In Human Design there are 12 profiles, and each is made up of two of the six profile lines, which correspond to the six lines of the hexagram. Line 1 is the Investigator; line 2 is the Hermit; line 3 is the Martyr; line 4 is the Opportunist; line 5 is the Heretic; and line 6 is the Role Model.
Our profile is essentially the role each one of us as an individual on this planet is born to fulfill. It is kind of like the “dress or costume” we wear in this life, or who we are designed to be; it is the what themes we may be continuously involved in throughout our life. In a way, our profile provides us with insight into our perceived personality and along with our aura, or energy type, shapes how others see us, how we respond and react, and how things may be manifesting along our path of life.
Things to keep in mind with profiles in human design are mainly: 1) They provide only potential influences for your life experiences, not guarantees, and 2) They manifest differently depending on your aura type, and should always be read in conjunction, as a unique way to navigate the world.
Today we’ll discuss one of the most mystical profiles of all: the 5/1 profile of the Heretic Investigator. Famous people with this profile include Sophia Loren, Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo, Clint Eastwood, Lady Gaga, Ryan Reynolds, Jamie Foxx, Nelson Mandela, Christian Dior, F Scott Fitzgerald, Bjork, Madonna, and of course, the creator of human design himself, Ra Uru Hu.
But before we move on, one thing to keep in mind is that human design and astrology show potentials, many of which are unfortunately unlived potentials usually because we may not believe in ourselves enough, or we just don’t invest in our inner work etc.
The other thing to know with astrology and human design is that they are perspectives and not absolute truths to box ourselves in. Human design especially has become quite popular and trendy in recent years, and as any new thing it can be tempting and very easy to fall into yet another conditioning of ourselves. Don’t let human design box you into a category or identity or conditioning. Use it as a tool to gain some self-awareness and self-knowledge, but try to stay away from sentences such as “I do this and that because I am a manifestor or generator with this or that profile.”
Please be mindful that this is general and how things may unfold for you depends on other placements in your charts. For personal readings with me, you are welcome to book through my offerings page.
Let’s begin.
The 5/1 Profile: Heretic Investigator
There is a seductive and very magnetic and attractive energy in your aura. You are here to essentially be a lighthouse to other people – to be their guide in times of need, their Northern Star, offering them guidance in wise, practical and innovative ways.
People seek you because they know, feel or sense that you can help them in ways not many others will be able to. And you may truly know how to help them deeply and profoundly, because you have a profound insight into their inner selves and see them for who they truly are.
In a way, you essentially carry people’s hopes and dreams on your shoulders, and that’s a big responsibility and can feel quite burdensome, but it is also a blessing and one that is truly inspiring and important for our humanity.
Bright and profound, seductive and deep, empathic and creative, you pull people into your life to help them, and offer them a way forward guiding them or giving them the tools they need to navigate through their puzzles.
Yet as much as you see through people’s outer surface deep into their souls, they cannot truly see you. There is almost like a veil around you, alluring and mystical, and you have a very magnetic and powerful aura; and because they can’t truly see you, and they have a hard time “reading you”, they start projecting onto you immediately. People will tune into you according to how they want to perceive you, and what they need from you on a deeper level, rather than who you truly are.
This is because having a conscious 5th line basically shows that you are living in the projections of other people constantly. People constantly project on you, and may have a hard time seeing the real you. And yet – you may have a true potential to “save the world” with your unique, and often against-the-grain vision.
Often people see your seductive and alluring aura, your amazing and magnetic leadership pull, full of wisdom and clear insight, and almost immediately they begin projecting their own thought, dreams, desires, wants, needs, assumptions and often times, very unrealistic expectations onto you.
Most of the time they see you as their saviour, their hero, their best lover, best partner, best employee, best boss, their dream come true, their genie in the lamp, their prayers answered, a world of possibilities in you, the one who will help and fix all their problems, their one, their soulmate. Depending on who you truly are and your soul and purity of heart, you might even have had quite a few people call you their angel, or blessing. And you probably indeed you are because of the deep and beautiful impact you left on your soul.
They see you as someone who is wise, reliable and ready to fix all their problems and make their dreams come true and accomplish the unaccomplishable, and in many ways – you do know how to do that.
