*Art and Words by Jahje Ives.* *See this art and more on Instagram @jahjeives.*
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Exploring Gate 28 in Human Design: The Gate of The Game Player

Life may place many stones in your way, but with each challenge you grow stronger pushing through where others may stop.

This is the energy of Gate 28, the Gate of the Game Player in Human Design, the Gate of Adventure/Challenge in Quantum Human Design™ created by Karen Curry Parker, The Preponderance of the Great in the I-Ching, and in the Gene Keys it is the shadow of Purposelessness, the gift of Totality, and the siddhi of Immortality.

Gate 28 teaches us that we will come upon challenges and when we can embrace those challenges as adventures that have a lot to teach us and push through with an insistent fighting spirit we are truly capable of anything.

This is one of the 64 Gates in the landscape of the Human Design system where each Gate in the chart serves a unique role, influencing our traits, behaviors, and interactions with the world. Knowing the full story of Gates can provide powerful guidance for personal growth and self-discovery.

The position of the Planets at the moment of your birth determines whether a Gate is defined (colored in) or undefined (not colored in) in your Chart. ⁠

If a Planet was in a Gate when you were born, you will have that Gate defined. Having a Gate defined means this is an energy you experience consistently as a theme that is part of your life curriculum.

If a Gate is undefined you will still experience the themes of a Gate but it will often be in relationship with others or when a Planet is transiting this gate (as Planetary transits activate the energy of a Gate within all of our charts).

Do you have Gate 28 defined in your chart? Get your free chart here and find out.

Are you ready to dive deeper? Let’s go…

Embracing the Gifts

Embracing Life's Challenges… Individuals with Gate 28 activated in their Human Design chart inherently understand that life's struggles are not just obstacles but opportunities for deep learning and growth. For example, a person with this gate defined might start a business that faces many initial hurdles. Instead of giving up, they see these challenges as chances to innovate, leading to a unique business model that sets them apart.

Resilience and Perseverance… This gate bestows a natural resilience on those who have it defined. The splenic awareness allows you to sense where you can and should take risks where others might not but you must confront your fear of death first.

Depth of Experience… Gate 28 drives individuals to seek meaningful experiences. A person with this gate might travel to remote areas, engaging deeply with different cultures and environments, not just as a tourist but in a way that challenges and enriches their understanding of life.

Innovation through Adversity… The struggle inherent to Gate 28 often leads to innovative solutions. Consider a scientist or researcher who is faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem. Their persistence leads to a breakthrough discovery that benefits humanity, showing how struggle can lead to significant advancements.

Navigating the Shadows

Being mindful of the potential places where you can fall into shadow with Gate 28, can help you navigate the landscape of your life with more ease and clarity. Knowing our shadows helps us see where we get stuck so that when we end up there, we can pull back and say, “Oh I see you shadow and I know what I need to do now to step towards my gifts instead…” and then you begin to move again.

Pessimism… “I’ll take the hard way” might as well be the mantra for those with Gate 28 defined. This is because something that might be easy for someone else to do, like set up a website for a new business, can often be overwhelmingly challenging for a person with Gate 28. The site might crash, pages might disappear, and so much more leading you to believe that everything is always a struggle and feel like the world is against you. It’s not, this is just the nature of Gate 28, you are meant to struggle a little more to make sure that you are willing to fight for what you want to achieve.

Fear of Meaninglessness… With a deep need to find meaning in every aspect of life often through struggle, there can be a fear that life has no meaning and is just endless struggle (but we know that isn’t true - so quit thinking it!)

Burnout to Bitterness… The drive to push through and find meaning in struggle can lead to burnout and as this is a projected channel there is a tendency to become bitter as you hit challenge after challenge which can cause you to fall into victim consciousness (why meeee!?)

Difficulty Letting Go… The desire to find meaning in struggle might make it hard for individuals to let go of situations or relationships that are no longer aligned. Just because you can push through does not mean that you should. Learning to make decisions with your Authority and paying attention to if there is energy behind something or you are just pushing out of fear of failing can help you know when it might be time let go.

Fear of Failure… Each gate in the spleen holds a specific fear and Gate 28 holds the fear that you might fail or that something might be too challenging causing you to give up before you even try.

Finding Balance

“Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game.” - Florence Scovel Shinn

Evolution isn’t easy and those with Gate 28 understand this deeply. For people, structures, and society to evolve we need to push against the old ways of doing things and the established structures to get rid of what isn’t working to then through adventure and experimentation discover what is truly valuable for us all.

Those with Gate 28 will almost certainly have to struggle more than the rest of us but in navigating those challenges they find a gift of resilience. They become stronger with each adventure and quicker to move through the challenges to find the gifts.

These are the people who teach us what is possible. Those with Gate 28 are here to show us what resilience can do and how if you are willing to see life as a game and adventure you can truly do anything.

You just have to be willing to keep trying and keep getting up when knocked down.

You are here to persevere.

You are here to be stubborn for a purpose.

You are here to play the game of life with a resilient spirit.

You are here to teach us that anything is possible if you’re willing to keep going.

Are you ready to activate the power of Gate 28 in your life?

Here are a few questions to contemplate as you do…

To Contemplate

Whether Gate 28 is defined or undefined in your chart I invite you to contemplate the following to deepen your understanding of how this energy shows up in your life and what you might do to further activate it.

When things become hard do you quit or do you look at it as an opportunity to grow?
How might you rewrite the stories of your “failures” into challenges that helped you grow?
What have you learned from your struggles and even “failures”?
Can you tell when it’s time to push through or when it’s time to quit? What does that feel like in your body?
Do you trust your intuition in challenging situations? How do you receive your intuition and how might you connect more clearly?

To Inspire

Life may place many stones in your way,

but with each challenge you grow stronger

pushing through where others may stop.

Your adventures teach us anything is possible

When you play the game of life with glee,

Springing up with resilience in totality.

There is so much more where this came from…

If you loved this post and want to dive deeper into understanding the landscape of your Human Design, Book a human design reading to learn more about how this gate specifically activates in your life and more.

Keynotes

Traditional Human Design: The Game Player

Quantum Human Design™: Adventure / Challenge

Gene Keys: Purposelessness / Totality / Immortality

I-Ching: The Preponderance of the Great

Circuitry: Individual - Knowing

Center: Spleen (Connects to Gate 38 in the Root Center)

Astrology: Scorpio

Books used to explore this gate:

Human Design: The Definitive Book of Human Design, The Science of Differentiation by Ra Uru Hu

The Encyclopedia of Quantum Human Design™ by Karen Curry Parker

The Gene Keys: Embracing Your Higher Purpose by Richard Rudd