The Incarnation Cross: Your Life Purpose and the Four Quarters
The Cross at the Center of the Chart
The Incarnation Cross is the most expansive symbol in your Human Design. It is the configuration of four gates — two from the position of the Sun and two from the position of the Earth at the moment of your birth, plus their counterparts in the Design, calculated approximately 88 solar degrees earlier at the moment of conception. Together these four gates form a cross in the Mandala and describe the unique life-theme you are here to express. If Type is how you move in the world, Strategy and Authority are where your correct decisions come from, the Incarnation Cross is the why — the mythic role your form is designed to play.
The cross is calculated exclusively from planetary positions. It has nothing to do with personality, upbringing, or desire. It is impersonal, cosmic, and impersonal in the deepest sense. It is the role itself.
The Four Quarters of the Ecliptic
The Sun's apparent journey through the year is divided into four quarters, each carrying its own evolutionary purpose. The quarter of your birth shapes the flavor of your incarnation cross.
Quarter of Initiation — Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice.
This is the seed-time. Souls born here carry the purpose of initiation: bringing new life, new ideas, new beings into the world. The theme is awakening. To live it is to trust the impulse to begin, again and again, without needing permission.
**Quarter of Civilization — Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox