When the Penta Short-Circuits

DARVO, Triangulation, and the Transition from the Cross of Planning

We are witnessing a breakdown in group energy unlike anything we’ve seen before. For years, I’ve observed and participated in group systems that produced real results, had purpose, and moved energy forward. But lately? That same group structure, the Penta, seems to be short-circuiting.

And I believe it’s because we’re in the middle of a massive evolutionary transition: the end of the Cross of Planning and the emergence of the Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix.

The Penta: Group Power and Its Breakdown

In Human Design, the Penta is a trans-auric entity that emerges anytime three to five people come together. It becomes its own energetic body, controlling roles, decision-making, and the flow of energy inside the group.

Under the Cross of Planning, our Pentas helped us build working bargains, systems, and structures. From families to businesses, schools, and communities, group cohesion and bargains held things together. We were able to depend on each other to survive, and we made agreements (conscious or unconscious) to support the tribe.

But now that’s unraveling.

As we move into the energy of the Sleeping Phoenix, the Penta no longer holds itself together in the same way. The group aura can’t maintain integrity if the individuals inside it aren’t rooted in their own inner authority.

DARVO and Triangulation: Symptoms of Breakdown

As this shift accelerates, manipulative survival tactics are on the rise. Two of the loudest ones are:

DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. This shows up when someone is confronted with their harmful behavior and instead of taking responsibility, they flip the script to make themselves the victim.

Triangulation: When someone avoids direct communication and instead brings a third person into the mix to control the story, create drama, and manipulate perceptions.

These behaviors thrive in a distorted Penta, where no one is rooted in their authority, and the energy is chaotic. People scramble for dominance, validation, or safety, and instead of authentic collaboration, we get power struggles and confusion. But DARVO and triangulation aren’t the disease; they’re the symptoms of a larger energetic collapse.

The Shift: From Tribal Bargains to Individual Alignment

The Cross of Planning was about tribal survival: make the deal, follow the rules, and keep the system intact. This underlying programming is the only reason why group systems used to work, even if they weren’t aligned with truth and well-being. But Sleeping Phoenix doesn’t care about survival in the old way; it cares about individual empowerment, spirit, and embodied truth.

We are being forced to stop outsourcing our authority to the group, and those who haven’t begun this transition are the most likely to double down on groupthink tactics as they try to keep the old system alive by force.

Meanwhile, those who have been walking the hard road of inner work, nonviolent communication, deconditioning, nervous system healing, etc., are becoming the blueprint for the new way. They are learning to collaborate without bargains, to speak truth without blame, and to create impact without control.

What This Means Going Forward

It’s no longer about finding the right group, because that won’t save us. It’s about becoming the kind of individual who can enter a group without energetically collapsing into it. One who doesn’t need DARVO or triangulation to feel safe, one who can recognize when the Penta is trying to hijack their authority so that they can opt out.

The new form of teamwork is rooted in clean energetics, honesty, and sovereignty. And it’s not easy, because many of us have paid for clarity with years of pain, isolation, confusion, and healing. But now we know that we don’t need to fix the old system because we can allow and witness the matter as it becomes the new frequency.

If you’ve been watching the group structures around you fall apart, you’re not broken; you’re just seeing what is happening now. Hold your frequency, speak cleanly, and walk away from entanglements that ask you to abandon yourself.

The new Penta, if it even wants to exist, will only hold when it’s made of whole people.

And that starts with you.