Gate 48 | Depth • Planet People HD

☉ 53.4	☉ 57.1
⊕ 54.4	⊕ 51.1
☽ 58.5^▲	☽ 24.6

Ahhhh, everyone’s favorite time of year. I find it absolutely fascinating that the spleen holds it’s own place in the mandala. Every single gate is back-to-back, squished in between 46 and 1, and it is the only center to have this fortune… or perhaps it’s misfortune. Who knows?

During this time of year our primal fears are heightened, and isn’t it ironic that we use this time to celebrate Halloween? Dressing up in spooky costumes to honor the *all valuable* fear-pumping through our bodies. It’s unbelievable that our oldest awareness center creates an energy that is our instinct, intuition, depth, and even functioning immune systems.

My husband and I have an 8-1 compatibility configuration, sharing completely open spleens. It’s a superpower and a place where we slip right past each other because our systems have been treated so differently by the people in our lives. He had the privilege of being raised by a dad with a completely open spleen, so he has had a totally different experience of it.

I have always sought out those who hover beyond the primal fears. Nothing feels better to me than a total lack of definition in the spleen. So naturally, I birthed two splenic children because life is indeed an ironic joke lol.

This year we thought we would watch the splenic gates and share our findings. You can find blog posts as we publish them throughout our splenic days. I hope you enjoy, and have a happy Hallowspleen!

Line Companion | Lines | Biology | Potential | Fear

Line Companion

‘We are in a collective process. The 48th hexagram is part of the channel of talent, the channel of The Wave Length. It is part of the logical process of correction and perfection and, as I mentioned when we were looking at the 57th gate and the 18th gate, the 48th gate is a gate of frustration. Its possibility is to have depth, but depth without expression, without the possibility to experiment, leads to deep frustration. This frustration is known creatively by anybody who is involved in any kind of creative process: the inability to be able to experiment, the inability to be able to see whether or not your depth can lead to a solution.

The 48th gate is the gate of black magic: black magic in the sense that it is knowledge without necessarily being able to manifest. The 48th gate is The Well. It is the darkest place you will find in a chart. It is filled with all this deep, dark mystery. “I know how to turn straw into gold, if you only give me enough money to build the machinery.” The 48 says, “I have got it,” and looks to the 16 and asks, “Can I experiment with this? Will you finance this?” The machine, by the way, which will turn straw into gold would cost much more than the finished product, but that is another story.

In the 48, in the gate of depth, there is always the frustration. “Is there a possibility? Can I actually get to the Throat? Can I actually manifest? Can I see that this experiment will lead to a solution?” Remember that frustration is one of the deepest aspects of our collective logical process. It is hard for the logic to find a motor. The three gates of logic in the Throat do not lead directly to an energy. What that means is that we have committees and bureaucracies. We have all kinds of recommendations that are made over and over again, and the deep frustration that lies within the collective: why can’t they just do it instead of talking about it? This frustration is part of our whole logical process. So, all that is rooted in the 48.

That frustration is, by its very nature, necessary because it is so difficult to get to the energy that logic needs. The frustration is in and of itself a driving force. There is this constant tension (the 48 is part of the cross of Tension) which is necessary because it has to hold on to that “I have got the depth. I have got to get it out.” It is collective and not personal. There is this deep frustration in needing to share that depth.

The 48th gate, The Well, the gate of depth: the possibility here is the awareness resource of vital information as a pattern or not. What is vital is determined by the 18th gate which has the gift to recognize what needs to be corrected or perfected. This is what is vital. What often happens with the 48th gate is that (every line can be its polarity) that vitality becomes trivia. There is an enormous amount of trivia that lies in depth. I have what people call a photographic memory, so not only do I remember things that seem to be of value to you, but I remember the most absurd and useless information that you could possibly imagine, i.e. theme songs of commercials on the radio from 25 years ago. Things that people think that nobody should remember, I remember. The Well is filled with many things. The Well is not just filled with what we think is valuable and essential truth. The Well is also filled with a lot of junk. This is the whole thing about talent. Talent can be wonderful, and very kitschy. The awareness possibility in the 48: correction stored as a pattern. The whole thing about depth is, “We know this is what has to be corrected. This is the pattern that has to be worked with. Now we will go deep into that and see exactly how we can do that, and then we pray that we meet a 16 so that we can get it out, so that we can get our experiment done. It is very difficult for logic to actually be experimented with.

