Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat
The Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat is a Human Design Incarnation Cross made of Gates 33, 19, 2 and 1, carried only with the 4/1 Profile. It is a fixed path that withdraws to take in experience and need, then returns with a direction and a creative voice.
Simple way to think about it: Retreat is the mountain cabin with a window onto the road. You go up to be alone with what you have collected, you watch who comes and goes, and you come down when you know what to say.
Find your Incarnation Cross on your free chart
Enter your birth date, time and place to see your cross and its four Gate numbers.
Look for the line that reads Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat. The four numbers in brackets are the Gates of your Personality Sun and Earth, then your Design Sun and Earth, for example (33/19 | 2/1). They match the four Gates below. The chart symbols guide shows where the Sun and Earth sit in the two planet columns.
The Retreat cross on the BodyGraph
Three Centers hold the four Gates: the Throat, the Root and the G Center. Gates 33 and 19 are the conscious pair, and the Right Angle Cross of The Four Ways carries the same pair. Gates 2 and 1 are the Design pair, both in the G Center, and the Right Angle Cross of The Sphinx carries them.
Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat at a glance
| Gate | Center | Completes | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gate 1 Self-Expression | G Center | Channel 1-8 Inspiration, with Gate 8 in the Throat Center | Individual, Knowing |
| Gate 2 The Direction of the Self | G Center | Channel 2-14 The Beat, with Gate 14 in the Sacral Center | Individual, Knowing |
| Gate 19 Wanting | Root Center | Channel 19-49 Synthesis, with Gate 49 in the Solar Plexus Center | Tribal, Ego |
| Gate 33 Privacy | Throat Center | Channel 13-33 The Prodigal, with Gate 13 in the G Center | Collective, Sensing |
Written three ways, as charts and searches write it: Retreat: 33/19 | 2/1, 33/19 2/1 or 33 19 2 1.
How the Retreat cross is placed
The Retreat (33/19 | 2/1)
Privacy is your conscious Sun and Wanting your conscious Earth, so the pull to withdraw and the pull toward others both sit on the side you know. The Direction of the Self is the Design Sun and Self-Expression the Design Earth, so the sense of where you are headed and the creative impulse work below awareness.
The four Gates in plain language
Start with the Gate that holds your Personality Sun, then its Earth, then the Design pair.
Gate 33: Privacy
Gate 33, Privacy, is the Personality Sun and the cross's Throat Gate. Its hexagram is Retreat. It completes Channel 13-33, The Prodigal, with Gate 13 in the G Center, a Collective Channel that touches the Throat. It is a voice that speaks from having been away. Its fixed line is 4, Dignity: the withdrawal is kept with self-respect, and what is said afterward is said with the same quiet weight.
Gate 19: Wanting
Gate 19, Wanting, is the Personality Earth and sits in the Root. Its hexagram is Approach. It completes Channel 19-49, Synthesis, with Gate 49 in the Solar Plexus, a Tribal Channel on the Root and Solar Plexus motors. As the Earth it is the ground under the cross: the need for other people, and the pressure of wanting. Its fixed line is 4, The Team Player. The wanting is met by working with others, not alone.
Gate 2: The Direction of the Self
Gate 2, The Direction of the Self, is the Design Sun and sits in the G Center. Its hexagram is The Receptive. It completes Channel 2-14, The Beat, with Gate 14 in the Sacral, an Individual Channel on the Sacral motor. Its fixed line is 1, Intuition. Working below awareness, it supplies a sense of direction that does not argue its case. It is a knowing about where to go that shows up as a hunch before it shows up as a plan.
Gate 1: Self-Expression
Gate 1, Self-Expression, is the Design Earth and also sits in the G Center. Its hexagram is The Creative. It completes Channel 1-8, Inspiration, with Gate 8 in the Throat, an Individual Channel. Its fixed line is 1, Creation is independent of will. The creative impulse cannot be forced, and it arrives on its own schedule. As the ground under the cross it gives the retreat a purpose: something is being made, even when nothing seems to be happening.
A voice that withdraws and a root that wants company
The conscious pair seems to pull in opposite directions. Gate 33 is Privacy, with a hexagram called Retreat, and Gate 19 is Wanting, with a hexagram called Approach. One goes away and one comes close. Both are fixed on line 4, Dignity and The Team Player.
Read together, they describe someone who retreats with respect, and who returns to people with a real need to work alongside them. The two movements are not a contradiction. Time alone and time on a team are both part of how the cross takes in experience and puts it to use.
Direction and creativity in the Design
Gates 1 and 2 are both in the G Center, the Center of identity, direction and love. As the Design pair they work below awareness, so the sense of where to go and the impulse to create are not things you decide. They are things you notice have already been happening.
The fixed lines are Intuition and Creation is independent of will. Neither can be pushed. That gives the cross a quiet side: it works best when the conscious half is willing to retreat and wait while these two do their part.
