So, You’re Considering Formal Human Design Training?

John Cole March 5, 2021
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This article attempts to address many of the questions we regularly receive from our clients and students about formal Human Design training. It is intended to give prospective Human Design students an overview of what’s available and some of the different educational paths available.

If you’ve had a Human Design Foundation Reading and felt a resonance with the knowledge you might be curious about how the system works and how deep the knowledge goes. Whether you just want access to the Human Design knowledge for your own benefit and exploration or to work with others, you may be interested in a more formal educational process and considering professional certification.

Early on in the process of bringing Human Design knowledge to the world, the messenger of the Human Design System, Ra Uru Hu, offered training in the system over the course of days and weeks. However, he later came to see how there was a need to give people more support and time to experiment with and live their design and set up an educational organization, the International Human Design School (IHDS) for this purpose. He initiated this process and later asked Lynda Bunnell to help and ultimately take over the school that she currently runs today.

As established by the IHDS, the starting point for all formal education associated with Ra’s source material starts with the “Foundation Courses,” beginning with the Living Your Design workshop. Along with the Foundation Reading, a personal one-on-one analysis of your unique birth chart called the BodyGraph, this workshop begins the transformational process of experimenting with your design by introducing the most important aspects of the Human Design System. It empowers us to live according to our true nature with an understanding of the main concepts and themes of Human Design including:

  • Type
  • Strategy
  • Authority
  • Centers of the BodyGraph

The LYD workshop is offered in various formats, including live classes scheduled over a month or two or sometimes in an intensive format, where all material is covered on one or two weekends. Some also offer it in a hybrid format consisting of video lectures for self-study supplemented by live meet-ups where you can gather in real-time with others, ask questions, and receive personal support. Many IHDS Certified LYD Guides also offer a private one-on-one format for this training.

Once you’ve completed the Living Your Design Workshop and had a Foundation Reading from a certified professional analyst, you can enroll in the next Foundation Course called Rave ABCs. This is the first level of the IHDS professional and general educational track, which offers a deeper understanding of the mechanics of the Maia. This course focuses on the following aspects of the system:

  • Black–Red, Personality and Design
  • Channels and Circuitry
  • Hexagram Structure

Rave ABCs is usually taught in a live group format over two months and is designed to satisfy a student’s curiosity about the basics of the BodyGraph while laying a solid foundation for the development of skilled analysts and/or informed general students.

The next level of professional and general education is called Rave Cartography, which serves as a prerequisite for all advanced education that follows. This longer and more dense course often spans months of study and adds much depth and detail to the foundation built in Rave ABCs and Living Your Design. The course content focuses on the following:

  • Angles and the 12 Profiles
  • The Gates/Hexagrams through the Nine Centers
  • Authority
  • Types of Definition
  • The not-self and its nine strategies

Along with the Living Your Design workshop, Rave ABCs and Rave Cartography provide the knowledge and tools needed for a solid foundation in the Human Design System. The three Foundation Courses will generally take 6 months to a year or more, depending on the timing of these courses and how long you need to integrate the information. Once this process is complete, there are several paths in Human Design education depending on your individual aims.

As an aside, my primary Human Design teacher and mentor is Alokanand Diaz, who presents the Foundation Courses not as a pre-requisite for certification to do readings and sessions with people but rather as “general education” for what it means to be a 9-centered human on this planet at the current time. While I didn’t quite get this at first, now I see how true that is.

After the Foundation Courses, the shortest path to formal certification is to become a Living Your Design Guide (LYDG). This requires taking an additional course from a certified Living Your Design Guide teacher to prepare you to host and conduct the Living Your Design workshop personally. The Living Your Design Guide (LYDG) program consists of approximately 30-40 hours of training and auditing an LYD workshop under the direction of your instructor. The program aims to educate, prepare, and certify you to support newcomers in the experiment of living their design.

The LYDG program is not intended to prepare and certify individuals to give Foundation, Cycle, Incarnation Cross, and Connection readings. That is the purpose of the Professional Analyst Training Program (PTL), which you can enroll in once you have completed the three Foundation Courses.

The Professional Analyst Training Program takes about two years or more to complete and consists of four programs:

  • PTL 1 – This course consists of three semesters and a minimum of 200 hours, focusing on developing professional analyst skills and practicing keynoting within a deeper exploration of the Human Design System.
  • PTL 2 – Consists of two semesters and a minimum of 48 hours.
    • Connections – Partnership Readings, including connection mechanics, partnership analysis, and an interactive workshop
    • Cycles – Solar Return, Saturn Return, Uranus Opposition, and the Chiron Return, mechanics, and an interactive workshop
  • PTL 3 – This course consists of one semester in which you learn to do an Incarnation Cross-analysis and read keynoting in the context of the Quarter.
  • PTL 4 – Consists of one semester over 10 weeks of mentoring, practicing, and preparing you for the final test and certification from the IHDS Educational Board.

