In this episode Kelsey explores Environmental Authority, also known as Mental Authority, which is the unique decision making process for Mental Projectors, who have no defined centers below the Throat. Environmental Authority is not about inner sensations, emotional waves, gut responses, or instinct. Instead, it is a relational, sensory, and environmental process. These individuals gain clarity by observing how they experience themselves in different environments and in the presence of different people.

This episode demystifies how Mental Projectors arrive at clarity, how they filter conditioning through their awareness, and why their defined mind is part of the process, but never the decision maker. We explore the alchemy between mind and environment that reveals what is correct for them, and how soundboarding, trusted allies, and the right places amplify their innate ability to perceive truth.

What's Discussed in this Episode:

• What defines Environmental (Mental) Authority
• Why some call it “no inner authority” and why that’s misleading
• The rarity and unique role of Mental Projectors
• How clarity arises through environmental interaction
• Unique challenges for Mental Projectors
• Why the mind is an outer authority, not decision maker
• The alchemy between environment + mind in coming to clarity
• Role of soundboarding and trusted allies
• The 6 potential channels for Mental Projectors

If you would like full access to the course, including the videos and slides, make sure to join the Patreon, where you will find the full LYD course and exclusive Human Design and Astrology content.

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Taking in the other on its own, is not your authority. The mind on its own, is not your authority.

With awareness you get to utilize this process of taking in your environment, taking in the other and filtering it through your own definition. But you know that you are not your mind and you know that you are not all of this other that you're taking in.

What you are is the unique process of a passenger that thinks the way you think, that's unique to you. Your uniqueness, your definition. And you're filtering through these body based somatic energies that show you things about yourself.

And it's that alchemy between your mind taking in the other and the other that you're taking in that provides you with your unique filter that allows you to activate and access your definition, your consistency with awareness of knowing that that mental consistency al is not the truth.

Welcome to the Living Your Design Podcast. I'm your experimentor Kelsey Rose Tortorice. This podcast is an audio only release of the full length in depth Human Design Foundations course I've been teaching over the last several years.

It is a no bullshit, comprehensive, embodied introduction to the human design system that will challenge your ego mind and support you in your process of reuniting with the unique wisdom of your body.

In episode one, I speak a bit about the process that led me to releasing this course for free in podcast form and I offer a few notes that might be useful to contextualize and clarify what you'll hear in this episode and beyond. I recommend giving that short intro episode a listen if you haven't yet.

The LYD podcast is part of a larger living body of work, a growing archive of my teachings about consciousness through the languages of astrology and human design, hosted in an online community space where I stay in orbit with my students, mentees, alumni, peers and collaborators.

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Thank you for tuning into my transmission of Living Your Design. It's a deeply personal and somewhat vulnerable share that I feel honored, humbled and excited to release into the world. I hope that it helps you remember and come home to yourself.

Environmental Authority... also sometimes referred to as mental authority or outer authority, so I will probably use these terms somewhat interchangeably throughout this lecture.

This is an authority that only exists in the configurations of beings who we refer to as mental projectors, and these are Projectors who have nothing below the throat defined.

So we're going to talk about the mechanics of having no definition below the throat, and then we'll talk about a process of arriving to clarity based on the environment that you're taking in.

As a mental projector, when there is no definition below the throat, the authority is called environmental, or sometimes just mental or outer authority. And as I mentioned, these are always mental projectors. So a few different ways that this can show up. We can have head to ajna definition.

So any of the channels that connect the head to the ajna are defined and nothing else. That's a mental projector. Or we can have undefined head and ajna to throat definition, but nothing below the throat defined.

Or another version of a mental projector which has all three of these centers defined, the head, the ajna, and the throat. Oftentimes mental projectors, you'll see their authority listed as no inner authority.

So I just want to talk about this because by now you've heard me say this a few times. We talk about how what's above the throat is a external authority, it's an outer authority.

It has to do with how we connect to one another and share about our subjective experiences. But the majority of us are filtering that information through some kind of consistency below the throat in the body, and that is our inner authority.

