“In order to know what is just in a person-to-person encounter, love listens. It is its first task to listen.”

― Paul Tillich

The Wizard’s Reflection

Pushing & Pulling

In the softest, subtlest of arts, we learn to play with the contrariness of life. We learn to pull when we are pushed; we learn to push when we are pulled. We learn to yield when we are confronted, and we learn to express when we find the opening. We learn to deeply wait, ever adjusting to the pressures, but only until the lightning flash of the moment of truth arrives when our decisiveness can be effective. We ride the push and pull rhythm, and when we are truly aligned, we do both at once.

Staying present and engaged enough to be effective yet soft and receptive enough to be aware is being in the flow. When we dance in the currents, we must know when we are faced with a force that we cannot overcome. In such a situation, if we allow the current to take us instead of resisting it, our actions become infused with nature’s power.

Suggested Divination Meanings

What is pushing/pulling on me, and where is it pushing/pulling me?

Is it more effective right now to push or to pull?

If I am still, where am I drawn to move? If I am moving, where can I find a still point?

How am I meeting this situation and is it allowing me to listen both inside and out?

What is present for me that I can only hear if I am still?

How can I meet this situation with strength but stay soft enough to remain present?

What practices do I have, or could have, that teach me the wisdom of push and pull?

How can I adjust myself to better communicate with others my intentions?

Am I giving myself the space to change from passive to active and back, as needed?

How are the pressures on me guiding me?