Gate 1 asks you to show up bravely (and keep coming back) to your creative muse as a means of self-transformation. Here's how to harness this gift.
I examine my clients’ charts for common themes and explore them in depth in this blog. If you have a topic you’d like me to explore, contact me here.
Creative Power
Gate 1 is known by many names. It’s commonly called “The Creative,” “Self-Expression,” and “Originality”. I prefer the name given in my copy of the I Ching: “Creative Power”.
I’ve never met someone with Gate 1 defined that didn’t in some way make art (whether they would admit it was art or not). They might not *always* be creating, but there is something that keeps drawing them back to whatever it is that grabs them: writing songs, taking photographs, making jewelry, building dioramas, designing clothing, painting models, throwing pots, creating makeup and drag looks… the list is endless. There is usually some craft or art or costume or gear hoard- it might be gathering dust in the garage from time to time, but it always seems to have glorious moments of revival, always coming with for the big move.
There is something about Gate 1 that is haunting. Like a ghostly presence, it keeps reminding you about that creative work you’ve been putting off, pushes you to pull all the shit out, take the leap and try something new (or old again). In Human Design, Gate 1 comes out of the identity center, applying pulses of pressure to be original, to self-express, to self-recover, to self-create.
The pulse of pressure to create and change or “mutate” is intrinsically linked to melancholy in the Human Design System. Melancholy speaks to normal periods of low mood and energy- not the lows of medical conditions like depression.* Melancholy is also 'non-dual' in Human Design. It’s not an inherently “good” or “bad”; it simply has its impacts and its utility. Here, reflective periods of melancholy are central to the process of integration and renewal that we need to both assess and transform our lives.
To be clear, having this gate defined doesn’t mean that you’ll only be making artwork when you feel sad. The evidence of my experience of Gate 1 definitely doesn’t suggest that. What it does suggest is that during those integrative moments of melancholy, I can turn to my art, to my “Creative Power” as an agent of personal transformation (while making meaningful art in the process).
Scorpionic Creativity
Gate 1 is the most yang hexagram (fire, hot, creative, active, outward) in Scorpio, a fixed, penetrating, yin, receptive water sign. This combination of ‘fire in the water’ has the power to transform, to boil, to erupt, to take over like lava, to burn you up and evaporate you.
For people who have Gate 1 defined, it is important to attend to the physical body during creative bursts; set timers to drink water and eat snacks and generally stay on top of hydration (don't get all dried out!).
As a Scorpionic gate, the 3-fold transformative process of Scorpio has relevance to the expression of this “Creative Power”. Scorpio undergoes the journey from the scorpion fighting for its life in the dark, to the eagle soaring and striking from above, to the phoenix- burning the ego, releasing to ash, and rising again as something new.
If you have Gate 1 defined, give yourself a lot of leeway with how you meet your creativity. Your Creative Power and journey is yours and yours alone. Let your creative practices die and be reborn over and over; shock your followers with what you are exploring, what you are cutting loose, and what you are resurrecting.
There is something about Scorpio that also has to do with the raw confrontation of the self. It is the traditional domicile of Mars, the warrior who treads through the swampy territory of our darkest emotions.
Sometimes serious self-judgement can arise when we engage creatively, especially if we are taking risks and trying something new. If we can find a safe way to acknowledge and meet the fears and emotions that arise during the creative process, we can be on a fast track towards self-knowledge and growth.
How to Harness Gate 1 Skillfully
The skillful and unskillful dimensions of the 6 lines of Gate 1 help us gain a deeper understanding about the gate itself and how to best nurture its energy in our lives. Key to the skillful expression of Gate 1 is allowing creativity to unfold at the appropriate moment. Judging yourself for having periods with less creativity won’t help you be more creative. Your creativity will always be with you, right there when the time is right to turn back to it.
It is healthy for people with Gate 1 defined to have periods of (sometimes melancholic) solitude to develop creative works; like many of the other melancholic gates, spending time alone here and there to emotionally integrate is recommended.
Skillfully expressing this creative gate also requires having a brave, objective assessment of where one is at creatively and where one is trying to go. It also means having the ego-strength and the will-power to stay with the creative process and not give up before you have a chance to develop real skills. “Creative Power”, as such, requires “creative bravery” and determination.
Where the energy of this gate is expressed unskillfully, excessive worry about other people’s subjective opinions can forestall the creative process. Without making any time for solitude to explore creatively, one’s overall creativity can become limited. With a lack of patience, too much passion, or unhelpful, scattered eccentricity, one’s creative power can dissolve before it has a chance to develop. Further, if one doesn’t place value on time spent creatively, or only makes art for the financial gain, or otherwise has compromised values with regard to their art, creativity can be diminished in the long-term.
Living with Creative Power
Gate 1 can often find heightened material manifestation in the world when it is called out by Gate 8 "The Promoter." The Gate1-Gate 8 channel of creativity can be activated by the birth chart, by synastry (how we connect with others), or by transit and can be a helpful engine for generating creative work and finding a broader audience for it. Making friends of other creatives and art appreciators has been critical to keeping my creative flame alive and visible for others to see.
Good luck bravely creating and riding the creative-emotional wave! Be sure to write in with topics you'd like me to explore.
-Ally
(she/her)
Witchy Hunch
*(I am not a therapist or a doctor and this writing is not intended to direct care. These statements are based on my readings of established human design literature, my own experience with human design, and my experience with clients).
I'm writing from the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Yupi tribe, stewarded by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band here in Santa Cruz, California. Support their efforts through their website www.amahmutsun.org
Comentários