Gate 39 in Human Design is the energy for provoking others to face their truth. Do you have this Gate defined in your chart? Learn more about how it could be showing up in you, here!
Gate 39: The Gate of Provocation
Center: The Root
Channel: 39-55 The Channel of Emoting
Circuit: Individual, Knowing
Zodiac: Cancer
Biology: Adrenal Glands
Picking at Scabs
Last week, as the Sun was transiting Gate 39, the Gate of Provocation, my computer crashed.
Needless to say, I got provoked. Irritated. Tense.
I couldn’t post this writeup here in a timely fashion because I didn’t want to deal with using WordPress on my phone, the only device available to me at the time.
I totally didn’t want to face this issue, but the overheating problem I’d been ignoring on my HP had become undeniably unavoidable.
This is what the energy of Gate 39 just does. Without even trying.
It pokes the bear. It nudges us into a reality check we’d rather not acknowledge. Sometimes playfully, sometimes outright nastily, it reveals a festering wound we’ve been slapping Band-Aids over for too long, wishing it would just go away, by picking at our scabs and chuckling to itself when they bleed.
At least, that’s what we can all get a taste of when the Sun makes its way through this provocative energy early in Cancer season.
Gate 39 also happens to be my Conscious Sun (I turned 47 last week!), so I’m all too familiar with how this not-always-welcome theme plays out IRL.
“I’m not trying to be a jerk, I swear!”
Gate 39 in the Root Center is all about being fueled with the impulse to slice right through nonsense and acknowledge the truth—no matter how harsh that truth may be.
I chose this photo of actor Jack Nicholson — for which I really hope I don’t get sued for using as it was posted originally on the Wiki Batman Fandom page so the credit does not belong to me and I’m just re-sharing here for illustrative purposes (thank you, photographer!) — because his classic expression is the epitome of Gate 39!
Lovingly nicknamed “the bullshit detector,” Gate 39 doesn’t trifle with facades.
It knows, and doesn’t like it, when people lie to themselves or others, so it creates tension (often, just to make them squirm).
Gate 39, in alignment, uses directed force or just-enough-pressure to evoke some kind of emotion in other people.
Out of alignment, it pushes people around forcefully, and sees its ability to do so as a kind of sport.
It just exudes this energy, effortlessly, for being ready to drop a stinging truth bomb or force people into awareness when they least expect it.
Like Jack Nicholson does with pretty much every character he’s ever played.
Gate 39 also intuits what’s worth fighting for and understands what’s worth keeping.
The rest, as far as 39 is concerned, can jump off a cliff.
If you’re engaging with something that’s nonsense, bad for you, or a time waster, 39 is definitely gonna poke you in the butt about it.
Provocation’s Pushback
Here’s the thing:
Most other people don’t appreciate being provoked, which makes it kinda tough for those of us who have this energy activated in our bodies at all times to walk through the world.
We can tend to be hurtful — however unintentionally — and wind up alienating ourselves.
Some of us, and I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone other than myself, need to work on, ahem, finessing our delivery when we feel the sudden impulse to poke someone in the ass.
Which, turns out, isn’t an easy thing to do!
We could stand how to learn to provoke from a place of compassion and helpfulness; support and guidance for others.
Not just for the sake of being a dick. (Because we sure can be dickheads when we wanna be).
And we need to remember that we, too, are uniquely poised to get provoked, ourselves, and to react emotionally as a result.
Gate 39 is one piece of the full Channel of Emoting, with Gate 55, the Abundance of Spirit, which it connects to in the Emotional Solar Plexus.
When this full Channel is locked and loaded, it creates BIG feelings, big swings, and can come with intense sadness (or intense elation).
Withdrawal, loneliness, and self-shaming can happen when 39 suddenly clicks into gear.
“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen!”
For those of us who have this energy ignited, we know that when there’s garbage in our midst, our pressurized Root Center says, “How dumb is this?! I’m outta here!”
A story to exemplify:
When I was in middle school, a friend invited me to see the musical “Cats” with her. You know, that famous Broadway show.
Someone had given her two tickets as a birthday gift, and she chose to bring me along!
Which turned out to be a huge mistake on her part. She should’ve asked Lori or Megan, because I was not a good friend to her that day.
See, at the jaded age of 13, I sat in that fancy theater next to my friend, wearing the polka dot dress I had worn for my Catholic confirmation (which was a total farce because my Gate 39 fought with my CCD teacher on a weekly basis about how it was a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion and the church had no right to intervene), with my hair caked in Aquanet and my eyes doused in blue eyeliner.
I probably should’ve spent my afternoon at a protest march somewhere. Instead, I was at a matinee at Heinz Hall.
Throughout Act 1, I looked around in the dark, confounded by the other audience members as they sniffled and wiped their eyes at all the nauseatingly tear-jerking moments of “Cats,” and I wanted to gag.
