Cultural Appropriation + Human Design. Let’s talk about this.
When I learned about Human Design, I shared the system with my business peers. One of them said, “I don’t know about this system. I don’t like the history behind Human Design.”
Curious, I Googled the history of Human Design. I assumed it was similar to astrology or MBTI and didn’t question its origins.
Google shared that Human Design synthesized from five primary systems:
I Ching
Kabbalah
Chakras
Astrology
Quantum physics
Here's some context to why I'm writing this article. I'm a first-generation Asian-American. I've seen my culture, folk religion (Shenism), and features ridiculed yet celebrated when sold by white creators. There's also pressure from my communities to speak out on these issues or be humiliated as a “white sympathizer.”
This is the fourth edit of this post. The original post was written weeks into starting The Wild Pixel. It went viral and it pissed off a lot of people. I’m not who I was back then. I’m aware that what I say affects the buying decisions of those who find my website. At this point, I don’t care.
I wrote this article because no one talked about cultural appropriation in Human Design outside of social media. I want you, the reader, to make your own decisions and come to your conclusions. I’m not an authority on either cultural appropriation or Human Design. I don’t want to be. I also don’t want my words placed on a pedastal or for this post to create white guilt.
Neither results in understanding the issue with Human Design.
Read this post at your discretion. Be prepared to acknowledge a grey topic that does not have a concrete answer.
Where did Human Design come from?
The first book written about Human Design is nicknamed “The Black Book.” Robert Alan “Ra Uru Hu” Krakower published this book. He described his experience of being penetrated by a force that he calls The Voice. This happened in 1987 during his stay in Ibiza.
The Voice asked if he was ready to work.
Over the next eight days, Krakower channeled the system now known as Human Design.
The only witness to this experience was his dog.
This story is one person's retelling. How much should we consider Krakower's perspective versus possible memory contamination? Plus, he's shared his heavy inclinations towards psychedelics and alcohol.
If you've ever experimented with psychedelics, you'll likely know what it feels like to be penetrated by a voice or consciousness.
But would you be able to share those experiences? Monetize them? Speak about them without being charged with a crime, disowned, or looked down upon?
Would you be diagnosed with severe mental health disorders and your supporters labeled as enablers?
Ra Uru Hu as the Main Character of Human Design
If you’re not taking certification courses in Human Design through Krakower’s official institution, you do not exist as a Human Design reader. Seriously. Ra’s work is the end all be all in Human Design. They’ve even tried to sue Chetan Parkyn for putting out Human Design material.
When I took his Living Your Design course, they asked us all where we learned about Human Design.
Over 50% of my cohort said Karen Curry Parker, who personally knew and worked with Ra.
Every time she was brought up, the instructor would speak over the student and say, “We do not know who that is. She is not one of us. She isn’t certified and is not sharing real Human Design.”
Girl, you knew damn well who she is.
I also mentioned that (sorry to bring you into this, Kip) I followed Kip Winsett’s work with Human Design. Kip is the only person I’ve had direct, long-term Human Design mentorship with and he knows his shit.
Well, they gave me the same rundown. They told me he ain’t real. He’s a fraud. Blah blah blah. Whatever.
Human Design, comprised of systems that existed long before Ra’s spiritual penetration, is somehow gatekept by a white dude and his cult.
But it’s cool because like most people who “find enlightenment,” Ra has deep interests and studies in Chinese cultures make it all okay.
Let me just say, as an actual Chinese person who speaks the mother language, I Ching is an open system. No one, not even us who use this by BIRTH RIGHT, gatekeep the system from other people. So for a non-Chinese person to come in, use this shit, and try to say that other people can’t use it unless they PAY for classes and be certified by said person. Well, it’s bullshit.
I won’t speak on the other systems since it’s not my place.
Perverse whitewashing in spiritual communities.
I originally wrote this post around 2018 when acknowledging whitewashing and cultural appropriation exploded. People of all backgrounds fought back, done with their cultures taken, twisted, diluted, and sold to the highest bidder.
Robert Alan Krakower is allowed to love and practice the I Ching system, just as anyone who has interest. However, Krakower believed that I Ching was a misogynistic system.
Krakower toes the line of saviorhood here.
The original I Ching system is open interpretation and if it comes off misogynistic, it is a reflection of the person doing the interpretation just like tarot cards are a reflection of the reader.
It’s comical that he believes his Rave I Ching to be any less sexist.
Get that shit out of here. Pick up the I Ching, the coins, the stalks, whatever you’re using. Welcome. Enjoy. Breathe in the fresh air and let the messages come. You don’t need a damn certification or to wonder about your misogyny to use the system.
Is it ethical to sell Human Design if you’re not related to one of the original systems?
I don’t have an answer for you.
If you’re going to sell Human Design, don’t pussyfoot. Sell it. You can’t do this halfway.
If you’re not going to sell Human Design, that’s cool too. Enjoy the system.
It’s difficult for me to sit down and come up with something that isn’t problematic. My partner and I are huge Kanye and Nicki fans and they’ve been cancelled for years now. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift dated an open racist who said disgusting things about Black and Asian people but she is still America’s sweetheart.
Someone will always find a way to cancel you and I don’t give out “one of the good ones” passes. I can’t be a Human Design reader without acknowledging that we are all flawed, sometimes problematic, people.
I ask that you respect and systems and people that Human Design appropriated. Respect isn’t guilt. Guilt helps no one.
Only you can decide whether it is ethical for you to sell the system.
Can we stop idolizing Ra, who didn't want to be idolized anyway?
I give Ra respect for saying Human Design should not be unquestionably followed. He famously stated that Human Design is not for sheep waiting to be herded.
The whole point of Human Design is to stop waiting for someone to tell you how you should live your life. Sitting at the feet of his work is entirely against why the system exists.
You can respect his work and question it simultaneously.
One of his most quoted sayings is, “Don't believe me. Just try it.”
This means that you are, at the very LEAST, his equal. You get to question and experiment with Human Design.
It’s also worth listening to the other side- the culty purists who will trash anyone who isn’t Ra or certified by his institution. Getting the overview of why Human Design is the way it is will give you the whole picture of what is happening.
It’s uncomfortable
Sit with what you read in this article. Simmer in the feelings that have surfaced.
The answer to where you go next and whether Human Design is considered appropriation is up to you. You will choose whether you want to listen to others who share their issues about Human Design or Ra Uru Hu. You will decide whether you are at peace with the way you've approached (or sold) this system.
Keep questioning what you're learning.
Keep experimenting.
Take what guides and experts say with a grain of salt.
Human Design was always a business first. Welcome to capitalism. This isn’t some old system that oracles of the world bestowed upon the lucky few. This is a system repackaged from those old systems and resold.
As for me, I sell Human Design because I can. I do enjoy the system. I do color outside the lines.
At the same time, I am aware of where this came from and I am selling the system anyway.
You can see some of my work in the button below 👇🏼