They see in you a superhuman, and may often don’t even think that you are human who needs just as much support, love, understanding and appreciation. This is why you may sometimes even feel alone, unappreciated and unsupported, because even when you say you need support, they may just not hear and see that you do – as they continue to see a superhuman in you.
The thing is that people cannot see nor even understand how hard you actually work, and how much effort and devotion and time and energy it takes you to help them and do your work. It’s because you make things look so easy, almost pristine and effortless, or so they see you as because of your aura, and so they continue to seek you for their problems and often without much consideration nor realistic expectations.
You might have noticed how throughout your life you were the one people seeked for their problems, they seeked your counsel through their obstacles and difficulties because they knew that you would help them navigate through it all, and they expected you to anyway.
And you will continue to be approached by people to help them, because that’s your path in this life, and it’s an important one because you do help people, and depending on your other aspects you might have healing abilities also. To balance this out though, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed and fall into the “always saving people”, you need to 1. understand that you are not here to fix everyone’s problems, 2. you can’t save people from themselves and cannot heal someone who doesn’t want to be healed, 3. choose and discern which ones you are able to and called to do following your inner voice and authority, and set boundaries, and 4. understand that at the end of it all, you give people back their key to their life and it is up to them to do their work following the guidance and insights you’ve given them. Don’t fall into the trap of “oh poor me, everyone only wants me to help them and no one helps me” – because you have been given a great gift – you have the ability to help people in this life, to contribute to other’s wellbeing, and that’s the most beautiful thing we can do as human beings.
5/1 is the profile of the one people see as their “saviour” – that you are here to save the world, and save them too, and in many ways, you do have amazing abilities, skills, gifts and talents to do a lot of life-changing things. Your purpose is one to impact many people and make a significant contribution to society. It is a transpersonal purpose, meaning that you are here to be seen on a big scale and to make a big change, not play small.
A 5/1 profile is usually very creative and gifted with many talents and skills, and even if you are not an artist, poet or writer, this creative stream flows within you in some shape or form. It is this unique creative process in the way you do things, perceive things and create solutions, that attracts so many towards you. There is almost a feeling through a connection with the unconscious because you are creating new solutions to old problems, and in this creative shapeshifting you create new pathways for people.
Something that I’ve often noticed with people who are 5/1, and in my own personal life as well because I am a 5/1, is that I love sunglasses. Not just when it’s sunny outside, I’d even wear them sometimes after sunset and at rock concerts! I also love sparkling jewellery and bright colours. This is something 5/1 profiles intuitively do, especially if they are aligned to themselves and attuned to their intuition, because this helps protect them against too much projections from other people. So if you haven’t tried that yet – try wearing sunglasses more, wear shirts or hats with text on them, or bright colours or jewellery, as a way to deflect from you people’s unwanted projections – so that they have something else to focus on rather than straight into your eyes.
The heretic part of your profile shows that you are here to not just make a significant contribution and guide people on a large scale – you are here to innovate and create new ways and paths forward for people. Heretics go against the convention, against the grain, against the herd and create our of the box solutions. You are edgy, and you are bright with edginess. As such, you might sometimes be a bit too much for all who are deeply conditioned or mainstream, and they might even feel threatened by your free spirit, projecting their insecurities onto you. So you need to build your own confidence based on who you are, and not what others say you are or think you are or based on external validation. You are here to know thyself, be rooted in your spiritual core, aligned to your purpose to be of contribution to others, and be the expression of your inspired creativity.
Because of the heretic nature within you, your approach may be a bit unorthodox or unconventional, but this is how you’ll make a change in a world that is stuck and stagnant where old solutions are no longer relevant for humanity’s wellbeing. Your abilities to integrate a lot of information, skills and wisdom, and think outside of the box is what helps people. And you are, as I already mentioned, a lighthouse for others – you are a true guide walking a life’s purpose to guide others on their path with your wisdom and clarity of insight. You are here to be seen by many people.
And yet at the same time, you often don’t like to be on a world stage at all. You might even despise social media. And that’s very natural, because you’ve faced projections from others all your life, and the only way to keep yourself rooted is to retreat so that you can reconnect to yourself. Otherwise it becomes burdensome. It can feel quite frustrating to be constantly projected on. And it can feel lonely too – because you often may not feel that people see the real you. You are only human, and while it is flattering to be seen as an angel or hero or “the epitome of a woman” or “my dream come true”, you may sit there and wonder: are you really seeing me, or will you praise me only as long as I do what you expect me to or dream me as?
