With a mouth and a voice, probably we never stop to consider whether we have good cause to talk. Our parents listen patiently (or not) to our first babblings, and our teachers encourage us to express ourselves coherently, so they can direct us. And then we find ourselves interacting in the world and having to take responsibility for the things that come out of our mouths.

There is no question that some people seem to have an easier time expressing themselves than others, but the whole point of expression is that it matches the context in which it takes place. When we "speak out of turn," we disrupt the continuity of our own life, the lives of others and the natural movement of Existence.

In this article we examine the nature of speech as experienced through Design, and look through the Designs of Bill Gates, chief of Microsoft, a software company, and Rush Limbaugh, a radio talk show personality, to see examples of the differences between present day communicators.

The Physical nature of the Throat Center

In the Design Body Graph, there are nine energy centers relating to various organs or glands within the human physical form.

The centers are interlinked by 36 channels. Like the branches of a tree, through which the life juices flow to energize the tree's roots, leaves and fruits, the channels are the conduits connecting the Centers together energetically.

We find that, for energy to be released and expressed into the world, it has to find its way to and through the Throat Center, where it is energetically released and transmuted through our acts and words. In Design terms, the Throat Center relates to the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands, and medically, we find out that there is considerable stress on these glands and our Throats in this life.

Almost every year we are prone to sore throats, coughs, 'flu and colds, and can lose our voice if these discomforts affect us seriously. When we have these illnesses, our ability to access our Throat Center correctly, energetically, can speed our recovery or even eliminate the possibility of getting sick in the first place. If there existed a single cure for all, there would be small use for doctors or multiple medicines. But each of us has a particular way to access our Throat Center correctly and to be well in all aspects of our life. Getting sick indicates that we have ignored some of the signals our body gave us. So, understanding how and when to express ourselves, allows us instant access to our authentic nature, and keeps us physically and psychologically well.

The Eleven Voices

The Throat Center in Design has eleven Gates into which, and through which, expression can happen. There are eleven different voices, so each gate has its own specific "voice," and each gate relates to one of eleven hexagrams in the IChing, the Chinese Book of Changes.

The Throat Center

In astrological terms, these voices are found in the span of the sky between Taurus, through Gemini and Cancer to Leo. One might unfairly say that Gemini is almost all talk... except that the Throat Center in Design terms, is our Center of Manifestation, and so we see that a lot of what is said can evolve into action. The trick is to know exactly what!

Through Design we can evaluate the entire spectrum of whether or not something needs to be expressed in the first place. And we can evaluate, once something has been expressed, whether anything actually has to happen, or whether it has been spoken out as so much "hot air."

When we are clear about these two issues in our life, we have keys to comprehending to whom and to what we can commit ourselves. Often we find ourselves talking ourselves into trouble, potentially committing ourselves to something that does not suit us, and if we can remember our nature, we can admit to ourselves the need to talk our way out of trouble again.

The most important lesson in life is the realization that we are here to live our own life. We manage this beautifully when we commit to our own way, and stop binding ourselves to people and things that have nothing to do with us.

The defined Throat Center

One of the most essential components in Design is seeing "Definition," which comes about when a channel is activated in the chart. A definition indicates that energetically, the two centers on either ends of the channel are turned on and running 24 hours a day, throughout that person's lifetime. In the Design chart, we indicate "turned on Centers" by coloring them in.

In Bill Gates' chart, there are four Centers that are colored in. The Ajna, Mental Awareness Center is defined through a channel to the Throat Center ( 11- 56, the Channel of the Seeker, and a Design of being Curious ). On the lower left side of the body graph, the Spleen Center ( The Brown Triangle Center on the left of the Chart ) is defined to the Sacral Center, through the 50 - 27, The Channel of the Guardian, the Design of someone who cares.

Much can be said about Bill's chart, but for the context of this article on self expression, we are going to look particularly at Bill's Throat Center, through which, with a definition to his mind, he can consistently express his thoughts. He has an unconscious definition through the 11 - 56, the Channel of the Seeker, which gives Bill access to his Throat at all times. Energetically, he can talk at any time, regardless of whether someone he is talking to has a defined Throat or not in their Design. His Throat Center is activated continuously through this defined channel. In the 11, he has Unconscious (inherited) Moon (Maternal Grandmother's genes) in the line of "the Realist," and North Node (Personal, unconscious Destiny) in the line of the "Teacher." At the Throat, he has the 56 with his Unconscious (inherited) Mercury, in the line of "attracting attention innovatively", Venus, in the line of "a developing Genius when it comes to innovative expression," and Uranus, in the line of "the drive to control expression at the expense of stimulation."

When an expression is "Unconscious" and inherited, it implies that the expression "comes out anyway," whether one intends it consciously or not. In his Design, Bill also has the 12, with his unconscious South Node, in the line of the "Prophet," and the 33 with his unconscious Mars, (Paternal Granddad's influence) in the line of "Let go! Renewal through being apart" and Jupiter in the line of "Victory in retreat."

Consciously, Bill has the 45 with his South Node which, for the first 40 years of his life, gave him access to finding material resources through enhancing people's educations... He also has the 31, consciously with Uranus in the line of "Alignment with personal aims," and unconscious with his Sun (inherited from his Dad), in the line of "influencing others by living by one's words."

