The awareness of growth through friction. Also known as the Border Control Guard & the Gate of the Skin, is here to determine who to be intimate with.

From Solar Plexus to Sacral

This gate is part of the emotional awareness center. It rides it’s emotional waves, as it determines the timing, boundaries, friction and necessary conflict to beginning + establish intimacy in relationships.

Coming from the Sacral—the hub for vital life force, reproduction, sustainability and sexuality. 59 Gate of Sexuality is the energy to break down barriers to bond and create life.

Moving towards the Solar Plexus—the emotional awareness and motor center, where 6 Gate of Friction brings the boundaries, necessary friction to navigate and move through conflict.

Together they form the 59-6 Channel of Mating.

Gate 6 is here to achieve intimacy and growth through conflict. This gate seeks deep connections and it’s constantly checking who’s right for them or not, it’s picky about who they let in. They’re here to be discriminating in order to discern the what, who + timing. It generates all three modes of emotional awareness: feelings, moods and sensitivity.

The line in which this gate is activated also determines the themes of intimacy:

• 1 – Retreat
• 2 – The Guerilla
• 3 – Allegiance
• 4 – Triumph
• 5 – Arbitration
• 6 – The Peacemaker

Yet the 6 without the 59 doesn’t always have the energy to break down barriers to connect.

Fear of Intimacy

“The friction you create when you step into another person’s aura is a mechanic. If (or when) the conflict is resolved, or resonance is reached, there is then an opening and intimacy can proceed. Until there is such an opening, you must wait, as readiness and fertility are both subject to the emotional wave.” — Ra Uru Hu & Lynda Bunnell

As part of the Solar Plexus, the 6 carries a fear frequency + nervousness, known as the fear of intimacy. Without the consistency of the 59, it might be too focused on keeping their border shut. It needs to build emotional safety in order to hold + process. But that’s not always easy, specially if you also have an undefined/open Solar Plexus, where the energy to hold and dive into confrontations is not always present.

Community Defence Circuit & Generated Channel

Your aura brings in the necessary friction to connect (or not). While the 59 is guided by the Sacral’s cue on when to break down barriers, Gate 6 is the barrier’s gate, influenced by their emotional awareness and wave. It’s here to pause, check-in and set the ‘rules of engagement’.

As part of the Community Defence Circuit, it’s here to discern who is mechanically “right” for their tribe, along with the capacity to support each other as they balance and emotionally regulate those bonds. It sets the boundaries, when to push back, when to transform each other through conflict etc.

As part of a generated channel, it’s here to be in response as it tunes in with it’s emotional temperature. Do I have the capacity? Is this safe? Is this worth it?

“Conflict breaks out whenever two or more people agree to identify with their emotional state.” —Richard Rudd

Shadow Expressions

Rather it’s friendship, family ties, work connections; relationships are complex and can be deeply triggering and/or transformative. Think about it, two people coming together with all their expectations, history, gifts, wounds and shadows…friction is bound to happen but how we handle these situations, when conflict arises is the path to achieving intimacy, growth and healing.

In the shadow expressions, the 6 is afraid of getting hurt so they avoid conflict all together, suppressing their own needs in order to people please, pressure to maintain peace, not being able to trust others or being on the reactive end, not taking responsibility for their emotions and lashing out, blaming others.

Wisdom of Gate of Friction

The wisdom of the Gate 6 is it’s capacity to hold the whole spectrum of human emotions and experiences. The complex, the dark & the light.

One of the biggest irony of this gate is that it seeks harmony yet there’s also the inner knowing that peace can only be achieved through conflict resolution. As relationships deepen, as we evolve and grow, new tensions are going to arise, Gate 6 is here to fine tuned and constantly recalibrate.

What do we need to resolve this conflict? What do we need to strengthen this bond? Is it time to release this connection? Can we renegotiate our terms? What are the boundaries that will help us take care of our own needs and the other?

Lesson of Gate 6

One of the Lessons from the Gate of Friction is the importance of building personal safety, doing your inner work so you can increase your capacity to navigate your emotional landscape.

In doing so, you open yourself up to the possibility of intimacy. You’ll be able to ground into your boundaries and discern what you have capacity for. Even though you might be skilled in conflict resolution and helping others navigate their emotional knots, if your Strategy & Authority is not guiding you towards that direction, it’s not your job to step in. Notice when you’re overriding your own needs just to keep the peace. How can you support yourself and check in with your well-being? You get to be picky about who you let in.

Share your Reflections

The 6 Gate of Friction, is activated in my Personality Mercury and it’s such a big theme in my relationships, specially with my husband. I see how our electromagnetic 12-22 Channel of Openness gives language to our emotions and my 6 gives me the awareness, the potential of the necessary conflict to move through whatever tension arises.

Paired with both our RAX of Tension (yes, we have the same cross just different gates configuration!) we can sense when we’re out of tuned with ourselves + each other and are constantly provoking each other into sharing our emotional truth.

It’s been such a wild ride, triggering and darn hard at times. And also so healing ❤️‍🩹  It’s deepened our relationship to ourselves and each other.

But let me tell you, if I didn’t have therapy, grounding tools and do my own inner work…I would’t have had the capacity to navigate those hard conversations. I had spent most of my childhood and teens closing myself off to intimacy and vulnerability. To a point where I became emotionally numb… I guess all that protecting myself from others actually ended up isolating me.

Now that I have the language of my Human Design, I can see how my undefined Solar Plexus avoided confrontations all my life. Because I didn’t have the emotional capacity to hold or handle the emotions triggered by conflict. My body, my chest would physically ache. This people pleaser was used to becoming whoever others needed me to be (hi undefined G!). Building safety in my body, for my nervous system has been such a crucial piece in my healing.

Do you have Gate 6 active? Or know someone who does? Would love to hear your reflections, simply hit reply to share.

Exploring Further

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More free resources on the blog as well