So when you hear no inner authority for mental projectors or for reflectors, sometimes as well, this is what we're referring to. Because this authority process involves the amplification of external conditions. Sometimes this authority is referred to as no inner authority.

Now, big part of the idea here is that for mental projectors, the only definition is in or and or above the throat. And so it always involves the mind. It always involves either the ajna in head or the ajna in throat, or both.

And the ajna is our mental awareness, it is our mind. And so it's the head center, I tend to think, is also the mind.

It's the pressure of the mind and then the awareness of the mind that comes in to answer to that pressure. And so the mind is never the authority, Right? This is what passenger consciousness is about.

This is a pillar of human design, that the mind is not the authority. But for mental projectors, the mind is the only consistency. So there's a bit of a dilemma here, right, because who is the mental projector?

The mental projector is their definition. In many ways, you could say the mental projector is their mind. However, the mind cannot be an inner authority.

So again, this is where no inner authority comes from.

However, as we're going to to work through in these slides on mental projector, for mental projectors, mental authority or environmental authority or outer authority has to do with a process of arriving to a knowing by filtering external conditions that are coming in through the body, through your own awareness, through your own mind, which is the consistency. And this is still a process that happens internally, right? For the individual mental projector.

Thus, I personally tend to not use the language no inner authority for mental projectors, because it is still your personal inner process that's filtering what you're taking in through your environment, through the other that you are taking in. You filter that through your own fixicity, which is your mind, which is your passenger, and that is how you come to your own unique knowing.

So let's just talk about mental projectors a bit. Mental projectors are quite rare. And this is a quote from the definitive book of human design.

Mental projectors are the archetype of outer authority, right? Because projectors are here to guide the other. And that is process that happens largely through awareness of the mind.

And so all projectors are utilizing their passenger, their mind, in order to offer their awareness when they're guiding others. But mental projectors, the mind itself we tend to call the outer authority, right?

And so mental projectors, their definition is this mental awareness. There is a unique quality to the mental projector having no inner authority center.

The penetration and amplification of the other for this type of projector offers the most complete picture of any kind of projector, because there's no somatic center to contrast the openness, right?

When a emotional projector is penetrating another being, they're contrasting with whatever they're taking in from that other being against their own emotional awareness, which is one of these somatic centers.

And then they're utilizing their mind, whether it's defined or not, to facilitate awareness and guide and be the outer authority for that being that they're asking questions of that they are penetrating and focused on. But in the mental projector, there's nothing underneath the throat to contrast.

So they're getting the full picture of this other being on a somatic level. There's nothing better or worse here. However, it does present a particular gift and a particular challenge that are unique to the mental projector.

The gift is the ability to truly perceive the whole picture of the other's definition through their projecting aura. The challenge is that without a somatic based authority center of their own, the potential to get lost in the other is even greater.

And we Know that this is already a strong potential in the not self of any kind of projector. So let's break down environmental or mental or outer authority a bit here. The mind is an outer authority, always.

Even in your case, where it is also your only definition, your defined mind and head and or throat is a part of your process of recognizing yourself and your inner authority because it is what you anchor to. Because it is your definition, it is your consistency, but on its own it is not your authority.

Mental projectors and reflectors have quite a bit in common, okay? Because there's no inner authority center only for these two types of beings. And mental projectors are as rare as reflectors.

Similar to the reflector's process of following the moon, or the emotional authority person's process of wading through their wave, the mental projector has a sort of process of arriving to clarity that is their own as well.

Although environmental authority is not so much about a cycle the way that it is for an emotional being following the cycle of their wave, or a reflector following the cycle of the moon. This is an inherently relational authority. All the other types of projectors, inherently relational aura, with their own personal inner authority.

This type of projector, the mental projector, inherently relational aura and an inherently relational authority. You receive guidance from sensory somatic information in the environment around you through all of your openness below the throat and with awareness.

Taking in the other on its own is not your authority. The mind on its own is not your authority. But awareness is what allows for your authority to come to life.