I was floored by the stupidity of these adults prancing around in feline costumes onstage. All these characters did was whine and cry and meow. And I was supposed to take them seriously?! Ha!
Streisand numbers or not, the show was stupid beyond words, I thought, and I couldn’t wait to get outta that theater.
“What a colossal waste of time,” I whispered to my friend. “I’d rather be at the dentist!”
I actually pled my case so vehemently that I managed to convince her to leave with me at the intermission, so that we could go smoke cigarettes and flirt with the cute skater dudes doing Ollies at the park instead.
Needless to say, she never forgave me for that. Neither did her parents, I’m sure.
As low-vibe as I might have been operating back then, bailing on “Cats” was my Gate 39 on full display, calling bullshit and creating unnecessary tension over what truly is a dumb show.
(Sorry-not-sorry if you’re a fan of “Cats.” I mean, why?!)
Low-Vibe Nastiness
Over the course of my early years, I developed a bit of a reputation for being a Negative Nelly because of my 39; others began to see me as someone who was too harsh, critical, and quick to judge.
I wasn’t regarded as “fun” or upbeat, and I didn’t see things optimistically.
In fact, I became kind of a drag, and leaned into my dark side hard, going full ‘depressed teen’ mode and listening only to The Cure and The Smiths.
Friends kicked me out of their cliques because I provoked them (sometimes intentionally, but other times not at all).
Boyfriends dumped me because of my provocation.
My mother tells people, to this day, that I was born with my hand on my hip.
See, I never knew, until now, that I could finesse the gift of being a realist. That there was anything awesome about calling BS when it’s staring you in the face.
So, rather than practice using provocation as a gift and a superpower (which it is), I instead learned it was something I should hide or at least tone down.
Calling B.S. was the thing I did that made others dislike me; why would I keep doing it?
But denying myself this gift made me a people-pleaser. It made me inauthentic.
I taught myself to fake optimism so that I’d be more likeable.
I worked suuuuper hard at settling for whatever was before me and not complaining about it, even when I saw all the flaws (& red flags), lest I get dumped again.
All that disconnected me from my own truth, and led me down a long and confusing road to not knowing who I was or what I wanted.
Fast-forward to a few years ago when I finally got provoked, myself, by discovering Human Design, and my power for provocation was reawakened.
High-Vibe Awakenings
Believe it or not, what might seem an ‘unlikeable’ personality trait actually has an up-side.
It’s the power to:
- help people awaken into self-awareness,
- to show them how to appreciate their individuality, and
- to guide others toward reaching their potential by calling out where they’re lying to themselves.
Realizing all this has been immensely validating and empowering for me!
Especially given that being a provocateur is such a huge part of who I am (70 percent of my outward personality, as it’s my Conscious Sun Gate), it feels like ‘coming home’ to be able to embrace my ability to create useful, targeted, supportive tension over the nonsense I clearly see happening around me, rather than to keep denying it’s right there before my very eyes.
Learning how to lean into this higher vibration frequency of 39 is an ongoing process, and I’ve got a steep learning curve to overcome.
But I share this with you to illustrate how transformative, expansive and empowering it can be to learn your unique design.
Even if you only go as deep as learning your Type and Conscious Sun Gate!
(If you want help with that, book a Be+Share Session to meet me live on Zoom and go deep about it!)
This is the way toward remembering, reclaiming, and using your own special blend of magic.
Even if that’s something you felt ashamed of all your life, like I did with my Gate 39.
Believe me: every ounce of you, every trait you carry, has both a high and a low vibe to it.
Try as we might, we can’t deny these traits exist within us.
We can hide them and become sick, lost, and unfulfilled like I did for 40+ years, or we can embrace them and flourish.
Our only job is to choose how we wield them, knowing we have the tools available to practice using them in a way that showcases all the best qualities each of our gifts offer.
Some Provocative Reflections
Even if you don’t have 39 lit up in your bodygraph, while the Sun transits through this energy theme in early July each year, it’s a great time to start to notice whether you may be provoking others or are being provoked yourself.
Journal on these any time:
- What emotions are being provoked in me right now?
- Who or what wants my attention at this time?
- What have I been ignoring that won’t go away?
- Am I sparking some response in others, intentionally or not?
- What pressure might I be putting on someone and why?
- What falsehoods have I been pretending are truths, and am I being forced to face them now?
- What truths are appearing that I can safely acknowledge?
Do you have Gate 39 defined in your chart? Find out by looking it up here. If so, how has it shown up for you?
If you’d would like to know more about how it is working inside you to collaborate with all your other elements to make you the radiant badass you are, book a 1:1 session with me!!
Make sure you’re signed up for e-news updates to keep learning about each of the Gates and other energies in your chart. Follow me on IG or FB, and check out the Meant To Be podcast for more nuggets to guide you on your Human Design journey.
I can’t wait to help you tap into your true badassery so you can start feeling great, attracting what you want, and experiencing more ease, flow, peace & satisfaction in your life!
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