Please understand the nature of the expression because most people do not understand what ‘white’ and ‘black magic’ means. The nature of the 48th gate is to come to grips with what is exactly the right pattern, and to understand the form. To understand the form is to understand the pattern. Black magic is understanding the pattern and using that as an advantage over others. That is simply the manipulation of the understanding of something. This is what they call ‘black magic’ and in many cases the 48’s are aware of patterns that others are not aware of. Because they have to look for the possibility of expression, they take advantage of the patterns that they know. I consider astrologers to be black magicians, given this expression. When an astrologer does a reading, he holds the chart and you are the ignorant one. They will tell you exactly what is there because they have the power and you don’t. This is the work of black magic. There is no way for you to confirm that. There is no way for you to do anything other than to accept that they know and you don’t.

The nature of Human Design is not that. Human Design is not black magic. It is a knowledge of form and a knowledge of form is available to anyone. So when a Human Design analyst puts a chart down on the table, you can understand exactly what they are pointing at so that you can see what is there. There is a fundamental difference between these forms. By the way, that is not to say that I think that black magic is about good or bad. It is just about understanding the nature of the terminology. In the 48, you are dealing with a pattern. This is the channel of talent for the collective, the depth of which can be of enormous value to the collective.

When we were looking at the 18th gate, the heading to it says: The vigilance and the determination to uphold and defend basic and fundamental human rights. Let us not forget that that is what the 18th gate is about: to uphold basic and fundamental human rights and to correct anything that denies those rights. When you get to the 48th hexagram, it says: The necessary and qualitative foundation that is a prerequisite to establish the common good. Without depth, without the recognition and the understanding about the nature of the form, without being able to understand the pattern, common good cannot be established. Though this can be a gate of black magic in that sense, please understand that the nature of this depth is there for the common good. It is not about telling somebody that you know what is good for them. It is about allowing them to experiment with it and find out for themselves. That is another story. ‘

Ra Uru Hu | Gate 48 | Line Companion

Lines

An undiminishable resource.

Venus Exalted: The valued center, that as it gives, it receives and thus can continue to give. A depth and potential talent that is of value to others.

Moon Detriment: A tendency to superficiality, that though generous and nurturing, will lack the inspirational quality that can transform its gift into a common currency. Where the depth is limited, the taste will be superficial and affect the quality of the possible talent.

Mars Exalted: The natural urge to apply energy to action. A taste for action.

Moon Detriment: An overreliance on the need for protection that, in times of social renewal, is obsessed with the details of planning at the expense of action. Insecurity with one’s depth that can fail to take action.

Sun Exalted: The good sense to take advantage of restriction on short-term activity to assess the situation and restructure for long term goals that will facilitate development when activity resumes. The awareness that depth and its possible expression will face restrictions with a resulting taste for short-term projects.

Earth Detriment: A resistance to restructuring on speculation, with the tendency, when activity resumes, to have to do so anyway. A taste for long-term projects that will be frustrated in restraint.

Moon Exalted: Symbolized by the ‘no moon’ phase, where the potential of light is unrecognized, unavailable, and unknowable. The redeeming value is in the transience of such a stage, which can give strength to those so afflicted. Where the development of taste and depth is a long-term process.

Mercury Detriment: The profound intelligence is forgotten in the wilderness. The tendency in a long term process (development of taste and depth) to anxiety.

Pluto Exalted: The awareness that to successfully establish a new form one cannot neglect the most positive attributes just to accommodate inferior elements. This would lead to deterioration. A confidence in awareness to resist inferior influences.

Venus Detriment: The misguided urge for harmony that degenerates when associated with inferior values into decadence. A lack of confidence in awareness that invites interference and decadence.

Moon Exalted: An instinctive recognition of what is practical and deserves attention. A taste for recognizing what is practical and deserves attention.

Mars Detriment: An ego tendency to apply energy to trivial considerations. A taste for trivia.

Biology

Lymphatic System, Spleen

The spleen is located on the upper left side of the abdomen, under your ribs and above your stomach and has several key roles:

Blood Filtration: It acts as a filter, removing old, worn-out, or damaged red blood cells from your bloodstream. It also helps recycle the iron from these cells.
Immune System Support: The spleen is part of the lymphatic and immune systems, helping to defend the body against infections.
White Blood Cell Production: It produces lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that helps fight off germs and diseases.
Blood Storage: The spleen stores white blood cells and platelets, which are essential for blood clotting.
Lymphatic System Role: It is the largest organ in the lymphatic system, which helps maintain the balance of body fluids by collecting excess fluid from tissues.

You can live without a spleen. Other organs, like the liver, will take over some of its functions. However, your body’s ability to fight certain infections may be reduced, increasing your risk of illness.

Potential

The awareness possibility is to store vital information as a pattern. The well is depth that is available in the moment based on the potential to judge a situation in the now.

