TL;DR: Human Design divides the bodygraph into nine energy centers. Colored centers are defined, operating consistently and reliably; white centers are undefined, where you absorb and amplify others' energy and are easily conditioned. This is a spiritual system that no peer-reviewed research has validated, not a medical diagnosis, so it is best used as a self-inquiry tool that you verify against your own experience.
What are the nine centers in Human Design?
The nine centers are the nine energy points drawn on the Human Design bodygraph, each responsible for its own group of psychological and physiological functions. On the chart, a colored center is called a defined center, while a white center is called an undefined center. According to Jovian Archive, Human Design Dictionary, a defined center operates in a stable and consistent way, while an undefined center is where you easily take on influence from other people. Human Design presents itself as a comprehensive system of self-knowledge, combining astrology, the I Ching, Jewish Kabbalah, Vedic philosophy and modern physics.
One thing needs to be said clearly from the start: Human Design has no verified scientific evidence, and this article presents the system according to its own internal conventions, without confirming any medical or predictive value.
Origin and place of the nine centers within the system
Human Design was initiated by Alan Robert Krakower, who published the book The Human Design System in 1992 under the pen name Ra Uru Hu, after an experience he described as mystical in 1987. This is recorded on the official Human Design site, Jovian Archive, About Ra Uru Hu. Before that he worked as an advertising director and magazine publisher.
The system divides people into four main energy types: Manifestor, Generator, Projector and Reflector, sometimes with a fifth type, the Manifesting Generator. Each type has a natural "strategy" for acting, along with "self" and "not-self" themes. The nine centers are the layer beneath these four types: the type is determined by which centers are colored and which are left white.
Why nine, and not seven?
The number nine in Human Design does not come from Indian tradition. The chakra system familiar today usually has seven centers, popularized through Sir John Woodroffe's 1919 book The Serpent Power, a translation of Pūrṇānanda Yati's Ṣaṭ-chakra-nirūpaṇa ("Explanation of the Six Chakras", 1577), under the name Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe), The Serpent Power: being the Shat-Chakra-Nirupana and Paduka-Panchaka (Digital Library of India digitized edition). Medieval Buddhist texts from the 8th century speak of four or five chakras, while Hindu sources give various different numbers; this detail cannot currently be verified through open academic sources, so it is noted here only as an unconfirmed point.
Human Design's own materials do not explain the number nine through any kind of combination: Jovian Archive says the seven-chakra system describes "seven-centered humans", and that from 1781, the same year Uranus was discovered, humans became "nine-centered humans". This is a claim made by the system itself, with no verification. Kabbalah is a method, discipline and school of thought within Jewish mysticism, emerging in Occitania in the 12th to 13th centuries, with foundational texts such as the Bahir, the Zohar and later Etz Chaim ("Tree of Life"), according to Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah, translated by Allan Arkush, Princeton University Press (Princeton Classics edition). The theologian J. R. Hustwit (Open Theology, 2016) calls Human Design a "transreligious" project; the way this system borrows the Tree of Life and then changes its number and names is one example of that kind of blending.
In other words, the nine centers are not an anatomical discovery, but a design convention of the system.
How do defined and undefined centers differ?
A defined center is a colored center, understood to operate in a stable and reliable way, producing consistent energy throughout life. An undefined center is a white center, understood as a place where you do not generate fixed energy but instead receive and amplify energy from others, and from there are easily conditioned. According to Jovian Archive, Human Design Dictionary, a defined center operates in a stable and consistent way, while an undefined center is where you easily take on influence from other people.
This is the central pair of concepts for the entire way a chart is read. According to Jovian Archive, Human Design Dictionary, a person's bodygraph shows which centers are "defined", meaning consistent and reliable in their operation.
How does conditioning take place?
According to the system's internal logic, when two people are near each other, one person's undefined center can be "temporarily colored in" by the other person's defined center. Repeated long enough, the person with the undefined center begins to believe that this is their own nature. Human Design calls this phenomenon conditioning, and sees recognizing it as the main practical goal.
Note this well: this is a description from inside the system, not a proven biological mechanism. No anatomical or physiological research confirms the existence of these centers.
Why is an undefined center not necessarily a weakness?
In the common reading, an undefined center carries two sides. The disadvantageous side is being easily influenced and easily confusing what you truly want with what others impose on you. The advantageous side is a greater capacity for learning, empathy and flexibility, because you can take in many different perspectives.
Many Human Design schools emphasize that an undefined center is not a "gap" to be plugged, but a window of perception. This interpretation is not consistent among teachers: some emphasize the aspect of suffering and the need for protection, others emphasize the aspect of wisdom and compassion. This article acknowledges both readings rather than choosing one.
