Gate 36 :

Crisis

Surfing the Emotional Wave

Gate 36 is the Solar Plexus’s storm-cell: it dives into intense, messy feelings, learns to ride the highs and lows, and then catalyzes change when everyone else is paralyzed by panic.

Gate 36 is here for the emotional ride—the peaks, the valleys, the chaos, the clarity. This energy brings depth to experience by feeling everything as it happens, especially in times of change, upheaval, or emotional uncertainty. You’re wired to move through periods of discomfort, emotional intensity, or even full-on breakdown—not as signs of weakness, but as part of your emotional growth.

You’re not designed to avoid crisis. You’re designed to navigate it, to feel it fully, and to emerge with wisdom that can’t be learned any other way. But timing is everything: clarity doesn’t live in the heat of the moment—it comes over time. If you act too soon, you may deepen the chaos rather than resolve it.

Gift: Emotional courage that endures darkness, extracts meaning from turmoil, and signals when it’s safe to move forward.
Shadow: Permanent drama or cynicism: clinging to chaos, sensationalism, or a belief that crisis never ends.
Growth: Let feelings complete their wave before acting; clarity arrives after the peak. Share lessons only once the storm has passed—others hear you when you’re calm. Use crises to renew systems, not simply to prove endurance.

When Gate 36 is active, turbulence isn’t a sign of failure—it’s the weather through which insight is born. Instead of “fixing” the storm, focus on steady breathing, honest feeling, and timing your next step after the clouds clear.

Gate 36
Gate 36
Gate 36:
Crisis
The Gate of Surfing the Emotional Wave
Gate Description
Gate 36 is the Solar Plexus’s storm-cell: it dives into intense, messy feelings, learns to ride the highs and lows, and then catalyzes change when everyone else is paralyzed by panic.
Energy Circuit
Collective: Sensing
Location: Energy Center
Bridge Gate(s)
WHAT ARE "LINES"?

Each Gate has six “lines”. They are represented by the number after the decimal for each gate (3.4, 10.2, 41.3, etc.).

Each Line carries a different “flavor” of a gate’s energy. The Lines are determined by the precise planetary placements on your bodygraph chart. Some placements can change lines every 12 minutes!

The 6 Lines are derived from the Chinese I’Ching’s Hexagrams.

Lines 1, 2, and 3 are energies for more personal, individual growth.

Lines 4, 5, and 6 are energies for growth through, or for, the outside world.

Lines of Gate 36

Line 1: Resistance

Raw resolve to stand firm under pressure; healthy when adaptive, destructive when rigidly opposing any change.

Line 2: Support

Offers imaginative help that lifts others in chaos; shadow helps only when cornered or if it personally benefits.

Line 3: Transition

Sees when the old order has truly collapsed and can seed the new; or clings to remnants, haunted by nostalgia.

Line 4: Espionage

Gathers covert knowledge to prepare for downturns; shadow sells secrets or manipulates survival for profit.

Line 5: The Underground

Can live through any conditions and quietly guide others; fearful nerves may sabotage its own safe plan.

Line 6: Justice

Trusts that wrongdoing self-destructs in time, maintaining moral compass; at worst, sinks into sorrow that crisis never ends.

Gate 36 Hexagram

About the Hexagrams and the i'ching

The 64 gates in the Human Design system correspond directly to the 64 hexagrams of the I’Ching, an ancient Chinese system of wisdom and divination. Each hexagram is a six-line figure made up of a combination of yin (broken) and yang (solid) lines. Together, they form symbolic representations of natural patterns, life themes, and human experiences.

In Human Design, the hexagrams are interpreted as energetic frequencies. Each gate on the BodyGraph carries the energetic signature of one hexagram, expressing its core essence through the mechanics of our design. The Gates are “activated” based on your time of birth. This determines your natural gifts, challenges, and ways of engaging with the world.

Hexagrams are traditionally read from the bottom line (Line 1) to the top (Line 6)—a progression that shows how energy or awareness develops over time. This structure is mirrored in Human Design Profiles, which are also built on combinations of these six lines.

Together, the 64 hexagrams form a complete map of human potential. It is encoded in the genetic structure of DNA and mirrored in the cosmos in the Human Design Mandala. Each one is a lens through which we can understand a specific part of what it means to be human.

Planetary Placements

The unique energies and symbolism for each gate

Planetary placements describe which gate each planet was activating at the moment of your birth. The position of the planets in the sky leaves a distinct energetic imprint, creating your personal energetic blueprint.

Each planet is expressed twice in the chart: once in the conscious (right) column and once in the unconscious (left).

Right Side of Your Chart: energies you’re more aware of – like personality traits, behaviors, quirks

Left Side of Your Chart: unconscious patterns and inherited traits you may not recognize but others clearly see.

Together, these planetary activations activate your gates, define your channels, and ultimately determine your energy type, strategy, and authority.

Sun

Life Force / Personality Expression

Life Theme, Who We "Are", What We "Do"

Personality Side: How we express our “light” in the world.

Design Side: Inherited life theme from the father’s lineage.

Earth

Grounding / Balance / Stability

How we Integrate Energy from our Sun Gates

How we find balance and integrate our Personality Sun placement.

How we integrate energy from our Design Sun placement and find stability.

North Node

Future Direction / Environment

change in mindset over time, our evolution

How you see the world and yourself. How you frame your environment and the people in it.

SOUTH Node

experiences in life / outlook / past

change in mindset over time, our evolution

How you see the world and yourself. How you frame your environment and the people in it.

Moon

Driving force

What We need to feel happy, safe, secure

How we use and direct our energy. The reflection of our inner-self that is perceived by others.

Mercury

Communication / curiousity

what you're here to communicate

Personality Side: insight into what you need to communicate in this life.

Design Side: seemingly random things you communicate to strangers

Venus

Values / Sociology

our values and personal "way of life"

Representation of love and beauty.

Our personal moral compass for how we deal with others and the world.

Connected with Jupiter and Saturn.

Mars

nature / action / raw power

Growth Areas to gain wisdom

Our determination, drive, motivation, and actions. Uncontrollable way of acting in situations of pressure, conflict, or stress.

jupiter

personal code / expansion

New Opportunities

Jupiter turns Venus’ values into laws. By following our Strategy and Authority and keeping our personal laws (Venus placements), we find fulfillment. Enforced by Saturn.

saturn

discipline / challenges

Self-Responsibility

Areas where we find resistance, limitations, and challenges – areas of correction, pointing out misalignment with our personal laws (Venus and Jupiter).

Uranus

Unusualness / Chaos + Order

What makes you "weird"
Revolution, change, transition, instability, and individuality. Our rebellious quality that makes us different from others. How we express our unique eccentricity.

Neptune

Imagination + Spirituality + Magic

Embrace mystery & believe in the impossible

Release what you believe to be true. Allow yourself to believe the unbelievable to fulfill the potential of this gate.

Pluto

Truth and Transformation

how we discover our truest self
Our deepest truth hidden within. How we grow and evolve. It is all about rebirth and transformation.