Why do we love 'systems' like Human Design, the Enneagram or Astrology so much?

The power, and indulgence, of self-knowledge

Photos by Kerstin Martin

This week I went down the rabbit hole of numerology. I know very little about it but I geek out on this kind of stuff so naturally I had to investigate.

Apparently our life path number is an important one. You calculate it by adding each digit of your birthday until you arrive at a single number. So in my case I was born on 2/15/1963 which adds up to 27 which adds up to 9. Which of course immediately made me think of the Enneagram where I am also a 9, although you can’t quite compare the two as one is based on fixed data (birth date) while the other is a self-assessment.

When I read up on my 9 life path profile, it sure resonated:

“These old souls are creatives with a heart, and they love to learn, grow, and evolve themselves. Life path 9s do best when they’re living in alignment with their creative values and using their charismatic wisdom to inspire others.

The journey of a life path number 9 is also about putting experiences to good use by embracing the spirit of service — and focusing on ways to make an uplifting mark on the world.

Completion is one of the major themes for life path 9 people, which means persevering through the storms, as well as reveling in the calmness and growth that comes afterward.”

Source

What struck me were some of the similarities between my life path 9 profile and my Human Design 3/5 profile, reading about it felt like a few more puzzle pieces fell into place. Human Design is also based on fixed data and I am not surprised as all these ‘systems’ seem to be interlinked.

Human Design, according to Wikipedia, combines astrology, the I Ching, Kabbalah and Vedic philosophy. Apart from astrology I know, again, very little about the others and when I read their Wikipedia articles my eyes quickly glazed over. I am not a scholar and while I enjoy studying things that interest me, I am more the ‘pick what is useful and ignore the rest‘ type of learner.

One thing is for sure: mankind has been trying to make sense of our existence ever since our brains evolved us into the thinking beings we are. What all of the disciplines, methods, approaches, schools of thoughts, religions, systems, or whatever you want to call it, have in common is a thirst for understanding and a need for ‘explanation’. In this sense I resonated with Wikipedia’s definintion of the Kabbalah as a “set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God—the mysterious Ein Sof ("The Infinite")—and the mortal, finite universe (God's creation).”

For most of my life I’ve dabbled with Astrology and have happily identified with the quirks of my Aquarius sun, Scorpio moon and Libra rising. Then, in 2008, I was introduced to the Enneagram and that was a bit of a life changing experience in that it ‘explained’ my deep need for harmony, aversion to conflict, and natural skills as a mediator.

But it wasn’t until I learned about Human Design that I felt like I had been given a map not just to my personality, but to my life. Suddenly everything made sense and that was a big relief, to be honest.

Does all of this feel like self-indulgent navel-gazing at times? Yes, but only when I listen to the cycnics who dismiss it as woo-woo nonsense.

There is power in not just knowing ourselves, but using that knowledge to accept ourselves as we are, understand our purpose in this world, and work with our traits to inhabit our lives fully and intentionally. Knowing who we are and what drives us at the soul level, helps us show up in our relationships and benefits our communities.

Learning about my Human Design profile is changing how I feel about many aspects of my life - including this weight loss journey - while also informing decisions I make in my business.

In many ways it feels like a deep surrender of the heart and soul.

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Well, I’ve certainly been posting a lot lately! I am really enjoying Substack. From a writer’s perspective I love their clean and simple interface, sophisticated features, and ease of use. From a reader’s perspective I enjoy the community building tools and seeing so many of my online friends here!

As always, thank you for reading my musings :)

Have a lovely weekend,

Kerstin xo