HDxLiberation: A Human Design Podcast

Episode 10: Liberating our Binary Consciousness through Human Design

• Courtney Napier, Andrea Ward Berg • Season 1 • Episode 10

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In this episode, Andrea and Courtney dive into the concept of the binary in Human Design and how it intersects with liberation. They discuss the misconception around the term "binary" and how it is often misused in society. They explain that in Human Design, the binary refers to the design crystal and the personality crystal, which together make up our human experience. They emphasize the importance of finding harmony between the two and how our consciousness should be in service of our physical form. The hosts also touch on the idea of grieving and how it is necessary for experiencing joy and wholeness. They explore the societal pressures and expectations that can hinder our ability to embrace our true selves and find liberation. Throughout the episode, they provide insights and examples from their own lives and experiences as mothers.


Key Takeaways:

  • The binary in Human Design refers to the design crystal and the personality crystal, which make up our human experience.
  • Harmony between our physical form and consciousness is essential for wholeness and liberation.
  • Grieving is necessary for experiencing joy and embracing our true selves.
  • Society often imposes expectations and pressures that hinder our ability to find liberation.
  • Embracing our uniqueness and finding harmony within ourselves is a key aspect of Human Design and liberation.


Notable Quotes:

  • "You cannot be whole without both the design and the personality. They are both essential parts of the human experience." - Andrea
  • "Grieving allows us to let go of societal expectations and embrace our true selves, leading to joy and fulfillment." - Courtney


Resources:

Stay tuned for more insightful discussions on Human Design and liberation. Don't forget to listen to the full episode for a deeper dive into the concepts discussed.


Contact and Support:

For more insights and to join the conversation, follow the HDxLiberation podcast on social media at @hdxliberation on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and join the Liberation Lab on Substack for exclusive content and community benefits.

Hi, I'm Andrea. Hey y'all, this is Courtney and welcome to the Human Design and Liberation podcast. This is a space where we explore how human design and liberation theology intersect with the past, present, and future. With the intent of sharing the beauty and pain of the human experience to encourage you in your liberation journey.

Courtney:

Hey,

Andrea:

we're back.

Courtney:

So happy to be back.

Andrea:

Yes. Feels very good to be back and diving in. Um, I'm excited for this episode. We've been talking about this for a long time. So yeah, it's been a few weeks. I feel like that time is going to give us a chance to kind of cover maybe more complexity than we would if we had tried to record it back when we first had the idea. So I think so.

Courtney:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, we had a really Again, we, we talk weekly, just catching up, you know, cause we're friends and stuff. We like each other, even, you know, when we're not recording. And we were chatting and I, I said something about, we're both moms, both have two kids. Um, And I said something about, you know, I wish I had kids later and it really brought something up for Andrea about this idea of like wishing differently, just like wishing differently. You said something that really still sticks with me, which was that, you know, Well, this was your children's time to come, you know, they have a role to play in the world and it was their time to enter into the world. And I hope I never forget that because it really just snapped so many things into perspective. Um, but also kind of. Um, created this idea, opened up our imagination for this episode around binary. Um, it's a word that's used a lot in human design, a lot. And, um, I initially was like, it rankled me a little bit because I am, you know, A millennial, um, millennials, uh, decided that we hate the binary. Thankfully, um, we came around and was like, this isn't good. We did, this is not serve us, um, the gender binary, um, the, the like cultural binary and kind of ethnocentrism. Um, and anything that kind of seat feels like it pits one way of being against another way of being. And so when I would kept coming across this word as I'm learning, I'm on my human design journey. I'm like, what is raw talking about? I don't really like this. There has to be something else, another word. And so, um, this kind of came up in our conversation and it really was cool because we realized that in actuality. Our, you know, society has been using it wrong. Society has been mishandling the language, which is definitely a big part of, of just authoritarianism in general is kind of commandeering culture for its own ends. Um, and this is one of those moments where we were able to, you know, like, wait, this is

Andrea:

actually

Courtney:

cool.

