One of the most important things to understand about why connections (and relationships of all kinds) happen and last between us is that some of us function more independently than others by nature. Connection possibilities depend on the particular configuration of your Human Design bodygraph definition.
Definition is what is consistent and reliable within us; it is what creates our Type and determines our Strategy and Authority. Definition in the bodygraph shows us a schematic of the way energy flows within us. It also determines the way we operate, how we interact with and what we look for in others.
It's part of one of the most interesting human phenomena: the connections that happen when people meet. Using the Human Design System as a framework, you can see the mechanics behind those connections. Why and how we connect can be very complex and deep, but the truth is right there on the surface of the bodygraph for anyone to see.
Here is a basic overview of the Five Kinds of Definition you'll encounter in a Human Design Bodygraph, with links to free audios by Ra Uru Hu discussing each. Would you like to listen to Ra’s introduction to Human Design Definition here, then read and listen to an explanation of yours below?
Split Definition - Approximately 45.89%
"You complete me." Introducing your significant other as your "other half" is a sentiment that almost half the people on this planet deeply resonate with.
As a basic Split Definition, you have two separate areas of definition in your Human Design chart that are disconnected from each other. You are choicelessly drawn to people who bring the aspects that connect your areas of definition. The quality of your life depends on your bond with the right other. When you find a person with the right bridging gate(s), you experience a sense of wholeness. But just because you feel that way when you are with certain people doesn't mean they are correct for you.
Here's the conditioning simple Splits need to be aware of:
It's possible to be blinded by bridges if you are a basic Split Definition. You could spend all your time and energy looking for what you think you need (if just one gate would bridge your split) to be whole.
What you feel is “missing” that would bridge the two parts of you is what can become where you focus all your attention and your decision-making upon.
If it takes two gates or a channel to bridge your split, then those themes become what you think the other needs or is the other person’s problem, in order for you to experience what you think you need in life.
Now we see how blame can enter the picture here and skew your perspective of your life.
More rarely, when it takes more than a channel to bridge your split, now you think the missing elements in your design are what the world is missing, and that's why you don't have what you need in life or feel whole.
Focusing on the qualities of any Gate(s) or Channels that would bridge your Split is attractive to your mind, and this is where a basic Split's centralized "Not-Self" purpose is.
“What is the Not-Self?” In a Split Definition, not only do you have open Center Not-Self thematics at work, but because of the dual areas of energy dynamics you were imprinted with, your mind is seduced by decision-making strategies based upon those aspects that bridge your split. Fixating on that openness will never bring you the fulfillment you are looking for, as your mind will come up with strategies for coping with the unreliability of that energy and try to “fix” it through decisions or bonds with others. But there's nothing missing, wrong or broken within you—though it may feel that way sometimes.
Because of this inherent drive for wholeness, basic splits are responsible for the phenomenon of monogamy and pair-bonding. Entering into the right bond correctly—with awareness—using your Strategy and Authority to make decisions as yourself, you discover the beauty of a truly fulfilling relationship.
Single Definition - Approximately 41.95%
"When I'm done, I'm done." These were words from a Single Definition woman during a recent Living Your Design Awakening Program when discussing relationships.
Single Definition means that all the defined Centers in your Design are dependably communicating in specific ways from the time of your birth until you leave this plane. Life-force energy flows continuously through your defined Channels to the Centers, consistently determining your authentic nature.
Single Definition gives you a consistent and reliable sense of wholeness within without the drive for someone "to complete you". Unlike other kinds of definition, yours depends on nothing outside of itself to bring parts of you together. Your operating system doesn't need outside energy to process incoming information. You are designed to operate more independently than Splits and are self-contained.
Because you have no built mechanism that looks for and creates an illusion of wholeness, like basic Splits do, making a relationship successful can be a challenge as it is easier for you to simply walk away (while a Split would be more likely to want to work on the relationship and stay together).
All the undefined or open Centers are where your mind is susceptible to conditioning. The conditioning in these white centers is where you are likely to get sidetracked from making decisions correctly as yourself. Follow your Strategy and Authority to discover the magic of your uniqueness.
Triple Split - Approximately 10.18%
It's all about movement for a Triple-Split, because of the fact that no single bridge, person or singular moment brings you the same sense of wholeness. As a Triple-Split, you have three different parts in your Design disconnected to each other and may involve two, or commonly all three of the Awareness Centers in your Bodygraph, all of which operate on different time frequencies. Because each of your areas of definition are highly specialized, and can be brought together with a variety of different bridges, you are a complex being with extraordinary potential for assimilation and integration of information through movement and over time.