The word “well” originates from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning “to wish” or “to will,” which evolved into the Old English word wel, meaning “abundantly” or “properly.” From its Old English and Middle English origins, it became an adverb to indicate successful accomplishment and a state of good health. The noun “well” referring to a hole in the ground also originates from Old English, while the verb “to well” meaning to rise or flow (as in water) is recorded from the late 1700s.

This etymology is wonderful. I love the roots meaning ‘to wish’ or ‘to will’ because it captures the inherent tension of 48 so well. When I understand something, or recognize that I have talent in a certain area, I want to have the ability to do it.

The frustration that comes with being unable to ‘do what you know’ can be ruthless, especially with an open root amplifying pressure to finish. For example, writers block might push a writer to light their book on fire, or throw it in the trash, rather than recognizing that depth and talent operate on their own timing.

Oh how we run to wish on a star. We attempt to force it out with misplaced willpower. We beat ourselves senseless trying to use depth when and how we want to, rather than surrendering to it.

It’s not easy to trust that the depth we gather through our myriad of experiences is perfect in it’s own timing, and the fear of inadequacy doesn’t help the matter manifest.

Inadequacy is interesting. It takes a long time to understand that reading a billion books doesn’t help the depth manifest. We might bury ourselves in a system, attempting to suck all of the knowledge out of it to appear adequate to our peers. By doing this, we believe we can control the timing and learn the skill quickly. But true depth is forged in experimentation, repetition, correction, pattern recognition, and I witnessed a great example during the suns time in 48.

Cross of Planning Application

My step-dad is an experienced mechanic, and during this energy he shocked my husband by literally tasting a liquid that was coming out of a car. Once he tasted it, he knew what it was and was able to continue his process of diagnosing and fixing the auto issue.

It’s interesting because no amount of studying the subject could have provided him with that depth. He only earned the ability to discern one liquid from another by fixing, smelling, touching, and apparently tasting car after car throughout his life. He gained pattern recognition and the ability to form processes around the patterns he recognized, which makes him a talented mechanic.

The best and worst part of gaining depth is repeating it through time with a beginner’s mind. The more we think we know, the less open we are to what is happening in the moment. We might fail to maintain our ‘not-knowing’ enough to taste the liquid and receive the knowledge that it offers. It’s frustrating that wisdom comes from ‘not-knowing’ in the moment vs. everything we think we have already learned.

Learning from experience allows us to fill our well with the lives we have been given. This organic way of gaining knowledge is magical because it’s about me and you. It’s everything that I have learned from living life with the other, vs. what I learn because I think I need to know it. It harnesses a bigger picture and builds a foundation that is bigger than us.

This is why it’s not personal. The well fills itself with depth and trivia *for* the collective, and if we have witnessed and received our lives well, we will have gained the ability to recognize and maintain vital patterns that allow all of us to survive and thrive as we move into the future.

Fear of Inadequacy

Fear of inadequacy is a persistent and distressing feeling of being incompetent, inferior, or not good enough. It can manifest as a fear of failure, a lack of self-confidence, and a pervasive sense of doubt.

With this being said, it’s easy to see why this fear enables us to hold onto knowledge. It is manipulative, causing us to create fictional realities inside of ourselves so that we can feel more secure.

Creating false realities is all we can do when we fail to see ourselves, because in failing to see ourselves, we fail to see our lives. And this fear is uncomfortable. It’s tense, and physical. It obscures the fact that we are actually afraid of fear itself, and causes us to hold onto things that aren’t good for us like unapplicable knowledge and internal lies.

Unfortunately, we collectively amplify and worship this fear. We create systems and sell them to each other with the promise of security. We hoard money and accumulate wealth because we are afraid of the future. We run straight to the material world and join groups that validate us in our useless pursuits of ‘adequacy,’ and in doing so, we miss ourselves and each other altogether.

When we can accept our minds inherent state of not-knowing, we can begin to gain wisdom from the body and accept the void that accumulates our true wisdom. We can allow our wisdom to come out in the right time rather than try to control our inner ‘well’ by filling it with whatever our mind thinks we need to know.

You can ask yourself:
Do I distract myself with fruitless knowledge to feel more adequate?
Do I recognize experiential wisdom?
Do I recognize that alignment allows life to support me in its own perfection and timing?
Does my mind think that learning another skill will end my frustration?

Topics to explore

Early childhood experiences: Negative feedback, criticism, or comparisons to others can contribute to feelings of inadequacy.
Perfectionism: Setting unrealistic standards for oneself can lead to constant disappointment and self-doubt.
Social comparisons: Comparing oneself to others, especially on social media, can reinforce feelings of inadequacy.
Traumatic events: Experiencing significant setbacks or failures can damage self-esteem and foster fear of inadequacy.

Have you had any interesting events involving the concept of ‘adequacy’ over the last 6 days?

What are you holding onto about it? Can you let it go?