After completing all four PTL programs, you can be certified as a professional Human Design Analyst and approved to give Foundation Readings, Partnership Readings, Cycle Readings, and Incarnation Cross Readings by the IHDS.

After completing the three Foundation Courses, there is also a separate educational path for those interested in Human Design’s career and business development applications through the BG5 Institute. Their BG5 Business Consultant Certification Program trains business consultants, coaches, and engineers to bring the Human Design System to the business community over three semesters:

  • Semester 1 – Prepares the student to give BG5 Career Design Overview, which introduces one’s clients to the fundamentals of their unique career design. There is a focus on comparative analysis and small and large group dynamics and business skills.
  • Semester 2 – Continues with what is needed for a complete BG5 Career Design Analysis and Partnership Analysis. Students will also gain knowledge and experience in delivering all 16 BG5 Success Codes and Partnership Analysis.
  • Semester 3 – Learning to deliver an Alpha One Leadership & Small Business Penta Analysis. Students will also learn how to work with team leaders, managers, and business owners in engineering effective groups.

After these three semesters and the completion of the final project, students will receive certification as BG5 Career & Business Consultants.

Beyond these three main educational paths of LYD Guide, Professional Analyst, and BG5 Career & Business Consultant, there are many additional advanced analysts and teacher training programs through IHDS, the BG5 Institute, and other international organizations. The two-year Degree Differentiation Program (DDP) combines the Primary Health System (PHS) with Rave Psychology, Family Analysis, Child Development, Rave Cosmology, and the Dream Rave.

These additional programs are prerequisites for the three Foundation Courses taken by IHDS or BG5 certified teachers. These instructors and the other educational organizations associated with the International Human Design School are committed to ensuring the knowledge of the Human Design System in keeping with the integrity of Ra Uru Hu’s transmission. Generally, courses taken by any IHDS-affiliated teacher are recognized by other IHDS-affiliated teachers.

Following is a list of IHDS-affiliated organizations that we have studied with, and we can personally vouch for the instructors remaining true to the source teaching. They offer a full path to certification in the mentioned training curriculum:

Our aim is neither to provide nor to withhold endorsement of any specific organization or individual but to list those with whom we have personal experience. There are many other individuals and international organizations with whom we haven’t worked personally, yet they are certified to provide much of the education listed above, from LYD through Professional Analyst Certification. To see what a particular individual is certified to teach, you can check their listing on the IHDS Professionals page.

It is worth noting that other teachers have taken the Human Design knowledge and developed it in their own way. Some of these teachers trained initially with Ra Uru Hu but have moved on to create their own certifications and programs. Most of these teachers have altered their original knowledge with different language or charting protocols and have developed their own training programs. Many have written books and produced video and audio content based on their adaptation of Human Design.

Many other readers and teachers who have never been connected to Ra Uru Hu or IHDS also promote their version of Human Design. This may involve a synthesis with other systems, using either the original or adapted versions of the BodyGraph chart and their interpretations. Numerous individuals have created their own training programs and certifications, some of which enjoy a substantial presence on social media and the web. These influencers have significantly contributed to promoting Human Design as a system, but their experience and adherence to the original source material can differ significantly.

While some degree of evolution and mutation is expected in any system and body of knowledge, significant deviations from the structure and logic of the original transmission typically lead to a loss of integrity in that knowledge. In my view, when the system is fundamentally altered, it is no longer Human Design and should be referred to as something else.

I have seen and heard about some teachers offering programs to train “readers” quickly before one has enough time to experiment and truly begin living as oneself. Many of these programs focus more on marketing and attracting followers than deconditioning the often deeply ingrained not-self strategies and behaviors.

That said, others may lack formal certification from an accredited organization but possess a deep understanding of the system shaped by years of personal research and experience. Amidst much noise and distortion, they can sometimes be found in various social media spaces, where they generously share their wisdom, staying true to Ra’s transmission of the Human Design System.

For those interested in a career or profession using the Human Design System, my (perhaps unsolicited) advice would be to take it slow. I was fortunate to have one of my primary Human Design teachers suggest that I focus on my experiment and process instead of marketing and promotion. Then, the work will speak for itself, and you can trust that those on your fractal will find you, allowing your practice to grow organically.

In conclusion, I urge anyone interested in pursuing a formal Human Design education to proceed cautiously. Research to ensure that what any group or individual offers aligns with your goals and follow your inner authority regarding what is right for you.

Categories: Fundamentals
John Cole
John is an IHDS Certified Analyst, Guide, and Teacher with decades of experience in astrology. He is available for consultations through Metamorphic Systems.

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