THE WORK | Old Paradigm v. New Paradigm approaches to Human Design, the Gene Keys, and Astrology
When talking about our birth charts (and by birth charts I mean our Astrological Natal & Gestational Charts, our Human Design chart, and our Gene Keys Hologenetic Profile), I often describe them to my clients as our individualized instruction manual for the human experience.
And a birth chart-informed personal reflective practice takes that instruction manual out from the bottom of the kitchen junk drawer (where it was slowly collecting dust next to that pile of Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons and the warranty for your vacuum cleaner) and actually 👏 puts👏 it 👏 into 👏 use 👏.
Inside our birth charts lie an ABUNDANCE of information about:
what we’re each personally here to do (i.e. our life’s purpose/the great work of our lives).
what our individual intuitive voice is supposed to feel/sound like.
patterns we perpetuate and cycles we’re meant to complete.
where we are likely to self-sabotage and self-abandon.
what we need from a partner, from friends, and from family to feel supported.
what we are able to give in our relationships.
where we need to set healthy boundaries, and where we need to work on vulnerability and openness.
…and that’s literally just the TIP of the iceberg! And, in my experience, if we’re willing to deeply investigate our charts, honestly contemplate what we find, and then make the choice every day to embody our highest authentic expression, LIVES ✨ ARE ✨CHANGED. #nohyperbole
I’ve been committed to a birth chart-informed personal reflective practice for the past six years, and it has empowered me to be able to call so much alignment and PEACE into my life, and I am forever grateful for the shifts I’ve been able to create 🖤 And I want that feeling for every single person on this planet 🖤
The internet, as I’m sure you know, is a WILD place, and for every genuinely helpful Instagram post/TikTok/YouTube video, there are at least ten more that are unhelpful/poorly researched at best and damaging/predatory at worst. As I’ve begun exploring how I personally want to interact with those platforms as interior creature, one of the things I’ve noticed is how pervasive Old Paradigm takes on Astrology, Human Design, and the Gene Keys are…so I wanted to flag it and put it on your radar so you can make an informed choice about what sources to engage with 🖤 So here we go…
Analogy time (you know I love my analogies!):
When we first discover any of our birth charts, the feeling should be akin to looking into a super accurate mirror.
Have you ever been out shopping at a department store or boutique, and went to the dressing room to try on some clothes only to look in the mirror and go “WAIT. IS THAT WHAT I LOOK LIKE?????”
Years ago, I remember buying a pair of jeans at a Macy’s outside of Reno, Nevada, and I swear they had installed funhouse mirrors in their dressing rooms. My reflection was so distorted I remember googling “is sudden onset body dysmorphia a thing?” because what was reflected back to me looked so incredibly warped 🤦🏻♀️
I have worked with thousands of folks in readings over the years, and so many have shared their experiences with Old Paradigm transmissions of birth chart interpretation feeling like that funhouse mirror. The resources they consulted or the teacher they trusted was so negative, fixed, and fatalistic in their interpretation of the chart, my client walked away feeling sentenced to hard time rather than personally empowered, and we spent a lot of time shifting those limiting beliefs during our reading and work together.
The opposite can also happen: I vividly remember one shopping haul where I spent WAYYYYYY TOO MUCH because the dressing room mirrors were too flattering. I mean, I looked like a GODDESS in everything I tried on…but when I got back to my apartment and looked into my own mirror (sans the flattering lighting and intentionally angled mirror placement), it became clear that more than half of the haul was going back.
Just as many of my clients have shared their experiences with Old Paradigm transmissions of birth chart interpretation feeling like this as well. Some folks talk about the parts of our charts as if every aspect of the energy is PERFECT and beyond examination…but this turns out to be harmful as well. What if you’re told you’re good at something that honestly, you know you struggle with? How alienating is that? I’ve also spent a lot of time helping folks understand the nuance and dynamic nature of our placements so they could meet themselves with more compassion and grace.
Old Paradigm approaches to these tools are rooted in fear, scarcity, and lack. They’re rigid, dogmatic, and hierarchical. Teachings are black and white, and reductive AF. There are winners and losers, and the emphasis is on making sure you’re on the winning team.
The New Paradigm values are so very different. The New Paradigm is rooted in love, compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, peace, authenticity, truth, and service. This energy aims for balance, considers the needs of the self and the needs of the community, and knows that we can only show up for those we love after we’ve shown up for ourselves. Teachings are nuanced, dynamic, expansive, and ever-evolving. Knowledge is shared and credited, never hoarded or appropriated. And all boats rise together.
The New Paradigm transmission of birth chart analysis that I practice holds space for ALL OF YOU. The good, the bad, the ugly. The perfectly imperfect. The HUMAN.
Looking at your birth charts should feel akin to looking at an accurate, holistic mirror, that takes into account who and how you were, who and how you are now, and who and how you can be. ALL OF YOU.