I know we live in a world when everyone might be telling you to be on social media – but you need to do what feels true to you. Otherwise you cannot give expression to your natural flow of energy. Know thyself always, know your values and honour them. Place integrity before praise or social norms. Our world and societies have rarely, of ever at all, supported true authenticity, so you need to remain strong in who you are and what values you align yourself with.
When problems in relationships arise, it is usually stemming from projections. In other words, the saying “it’s not you it’s them” is written for you i.e. your partner should be aware enough to know that it’s them not you, at least most of the time. That doesn’t give you a free pass of course, but it truly is usually the other’s inability to self-reflect, and to continously put unrealistic expectations onto you and to project their stuff onto you. They are not doing this consciously, and even if they are the most aware person on earth, they will still inevitably get sucked into your projection field – because it’s energy.
I’ll give you an example with a client of mine. She is married to a 5/1 profile, and ever since the first day she met him – it was love at first sight, the best thing that ever happened in her life, her dream come true, her manifestations materialized, her heart that had magically come out of her chest to become a man. And yet from time to time throughout their marriage, out of thin air, her very beloved would suddenly turn into her very own (still loving) rat from hell. It took her many years to finally realize that the root of over 90% of their problems was her not him. That’s not saying he can do no wrong ever, but the truth is that she’d just get annoyed at things stemming from her own unrealistic expectations put onto him, and her own projections of her inner self. She came into deep love as she realized this, and their marriage is now really beautiful – but she does check herself continuously. She also tries really hard to see his real needs and desires when he expresses them to her, rather than burden him with expectations or colour up what he expresses and feels. When she feels disappointments, she realizes that it isn’t always about him, but it is about her own feelings of disappointment and her own hopes that didn’t come to pass. Love can only thrive when we are able to see the real person in front of us.
In many ways, as a 5/1 you are here to reflect on others their stuff. This is why this profile is sometimes called a “karmic mirror” because you mirror to others themselves. You mirror to them their thoughts, feelings, wants, needs, desires and hopes. And this can often leave you feeling very vulnerable, insecure and even victimized by the world around you. This is because as human beings most of the time we do not see beyond the mirror’s surface.
This “karmic mirror” is not necessarily a bad thing though – it is actually a good thing – because this is how you allow them a deepening into themselves, you allow them to bring into balance themselves when they are faced with aspects of themselves through you. Having a 5/1 profile pulls people towards you magnetically, and they are often entirely enchanted by you. They will inevitably expect you to save them or fix it all, and whether you can or you can’t is an entirely different story. So the best thing you can do is be clear with what you can offer them, don’t hesitate to say “no” and let them ground in a bit more realistic expectations. Whether they understand or even hear you is a different story also, but atleast you’ve done your part of the job by voicing it.
Place integrity before praise. Place passion of your work as your vision and root yourself in that always. And try not to take things personally from others whether praise or criticism, it’s usually projections, so just focus on refining your craft and continuing to dive into knowledge and learning through your 1st investigator and researcher line.
The karmic aspect isn’t just about other people – it is about you also. Your life will be filled with many destined meeting with people from past lives – past life allies and friends, past life lovers and perhaps soulmates, and even past life enemies. To those you helped in past lives, they will come back now and offer you their helping hand along your path; and to those who did you wrong, well things will be settled in one way or another so that all is balanced. One thing is for certain – your life will be filled with destined meetings.
The thing to remember is that you will not be able to fulfill your life’s purpose without these meetings along your path. It is these other people, who will come just when they should, that will help you fulfill your life’s purpose.
While you are perhaps very self-sufficient and independent, you just need to settle into this humility that you are now living a life interconnected to other people’s lives and destinies, so just practice patience and trust. The right people will come and open the doors you need, so follow your inner voice and authority strategy.
Because of your transpersonal aspect and such deep wisdom and ability to see so clearly into other people, you can be almost perfect in what you say to them – it can often leave them breathless. And truly are someone who will help heal people’s hearts and soothe their hearts and souls, especially during their times of hardships and crisis and confusion when not much else could have helped them.
