Entering the Third Era of Human Design
Human Design is no longer a certified-only, founder-centric system. In the present time, we’ve entered a new chapter of more diverse readers, interpretations, and people who feel safer speaking on their experiences without the backlash of being perceived as incorrect.
This change opens the system for voices who felt excluded by the language in the original Human Design system or cost of access. Ra Uru Hu (who conceived Human Design in 1987) himself changed and rewrote the system during his lifetime. For example, variables were not spoken about in the original Human Design texts (the arrows) and were only included much later on.
You can look at Human Design as going through its third era.
Era #1: The Founder (Ra Uru Hu) era
Initially, Human Design was based on what Ra Uru Hu channeled. This is what readers call ‘the source material’ or ‘traditional’ Human Design, which is still important to understand because if we are going to question and interpret the system from a personal lens, we need to know where it comes from. This gives validity and context to work with and if we give an option to deviate from the source, we should be able to back it up.
Ra also preached against groupthink and following Human Design without questioning the system.
“Don’t believe that, try it, experiment with it. It is what this knowledge is for, it is not about intellectual pursuit. It is about the transformation of the life, and it begins with an experiment. There are so many human beings that just follow along blindly. It’s the beauty of Human Design, that it’s not about believing; and it certainly isn’t about believing me, that’s not the point.”
In the early 1990s he established his school, known as International Human Design School. It offers training programs for analysts, teachers, and readers through its certifying program. I’ve taken one of their live courses and didn’t have the best experience, but that’s the point of questioning his work, yes? I once had a criminal justice professor who would teach a lesson and end it with, “and now argue why I’m wrong.” (A line 3’s dream!)
Era #2: Branching out, new certifying bodies era
In the early 2010’s, Human Design branched out from Ra Uru Hu’s source material and the International Human Design School, emerging with their own interpretations.
Karen Curry Parker pioneered Quantum Human Design which integrates traditional Human Design with psychological and spiritual teachings. She has her own certification program and has changed some of the terminology to better fit her work with the system.
Chetan Parkyn published several texts and created a certification program to introduce Human Design to a wider audience. When people ask me about beginner Human Design books, I usually suggest his work because the translations are easy to understand without losing the source material.
It’s important to note that those two had worked with Ra Uru Hu in the past.
Jenna Zoe is a wildcard because she brought Human Design to mainstream attention and has been featured in publications like Vogue. She also has a certification program.
On a personal note, Jenna Zoe seems like a controversial figure. There are questions about how far she’s deviated from traditional Human Design. However, I’m not to judge someone’s personal experience and material of the system. I’ve had people credit Jenna Zoe as their introduction of Human Design which is why it’s important to add her to the 2010’s era of certifying bodies. She served as one of the most impactful people who spread the Human Design system.
Era #3: The community and diversification era
Now, in the 2020’s, we’re seeing an emergence of readers who have created accessible content and contextualized Human Design with empathy, cultural nuance, and everyday utility. We are seeing readers who have brought Human Design into their business strategy, trauma healing work, and liberation practices. In my 2024 cohort of Human Design Dialogues (a non-certifying course for emerging Human Design readers), 90% of them were educators who were using Human Design to understand their students.
Even if they can’t ask every child about their Human Design, recognizing signs of a child having regenerative energy while another child seems to be falling behind validates that instead of putting all children specific checkpoints, some could use a different nurturing method.
Each reader approaches the system from life’s experiences because this is where we draw analogies and connect with others. Religion, culture, orientation, identity, and upbringing color how a teacher shares Human Design.
There have been clients who have asked if they’re unable to use their Human Design because of health complications, trauma, or neurodivergence. The answer is: yes, you are able to use your Human Design despite X, Y, or Z because Human Design adapts to you just as you decondition back to your design. Today, there is a high demand for Human Design for those who feel that traditional Human Design has excluded them.
This is where we are, in the third era of Human Design.