What function and meaning do the nine centers have when defined or undefined?
The table below summarizes how the system assigns a function to each center. This is a Human Design convention, not an anatomical description.
| Center | Functional group according to the system | When defined | When undefined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Source of inspiration, pressure to think | Has a stable source of inspiration | Easily pressured to think, easily overloaded |
| Ajna | Perception, analysis, forming viewpoints | Has a consistent way of thinking | Flexible but easily swayed in viewpoints |
| Throat | Communication, action, expression | Speaks and acts with weight | Easily talks too much or stays silent too long |
| G (Self) | Identity, direction, love and orientation | Has a clear sense of direction | Easily finds direction through others |
| Heart (Heart/Ego) | Will, self-worth, material matters | Enduring will, able to commit | Easily over-proves oneself |
| Solar Plexus | Emotions, emotional waves | Emotional waves are clear and cyclical | Emotions easily swept along by others |
| Spleen | Intuition, immunity, instant sensing | Stable intuition, sensitive to timing | Easily clings to what is not good for you |
| Sacral | Life energy, work, vitality | Enduring source of energy, knows when it is enough | Easily overworks and then burns out |
| Root | Pressure, drive, pace | Handles pressure and pushes well | Easily rushes or procrastinates because of pressure |
How is a chart read in practical order?
A common reading order has four steps:
- Count the number of defined centers to estimate the chart's level of "energy independence". The more defined centers a chart has, the less conditioned the system considers it to be.
- Identify which defined center sits in a key position, for example the Throat or the G, because they strongly affect how you express yourself and your direction.
- List the undefined centers and note the specific situations that make you realize you are being swept along by others.
- Cross-check with the overall energy type (Manifestor, Generator, Projector, Reflector) to choose a strategy for acting.
An illustrative example
Suppose a person has a defined Throat and an undefined Sacral. According to the system, this person speaks and acts with steady weight, but easily throws themselves into overwork when near someone with a strong defined Sacral. The internal advice is to learn to recognize when the energy for work is your own and when it is borrowed.
Conversely, a person with a defined Sacral and an undefined Throat may have an enduring source of energy but find it hard to say what they want, and easily get drawn into speaking on others' behalf. These are two completely different configurations even though only the defined and undefined positions are swapped.
How do the nine centers compare with chakras and Kabbalah, in similarities and differences?
Comparing the nine centers with the seven chakras is a common trap. Chakra, in its original Sanskrit meaning, means "wheel" or "circle", and is a tool supporting meditation in the form of spiritual energy centers in the subtle body, imagined in many Hindu and Buddhist tantra practices. The chakra is regarded as a meditation tool, helping the practitioner move from the lower center up to the highest center blooming at the crown of the head.
Human Design borrows the image of energy centers but changes the number, the names and the purpose. Chakras serve a process of spiritual practice; the nine centers serve the reading of a personal chart. Similarly, Kabbalah has the structure of the Sefirot on the Tree of Life, but Human Design does not copy that structure as it is.
Academically, this is a typical phenomenon of blending found in New Age systems: taking forms from many traditions, assigning new meanings, and then presenting them as a single unified whole.
What are the legal dispute and the question of copyright?
One little-known point: on 3 June 2020, the Court of Florence ruled that there can be no copyright over the Human Design system, according to Osho News (19/07/2020), Human Design goes to Court. The case began with a lawsuit by Human Design Italia, an organization claiming exclusive copyright in Italy and in the Italian language based on a license from Alan Krakower's company Jovian Archive.
Human Design Italia sued the Italian publisher Terra Nuova after Chetan Parkyn's book Human Design, Scopri la Tua Vera Natura was published in June 2019. The court concluded that the plaintiff could not provide evidence proving exclusivity over the "Human Design system" or its teachings, and that the ideas, processes and methods may be freely discussed, referenced and illustrated.
This matters for Vietnamese readers: you do not need to be licensed by any school in order to learn about or write about the nine centers.
How should the nine centers be approached in a healthy way?
Treat it as a self-reflection questionnaire, not a verdict. The most useful question an undefined center raises is: "In this situation, is this emotion or desire mine, or am I borrowing it from someone else?".
Verify against real experience instead of believing absolutely. If a description of an undefined center does not match your behavior over many years, set it aside rather than bending yourself to fit the chart.
Do not use it to decide finances, health or major decisions. Human Design has no scientific basis for replacing professional medical, psychological or financial advice.
Clearly recognize where the boundary lies between reflection and superstition. That boundary lies in whether you keep the right to judge for yourself or hand everything over to the system.