You just have a gift of knowing the exact thing to say that a person needs to hear to feel better, and it is absolutely beautiful to witness and a gift you must treasure. If you are a poet or writer, you will probably write some really beautiful, lyrical and deeply profound things. Your voice is what moves peoples.
On the other hand, because of that sharp insight into others that you have, you need to be mindful and have self-control not to get “nasty” when people hurt you. You have the ability to say some real truths to people and have a gift of cutting through them knowing their weak spots, so try to take the high road in life. Their karma is theirs not yours. Of course sometimes it will be playing through you also, and if they keep pushing your boundaries and cross them you’ll be speaking some truths to them. But my advice is to just move away from them, honour the power you hold but don’t misuse it, and grace them with your ability to control yourself because you essentially spared them from themselves. And if you are someone dealing with a 5/1 reading this – it’s best not to cross them.
The reason why you are so knowledgeable is your 1st line carrying the investigator aspect. Researching and digging deep into things, perhaps since childhood, is actually what calms you – but it is also serving your life’s purpose as along the way you were basically deepening in your integrative knowledge of various subjects.
You see, what happens is that through that process of investigation, the 5/1 line collects and gathers information, knowledge, tools and screws, little parts and big parts, to then be ready to build and provide the solution that other people need for their problems. Expertise requires many years throughout your life – and every single thing along the way, no matter whether you think it’s ordinary or irrelevant or non-sensical even, is meant to refine your knowledge, wisdom and craft – but also, to give you the ability to help people, thereby becoming this saviour archetype that they project onto you. In reality, no you can’t save others unless they save themselves, but you can give them the tools and guidance, and then hand them back their key so that they move forward. Whether they do or not, that’s no longer your purpose.
There is often a ghostly aspect to the 5/1 in that for those who are intuitive, they may often show up in the exact places where someone needs them.
For example, if you are a skier with that profile, perhaps one day you find yourself taking an off path where you meet someone injured or stuck, and you help them. Little did you do that that course you once took how to save someone from a snow storm is now what you are doing in real life.
You can often disappear and then appear, like a snow leopard, as if out of nowhere – in places unexpected and quite different from where you were supposed to be – and yet this was exactly that right time for you to be there for those who needed to meet you.
This is partly because of your intuition and higher calling to be of contribution to others and be their guide; and why it is so important to tune into yourself and follow that gut feeling or intuition or whatever your authority or body language is.
The heretic 5 protects themselves from “being burned at the stake” by following their inner voice or authority, sacral and intuition, their own body signals, so that they know which places and people would be safe for them.
You have to allow your body and follow your instinct and intuition to guide you forward in life, because not all people would be open to receive your messages, and your innovative ways are not for a mainstream society which is largely herd like and conventional and closed minded or boxed into their conditioning. Heretics share non-common truths, something out of the ordinary yet something crucial for people’s soul growth, but all people are ready for that and all have their own timing.
The 1st line is sometimes called one of insecurity – and what that actually means is the way our body responds. In simple words, you don’t like people crossing your boundaries, entering your space or even being too close to you. Your body perhaps literally tenses when someone suddenly touches your shoulder. You might be very affectionate and cuddly, but for example, if you are in the subway and someone brushes against your shoulder, your immediate body reaction would be tense and freeze, rather than move away in a jelly-like way. You might notice that you walk through crowds almost like in a dance-like movement, so that you don’t bump into anyone. You need a solid ground under your feet for your body to feel stability, and any time you feel too stressed or off-balance, it is best to ground and go to the gym, or do something else that makes you feel in your body. So the “insecure” aspect is a tense body aspect showing that you like your privacy, and that you have a deep-seated need for privacy and personal space; set clear boundaries.
Sometimes the motivation or main driver of the 1st line could have been your fear that you cannot meet the high and often unrealistic expectations of others; and you need to be mindful not to be too hard on yourself – you can’t know it all, and we all learn along the way. And these fears are not a bad thing, as they are meant to push you to refine your craft and keep learning and developing, as you’ll be using all you learned to contribute to others. It’s a natural fear too, considering how people constantly project onto you, and the burdens you carry truly wanting to help others and wondering “I am able to?”.
Some artists with this 5/1 profile may even be quite hesitant to share their art or poetry or music or writings, and feel like they are not good enough – when in fact they are absolutely brilliant. As the years go by though, and you invest more in yourself and your art and your passions and learnings, your expertise and knowledge deepen immensely, and your confidence grows, and those destined meetings come with people showing you how profound and deep you are and how you truly help them with your insights.