Speaking of nuance LOL
One of the most FOUNDATIONAL teachings in Human Design and in the Gene Keys has to do with how conditioning impacts the way the energies of our placements are expressed.
(regarding conditioning: Every single person on the planet, from the moment they exit the womb, experiences conditioning. We are all co-authoring a story about who we are and how we are with THOUSANDS of other folks (parents, friends, family members, teachers, classmates, neighbors, strangers, SOCIETY, etc), whether we realize it or not. The goal of a birth chart-informed personal reflective practice is to switch off autopilot, hold that conditioning to the light of day, shed what needs to be shed, actively decide how we want to walk through the world, and then embody that shift).
All of our placements and aspects (centers, gates, channels, type, etc) have three distinct vibrational expressions, and which one(s) we frequently embody is usually influenced heavily by our conditioning:
Low-frequency vibration: In the Gene Keys, Richard Rudd calls this the SHADOW. We’re in the shadow/low-frequency vibration of a placement when we make choices from a place of fear, shame, anger, hopelessness, and scarcity. Rudd further divides this shadow energy into two distinct wavelengths: the REPRESSIVE and the REACTIVE. When we’re in the REPRESSIVE energy of a placement, we’re repressing our own needs in favor of the needs of others (self-abandonment), and when we’re in the REACTIVE, we’re glorifying our own needs to the detriment and expense of others (self-aggrandizement). This low-frequency vibration is also sometimes likened to being stuck in a victim/abuser consciousness.
High-frequency vibration: In the Gene Keys, Richard Rudd calls this the GIFT. We’re in the gift/high-frequency vibration of a placement when we start to consistently make choices from a place of love, compassion, truth, grace, and empathy. This energy takes into account the self and others when making decisions. It’s where we walk consistently with self-awareness, which with consistent action develops into self-empowerment.
Vibration of GOD/PURE LOVE/MIRACLES/SOURCE: In the Gene Keys, Richard Rudd calls this the SIDDHI, a reference to the Buddhist belief that on the dedicated path to enlightenment, folks can experience the miraculous. We experience the Siddhi/miracle vibration of a placement when walking in the GIFT has become our new default setting (replacing our previous low vibe choices) which empowers us to expand even further into love. It is the frequency of ascension, what some refer to as the 5D, and it’s the vibration of the New Paradigm.
The single most important thing that we can do after we’ve run our birth charts is to establish and commit to a birth chart-informed personal reflective practice to start shedding any harmful low-frequency conditioning.
A New Paradigm approach to the birth chart is both reflective AND active. It involves deep shadow work, intentional deconditioning, and a thorough, honest audit of our patterns, tendencies, and default behaviors.
It takes courage and so much self-love to look into the mirror our birth charts provide and honestly engage with what you see reflected back. And it takes even more courage to dedicate yourself to intentionally shift your energy from the low-frequency vibration to the high-frequency vibration to the vibration of GOD/PURE LOVE/MIRACLES/SOURCE. But DAMN is the journey worth the effort.
A New Paradigm approach to the birth chart feels compassionate. It feels nuanced and complex, just like you. It feels abundant and expansive and illuminating and actionable.
In short, it feels miraculous. And you deserve MIRACLES 🖤
I taught a free webinar on how to create your own embodiment practice using your birth charts a couple of months ago, and I’ve linked it here. It’s the video about a quarter of the way down the page. I’ll be writing more posts in the weeks to come about tools you can use to enhance your personal practice, pinky-swear :)
In the meantime, this is also the work we do as a conscious community inside the karmic studies | elevator. I’ve built the community and resource bank that I wish I had when I was first starting my own journey, and all of the work we do is firmly rooted in New Paradigm values. I cannot tell you how transformational it is to be able to pull up weekly with a group of heart-centered peers and share in community about this important, paradigm-shifting work 🖤 It is just the best medicine 🖤 And if you feel called to, I would love for you to join us🖤
In the comments, please share any exercises, resources, or tools you’ve found impactful in your own birth chart-informed personal reflective practice…also, DAMN IS THAT A MOUTHFUL. I’ve gotta come up with a better name for it LOL
Sources:
Curry, Karen. Understanding Human Design. Hierophant Publishing, 2013.
I Ching: The Book of Changes. Translated by David Hinton. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.
Parkyn, Chetan. The Book of Lines. New World Library, 2012.
Parkyn, Chetan. Human Design: Discover the Person You Were Born to Be. New World Library, 2009.
Rudd, Richard. The Gene Keys. Watkins, 2009.
Rudd, Richard. The Gene Keys Golden Path: Genius. Gene Keys Publishing LTD, 2012.
Rudd, Richard. The Gene Keys Golden Path: Love. Gene Keys Publishing LTD, 2012.
Rudd, Richard. The Gene Keys Golden Path: Prosperity. Gene Keys Publishing LTD, 2012.
Stein, Diane. The Kwan Yin: Book of Changes. Llewellyn Publications, 1985.