Andrea:

I was actually when you just said that the instance that came up for me was this recent like DEI mayor. Oh my god. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Did they actually say that? Like, but that is just such a great example of how authoritarianism, you know, stakes claim around terms that it has no idea what they mean. Or like, um, critical race theory. Like that's another one. No, no interest. Yeah. Even what it means, but throwing it around and banning books because of it, you know, taking very harmful action at, because of something that they don't even know the definition of. Exactly, exactly. So, yes, let's just talk about what the binary is. Yeah, human design and what a binary is in general. And so, a binary is when you have two parts. And so, um, I think that this whole wave of, um, deconstructing and rejecting the binary when it comes to gender is absolutely relevant because gender, as we know, doesn't only have two parts. Right. Exactly. When it comes to human design, each of us is made of a design crystal and a personality crystal. And this is literally where they're located. And those are the two parts that Ra is talking about. That is the binary that Ra is talking about. And the journey that we are on is to trust more and more in our design. Right.

Courtney:

Yes. Which

Andrea:

is our physical form. So we have our physical form and we have our consciousness and those two are operating together to create this human existence and where we have been over focused is really on the consciousness.

Courtney:

Right.

Andrea:

So, um, one of the things that was a part of this conversation is, recognizing that these two parts of us need to be in harmony and in order for them to be in harmony, our consciousness, our awareness has to be in service of the body.

Courtney:

Yes. Yeah, it does. Yes. And. And to connect, you know, even what I said earlier about, you know, um, kiddos and, and when we became parents, this idea of binary also comes in a sense of like, you know, there's things that we're here to engage in and, and gifts and experiences that we are given in order to, um, play that role. And then We are going to notice that there are going to be experiences and gifts and things that pass us by along the way. And it's important to recognize that that is a part of harmony. That's a part of being in harmony and, you know, with our consciousness and the body as well as, you know, in our experiment in as we're living day to day and we're reflecting on the life that we have and the design that we have. Um, I know a lot of people sometimes feel like design envy when it's like a very, very, very normal when you look at human design, I definitely had manifestor envy for a hot minute. And then I saw the whole emotional business and I'm like, nevermind for the emotional mani's I'm like, I don't want that. But, but yeah, but again, um, This whole episode is really to reflect on, um, like what is and what isn't, you know, what we have and what we don't have are conscious and are unconscious. And this idea of binary, this idea of like the two parts of our human experience and how to, um, how to feel in harmony with it. It's not about, you know, Like a magic wand, but it's about finding that sense of balance and harmony in our experience.

Andrea:

Yeah. And really wholeness. So when we think about these aspects, you cannot be whole without both parts. Like you can't be whole without both the design and the personality and a big theme. I think that comes up as we are navigating supremacy delusion is A hyper fixation on one part of the total. So in the case of you wanting to have kids older, right? Um, there are just realities that come into play with when you have kids. And there are, you know, uh, your life force is needed for bringing those kids into the world or raising them. Um, and so really recognizing that that energy that you're putting out is part of the wholeness. It is not separate. And so recognizing that there is. Um, some misalignment with what our culture, with what supremacy delusion really exalts and then needing to grieve that your energy going towards something that is so beautiful and so fulfilling is demonized in our culture. And is weaponized. It's worse than demonized. It's really weaponized. Right. It is. And so, um, being able to hold the complexity of that and knowing that, um, in order to feel the joy of having your kids and seeing them grow and experiencing them, you also have to grieve what our culture puts on us and what we miss out on and how we are not taken care of in the process of bringing these lives into being right. And so it is that seeking that wholeness and recognizing that you have to have all of those parts together in order to have a full human experience of whatever it is you're going through.

Courtney:

Mm hmm. Yeah. That, yeah, that makes me think of. Also, just even my, my identity journey as a Black woman. And, um, the, again, this, this falling in love with who I am. I realized actually very, um, recently I was journaling about this that, um, self knowledge truly changed my life. I grew up in a situation, um, in a place, in an environment where, um, where identity was not, identity was, was Christian, um, was your religion, your gender. And you're kind of like your role, like gender and role were very connected. Right. So like, I wasn't just a woman. I was a daughter or, you know, and I was a daughter wanting to be a wife, you know, and then wanted to be a mother. So it wasn't just a woman. It was like all these other things attached to it. And, um, exploration into my Blackness was not a big part of. was not available, um, certainly was not available outside of my home.