At the end of the day, this once past fear or insecurity were only pushing you to learn more and excel more in various areas – through which you will gain integrative knowledge and pave a unique and innovative way of solving complex world problems, or helping other people and guiding them in ways not many other people will be ever able to guide them or help them in this life. Your sharp insight and deep wisdom through life, learning and experience is a gift you gift to the world and others.
In many ways, your energy is healing to others, because healing energy is restorative energy. When people come into your energy field they hear and see from you what they need to hear and see to come into their inner balance.
Naturally though in your intimate relationships, and even friendships, this is what may make you feel lonely because you may wonder whether they ever truly see you. They think they do, and they will tell you they do, and they will even tell you who you are even if they just met you, even when they have no idea who you are, because, again, projections.
Many people with the 5th line often have long distance relationships or their friends are overseas, or they just have one or two close friends and like to have their retreat time away from others. This is actually helpful and soothing for them, because they are able to reconnect, and even if they only have one true friend or their partner or family who truly understands and sees them and loves them for who they are – they are happy and fulfilled. So just settle into the knowing that you are here to contribute to the world, but when you find your one or few who understand you, create your own sacred private retreat and don’t worry about having too many people around. Well, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want them anyway as it might be quite emotionally and energetically draining being around people all the time.
Regarding work – one thing you need to remember as I already mentioned is place integrity before praise. You are not here to collect fame, though you might be very popular. I know you perhaps don’t want fame and that you are here because of genuine desire and passion to contribute to others and help them, but your destiny will lead you to be seen by many. And that’s okay. Just keep grounded and keep focused on your vision and your why. Don’t take things personally, it is about them not you, and while it may feel discouraging and lonely sometimes, you are just here to be of a much greater purpose – one that you will fulfill.
There is a universal theme with 5/1s, and a mystical haunting that often unveils and follows the people you’ve crossed paths with. The things you’ve said to them would often stay with them and haunt them for years, your words of beauty would touch their souls and inspire them, and your insights hit deep and might become even more important for them later in life. In simple words – you are not easily forgotten.
This universal quality is almost like we carry collective archetypes which draw people towards us in their own pursuits of dreams, fantasy and meaning. You may have had people tell you that you look ethereal or as if you walked out of a dream; or perhaps you are literally a fairytale or children’s books writer.
This dreamy fairytale-like quality that some 5/1s have is what brings them closer to their destiny it seems. It could be expressed through their writing, poetry, or a dreamy romantic way of language that they have. What creates this fairytale aura is what I mentioned in the beginning – you carry the hopes and dreams of other people. In you they see that which gave them hope and dreams perhaps since childhood.
And yet it is also through you, and the gentle, empathic and graceful way in which you may help them, that they will also not only awaken their hopes and dreams, but they will also reconnect to others around the, now seeing the hope in humanity and building communities.
All this of course depends on your overall profile, and who you are at your essence and the choices you choose to make each day on the kind of person that you are. If you don’t operate from a space of purity of heart, clarity of mind and sincerity in action, then obviously you will not truly be making such a heart centered impact. Your 1st line of deepening your knowledge and staying grounded in substance and quality and skills, is what you need to focus on. Your confidence comes not from what other may or may not see in you, but through your real self and the real work you do in life and the real skills you’ve gathered.
When it comes to relationships, dear 5/1, you need to find someone who sees you for you. You need someone you can trust and who is emotionally deep, emotionally mature, and supportive of you. Be mindful that because of that “saviour” aura you have, you might have a lot of people attracted to you who want you to fix their problems, rely on you for everything while not giving much in turn, eventually leaving you feeling like you do it all in relationships; and even falling into a co-dependent dynamic. You need someone who is self aware and strong enough within themselves, so take your time in choosing a partner. Relationships thrive on inter-dependence. Often people give to others not what the other wants and needs, but what they expect to be given in turn – so choose someone who is able to see your needs and be there for you in the way you truly need them to.