As a Triple-Split, you have more in common with Single Definitions in that the open centers hold the thematics of conditioning that can lead you away from your truth. Unlike the basic Split definition, when you are in a relationship with someone who brings all the aspects of you together through bridging areas of their split, it is not at all the same feeling for you. You can tend to feel trapped if you are bridged the same way all the time, so it is important for you to get out into the public aura on a daily basis. Not necessarily to socialize, or even for a very long period, but to make use of the way you can be bridged in the diversity found among groups of people. Sampling the broad spectrum of ways you could be brought together and synthesizing the different parts of you in this way is an important aspect to understand as it is what makes you so unique. Being locked into the same way you can be brought together all the time is not particularly healthy nor does it feel comfortable for you.
You can be impatient and act without waiting for all aspects of you to be connected with integration of relevant data. Through awareness of and experimentation with your Strategy, Authority and unique way of synthesizing information, you can find fulfillment of your unique purpose in life.
No Definition - Approximately 1.41%
People with no definition—no defined Channels and therefore, Centers—are a very unique Auric Type. These are Lunar beings, tied deeply into the movement of the moon through their Human Design charts.
Reflectors are discussed in these free audios by Ra; Reflector Strategy, Reflector Not-Self Theme, Reflector Children.
Quadruple Split - Approximately 0.57%
"The only Definition that is, without question, Polygamists". Ra Uru Hu, the Four Views
You can see how very rare Quadruple Splits are; still this accounts for approximately 1 in 200 people on the planet. Quadruple Splits they are very fixed beings because so much is defined in their bodygraph. What's so interesting is that if you are a Quadruple split, you appear differently to different people, because of the aspects of you that emerge depending on what the other bridges within you.
You are looking for two specific bridging areas - two different kinds of fixed bonds.
Like the basic Split definition, conditioning potential for you is strongly focused on the bridging gates between your Splits. What you need are consistent bridges that come from two or three others, because of the many ways your four elements could come together and the fact that if one person brings all those bridges you need, it locks you in a pattern that feels uncomfortable to you.
The general public aura does not benefit you like it does the Triple Split; what you are looking for are tight bonds with the right others that allow all of the expressions of you to emerge. Through Strategy and Authority, you find the correct bonds that allow you your unique expression of fulfillment in this life.
“Whenever you’re dealing with a split definition you have to recognize that the moment that you move from single definition to split definition to triple split definition to quadruple split definition, everything slows down. You cannot expect a triple split to operate at the same speed as a single definition. A single definition integrates information completely the moment it receives it. A split definition does not.
In other words, it can receive information but those two sets of information as they operate through their design don’t have a relationship to each other. You’re always waiting for the bridge. If you’ve got a triple split you can see that a triple split definition can’t just come to a conclusion. If you’re emotional and you’re a triple split, that’s an ideal. It takes you forever to come to a decision anyway, so you might as well enjoy being emotional and take advantage of waiting out your wave. “ Ra Uru Hu
“Everything about the possibility of who you are is determined by your relationships. Everything… And if you’re lost in the psychology of what your split brings to you, you’re blind to see those forces that are correct for you in this life.”
Openness has the potential for Wisdom
Human Design helps you become aware of what those qualities that bridge your split or the centers that condition your mind away from your authentic nature, which is what you are here to be wise about in your life. Single and Triples, know the signposts of your undefined centers. Split and Quadruples, study the bridges between your definition so that you are aware of when you get trapped in making decisions that focus on what you are not here to be.
Remember the openness is where you are flexible and able to experience the full range of possible experiences. Openness is where we "go to school" in life. The open centers and bridges between your definitions don't define you, and can never be consistent or reliable. Conditioning here that you base decisions on leads you away from your authentic nature. Experimenting with your Strategy and Authority is what protects you mechanically from the allure of the openness in your design.
As a Human Design Analyst, Living Your Design Guide, Rave ABCs and Cartography Teacher as well as BG5 Consultant, one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I’ve found in life is to truly see and understand how people operate. The realizations in my own life as well as the positive feedback from the people who reach out to me for advice has everything to do with the commitment and passion I have for this System and the time I spend immersed with it.
This information was synthesized from my training, including self-study from Jovian's Definition videos and the two chapters on definition from the Four Views e-book helped me tremendously in understanding the mechanics of how different kinds of definitions function, and I know they can do the same for you.
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*Further statistics can be found on the Rave Statistics page. A version of this article originally appeared on JovianArchive.com