Because with awareness you get to utilize this process of taking in your environment, taking in the other, and filtering it through your own definition, which is your mind. But you know that you are not your mind and you know that you are not all of this other that you're taking in.

What you are is the unique process of a passenger that thinks the way you think, that's unique to you. Your uniqueness, your definition. And you're filtering through these body based somatic energies that show you things about yourself.

And it's that alchemy between your mind taking in the other and the other that you're taking in that provides you with your unique filter for how you are engaging with this environmental energy that allows you to activate and access your definition, your consistency with awareness of knowing that that mental consistency alone is not the truth. So you tune into your own inner below the throat authority by it's very similar to lunar authority.

So if you remember, we haven't done lunar authority yet, but we've pretty much talked about everything that lunar authority is in the in the reflector lesson, because the reflector strategy of waiting a lunar cycle is one and the same with the reflector authority of lunar authority. So in the reflector lecture we talked about, the reflectors have all these dormant potentials, these defined gates in undefined centers.

And so the moon comes and it hits all those potentials, and it gives the reflector an emotional experience that's unique to them. And then a sacral at some point, a g at some point, a spleen at some point, a root experience that's unique to them.

And that's how the reflector finds their unique truth. There's something very similar here for the mental projector. With all of those below the throat centers undefined.

The mental projector plugs into different sources in their environment in order to connect to these different potentials within themselves that will be affected not only by the dormant potentials, the gates that they have in their undefined centers below the throat, but especially by their definition, which is their mind, the way they think, their passenger. Right. So passenger consciousness is a huge part of how environmental or mental authority works.

You receive guidance from sensory information in the environments around you, through all of your openness and with awareness. Environment in this case, largely includes the people whose auras that you're encountering.

Similarly to reflectors, understanding the technical aspects of design, like those dormant potential gates in your undefined centers, can help in understanding the mechanics of environmental authority.

If you have a gate in your solar plexus, then any time that you are plugged into solar plexus energy, the potential of that gate comes alive a bit for you.

So this theme that I've talked about many times with projectors of compare and contrast, what is always me and whatever is not always there in the different connections that I plug into, that's not me. But what's always there when I plug in, that's me. Projectors are here to know the other, and through knowing the other, they know themselves. Right?

So this is a huge part of how the authority works for the environmental projector. The consistency that they're checking it up against is the way that their mind as a passenger, orients and thinks.

So unlike the reflector, there is some consistency as a passenger in the mind that the passenger in the mind on its own is not the truth. But the mental projector is able to tap into all these different potential iterations of their experience. What is it like when my sacral is defined?

What is it like when my spleen is defined.

And through plugging into their environment and filtering it through the consistency of the way that their passenger operates mentally, they come into contact with their truth. When a mental projector is in environments with others, they experience variations of definitions, specifically in relation to their own definition.

This includes the dormant potentials coming alive as these projectors penetrate other auras.

Similarly to how a reflector's dormant potentials come alive via the moon in the transit field for the mental projector, individual authority becomes clear based on what plugging into the other illuminates for you as filtered through your own awareness. You filter all of that through your awareness as a passenger.

And similarly to G authority, you notice what the passenger with the mind has to say, and what of that is the actual truth that becomes clear to you based on the frequency. Now, it's not necessarily the frequency of your expression, although if you have ajna to throat definition, that's going to be a huge part of it.

If you have an undefined throat, it's not necessarily the frequency of your expression.

In both cases of mental projector, it's the frequency of thought, but it's the frequency of thought filtering for the thing that's true amidst all the other things that the mind has to say. Because oftentimes the mind's thought is distorted by the frequency of your conditioning.

Even with an undefined throat for the mental projector speaking, soundboarding, listening for that frequency that feels and sounds like truth is still very much a supportive part of your process and of developing the awareness of what is the filter of truth for me.

So again, soundboarding a big process, a big part of it being in process with your awareness and utilizing your defined mind to observe and gain context on what you experience when you plug into your environment and into others will show you different parts of yourself and provide you with a clearer understanding of what is right for you. It is likely helpful for you to have multiple trusted allies that you can interact with one on one.