This means that Bill's expressions combine to serve him best when he aligns his words with his personal intentions (#31), allows others to educate themselves through what he provides for them (#45), expands on an intention of secrecy, even if there is nothing to hide (#33), allows himself the time and space to look far into the future and then, by request, conveys his visions to others (#12), stimulating everyone through proposed innovations, even if it means telling everyone what innovations are going to stimulate them (#56).

One very important feature in Bill's nature is that, regardless of what he thinks and says, he has the Design of a Generator. A generator, by Design, is guided through an inner response mechanism. It is not a design of thinking and saying something and then trying to follow up on what was said. More, it is a design of waiting to respond to something and then commenting on it, or putting it into motion because of an inner clarity, rather than from outer pressures and concepts of "how things are supposed to be."

The undefined Throat Center

In a Design chart where the Throat Center is undefined, it, of course, does not mean that the person cannot speak, but it indicates a specific process of self expression.

The nature of any undefined Center is that one only gains energetic access to the Center through the connections that others bring. So, for a person with an undefined Throat Center, the moment someone comes around with a defined Throat Center, then that person with the undefined Throat has free access to speech. And the tendency is that they will talk and talk, releasing all sorts of energies that have built up since the last meeting with someone with a defined Throat Center.

Ideally, through the access that someone with a defined Throat Center brings, the person with an undefined Throat Center reflects back their own wisdom they have gathered through the experiences of various interactions in the Throat Center with others. The outcome of this communication is that the person with the Defined Throat Center can benefit from the (potential) wisdom of all these related interactions, and the person with the undefined Throat Center can relieve themselves of the pressure to express; they can feel heard, and also energetically connected to possible endeavors stemming from what has just been discussed.

Difficulty arises when the person with the undefined Throat Center takes on all the opinions, beliefs, stances, stories, second hand knowledge, enthusiasms and role models exemplified by everyone with whom they have ever been in vocal contact, and identifies with them. Moreover, someone with an undefined Throat Center does not have consistent access to the energetic facility of speech, but can feel obliged to talk spontaneously, to release pressure, in times when talking is inappropriate. Through taking on all these borrowed expressions, and talking "out of turn," the person's Thyroid gland gradually becomes overburdened.

One of the most important things to be understood about someone who has an undefined Throat Center, and speaks, is that whoever they are talking to is going to hear "what they want to hear." The audience hears what they want to hear regardless of how punctilious and precise the person with the undefined Throat Center attempts to communicate. Also, the nature of the undefined Throat Center gives one access to wisdom of speech (and potentially great singing abilities) when one talks (or sings) in response, or by invitation, rather than from the stance of having a mouth and therefore wanting to say something!

An undefined Throat Center Design chart

For those who have never heard of him, Rush Limbaugh is a radio talk show personality in America. In the great American tradition, he has enjoyed large success selling various items including radios, cigars and men's ties, while spending hours expounding views of a somewhat political nature. It would probably be fair to say that in his radio broadcasts, he takes the vocal "stance" of a Conservative and a Traditionalist.

In his Design, Rush has an undefined Throat Center, which gives him access to great potentials in spoken wisdom, providing he speaks out in right context and with a sense of objectivity in relation to what it is he hears himself saying. The moment he "invites himself to speak," or becomes identified with what it is he hears himself saying, he is becoming conditioned through the influences that other people have had in his life, and is living his own life according to other people's agendas.

So, Rush succeeds best in his work when he finds himself answering people's questions, and particularly when he talks with his tongue in his cheek, rather than identifying directly to the things he hears himself saying. He probably knows full well that his audience will always hear exactly whatever it is it wants to hear, so, for Rush to get excited about the fact that either no one really seems to understand what he says, or that people seem to agree with him entirely, is pointless.

In his undefined Throat Center, Rush has the 62 Gate activated with his conscious Earth. The Earth relates to where we ground ourselves and make form of things in our lives, and the 62 relates to the details that might go towards organizing a logical statement. The particular line information that Rush has, is that of "enacting a routine in which relevant details are either organized through fantasy, or ignored altogether." His success might be ascribed to the fact that spoken truth is all well and good, but in reality, everybody prefers a good story.

In the rest of his chart, Rush has the Design of a survivor ( 10 - 57 ), in that he can recognize a good thing when he hears it, and also the Design of someone who brings intense concentration ( 41 - 30 ) to anything he feels involvement with, to the point of being completely entranced and even appearing unavailable to any input on an emotional level from outside sources ( particularly the feminine half of the species. ) Open minded, he has the capacity to be very intellectual, and with an open Heart Center he should feel no compulsion to get competitive with anyone, but rather, allow himself to sit back and enjoy the furore his comments seem to arouse in others.

In conclusion

There is the wonderful expression to "put our money where our mouth is," implying that what we hear ourselves saying is what we should then go ahead and do. For some people, this is going to work for them energetically, in that there is an alignment between their Throat Center and their actions. For a large number of people, this is not the case. For them, it would be true to say that no matter what they heard themselves say, it would never be completely right for them to follow through and spontaneously do it.

In these times of change in the world, it is no longer sensible to try living our lives from old standards and concepts. We have the intelligence to find our truth, but that involves recognizing who we are and what we are fulfilling here. Understanding one's intrinsic nature through having a Design reading will make one's truth abundantly clear.

Next month: The mind and its functions as seen through Design.

© Chetan Parkyn, February 2002