If you’re new to Human Design it can be annoying to try and figure out what all these new terms mean. So in this post, I’m taking my 10+ years in the industry and sharing the key things that I wished someone had explained to me when I was a total beginner.
First: Let's look at the numbers (aka your Profile)
4/1 Splenic Manifestor
On your Human Design chart, there is a number that is usually displayed in such a way that it looks like a fraction. (It’s not a fraction but it does appear that way!)
This is known as your Profile and it can tell you incredibly useful things about your inbuilt character.
Your Profile has two numbers and they both reveal something about how you relate to other people and life in general. There are no better or worse Profiles there is simply your natural tendency for how you’re designed to do this life.
If your Human Design chart shows that you’re the same Profile as listed in the title of this post then this means the following...
Having a 4/1 Profile is quite rare and is very different from all the other Profiles. Unlike other people who may be here to change quite a lot over their lifetime, you’re designed to be rigid like a bridge. While all humans are designed to grow and evolve to some degree, when you create change in your life you like to do it deliberately, slowly and wholly within your control if at all possible.
Not everyone is going to understand you but please know that your fixedness is not a mistake and it’s not a problem, it’s part of your important role in this life. So it's important that you spend time with people who willingly accept you as you are.
The “4”, also known as the “4th Line” or the “Opportunist” cares a lot about building and maintaining meaningful relationships with lots of wonderful people. Friendly, outgoing, and sociable, this part of you is a natural networker who likes to make new friends everywhere you go.
Solid, stable relationships are very important to you because most if not all of your opportunities are going to come to you through the web of people you know.
The “1”, also known as the “1st Line” or the “Investigator” wants to dive deep into the details of anything you find fascinating. This part of you is pretty introverted, or some might say ‘self-absorbed’ as you like to have time alone to absorb yourself in researching any area that makes you feel weak or insecure.
You’re motivated to build a very solid foundation for yourself because you instinctively know that if you can find something firm to stand on you’ll feel more confident. You create that firm platform to stand on by collecting all the information you need so you can become the go-to expert in your field.
And when your digging has uncovered some shiny piece of gold and you feel like you have enough information to confidently convey that, you’ll happily share it with anyone in your network who is ready to listen. As long as you’re following your Human Design Strategy and Inner Authority, you’ll probably find you have way more influence to impact the lives of those around you than you realised.
When your life unfolds this way (slowly, over time) it feels amazing because nothing makes you happier than sharing the knowledge you’ve collected with the people who love you and appreciate you for who you are.
Second: Let's look at the first term (aka your Inner Authority)
4/1 Splenic Manifestor
Knowing how to make powerful and aligned decisions in your life is arguably one of the most important things Human Design can show you.
When I didn’t know how to make decisions according to my energetic design my life was a total shambles. Once I learned about Human Design and understood my Inner Authority things began to change and have only got better and better over time.
The term Inner Authority points to the fact that you are your own best authority in your life.
You know what’s best for you if only you know where to pay attention when trying to make decisions. This is the power of understanding your Inner Authority. If your HD chart or report tells you that your Inner Authority is the one listed below (and in the title of this blog post) then I'll walk you through the meaning of that now.
Splenic Inner Authority isn’t that common but we have a lot of language to describe this decision-making process. This is a kind of spontaneous, intuitive knowing.
If this is your Inner Authority you literally have to ignore the mind, ignore people who tell you to “sleep on it” and ignore any suggestion that you need to justify your decision with a logical reason. That’s not how you make your best decisions.
Your deep gut knowing, on the spot, in the very moment the opportunity arises that’s when you’ll know.
As long as you’re paying attention, that is.
Third: Let's look at the last term (aka your Type)
4/1 Splenic Manifestor
The last part of this series of words we use to describe you in Human Design is your Type. Broadly speaking there are five Types.
(Although some HD teachers prefer to teach four Types many of us have found that splitting the population into five broad groups is more helpful. If you’ve seen this difference between teachers, or you do in the future, please know whether it's four or five, it’s not worth losing sleep over.
Type is an imperfect way of splitting 8 billion people into different groups. While the exact right way to split us into different segments might be imperfect it's still incredibly helpful, hence why most HD teachers on the planet teach about the concept of Type. So, let's get back to the blog post as we re-focus on what’s truly helpful.)
Your Human Design Type refers to how your aura (or energy field, it’s the same thing) behaves or interacts with other people. Some people are here to start conversations, others are here to respond, and one group of people are here to do a bit of both. Some are here to take other people in deeply so they can understand them really well, while others are here to be a mirror for the people they meet.
No one Type is better than any other; they are all just a little or a lot different from the others and are all here to do different things in this life.
As a Manifestor, you have a powerful, initiating energy that you take everywhere with you. You are here to birth brand new things from just an idea.
You are the spark that starts a process happening and the rest of us need to be that powerful person otherwise there’s nothing for the rest of us to do. It all begins with you.
Once the fire is started, you’re not here to keep it burning; that’s another person’s job. So, it's ideal to take roles that allow you to step out once the process has begun. This frees you up to create the next new thing.
Note: Solo time where you are not interrupted is essential for not only this creative process but also for your wellbeing.
4/1 Splenic Manifestor 🗹
And that's it! In one short blog post, you've now had a basic introduction to your Profile, Inner Authority and Type, and I even snuck in some info about your Human Design Strategy 😉
Inspired to learn more about Human Design?
Every word in this post was written by Caroline Southwell.
While AI is useful for many things it's still not very good at explaining the depth and nuance of Human Design. Instead, human beings who have been learning about and experimenting with the Human Design system for 10+ years are much better teachers of this content.
To learn more about your very human teacher, check out this page here.
ABOUT
Caroline Southwell supports conscious individuals to create lives and businesses they love using Human Design and Trauma-Informed Tapping. Learn more about her here.