The 36 channels

How the gates connect.

A channel joins two gates across two centers. When you have both gates, the channel is “defined.” It colors in those centers and shapes your type. The 36 channels fall into three circuits: Individual, Collective, and Tribal. Each is written in plain English, in our own words.

Common questions ↓

Individual circuitry

15 channels

Channels of knowing, centering, and integration: mutation, self-direction, and the individual voice.

1-8 Voicing the Original Self G / Identity ↔ Throat / Manifestation 2-14 The Engine of Direction G / Identity ↔ Sacral / Life-force 3-60 The Pulse of Renewal Sacral / Life-force ↔ Root / Pressure 10-20 Living What You Are, Out Loud G / Identity ↔ Throat / Manifestation 10-34 Power That Stays True to You Sacral / Life-force ↔ G / Identity 10-57 Instinct That Keeps You True G / Identity ↔ Spleen / Awareness 12-22 Voice on the Emotional Wave Throat / Manifestation ↔ Solar Plexus / Emotional 20-34 Engaged in the Now Throat / Manifestation ↔ Sacral / Life-force 20-57 The Spoken Hunch Spleen / Awareness ↔ Throat / Manifestation 23-43 From Knowing to Clear Speech Ajna / Awareness ↔ Throat / Manifestation 24-61 The Mind That Circles Back to Mystery Head / Pressure ↔ Ajna / Awareness 25-51 Initiated by Shock G / Identity ↔ Heart / Ego (Will) 28-38 The Worth-the-Risk Channel Spleen / Awareness ↔ Root / Pressure 34-57 The Instinct-Led Powerhouse Sacral / Life-force ↔ Spleen / Awareness 39-55 The Provoked Mood Root / Pressure ↔ Solar Plexus / Emotional

Collective circuitry

14 channels

Channels of logic and sensing: sharing patterns, experience, and understanding with the wider group.

4-63 The Doubt-to-Hypothesis Loop Head / Pressure ↔ Ajna / Awareness 5-15 The Natural Pacemaker Sacral / Life-force ↔ G / Identity 7-31 Direction the Group Chooses to Follow G / Identity ↔ Throat / Manifestation 9-52 The Long Hold of Focus Sacral / Life-force ↔ Root / Pressure 11-56 From Inner Gallery to Told Story Ajna / Awareness ↔ Throat / Manifestation 13-33 From Witness to Distilled Telling G / Identity ↔ Throat / Manifestation 16-48 The Practice That Builds Mastery Throat / Manifestation ↔ Spleen / Awareness 17-62 Position Into Precise Words Ajna / Awareness ↔ Throat / Manifestation 18-58 The Drive to Raise the Standard Spleen / Awareness ↔ Root / Pressure 29-46 All-In for the Experience Sacral / Life-force ↔ G / Identity 30-41 The Fantasy-to-Fire Pull Root / Pressure ↔ Solar Plexus / Emotional 35-36 The Hunger for the Next Experience Throat / Manifestation ↔ Solar Plexus / Emotional 42-53 Seeing a Cycle All the Way Through Root / Pressure ↔ Sacral / Life-force 47-64 The Slow Lens on the Past Head / Pressure ↔ Ajna / Awareness

Tribal circuitry

7 channels

Channels of support, resources, and bonding: care, agreements, and looking after the people close to you.

6-59 The Closeness Catalyst Solar Plexus / Emotional ↔ Sacral / Life-force 19-49 The Agreement of Care Root / Pressure ↔ Solar Plexus / Emotional 21-45 The Voice Over Shared Resources Heart / Ego (Will) ↔ Throat / Manifestation 26-44 Selling From Instinct Heart / Ego (Will) ↔ Spleen / Awareness 27-50 The Caretaker's Covenant Sacral / Life-force ↔ Spleen / Awareness 32-54 The Long-Game Climb Spleen / Awareness ↔ Root / Pressure 37-40 Effort in Exchange for Belonging Solar Plexus / Emotional ↔ Heart / Ego (Will)

Common questions about channels

How many channels do most people have?

Three is the most common number. In our sample of 20,000 random birth moments between 1950 and 2010, 25.9% of charts had three defined channels, 22.9% had four and 19.1% had two, so about two thirds fall between two and four. The average was 3.5.

At the edges, 6.8% had a single channel, 0.9% had none (that's every Reflector), and only about 1.5% had eight or more.

Which channels are most common, and which are rarest?

In our sample, the most common channels were:

37-40: defined in 15.8% of charts
23-43: 15.1%
20-34: 13.8%

The rarest were:

21-45: 5.8%
35-36: 6.1%
42-53: 6.3%

Even the most common channel appears in only about one chart in six, so any single channel is something most people don't have.

What is the "money channel"?

It's the traditional nickname for channel 21-45, which older writing calls "the Money Line". It joins the Heart, the center of willpower, to the Throat, and it's about stewardship: taking charge of the material side of life and speaking for what a group holds in common.

It isn't a prediction of wealth, and people without it earn and manage money too. It's also the rarest channel in our sample, defined in 5.8% of charts.

What is an electromagnetic connection?

It's what happens when one person has one gate of a channel and the other person has the matching gate. Neither of you has the channel alone, but together you complete it. It's usually described as a source of attraction between two people, and of friction on the same theme.

It's one of four ways two charts can meet in a channel. In a companionship connection you both have the whole channel; in a compromise connection one of you has the whole channel and the other just one of its gates; in a dominance connection one of you has the whole channel and the other neither gate. Our Decode Your Connection mini-guide walks you through all four using your own two charts.

What are the format channels?

Three channels run between the Root and the Sacral: 3-60, 9-52 and 42-53. They're traditionally called format channels, because the pressure they carry is said to set the underlying rhythm for the rest of the chart: pulse and renewal for 3-60, focus for 9-52, and cycles for 42-53.

In our sample, 3-60 was defined in 11.4% of charts, 9-52 in 8.9% and 42-53 in 6.3%.

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