Let's continue our Journey through the Centers of the Human Design Bodygraph with your purely existential Splenic Center, governing the primal awareness fundamental to your survival. Call it intuition or gut instinct, the spontaneous knowing here is worthy of respect. The Splenic Center is home to your immune system, health, values, and well-being, ensuring the intelligence to protect yourself. Your Splenic Center enables your survival through an alertness to fears that are designed to keep you safe.

Our oldest awareness center (the Ajna and Solar Plexus being the other two) the Splenic Center is also quietest, operating in the now moment. The triangle pointing inward at the lower left of your bodygraph is just the Splenic Center's location in your bodygraph. It is not representative of the location of the actual spleen in your body.

Your Splenic Center's associated biology is a network of immune system tissues and organs throughout your body - like your T-cells, lymphatic system, and spleen. Your Immune System is where everything that's applicable to your existential existence gets investigated and cleaned out to protect you.

Your Splenic Center is your authority if you have it defined but do not have the Sacral, or Solar Plexus defined. Your authority "speaks" once in the moment of decision and does not provide a why. As opposed to your mind's pressurized internal rationalizing, logical formulas or abstract realizations that repeat themselves. Trust your intuition, instinct or judgment, designed to ensure you get what is correct for you so that you can adapt and thrive in alignment with living out your true nature.

As you read about the gates below, have your bodygraph handy to take special note of the ones imprinted in your Human Design. If your Splenic Center is defined, those gates you have activated are the very specific ways you are designed to experience fears that can keep you safe to ensure your survival. If your Splenic Center is undefined, the gates waiting to be activated are themes you are genetically programmed to be receptive to when activated by transits or people in your environment.

Splenic Center Streams of Awareness

Mirroring the streams in the Solar Plexus, the Splenic Center has three distinct streams of awareness that move through it, fueled by the adrenalized pressures from the Root Center. These streams are Tribal (instinct), Individual (intuition), and Collective (taste). Similar to how the 6th gate is the source of all wave frequencies; the 50th Gate is a gate of fusion, the root of the six awareness frequencies of the Splenic Center.

Hexagram 50 - The Gate of Values

The laws and values of the tribe are defined via Gate 50, "The Cauldron," which brings the awareness to be responsible for the preservation of others and the potential to be responsible. Fear of taking on responsibility or taking on too much responsibility due to fear is a possibility with this gate activated.

The Tribal Instinctive Awareness Stream (Smell)

Tribal ambition fuels the stream of awareness moving through the Splenic Center from gate 54 in the Root to gate 26 in the Heart Center. This stream details the shrewd functioning of your instinct to support the survival, transformation and material success of your Tribe.

Hexagram 32 - The Gate of Continuity

Gate 32, "Duration," brings an awareness of whether or not success is a potential and a recognition of talent to take advantage of and nurture its power to eliminate the fear of failure. You can smell failure coming and carry an instinctive recognition that change endures. Your deep cellular memory, conservative nature and potential to recognize who can and what should be transformed supports the material success of your tribe.

Hexagram 44 - The Gate of Alertness

Gate 44, "Coming  to Meet," carries the pure instinctive memory of what is necessary to bring your tribe material success. You can smell the potential of others; recognizing the right timing to interact with the right other in the right way to manipulate people for the benefit of your tribe. Fear of the past can have you concerned about what could happen should prior events catch up with you.

Individual Intuitive Awareness Stream (Acoustic)

The energy to struggle for purpose drives the deeply intuitive stream of awareness moving through the Splenic Center from gate 38 in the Root to the Throat Center's gate 20. This stream carries an acoustic intelligence designed to keep you safe in the now. It's chemistry carries a mutative pulse of either the deep melancholy or immense creativity that is inherent in all individual circuitry in your bodygraph. The fear of time outside of the present moment (what does not exist in the now) is what troubles you if you carry this individual circuitry.

Hexagram 28 - The Gate of the Game Player

Gate 28, "Preponderance of the Great," brings knowing in the now whether it is valuable to struggle for a purpose; to find value in life beyond just surviving. This ongoing process of change and evolution operates from the awareness potential of listening so that you can stubbornly take the best possible risks. Fear of whether life has value unless you take risks, or not taking risks out of fear can preoccupy you. Without purpose, life's challenges can bring you a deep melancholy and are always a struggle.