This helps you to sense into these different variations of your potential definition over time. With developed awareness, you may become less reliant on a contrived version of this process.

You notice your your natural ability to to discern your truth from your conditioning as you move about your world. But soundboarding can be a very useful beginning part of this to develop that awareness. Mental projectors have an undefined G right.

Otherwise they would be a G projector. They would have an inner authority, an authority center below the throat.

But mental projectors with their undefined G like reflectors are very sensitive to Their environment. Hence environment being such a big part of the authority, right?

The idea here of having multiple trusted allies that you can interact with one on one.

This is about your sensitivity to your environment, but also specifically your aura that's designed to put its attention and its focus into one thing that it penetrates. So with reflectors, we talk a lot about being sensitive to the environment. That is very true for you as well.

But in terms of accessing your authority, specifically allowing your aura to do the thing it does, where it directs into one being and kind of commits to the that experience of penetrating and absorbing and amplifying this one being, that's going to help you tune into those potentials within you.

But it is often said that mental projectors with environmental authority, you can know you don't necessarily need to do the waiting that a reflector and emotional and an emotional being do. You can know from being in an environment whether that environment is correct for you or not.

But oftentimes there's a process that's helpful for mental projectors, environmental authority of plugging into these different one on one potentials and filtering through your awareness, finding your truth within all those different iterations of self that you experience. The purpose of soundboarding is not to receive advice. Rather, there's two purposes of soundboarding for the environmental authority.

You get to strengthen your own awareness in regards to what you're experiencing as you filter your conditions through your thought process.

So as you take in these different conditions, the different conditioning in your environment when you soundboard, you strengthen your own awareness because you're orienting with your awareness to what you're experiencing in that moment. So when you talk it out, when you process, you're building this muscle of being able to notice with awareness what it is you're experiencing.

You tap into the passenger. The second piece is that you get the additional experience of hearing yourself with these different environmental conditioning factors.

So from these different sources that you plug into. So again, this is the, this piece here of multiple trusted allies you can interact with one on one.

When I'm processing with this person and I'm plugged into their energy, I'm plugged into this environment, these conditions, this is what comes out. This is what my awareness notices.

Then when I plug into this person and I'm processing with their energy being amplified in my body, this is what my awareness notices. And it's all giving you these different pieces of the puzzle.

And you can find the truth as you, as you orient to all of it through the consistency of your fixed mental awareness. Environmental authority is cool. When I used the words on a previous slide. Different variations of your potential definition, right?

The definition that comes alive in you based on these different energy sources that you plug into.

Part of what is under that umbrella of all the different variations of your potential definition is every single other authority besides lunar, right?

So an environmental authority person, a mental projector, will tap into their uniqueness through solar plexus conditioning, through sacral conditioning, through spleen conditioning, through ego conditioning, and through G conditioning. So this projector actually gets the opportunity to know what each and every one of these other inner authorities feels like.

The only kind of being besides a reflector who can do that, but in a specific heightened way for the projector because of the way way the projector aura works, right? So again, kind of that idea of the mental projector being the ultimate outer authority, right?

You actually get to know what each of those authorities feel like. And so this makes you a very, very potentially epic guide for the majority of the planet who has one of each of these other authorities.

And you get to utilize your awareness of each of those different authority centers as a part not only of how you guide others, but a part of your own process. Because those different authority potentials are what are being processed through your fixed awareness as a mental projector.

Much like the self projected projector, you can observe yourself in each of these iterations and notice what you say and what feels true. Like the emotional being, you can see what feels true most of the time.

Where is the consistency in your awareness as a mental projector as you're filtering these different environmental factors into your being? Like G projectors, there is a listening for the frequency of truth taking place. But unlike G projectors, it isn't so simple as listen for the truth.

Listen to what your voice says when the mind isn't interfering. Because for the mental projector, the mind is your consistency. So you, you can't write it off the way that the G projector can.

