their flow of energy is tied to their environment—they need to feel secure where they are. “And if they're in an environment where they start to feel really stuck or stagnant or even unhealthy, it's a sign to change that, to leave,” says Lea.

A reflector’s gift is their evaluation of the environment. Their adaptability allows them to seek out new and exciting things. “As a species, we're kind of constantly evolving, right? They're kind of very attuned to that,” says Lea.

Bottom line

Like in astrology, where your natal chart amalgamates your traits and tendencies, Human Design is a tool to deepen your understanding of yourself. And when you lean into your gifts, you can direct your energy productively to engage with the world in a way that best complements your full potential.