Andrea:

There just

Courtney:

was not a lot of places outside of my family in my home. There wasn't a lot of places where it was celebrated. And, um, I struggled with a lot of, uh, self esteem issues and just a sense of like, not really knowing, um, Who I was supposed to be, you know what I mean? Just like, who am I supposed to be here? You know, what, how do I, how do I, like you were saying, fulfill myself and fulfill everyone's idea of me. You know, the role that I'm, the roles that I'm being given plus the desires of my heart, how do I do both? And, um, I struggled with that for a long time, as I think a lot of people do, but I think particularly Black women. And so, um, when around 2014, actually, I was pregnant with my, my first child around the same time this was happening. And, um, I began reading and learning more about my Black identity. And it truly changed my life. It was a source of such deep self love for me. Um, and also grief, right? Also, grief was right there alongside of it. Um, What my ancestors had to go through to get me here, you know? How I got here based on all the struggle and the frustration and the demonization, as you were saying, um, of my identity. And yet they fought through it all and got me here. But the self love that was planted in me through learning all of that was just, it, it literally transformed my life. It transformed my relationships with people who weren't supposed to be in my life. It transformed my relationships with people who had come into my life and, um, we're there as like beacons of hope and inspiration and, um, just incredible Black women that I was able to befriend during that time in my life. Um, and it gave me my voice back. It gave me my sense of self expression and sense of self. It just gave me my sense of self back. Um, but like you said, I had to experience both sides of it. I had to experience the, the grief. Um, Of learning hard things about who I was and my ancestry to experience the joy of being who I am, right? Um, so yeah, that's, that's just what came came up in me as we're talking about this.

Andrea:

Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's so relevant to What we're grappling with today, you know, to being alive in this moment and having the stark contrast that we have of, you know, desiring everyone to flourish and knowing that that's possible. Meanwhile, this idea that not everybody can flourish at the same time is also flourishing. Yes.

Courtney:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and, and this I think there's this third piece of, of white supremacist delusion, which is to recognize any of this to name any of it is, um, is against our collective flourishing to treat it as a reality. Um, just as I know that in the news right now, um, I believe it was either Georgia or Alabama has, um, gotten rid of DEI. Uh, not just the offices in Alabama, not just the departments, but it's the subject matter in the classroom,

Andrea:

anything

Courtney:

that they've deemed quote unquote divisive, this idea that my, and I'm going to say this in a very personal way, that my history, that learning about the things that transpired 10, 20, 50, 100, 150 years ago, um, in terms of how different groups of people were treating each other and what was the result of those experiences and, and moments in history can be labeled in some way divisive and therefore taken out of curriculums and people, Black people and white people not given the opportunity to learn who they are.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

Um, that that can be misconstrued and perverted into, um, this idea of protecting them, uh, protecting their idea of who they are is completely outrageous and is completely what we're, we're What we're trying to, in this, in this podcast, dispel that the more you learn of yourself, the more you reflect upon how you got to where you are, um, can in any way be detrimental. It is only ever something that will build your Identity, your sense of self and your capacity for joy as yourself.

Andrea:

Absolutely. And also it will only jumpstart your healing. Um, this topic about, you know, what's going on in Alabama. Cause it's not just this. Um, it reminded me of something that one of your colleagues posted. Um, I was trying to find the post. Um, he's a row house author that published the new Black history. Uh, yeah, Jermaine Fowler, Jermaine Fowler. Yes. And he shared this literally yesterday and it was, um, comparing these actions that are taking place with the percentage of the population that enslaved people held. And I particularly remember that Alabama was literally 45 percent of the population, pre civil war were enslaved. And it was, you know, the top 10 states, um, the only one higher than that I think was South Carolina. Um, obviously Georgia's up there, Florida's up there. So when we look at the resistance to fully understanding what has transpired to your point, not that distant history, you know, right. Um, obviously the more concentration of the harm that was done, the stronger, the resistance. Yeah. And also the bigger, the breakthrough once that resistance is surpassed.