The G projector can be like, I don't care what the mind is saying, I'm listening for this G. I'm listening for the frequency of myself coming through my voice. That's not available to the mental projector because the mental projector is filled.

Their authority as a mental projector is about filtering the environment through the mind. The mind is your consistency, so it is a component of your anchoring.

You are listening to develop a keen ear for the sound of truth when it hits through the mind versus the shallower sound of the distorted mind.

When is it the Truth that's being filtered through your passenger versus when is your passenger just on something spew in these distortions, which you can start that process of discernment through noticing the not self strategies, the not self voices of each of those undefined centers. When is the passenger, the mind, your definition, speaking something that's not any of those voices. That's the truth. That's your authority.

There's this metaphor that I've heard, John Martin Splenic Projector, but also has some defined mind stuff happening.

One of his lectures, he talks about knowing for himself this process for the mental projector, because he has that definition he uses in his community. This idea of just holding the bucket for each other. Every being benefits from this, right?

From this idea of just like, let me just get the stuff out that's not the truth. Because my mind is here and it's saying stuff. Let me just like give that some air. Get it out.

So like the hold the bucket metaphor is about holding the bucket for each other. Letting someone hear you say all the shit, even when you know it's shit, you know it's not true.

But for these authorities that are specifically based on, but finding and recognizing the frequency of truth amidst all of the mental chatter.

So ego manifested authority, self projected authority, environmental authority, and lunar authority, which we'll get to holding the bucket, having someone who can hold the bucket for you, where you can just listen to all the not self narrative so that the you can find within all of that the diamond in the rough, you can find the truth. And the truth is going to be again, at a starting point, the thing that doesn't sound like any of those not self voices.

But over time you can build a energetic discernment where it's not so much about the words that you're listening for the themes of not self, it's the feel. You can feel the frequency of truth distinctly from the frequency of distortion.

Your thinking process, which is what is unique to you as a mental protector and potentially your process of expressing your thinking, if you have a defined throat as well, is unique and distinct again based on the channel definition that you have. And this uniqueness is the you that is in process with your authority as well as the you that is recognized and invited as a projector.

There's six channels that can create the form of a mental projector. Two individual channels and four collective logical channels.

So as I've noted in every authority lecture so far, you might especially because with these beings, these are people who typically have one or two centers to find so you might really benefit on an awareness level from knowing the keynotes and the themes of your definition. Because this is the mental process that is your passenger consciousness that catches the truth as it's filtering, conditioning.

Who sound like a genius if they waited, if it's mechanically happening, correct for them to share their thought process, but otherwise will sound kind of like a freak. Nobody knows what you're talking about. Then there's four collective channels, two logical channels that are part of the collective circuit.

That's called the understanding circuit. The 634 from the head to Ajna. This is called the Channel of a Doubt, with a design of mental ease mixed with doubt.

So to sum up this mental authority here, environmental authority for our mental projectors, the alchemy of environment and mind together as the filter for your conditioning, as your anchor, the spokesperson for your definition. There's an alchemy that takes place with environmental authority in which the passenger alchemizes the environmental conditioning.

In an awareness that is unique to the mental projector is born. This is your authority, the awareness filtering the environment.

Your authority is ultimately about your ability as the passenger to screen for correctness based on the frequency of what you feel in the body and the frequency of what you hear yourself say. Environments and conditioning forces that don't feel correct for you aren't correct for you.

And over time, you may develop a way of sensing this in the moment.

Other times and in order to develop that awareness, allowing yourself to speak freely with different conditioning forces around you will help you tap into the consistency of your truth.

Thanks for listening to the Living Your Design podcast. Stay tuned for the rest of the curriculum.

New batches of episodes are released every Tuesday. For immediate complete access to the full course and to explore other perks like learning in community, extracurricular, curricular astrology and human design workshops, and meeting with me face to face, go to patreon.com/KelseyRoseTort. You can also listen to me on my other podcasts, the Maia Games and Conversations with the Zodiac, and find me on Instagram @kelseyrosetort.