With your 1st line, you long for commitment and you need stability and trust. Because of this, and all else, you might appear aloof or “too selective” to others which some people may wrongly perceive as non-committal or choosy or even flighty. But that’s not true. You just need to honour what you need, and you absolutely should have expectations, and don’t settle for the wrong people out of fear of being alone or needing someone or some inner insecurity. Take your time, know what you need and who you are, and don’t settle for anything less than that. Let people approach you and discern, while connecting to your inner voice and feelings.
The seductive aura of the 5/1 is not just sensual and sexual, but it is our whole lives that are kind of like an art of seduction. So if you are interested in someone with that 5/1 profile, you need to pursue them, and know how to dance the dance of seduction. 5/1s need to be seduced as this is how they bond, and they need to be pursued as this is how they’ll feel sexually attracted to you. Seduction takes time, and there is a rhythm that is not one of quickness or dating apps. 5/1s usually despise dating apps and all kinds of shallow relationships. We are deep people, sensual people, so naturally we need the same in order to be even remotely interested.
5/1s will not give in to you immediately and you need to pursue them and show some depth of character and emotional depth, and you need to do some chasing and courting. While sharing your depth, you also need to respect and give them their space, because remember that they don’t like people crossing it unless they’ve invited you in. And you need to be genuine and speak from heart and soul because they see through you; and they’ve also heard many beautiful words, so you need to truly be authentic and let your heart speak. At the same time, don’t pressure them to be open to you in turn because they are naturally distrustful of others. The reason why 5/1s may be distrustful is because they know how much people projects onto them and how others see them as a genie in a lamp, but once they don’t grant them all their wishes, they project even more.
You need to gain their trust, and show them that you see them as who they are. It will be hard for you to break through the projection field, but if you do, and if you know how to love deeply and truly, you’ll both deepen into true intimacy and love. Love dissolve all boundaries and two souls merge in their true selves. Love is a knowing, a seeing, not of flesh but through the flesh. Soul bonds see each other’s souls, and that’s what we are looking for.
As we’ve come to the end of our discussion today on the 5/1 profile, know that all I’ve written depends on how this aligns and marries into your unique energy and aura. So for example, if you are a pure generator, than this profile is actually beautifully in alignment to you. This is because the right generator will never get involved in something to earn praise – for it is personal passion that matters most to us.
And what does it mean to be the right generator? That means that you are following your natural inner flow and your energy is in balance and harmony. The strategy of generators is waiting to respond, and this aligns perfectly with the nature of the heretic investigator. This response of the inner voice is what guides you through life.
Waiting to respond is not inaction or waiting for others to approach or ask you. Everything in life is a relationship, and we are in a continuous relationship with all and everything engaging with all around us. We are in a relationship with the street our feet walk on, and when we are barefoot and step on a stone, we respond to it. We respond not just in response to other people, we respond to our ideas, desires, feelings, urges. So when you feel something deep within you, a gut feeling that you know it’s true because you are aligned to yourself and understand the language of your body, I follow it. You may not know why or where it would bring you, but I trust it. Being a sacral authority means that there is a certain need to trust and surrender in life, and know that there are clocks beyond our human clocks where the hands of clocks are unclockable and unstrikeable by us. There, time has its own timing, and we trust that.
It is like love. Love is a kingdom for the brave, it is beckoning with a voice older than us, older than time, from a time before time beyond time. And when we hear that call, we follow it. We have no other choice than to follow it.
Sacral generators with 5/1 profile know they are here to contribute to others, and are motivated purely by their desire to offer genuine help. They are driven by their passion and joy in their work and everyday life and relationships. So when they follow their gut feeling, and their waiting to response strategy, they know when to say yes and when to say no to things, people and situations. This guides them towards making their right decisions along the way. Know thyself is a priority for all generators, and well, for all people. Sacral generators aligned to themselves truly never do anything for reasons other than their heart’s truth, joy and desires, and living through such authenticity, pure heart’s joy and integrity paves their path towards fulfillment.
For one-on-one sessions with me, you are welcome to browse through my offerings.
For more of my writings, browse through my Art of Love.
If you wish to support me, you may do so by sharing my articles and poems, buy my poetry books or donate some magic coins in my hat on Paypal. If you would like to work with me, visit my Offerings.
Your support means so much to me! Thank you wholeheartedly!
Cover art by Vicente Romero Redondo, 2010, via Wikimedia Commons. The artist’s official website is at vicenteromeroredondo.com