Courtney:

Oh, 100%. I mean, just think of even in the face of. everything that Alabama and Alabamans have gone through. That's still the birthplace of Angela Davis. That's still, you know, where the Montgomery bus boycott happened. That's still where the, um, Edmund Pettus Bridge is. I mean, you think about the significance of that place and who has come out, and this is just. the past, you know, we were talking about the present and the future of these areas. Um, which always happens, you know, the, the saying they tried to bury us, not knowing we are seeds it's, it's, it's truth. It's, it's really just the truth of the matter. And what I love about human design is that it always takes it further, you know, it always takes it beyond the I, the identity groups that we have been given to identify ourselves into differentiation into dealing with our individual personalities and and design consciousnesses so that we can truly see, um, Um, All the facets of our greatness outside of any type of limiting, um, language, uh, around identity that, that we're given by our society, who does not want us to know ourselves. I think that's the point, you know, we do not live in a society that wants us to know who we are, and this is a tool to liberate ourselves from the desires of that oppressive society.

Andrea:

Yeah, and also to be able to see the influences like to see what is truly what is truly our own uniqueness and what has been transposed onto us from the influence of that society. 100%. Absolutely. Yeah. So we'll link to the, to the post. Um, that I mentioned in, in the show notes, but I think that what I would love for all of us to consider, um, is where, where do we need to be building capacity to be able to hold that complexity? Where do we need to, where do we need to be grieving? Where do we need to be releasing so that we can experience more joy? Joy and grief exist on the same thread. And so often people who are feeling like their life is boring or unsatisfied in their life or frustrated, it's because they're avoiding those emotions that society has deemed unproductive. Oof, that part, right? Because we are not as productive when we're grieving. We talked about this in the grief episode. Um, and so in order to experience more joy, you have to allow yourself to grieve. And so back to this conversation around like when you're having kids, right? Like being able to grieve the fact that maybe you didn't have what you wanted to have in place when you, when you had your kids, right? So allowing yourself to grieve that enables you to hold the space. For the truth of the matter is that there was a lot of beauty and you gave everything that you had, and that has to be enough. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And that brings in a little bit of like non-dualism of like, it's all coming back to the whole, these are all parts of the whole, um Mm-Hmm. And you cannot have wholeness without the full spectrum of feeling.

Courtney:

Yes. I, I really appreciate that you said that, especially about grief, because when I look at, um, this wasn't supposed to be like a newsy topical episode, but it fits so beautifully into this, but that's, but one of the core arguments around. This idea of, um, DEI in school, critical race theory in school, even though it's not in anything lower than 12, you know, then like college. Um, uh, uh, what is it? Uh, emotional, uh, there's another where ELA, emotional learning, um, those types of things. The argument against all of that is that kids are in school to learn math and reading, and they need to learn these skills to be able to go into the workplace. This idea of like, we are supposed to be educating children for production, for productivity, not for, you know, this social emotional learning or, or, you know, being critical of, of, The country that they're in and its history and understanding where they came from and all of this nonsense. They need to learn how to get out there and get a job. They need to learn how to be competitive against, you know, the Chinese or the whoever you want to plug in to be a, to fear monger and so forth. And, and so it really does connect that, um, this idea, it's, it comes down to productivity in our society. Uh, and. What we're talking about is it flies in the face of that. It's how you live. This is how you liberate yourself from the hamster wheel from being reduced down to how much you can produce and grief. Um, understanding your binary consciousness, your experience, your differentiated experience, and allowing yourself to grieve the things that are not Yours, or, um, that the things that are yours that you wish weren't, you know, that are hard to carry to grieve. Those things is what brings you. That's what brings the harmony. That's what allows the joy in and brings the harmony and wholeness. Um, and what, and I don't want to use the word produce, but I want to say maybe experience,

Andrea:

um,

Courtney:

your, what you can experience. Uh, rose astronomically out of that process. So you're not just a machine, you're, you're, uh, you're a full, fully integrated being who does work because that's a part of our being.

Andrea:

I believe we are created to work. I believe we are created to serve. We're created to be, to be of service. And that's why it brings us so much joy to be of service. That's actually like the title of my very first. coaching business. So,

Courtney:

Oh, wow. Yes. It's so true.