Hexagram 57 - The Gate of Intuitive Clarity

Gate  57, "The  Gentle" is a complex gate in that connects to three different centers; the Sacral, G and Throat Centers. The gate of Intuitive clarity can literally 'hear' the truth in the Now. This potentially penetrating awareness is essential to staying alive and safe; listening to your instinctual hunches can alleviate the fear of tomorrow.

Collective Awareness Stream of Taste

Vitality drives the pressurized stream of awareness moving through the Splenic Center from gate 58 in the Root to the Throat Center's gate 16. This logical stream is concerned with understanding and perfection of patterns over time, challenging what doesn't work and sharing the recognition of what has and can in the future.

Hexagram 18 - The Gate of Correction

Gate 18, "Work on what has been Spoilt" is a gate of learning, carrying the awareness potential to challenge authority and perfect what is vital, via concentration. This gate is fueled by the drive for perfection and is here to challenge patterns. There is a possible fear of authority here; of being judged by others or even self-judgment.

Hexagram 48 - The Gate of Depth

Gate  48, "The Well" brings the possibility of the depth of knowledge, and a deep frustration if one is unable to share that depth through experimentation or expression. This gate brings the awareness of a potential solution, and also fear that you don't have enough depth or are seeking depth to resolve the fear of inadequacy.

As with all gates, remember that everything is a duality, and there is always the opposite possible in any gate.

When defined, the potential of your Splenic Center is to bring you a spontaneous intuition, instinct and a sense of judgment that can reliably give you a sense of security. If you have a defined Splenic Center, this fundamental security in your nature can cause you to not pay much attention to your health unless there's a problem. The present moment is all that the Splenic Center knows. What is not safe in one moment, may be okay at another time. The key is to listen to your Splenic "hits" or sometimes referred to as "gut instinct" in alignment with your Strategy and Authority when facing or recovering from any illness.

The Undefined or Open Splenic Center

If your Splenic Center is undefined, your gates above are awareness themes you are designed to be receptive to experiencing when activated by transits or other people. Honor and learn from these energies; you are designed to be sensitive to the well-being of those around you,

You are sensitive to foreign substances, your health and how your body feels. Your potential wisdom lies in learning about who is healthy, as well as which food and health remedies are for you (holistic medicine often suffices) and what doesn't.

You may experience an inherent insecurity in not knowing whether you can survive, so having an undefined spleen can create adaptive strategies when you're not living your true nature. Holding onto behaviors, people, places or things you think make you feel good but aren't in your best interests to keep in your life can be a challenge.  When defined by a transit or other people, you could feel pressured to make spontaneous decisions and let go of things that are good for you. Unless it's life-threatening, never make an impulsive move.

In addition to the above characteristics; if you have a completely open Splenic Center (no dormant gate potentials), you are open to being aware of all the ways this body consciousness can show up in life.  You may not know what to be afraid of, so be mindful of following your Strategy and Authority to protect yourself.

If you can discern the difference between your Splenic energy and recognize (not identify with) the energy of others, your potential wisdom is a spontaneous, intuitive awareness that knows who and what is healthy.

Whatever your Splenic definition, you are not at a disadvantage so long as you are operating correctly; following your Strategy and Authority provides you with the all the protection you need.

Questions for Inquiry:

Have you noticed you can be vulnerable to amplifying the fear energy of others and the conditioning response that brings you? Not being able to let go of things that aren't good for you, or not knowing what to fear are typical patterns. What examples of the thoughts below, which may come up on behalf of your deeply conditioned mind, do you recognize in you?

I'm not going to try because I might fail.

I can't do that I'm scared/afraid/fearful.

I can't do that because I don't have enough depth, or I feel inadequate.  

I'm  afraid of what is going to happen/the future/criticism.

I can't take that on, I'm afraid of the responsibility.

If in a relationship that is not good for you:

I can't say that it might upset him/her, and they'll leave me.

I can help them change, perhaps therapy could help.

Things will get better, we need to stay together for the children's sake.

No matter the configuration of your definition, you are perfectly designed. Your imprinted fears are there to keep you safe, and develop awareness, not to hold you back. Following your Strategy and Authority can transform your awareness, which is the key for you to live out your true nature.

Living your Human Design helps you to see the illusion you live in and wake up to a deeper and deeper realization of your true nature. Would you like to share any of your Splenic Center epiphanies or feedback here with the Human Design Community? You’re invited to ask questions as well.