What’s your vibe, and what’s it saying?
Several years ago, I almost missed my flight to a friend's wedding — and I was one of the bridesmaids. My boyfriend and I had parked in long-term parking at SFO because we planned to vacation in Maine afterwards. When we finally got to the terminal, I looked at him in panic — I had left my bridesmaid's dress in the car!
This rock of a human being calmly told me to wait at the terminal while he went back to get the dress. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he managed to get all the way back to the car and back to the terminal with my dress in-hand.
When we finally boarded the plane, I was so relieved and excited – the bending of space and time was both miraculous and heroic, and I was beside myself with pride and glee. We were seated in the bulkhead of coach and as I stepped onto the plane, I felt like I was assaulted by an unprovoked wall of bitchy, bossy, bullying energy by the flight attendant.
It was the weirdest experience, because she was super friendly and animated with the people ahead of me and when I got on the plane, it was like we had some karmic account that she was here to collect on.
She even escalated this unprovoked schism, telling me I would have to check the dress because there was no more overhead storage or we would have to take another flight — I mean she was serving up ridiculous power plays. I don't know how we ever resolved this, because I was so thrown by this tsunami of negative energy – I think I snuck it into the first class closet – but at some point we just ignored each other for the rest of the flight.
This experience was almost 30 years ago, and yet it still lives in my memory. It also lives in my body's cells like it just happened – I can feel the tension in my belly and my heart and my brain. I feel my whole body tensing for battle.
This, my friend, is the power of auras.
Each of us is a thinking-doing-walking-talking-sleeping ball of energy that is always recalibrating based on the energy coming in (conditioning from others, like that bitchy flight attendant) or going out (our emotions, like my anxiety, enthusiasm, and glee). Sometimes our energy feels really good to be around, and sometimes it doesn't.
The cool thing about Human Design is that we each have a natural "resting state" of energy — the vibe we give off when we're operating in alignment with our Type.
Read on to learn more about your vibe — what it feels like to others when you're in alignment and what it feels like when you're not. (If you don't know your Human Design energy type, you can download your chart here.)
THE MANIFESTOR VIBE
This is a cool, commandeering energy that is designed to let in only those people who can support them in their vision.
It's an energy with edges and it can feel super coarse, like sandpaper — even when they're operating in alignment. This is how their aura is programmed to protect them. They have limited energy which means they need to be discerning about who to let in and who to keep out – they do not have an ounce of energy to waste and if and when they do waste it, it really pisses them off. Their aura supports this process of discernment.
The energy of an aligned Manifestor feels grounded and powerful. It's decisive, firm, inspired, and inspiring, and people are quick to rally and support whatever it is they're leading. When a Manifestor is not aligned, they feel like a massive bully, shutting people and ideas down before giving anything a shot. It's the combative and alienating vibe of "my way or the highway" or "if you're not with me, you're against me."
Nobody wants to work with – or for – a bully. It reeks of distrust and disrespect.
THE GENERATOR VIBE (includes Manifesting Generators)
This is the opposite of the Manifestor energy. It's an energy that pulls others in to build and co-create.
Generators are workers with a power source that regenerates as long as they're doing what they love, and what they love more than anything is that delicious feeling of progress. At the end of every day, project, or commitment, it's deeply satisfying to them to know that their energy was spent wisely and productively. This gives them meaning.
The problem with Generators is that they often say 'yes' when they really mean 'no,' which ultimately steals their sparkle and makes them feel like everybody's slave. They feel burdened by the growing stack of half-hearted obligations, and often quit out of frustration.
Generators feel super warm and magnetic when they're operating in alignment, but when they're not, they become victims of their addiction to work and being busy: 'woe is me, I'm the only one who cares, I feel like Cinderella while everyone else is at the ball.'
Nobody wants to be around victim energy — it's so damn depressing and draining.
THE PROJECTOR VIBE
Projector energy is super intense. It's very 1:1, boring into the depths of the other. It actually feels like Projectors are rooting around in your soul finding all the hidden cracks and vulnerabilities in your facade – because that's actually what's happening – and it feels super super invasive. That's why it's so important for Projectors to wait for authentic recognition and invitation into the inner workings of the other.
Not everyone wants to be seen as clearly or deeply as Projectors see them. Projectors are gifted with an amazing ability to see a situation and the solution way before anyone else. But if the other isn't ready to admit their struggle or receive ideas for a solution, they feel personally attacked and judged.
An aligned Projector feels like walking wisdom — a living koan, patiently sitting with the question until the moment of insight (or invitation) arrives. When they're not aligned, their energy is painfully passive-aggressive. It's a deep-seated resentment for not being seen and appreciated in their own right, and a palpable withholding of energy to punish the other who doesn't "deserve" their attention and now needs to prove their worthiness.
Nobody wants to hang with this bitch – life is just too damn short.
THE REFLECTOR VIBE
When I think of Reflector energy, I think of Piglet on one end of the spectrum and Eeyore on the other. The energy isn't super charged at either end, it's more muted than the other auras. That's by design as Relectors are here to read the pulse in the room, literally and figuratively.
Reflector energy feels light and porous, almost like it passes through you. When it's aligned, Reflectors are childlike, living in wonder, anticipation, and delight. It's an energy of hope, innocence, and optimism.
When Reflectors are not aligned with their aura's protective teflon defense shield, they disappear beneath the weight of their gloom and disappointment.
Nobody wants to hang out with someone who insists on putting the kabash on every silver lining. There's enough heaviness in the world — what we need are more lighthouses.
In the quantum field, all we are is energy.
In Human Design, each of us has an energetic resting state that's meant to magnetize the right people and situations toward us. When we're not in that state, weird shit happens, like my incident on the plane. These were two vibes that did not mesh. I don't know which one of us was out of alignment or if both of us were. Had I known my Human Design then, I wouldn't have taken this situation so personally and I could have made a point to lock in to my Sacral, adjusting my own behavior through my response, which would have recalibrated the situation instantly. It would have helped me, and it would have helped her.
This, my friend, is how we heal. As a collective. One aura at a time.
Want to learn how to embody and manipulate your own aura? Book a 1:1 reading with me, join our weekly support circle, participate in our upcoming immersive retreat where you'll master both your Energy Type and your Inner Authority, or subscribe to our newsletter to receive special offers and insights for mastering your unique Human Design.
Note: Every Human Design chart is more than the sum of its parts, and every element of a chart affects — and is affected by — every other element. Human Design is a deeply layered, complex system that integrates eastern and western traditions and wisdom. When I share discrete elements of a chart, I am simply sharing glimpses into the mechanics of Human Design (and the Gene Keys) to show others how they, too, can discern practical insights from their own charts into their uniqueness and the patterns of thought, behavior, conditioning, emotions, and psychology that keep them from achieving their highest potential or living their best life.