Andrea:

Yeah. I think what's interesting about what you're describing though, if we look at these institutions, they were all created. Prior to 1781, the way that we are educating, what we believe we should be educated on has been modeled from Western European education, which was modeled from Roman or education. And it's really, again, centered on survival and enlightenment and, and the kids today want to be in communion and they want to express. Like where we have blown past this desire for survival and our systems and structures have just not caught up to that yet. Like the resources for everybody to be able to commune and express. They exist. Yes. Yes. That's exactly surpassed that barrier. Okay. And maybe we only surpassed it in the last 50 years. I don't know. I don't know when, at what point we surpassed it, but we did. We're on the other side of that. And so now it's a question of redirecting those resources so that everybody has the opportunity to commune and express. And maybe part of that expression. Is going to look different, right? Like maybe, you know, if you are a Bezos and that expression involves having seven houses, like, okay, like, I mean, I don't think that should be legal actually, but that's, that's my radicalization around dwellings that I could do a whole podcast episode. But yes, please. The reason I bring that in is to say, I'm not saying that we need to, you know, combat survival with homogenization because a lot of right jump to that conclusion of like, Oh, so you just want to tell me I can only wear blue shirts and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, no, that would go against expression. Like there seems to be space for expression, but, and also everyone's needs need to be met so that we can,

Courtney:

because we have enough.

Andrea:

Yes. So, so we've proven that fact, right?

Courtney:

I, yeah, I love, I love everything you just said. That's it. I just love everything you just said. No, but truly it is. It's, you know, these, we have, we've, we've done it. We've done what we were supposed to do. And, um, what's happened along the way and in my, in my belief is that. We have commodified. Um, a part of the cycle and it's holding us back from completing the cycle. People have, it's almost like people have set up camp in the part of the cycle of, um, produce, expand, produce, expand, produce, expand, produce, expand, you know, and, um, It's not, I really like, the reason why I love what you said so much is that it's not demonizing the part of us that wants to produce and expand. And, and the fact that we did it, I mean, there's some ways that we did it that were not great, but there have been some course corrections all along the way. Um, there are more course corrections to come.

Andrea:

There will be more.

Courtney:

And, and we have done it. We have produced and expanded a point. To where we have what we need now, what has to happen and what is happening is us breaking down the camp around this part of the cycle and allowing the cycle to continue to complete the self expression and, and the safety because we are safe. We are out of survival mode. Yeah. And, um, I think the thing that really strikes me in that encampment, that idea around encampment is the, um, is the, the reaction, the retaliation against it this generation coming through saying, we're good. We're good. Like we feel safe. And it's like, Oh, you know, look at you and look at how you have taken for granted what you've been given, you know, this safety, you don't know what, what, uh, what it took to get here and, and, you know, You're throwing it in our faces. Like this kind of like authoritary backlash is happening in the younger generation is, you know, this, the previous generations are feeling hurt in this sense that it's almost like they feel like all their efforts are being thrown in their face.

Andrea:

I think part of it's that. I think also part of it is just fear. I think a big part of it is fear. Like the only way we are able to stay safe is if everybody's afraid of staying safe. And if someone is not afraid of staying safe, then we're not safe. So true. Oh, that's not how it works. That, that might be how it did work. Okay. Maybe I'm not going to negate that when there were lions and tigers and bears. That everybody needed to be worried about staying safe. That's just not the reality that we live in right now. And so this fear of like, if I don't instill all of these fears into the next generation, then we're going to implode is just misinformed. It's really misinformed. And, you know, we just recorded that. 2027 podcast. So more about that, go back and listen to that one. Um, but I think that the opportunity here is to recognize that the internal safety is the only safety that we're going to have. That's the only safety that we have access to. It's really the only safety we've ever had access to, but especially in the last 200 years, it's the only safety that's existed. And I think that's the reason why, especially Black femmes, but the Black community has had such joyful and fulfilling experiences in spite of that scarcity mindset because of the contrast, right? Because that all of the material safety had been taken away generation, generation, generation. Yeah. And so, You've had to cultivate that internal safety. Yeah. And this is just giving like another layer of that safety, right? Like the identity journey that you have been on and what you've learned about how your design supports you in this work and, um, that differentiation. And it really is going to show up differently for you versus let's say, you know, we talked earlier about Dr. Cooper and you know, she's a projector and, um, you know, just depending on each person's design, right? Yep. But, and also getting back to this non duality and being able to hold the complexity and building that capacity for what it means to be human. Yeah. Black femmes have been fighting this fight far longer than anyone else.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

Indigenous women definitely right along with them. Um, and so just having something that will reflect back to you, the purity of your design versus having to kind of piece it together without something to look to can just give you that, uh, sense of satisfaction that, Oh, everything is being used. Yeah, everything is being used as part of the solution and I am not meant to Destroy myself in this process. That is Where the system has still had a hold on the liberation movement. Um, we're breaking that hold.

