Navigating Major Cosmic Shifts: How Being Yourself is the Key to Growing Collective Consciousness?

I've been reflecting on the state of the world and our perception of it a lot lately. We're sitting in a time where Pluto has just left its long journey in the dense earth sign Capricorn and is shifting into the community-oriented air sign Aquarius. We've seen the shakeup of institutions and long-held systems and structures over the past Pluto transit – in some ways revealing the fragility of our understanding of certainty in societal systems.

The Cross of Planning vs. The Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix: Understanding Generational Cycles

This shift also coincides with the movement of global cycles, which is a term used in Human Design to explain the "background" coding or theme underpinning our social focus. For the past 400 years, we've been within the Cross of Planning cycle and are moving into the Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix in 2027. The Cross of Planning is credited with helping to form institutions and structures that bond humanity and enable the development of a society that is deeply dependent on these interwoven, shared systems.

If you happen to know anyone with the personal incarnation cross of planning, they quite literally are the glue that holds together groups thanks to their innate skill for navigating individual needs, negotiating terms, and finding opportunities to bring people together. Simply put, they are the planners. And thanks to them, you've likely had a successful family reunion, team bonding session, or finally planned that friend's trip that's been circling the group chat for ages.

There is a meticulous structure to the cross of planning. The cross of the sleeping phoenix, however, is all about the experience of the individual and their deep connection and understanding of themselves and spirit. The people with the cross of sleeping phoenix in my life are some of the most resilient people I know. Their lives tend to operate in cycles that require them to navigate new circumstances, release their previous experience and comfort, and adapt to new situations that are often deeply transformative. Like the metaphor of the phoenix, they are tasked with rebuilding anew and rising to the occasion. This is not always easy, but the more they "lean into the skid" and grow to become comfortable with change and acceptance, the more quickly they are able to move through these cycles of growth.

The Collective Awakening: Integrity, Trust, and Societal Transformation

Now, you may be thinking that sounds great from a personal development standpoint but absolutely horrifying from a global, social perspective. So much remains to be seen on how this all plays out, but with the shift of Pluto into Aquarius paired with the rising cross of the sleeping phoenix, suffice it to say – we are learning a collective lesson in what it means to show up with integrity and grow our sense of personal trust and care to extend outward. If the ways in which our social and governmental structures are no longer operating in a way that bakes in "collaboration," then how do we as individuals rise to the occasion to imagine and encourage a new way of supporting ourselves and others?

There are a few tidbits that I've picked up over the years from various conversations with spiritual leaders and thinkers. On the age of Pluto in Aquarius – things are less dense in air sign periods and with this, we are less able to bury truths. I think of the visual of a boulder being shattered, all of its previously compact pieces spreading out and revealing the fossilized contents it held protected for eons. I think about the phenomenon that is the internet that enables us to connect with people across the world, sharing ideas and information at rapid rates.

The Complexity of Personal Truth: Understanding Perception and Discernment

What is important, however, is to maintain a clear view of discernment and understand that information that may be true for one person does not stand in for a universal experience of truth. As an English major and literature nerd, the concept of the "unreliable narrator" shows up here. Based on our individual emotions, past, thoughts, and experiences, we all interpret shared experiences differently. The Human Design chart bears this for all to see – depending on our open or defined centers, and our experience and/or interest in working with them, our perception is naturally attuned to be unique.

Discernment in these times requires acknowledging how our personal "programming" intercepts and influences the messages we receive and being open and curious about that fact. If we hold too tightly to "what we know" during an air sign period, we're likely to lose the plot. I have the distinct pleasure of living with a triple Gemini and to him, thoughts and ideas are a constantly passing phenomenon – the mind is a playground for exploration, not all thoughts and signals that come in are fact. I feel this way about emotions, being a Cancer sun and rising with an open solar plexus. Feelings come and go and teach us how to experience them. While valid, they do not reliably point to a set experience of truth.

