The nine centers of your chart.

Common questions about the centers

What's the difference between a defined and an open center?

A defined center is colored in on your chart. It's part of at least one complete channel, and its theme works in a consistent, reliable way for you. An open center is white. You don't carry that energy consistently; you take it in from the people around you and often feel it more strongly than they do.

Open isn't broken or missing. It's where you're most sensitive and where you can learn the most about others. It's also where conditioning tends to collect, which is why each center page includes a not-self question for its open version.

Is an open center the same as an undefined one?

Most of the time the two words are used interchangeably, including on this site, for any white center. Some teachers draw a finer line. A white center with at least one active gate is "undefined": it holds a few themes you do carry consistently, even though no channel is complete. A white center with no active gates at all is "completely open", and it's usually described as the most fluid version.

How often each happens depends on the center. In our sample of 20,000 charts, a white Head center had no active gates 48.7% of the time, while a white Sacral had none only 10.2% of the time, simply because the Head holds three gates and the Sacral nine.

Which centers are most often defined?

In our sample of 20,000 random birth moments between 1950 and 2010, this is how often each center came out defined:

• Sacral: 69.5%
• Throat: 69.1%
• Root: 60.6%
• G: 60.3%
• Spleen: 58.7%
• Solar Plexus: 52.4%
• Ajna: 47.4%
• Heart: 35.9%
• Head: 26.7%

So an open Head is the norm: nearly three people in four have one. And the share of defined Sacrals matches the share of Generators and Manifesting Generators, because a defined Sacral is exactly what makes those two types.

How many defined centers is normal?

Four or five. In our sample, 23.5% of charts had four defined centers and 25.0% had five, and the average was 4.8. About 78% of charts fell between three and six. All nine defined was rare (0.6%), and none defined, which is every Reflector, came to 0.9%.

A chart can't have exactly one defined center, because every channel joins two centers.

Is it bad to have a lot of open centers?

No. The number of open centers says how much of your experience comes from taking in the world rather than from a fixed charge, not how capable you are. Someone with many open centers is usually described as highly sensitive to people and places, and someone with many defined ones as steadier and less affected by others. Neither is better.

The practical work with open centers is noticing what you've absorbed and not mistaking it for yourself. The not-self question on each center page is a good place to start.