Courtney:

Yes, 100%. And I feel like one of the ways in which we are experiencing abundance, because we are experiencing abundance. That's what we're saying when we are not in survival anymore, we are in a time of abundance. And one of the ways that that abundance shows up is information. You know, like in the information age. And so taking advantage of the fact that, and, you know, I, I, I don't know. I love Gen Z. I'm the oldest of six kids. And so like most of my family, you know, these, my, my siblings are all younger than I am. And I look to them and I gained so much, um, inspiration from just seeing them live their beautiful lives, all expressing themselves in their own way and just untethered from a lot of the things that myself, you know, my cousin and my other family members that we had to go through. Um, but one of those ways is, is that we have information. We do not have to depend on the opinion of an authority figure for direction anymore. We don't have to, we don't have to go through our lives um, informed by secondhand information anymore. We have access to primary sources. We have access to voices from, from people all over the world, from every single religious and spiritual background in all different languages. We have the capacity to learn all different types of languages and, and. go to places easier than we ever have. Um, and so it really is a time. Um, this is the time this, there's no, been no greater time to go through the process of learning who you are and to exploring Both your personality and design consciousness and exploring your heritage and all of these things, you know, that, that, unfortunately, like you said, that survival mindset that that pre 1781 mindset seven centered way of being and seeing wants to, um, instill fear into us about is actually a um, benefit of, of all the work that's what we've done as a species to get us here. And so just, um, taking advantage of that and, and learning and growing. I mean, there's all kinds of resources that we've talked about in the past episodes. So if you want to go through and look at show notes, um, if you're looking for a place to we have plenty of places where you can start. Um, And then keep following us for more because we're nerds and we will always be sharing new things to read and, and know, I know one book that I want to talk about for white bodied folks is, um, The History of White People by Nell Painter is an excellent, um, beautifully written, slightly humorous even, book about the history of whiteness. And, um, so I highly recommend that for those folks. And I also recommend anything by, um, Dr. Janet E. Helms, who's incredible psychologist out of Boston university. Um, if you're doing any racial identity work, um, absolutely. So those are my suggestions there. And we'll link those in the notes.

Andrea:

Yeah. Yeah. Well that was all we had for today. Mm-Hmm. really great diving into debunking some of these terms that can be a little triggering. I hope that was helpful. Um,

Courtney:

yeah, it helped, it helped me when we had this conversation, so, um, I'm hoping it helps y'all too

Andrea:

and let us know what you wanna know about. We have a list a mile long of topics we talked about. So don't worry, we're not going to hold up. We want to hear like what's relevant to you because chances are that's on the list and we can prioritize it.

Courtney:

Absolutely. Yes. And we are interruptible. We, we love to hear from you. And, and if it strikes us, if our strategy and authority respond and it feels like a, uh, an invitation, um, Worthy of, of the moment. It just feels right for us. We love to just, um, to focus on whatever it is that the community needs. So,

Andrea:

yes, we both have major communal circuitry. You're

Courtney:

totally here for it. Until next time, everybody. Take care.

Courtney Napier:

Thank you so much for tuning into HD and Liberation podcast. We hope you've gained valuable insights into human design and its role in building a life of peace, success, satisfaction, and wonder. If you've enjoyed this episode, please show your support by liking, following, and sharing our podcast. on YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. Your engagement helps us reach more people who can benefit from this wisdom. For exclusive content and to join our thriving community, consider becoming a Patreon member. Your support allows us to continue exploring the depths of human design and its potential for life and community transformation. Stay tuned for more fun, thoughtful, and impacting discussions. Together, we're unlocking the path to a more liberated and authentic life. Thank you for being a part of HD and Liberation Podcast.

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Andrea Ward Berg

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Courtney Napier

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