Zachary StirewaltInner Emotional Experience
Within the Human Design system there are profile lines that characterize a chart. The 6th line is one that profoundly influences my chart, as I have a conscious 6 line in my profile.
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The 6th Line – Martyr to Role Model
The 6 line is considered the Role Model, but it requires two periods during which the role model archetype is developed. During the first 30 years of life, individuals (like myself) with a 6th line experience what is called Martyrdom. The Martyr is the 3rd line, which can be seen as half of the 6 line experience. We have to go through a martyrdom period to understand how we are stepping into being seen as a role model later in life.
The second period is beginning at roughly 30 years, where 6 line people start to heal the experiences that happened earlier in life. For myself it has been shifting beliefs surrounding my mental health challenges, identifying parts that needed nurturing from being in both the criminal justice and mental health systems, and noticing where my relationships seemed to be suffering because of the abandonment wounds I have from adoption.
Most Human Design teachers emphasize that this period beginning at 30 lasts until 50, but my understanding is that we 6 lines have the ability to allow the role model phase to arrive sooner in areas of life where the healing has been more focused. This process is found through immersing ourselves in the healing journey with intensity. And please listen to your own system, as a Human Design Manifestor myself, I almost always do things more intensely than others around me. So I almost always choose a 7-10 day meditation retreat over a trip to the mountains with friends.
"Ok, cool, I’m a 6 line, you haven’t told me much new information.”
So where are you on your journey?
Embracing Our Martyr-Self
If you’re still in your first 30 years, embrace screwing up! Give yourself the opportunity to try new things and really see what the experience of life is like. Of course we have the ability to do this in the future phases of life, but when I hit 30, I noticed the tone of life changed. So here’s your invitation to LIVE your life and be the rebel. Embrace the unknown. You’re here to learn through your current experiences.
Ok, that’s short and sweet, because ultimately us 6-lines are here to find a way to become a role model in a specific area of life. And I don’t know what area of life you’re being called to explore! 🙂
On The Roof - Redefining & Healing our Martyr Experience
Around the age of 30, we 6-lines transition into this period often associated with “looking down from the rooftop”. A better understanding I’ve found for myself is that this is a period of deep introspection and healing. We are on the rooftop observing others’ experiences, but if we can truly be with our own processing, we embrace this portion of life fully.
The shifts I’ve seen in myself during this process are mostly related to desires for connections with others. I no longer want to go drinking, clubbing, and partying. I much prefer to sit at a coffee shop and have a deep philosophical conversation with others.
I also see myself becoming super inquisitive about other’s psychological journeys through life. This is the observation from the rooftop experience for those of us within the second phase of the 6th line. We begin to watch others from our own lived perspective. It grants us the ability to learn from other’s situations without us having to become the martyr again. This phase also provides very fertile ground for how we can best step into presenting ourselves as the role model.
For example, I have been asking everyone (ok not quite, but a lot of people) about their perspective of life since turning 30, and I now see that a lot of people who need assistance finding their path don’t necessarily have the funds to pay for it (therapy, coaching, etc). I’ve been in this boat too! Both my own perspective as well as others combined have cultivated in a desire to offer everyone the opportunity to access their own path to purpose. This definitely doesn’t mean I need to charge nothing for my offerings, but my goal is to create a system that is sustainably equitable in nature.
All of this to say, being a 6 line isn’t easy! And we can find the portions of the journey that fuel us to the next phase.
Being Recognized as a Role Model
The last phase of the 6-line profile is becoming a leader in the area of life we experienced martyrdom. So looking at the beginning 30 years of life, how have those years influenced who I have/will become?
For me, turning my whole experience (of adoption, mental illness, systems of oppression – Psychiatric and Criminal Justice, being unhoused and nomadic, storylines around being gay, and neurodivergent) into a whole business entity in and of itself is my “success story”. I feel like I’ve made it to the point where I helping others within their experience of similar life experiences can be a rewarding experience for all of us. And I say “all of us” because I know there’s still a lot of learning for me to do regarding understanding others’ process through their own 6-line phases.
If you’d like to learn more about the process of 6-line profile lines, here’s our page dedicated to Life as a Human Design 6-line