A Stellar Approach to Wellness
by Daniel Lally
Most nights in the winter of 1999, after teaching a tai chi or yoga class, I’d lean against the rail on the porch of my old log cabin and watch Orion drift across the southern sky of Kentucky. I’d look for the constellations that I knew, breathing in the cool night air. One such night, thinking about how tai chi and chi gong are sometimes described as “connecting to nature through movement,” it occurred to me, “What if there was a form of tai chi that could connect to human nature through movement?”
Stomping the snow off my boots, I went in to heat some water for tea. A steaming mug later, I had a series of creative flashes, and dove for my journal to scribble down my ideas:
Aries-Libra
Taurus-Scorpio
Gemini-Sagittarius
Cancer-Capricorn
Leo-Aquarius
Virgo-Pisces
Exhilarated at the idea, I resolved to make an appointment with Jeff Baugher, my friend and professional astrologer, to discuss possibilities of a collaboration. And soon Jeff and I were creating an astrological form of tai chi. And as we searched for the proper movements for each sign of the Zodiac, we found clues everywhere!
There were intellectual clues for each sign. With Jeff’s knowledge of the descriptions of each sign of the zodiac, we knew what characteristics to look for in each movement.
There were body-centered clues for each sign. Just like in external chi gong where energy is focused in certain body parts, we noted which body-parts were ruled by each sign of the zodiac, and tried to incorporate them into a fluid movement. For example, because Cancer rules the breast and lap areas, the Cancer movement literally feels like holding a child and rocking, alternating with a reminder to “step back” and allow others to nurture you as well! And Aries is the ram and rules the head, but most of us don’t actually ‘head butt’ people (although that Mountain Dew commercial where the young man butted heads with the ram was hilarious!) But what we do is strike out at others, literally or figuratively. And the most common form is with the hand or fist. So instead of creating a movement where we put our head down and run at someone in slow motion, we created a slow, martial-arts type of strike as the essence of Aries. Each of the signs are inspired by the body parts that are associated with them. This ‘physicalizing’ approach was how we honored the body in the creative process.
There were clues about how each element determines the form and content of each sign’s movement. We asked ourselves, “Is the sign fire, earth, air or water?” The element’s characteristics would certainly have a bearing on what the movement would feel like. And there were clues to be found in the mode: “Was the sign cardinal (initiates movement forward or backward) fixed (set in its ways somehow) or mutable (could go back and forth)?”
We used astrological timing in creating the movements for the signs. Each month at the new moon - when the unconscious and conscious are more closely aligned and it is easier to access our intuition - we would invite guidance on what the movement should look like. Sometimes we had a vision of what the movement could look like, other times we were inspired to move spontaneously, expressing the essence of the sign.
Over the course of a year, we fleshed out all these clues into the living, breathing reality of Astrological Tai Chi aka Astrolo-Chi®. And to this day, it felt more like remembering than creating.
Most nights in the winter of 1999, after teaching a tai chi or yoga class, I’d lean against the rail on the porch of my old log cabin and watch Orion drift across the southern sky of Kentucky. I’d look for the constellations that I knew, breathing in the cool night air. One such night, thinking about how tai chi and chi gong are sometimes described as “connecting to nature through movement,” it occurred to me, “What if there was a form of tai chi that could connect to human nature through movement?”
Stomping the snow off my boots, I went in to heat some water for tea. A steaming mug later, I had a series of creative flashes, and dove for my journal to scribble down my ideas:
- Millions of people read their horoscope everyday. What if there were movements to match?
- What if a movement could activate the energy of a sign, just like accessing a program on your pc?
- The famous psychologist Carl Jung called the Zodiac "a complete projected theory of human character" and "the summation of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity."
- After all, who doesn’t know their zodiac birth sign?
- What does it look like when a sign is online? How does one carry oneself?
- Each of the twelve signs has certain characteristics, or a way of expressing itself. Each sign also is a particular element and mode, and ‘rules’ certain body parts or functions. What if these could all could be combined into a movement for each sign?
- Just like the yin and yang/tai chi symbol, each sign has a yin and yang opposite/complement:
Aries-Libra
Taurus-Scorpio
Gemini-Sagittarius
Cancer-Capricorn
Leo-Aquarius
Virgo-Pisces
- Like biceps balance triceps and chest muscles balance the upper back, what if, through movement, people could become familiar with and balance every sign of the zodiac, and experience healing by moving into balance on a powerful archetypal level?
Exhilarated at the idea, I resolved to make an appointment with Jeff Baugher, my friend and professional astrologer, to discuss possibilities of a collaboration. And soon Jeff and I were creating an astrological form of tai chi. And as we searched for the proper movements for each sign of the Zodiac, we found clues everywhere!
There were intellectual clues for each sign. With Jeff’s knowledge of the descriptions of each sign of the zodiac, we knew what characteristics to look for in each movement.
There were body-centered clues for each sign. Just like in external chi gong where energy is focused in certain body parts, we noted which body-parts were ruled by each sign of the zodiac, and tried to incorporate them into a fluid movement. For example, because Cancer rules the breast and lap areas, the Cancer movement literally feels like holding a child and rocking, alternating with a reminder to “step back” and allow others to nurture you as well! And Aries is the ram and rules the head, but most of us don’t actually ‘head butt’ people (although that Mountain Dew commercial where the young man butted heads with the ram was hilarious!) But what we do is strike out at others, literally or figuratively. And the most common form is with the hand or fist. So instead of creating a movement where we put our head down and run at someone in slow motion, we created a slow, martial-arts type of strike as the essence of Aries. Each of the signs are inspired by the body parts that are associated with them. This ‘physicalizing’ approach was how we honored the body in the creative process.
There were clues about how each element determines the form and content of each sign’s movement. We asked ourselves, “Is the sign fire, earth, air or water?” The element’s characteristics would certainly have a bearing on what the movement would feel like. And there were clues to be found in the mode: “Was the sign cardinal (initiates movement forward or backward) fixed (set in its ways somehow) or mutable (could go back and forth)?”
We used astrological timing in creating the movements for the signs. Each month at the new moon - when the unconscious and conscious are more closely aligned and it is easier to access our intuition - we would invite guidance on what the movement should look like. Sometimes we had a vision of what the movement could look like, other times we were inspired to move spontaneously, expressing the essence of the sign.
Over the course of a year, we fleshed out all these clues into the living, breathing reality of Astrological Tai Chi aka Astrolo-Chi®. And to this day, it felt more like remembering than creating.
Jeff Baugher
Jeff is a retired engineer, astrologer and ShadowWork® coach, and is co creator of Astrolo-Chi® and Fairytale Astrology. In 1996, he left a career as an engineer to create an astrology-based business, utilizing the study of patterns to help clients understand the archetypes and cycles of their lives and businesses. Jeff's gift is the ability to present complex information in a simple, down to earth way and his specialty is the 29.6 year cycle. He is a member of The Organization for Professional Astrology and past president of The Astrological Society of Kentucky.
Amy DeZarn
Amy modeled movements in our recent videos and is certified in tai chi and reiki. She teaches traditional tai chi classes in the Louisville Kentucky area.
Daniel Lally
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After a decade of tai chi and other holistic studies, in 1999 Daniel began creating Astrolo-Chi® with Jeff Baugher, followed by Fairytale Astrology, the Ancient the Dream fairytale and other unique holistic magic. Daniel is a graduate of the 420 hour, mindfulness-based Hakomi® body-centered psychotherapy training and is also certified in Jin Shin Do® acupressure yoga, reiki and water aerobics. See some of our other unique holistic creations.