Collective, Tribal and Individual together
The Channels these Gates complete belong to three circuits. Gate 33 leads to the Collective circuit, Gate 19 to the Tribal and Gates 2 and 1 to the Individual. The cross gathers withdrawal, need, direction and creativity from three different kinds of energy.
Channel 1-8 carries the creative impulse from the G Center to the Throat, and Channel 2-14 carries direction to the Sacral. Gates 8 and 14 are not part of the cross, so your own chart decides whether either Channel is defined.
Why the Retreat is a Juxtaposition cross
Retreat is a fixed fate: one position, kept, with little give. The movement of going away and coming back is the whole pattern, and it does not change into a different role over time. What changes is how deliberately you use it, and how clearly you tell others when you are away. The Juxtaposition goes with one Profile, 4/1. With any other Profile the same four Gates make a Left Angle cross instead.
The four lines of the Retreat cross
A Juxtaposition cross comes only with the 4/1 Profile: your Personality Sun sits in line 4 and your Design Sun in line 1, and each Earth shares the line of its Sun. So unlike every other cross, this one comes with its lines fixed. Everyone born with the Retreat cross carries these four.
| Personality Sun: Gate 33.4 Dignity | Your withdrawal is kept with dignity, so time alone is not an escape but a way of holding yourself together. |
|---|---|
| Personality Earth: Gate 19.4 The Team Player | Your wanting is met by working beside others, which makes you a better team player than a loner. |
| Design Sun: Gate 2.1 Intuition | Below awareness you know where you are headed through intuition, a hunch that arrives before the plan does. |
| Design Earth: Gate 1.1 Creation is independent of will | Your creative impulse cannot be forced, and it comes on its own schedule, whatever you may will. |
Living the Retreat cross
At work
People with Retreat often do their best work after a stretch of quiet: writers, designers, researchers, makers of any kind. The cross suits roles with room for both solitary periods and real team contact. It works best when time away is planned, and it struggles when every day is open to everyone.
In relationships
Close to home the cross can look like coming and going. A partner may feel left when you withdraw, and crowded when you return full of wanting. Naming it helps: say that you are going away for a while, say roughly when you will be back, and say what you want when you come back.
In decisions
Going away to think can bring clarity, but it is not a decision process. The Throat can speak from the quiet and the G Center can sense a direction, but neither can tell you what is correct for you.
Make the choice with your Type and your inner Authority, then use the retreat to carry it out. Your Strategy and Authority are how you get there; the cross is where it leads.
When the Retreat cross is misread
"Retreat means I am antisocial"
"Privacy means I have something to hide"
"It is the Left Angle Cross of Refinement"
Questions to sit with
One question for each Gate. Notice which one you answer quickly and which one you avoid.
- Gate 33: When did you last go away to be alone with something, and what did you bring back?
- Gate 19: What do you want from other people right now, and have you told anyone?
- Gate 2: Where does your hunch say to go, before you have a reason?
- Gate 1: What are you making that you cannot force to arrive faster?
Crosses related to the Retreat cross
Each one holds Gates of this cross or completes a Channel with it.
FAQ: Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat
What is the Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat?
It is a Juxtaposition Incarnation Cross in Human Design made of Gates 33, 19, 2 and 1, carried only with the 4/1 Profile. It is a fixed path of withdrawing to take in experience, then returning with direction and a creative impulse.
What are the four lines of the Juxtaposition Cross of Retreat?
They are fixed by the 4/1 Profile: 33.4 Dignity as the Personality Sun, 19.4 The Team Player as the Personality Earth, 2.1 Intuition as the Design Sun, and 1.1 Creation is independent of will as the Design Earth. Everyone with this cross carries all four.
Does Retreat mean pulling away from people?
Not only. Gate 33, Privacy, has a hexagram called Retreat, but Gate 19, Wanting, is the Earth, and its fixed line is The Team Player. The cross goes away and comes back, and both movements are part of it.
What do Gates 1 and 2 add as the Design pair?
Both sit in the G Center, the Center of identity and direction. Gate 2 supplies a sense of direction through Intuition, and Gate 1 supplies the creative impulse, which cannot be forced. They work below awareness.
What does Gate 19 in the Root bring to this cross?
Gate 19, Wanting, is the cross's only Root Gate. The Root is a pressure Center and a motor, so it adds the push of need. Its Channel with Gate 49, Synthesis, is a Tribal one. The fixed line meets the need through teamwork.
How does Dignity, line 4 of Gate 33, shape the way Retreat withdraws?
Gate 33, Privacy, is the conscious Sun and the cross's only Throat Gate. Its fixed fourth line, Dignity, means the withdrawal is done with self-respect intact. It can complete Channel 13-33 with Gate 13 in the G Center.