The Fixed Personality Profile

Here we look at the chart of a Fixed Personality Profile, a rare happening in the world of Human Design. Profiles describe the way we see ourselves and the world around us, which determines how we relate to the world.

There are twelve personality Profiles. Most of them are primarily self-oriented, while for a minority the other comes first. Fixed Profile people are in the middle between these two.

While in Astrology the sun moves through twelve signs, in Human Design it goes through the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese wisdom system. Each Hexagram represents an area of life; in a Human Design Chart you will find it as a Gate. These are the small numbers, from one to 64, in the squares and triangles in your chart.

Fixed Profiles are the first in a new Hexagram; in them the essence of that particular life experience shines through. I will not tire you here with the mathematical reason why they are so rare; however, I will say that their unique position gives their personality unique characteristics. To know these is good both for them and for the people sharing their life.

Punya, editor of the Osho News online magazine, was willing to let her Chart be an example. Here it is:

The Fixed Profile is indicated by the superscript on the first line of the two columns: 4/1.

Punya’s incarnation theme is that of the Driver. She needs to find her own personal truth in life and, relying on that inner knowing, point the way to others. The knowing is purely individual, she cannot back it up with scientific data or other collective knowledge. Moreover, she is being driven as well: by a need to make some kind of change in the world.

So I see two hinge points in this Chart: the urge to find one’s own truth and then the challenge to share it. Being a Projector, finding the right environment to share her insights is essential. With a receptive audience, she can express her innate wisdom and receive the recognition that she as a Projector needs. The many activations in Punya’s Throat and the position of Mercury in the Channel of the Thinker give her various avenues of expression.

Her voice is one of leadership: ‘I point the way; it is up to you if you want to follow’. It is not Punya’s job to make others follow her lead, in fact, that may well turn out to be a tiring business for her. It is helpful to stay in contact with the ‘small still voice’ of the Self, her Authority in Human Design, to make sure that her leadership remains in tune with her inner truth. When she gets out of touch with her Authority, some moodiness or dogmatism may colour her voice.

Punya has the Line of ‘the Artist Alone’, meaning it is helpful to retreat and feel herself part of the creative flow of the universe. It is possible that she receives guidance (which she will tend to conceal) and also that she creates some work of art in such times of retreat.

Fixed Profiles have both strength and a fragility. Their strength is they are ‘hard-coded’ to their destiny, the incarnation theme. Deep inside they know what they are here for and how to do it. Also, they will share this determined knowing with a sweet heartfulness. In the face of strong opposition or misunderstanding they can be ‘broken’. They start doubting themselves and retreat from the world, withholding their gift.

Human Design is often a turning point for these people. It brings a new understanding of who they are and a recognition of their uniqueness. Of course, Human Design can be a turning point for everyone, because all our designs are as unique as we are ourselves.

First published in Shantamo’s blog.

Comment by Punya

When I first read Shantamo’s article – it was so touching! – I had some reservations about publishing it in Osho News, although we had initially agreed to do so. It felt too personal and I was not sure I wanted to expose myself so much… until it dawned on me that being a Projector, a 4/1 Profile, or whatever, did not really describe my real being, that which has no gender, no name, no colours, only endless space. When I understood that Type and Profile were only the vehicle, as Ra, the discoverer of Human Design, calls it, a vehicle similar to our physical body, there was no more an obstacle in publishing the outcome of this reading.

Shantamo was keen in giving me a Human Design session, in particular because he had found out that I had the ‘rare’ 4/1 profile. When asked, my immediate response was ‘Yes!’ Human Design had changed my life when I first received a session from Madhuri. From her I learned that, as a Projector type, I needed to wait for the invitation. (My whole life I got in trouble because I was always interfering with people, as if I always knew better how to do things…) And what would I get to know now from having a 4/1 profile?

Shantamo’s session (via skype) touched me deeply because it brought my work on Osho News into the right place. I felt as if it could now sink in me, that it was no more something I was doing on the outside. To work on the magazine is the right thing, I kept hearing. It is exactly what I have to do!

Many a times I asked myself what I was doing at my desk uploading texts and working on images while all my friends were on the beach or in coffee shops sipping cappuccinos and lattes. I also questioned if it was not better to work for my clients (and for my sustenance) instead of working on/playing with a non-profit project. Part of me always felt driven to work on the website, to share news, to inspire others to become creative and to share Osho’s meditations and his vision, while my mind questioned the use of it all. Will it be appreciated? After some time it became clear that – seeing the increasing number of visitors – it was appreciated, but the question still stayed somewhere in the back of my mind. Shantamo, thank you for telling my mind that it was time to shut up!

During the session I was reminded of the times when Osho asked me to open centres in the West. In the communes I often worked as tour guide, in press offices and welcome centres. Even when younger I felt I wanted to express something (on stage, as a designer, photographer, dancer) but at that time the core was missing; there was not yet anything to express, nothing to say, nothing to convey. All my attempts in those professions failed – not out of lack of talent but something was missing. Now Osho’s vision is at the base (of all of us sannyasins) and things are flying – all by themselves. There is no ego attached. Sometimes people ask me: “Are you the Punya who does the Osho News?” And I reply, after some hesitation: “Oh, yes, but there are so many who are also contributing… It is not just me.”

When Shantamo writes, “When she gets out of touch with her Authority, some moodiness or dogmatism may colour her voice,” how true this rings – I can hear it! He also says that these 4/1 profiles are easily discouraged, well, that also hit the nail on the head, spot on. The few times Osho News was threatened to be taken down from the net, I felt, “Oh, well, I will then join my friends at the beach…” But this prospect did not go down well with Bhagawati and other collaborators – so here we are flying into Osho News’ 4th year.

This is also an opportunity for me to thank all our collaborators, in particular Bhagawati, Sitara, Madhuri, Kaiyum, Kul, Phoebe, Ramita, Naina, Atul, Sakshi, Subhuti, Anando, Mega (and so many others) and all the friends who are sending in their articles, news items, information for tribute pages, and jokes.

Shantamo grew up in the Netherlands and studied at the Film Academy in Amsterdam. In 1980 he came to Pune where Osho gave him his new name. He became part of the Amsterdam center (on a houseboat, later in a disused prison). In the Pune 2 commune he worked as a cook, and later in the Mystery School and as meditation leader. Since 2005 he lives in Switzerland where he gives sessions as a Certified Human Design Reader. yourhumandesign.ch/en