Navigating Chaos: Trusting Personal Values in Times of Transformation

In moments when there is an abundance of information, opinions, and a whole boatload of change, we have to look within and learn how to trust ourselves and align with our values. Decision making is impossible if we're overwhelmed while being bombarded with shards of vaporizing boulders. Being clear about what you value and how those values color your movement through the world helps to ease and quiet the chaos. You can also reference your Human Design Authority and Strategy for support.

Now, to the point about the cross of the sleeping phoenix and the growing era of individualism. If you're like me and live in the U.S., firstly yikes and I am sorry. We can very clearly see the impact of toxic individualism and exceptionalism playing out across our government and social structures. The past Pluto in Capricorn cycle shook up the banking and economic landscape and has brought the conversation around capitalism as a shield for rising oligarchs and billionaires into the mainstream.

Expanding Consciousness: Insights from NeuroDIVERSE Experiences

There is another view of how we navigate a shifting understanding of collective to individual and it’s one that I’ve been learning about recently in the incredible podcast The Telepathy Tapes. If you haven’t yet listened – I highly recommend. The podcast focuses on the psychic abilities and gifts witnessed in non-speakers with Autism. Starting with the revelation that many non-speakers can read their parents, caretakers, and/or teacher’s minds, the podcast explores how non-speakers experience consciousness and are able to tap into a collective web of thought that enables them to converse with one another across the globe and access all sorts of knowledge that exists in a realm or plain outside of the physical reality many of us know and experience as the world. A number of the non-speakers featured on the podcast also experience the ability to communicate with people who have passed as well as figures they refer to as angels or gods who teach them about various topics or give them insight into future occurrences. Standing out from these conversations and studies is the recognition that we are spiritual beings, sometimes described as “light bodies,” having a physical experience. For some, the connection between the spirit and body is more channeling to navigate but there is a throughline of recognizing that there is more to this human experience than is experienced by neurotypical people.

For the spiritually inclined, this sort of ability to tap into clairs or communicate with non-physical beings may already be part of your accepted worldview and paradigm. Accessing the Akashic records or communicating with spirits, animals, or precognition are rather commonplace topics in New Age circles. For me, hearing about the way non-speakers with Autism navigate the world and so clearly experience the distinction between physical and thought/emotional realms, demonstrates a profound opportunity for learning how to bridge the perceived separation of a collective consciousness and individual experience. There is no denying that in our physical forms, we have distinct and separate experience of the world – but there remains a connection to the universal that we can tap into the more we are willing to reconcile the separate but united framework.

Understanding the whole through parts

The lore of Human Design details the existence of a singular crystal of consciousness that through thinking the very individualist thought “I am,” shattered into untold pieces which now are part of our separate human experiences. In HD, we have a design crystal, which holds the pattern for your physical form, and a personality crystal, which patterns your ego consciousness, and both are held together by the magnetic monopole aka the G-Center. The magnetic monopole is thought of as a dipole (with north or south poles), which is why a lot of the language in Human Design centers around binaries – yes or no, this or that, open or defined. Ultimately, the magnetic monopole is meant to serve as the soul’s identity and the navigation system that drives you along your path while your body (the vehicle) and personality (the style and express of that vehicle) interplay to either pull you closer or farther away from your monopole’s path (this depends on how engaged you are with your design versus conditioning). Going back to the crystal metaphor, we are each floating down the path of separation following the momentum of that initial break but the more we are able to tune into our unique authority and strategy (per our Human Design), the more we are pulled back onto a pathway of reunification with others on our fractal line. Basically, the more you’re able to live your life in a way that is embodied and aligned with what it means to be you, the more you are drawn back to the collective consciousness. In many ways, the way to access the whole is by honoring the part. 

Running through the individual and the collective is a deep honor and respect for celebrating what it means to be differentiated and the confidence that comes from knowing that doing so brings you back to the whole. As the very talented numerologist Rebecca Scolnick wrote in her March 2025 newsletter: “May our skins shed easily, and may we remember why we want to evolve.” It’s my hope and with that that why can be a desire rooted in collective care and compassion. Here’s to the unfolding journey!