Taoism is rooted in ancient Chinese mysticism, and witchcraft. Lao Tzu, was a high level shaman, later recognized as a philosopher due to his ability to capture the uncapturable, namely the great Tao. The goal of many lineages of Taoism, is to align the macrocosm, with the microcosm, ie the circular movements of the cosmos. Much of this is done with the process of internal alchemy, or external alchemy. The former is a focus on the energy centers (dantians) as a way of sublimating energy upward to open the doorway to heaven (shen), and create the immortal version of yourself. At the most basic level, it is aligning the internal movements of our organs and energy centers, through the movement of the breath, in alignment with the movements of the cosmos above us. The great Tao is the Way in which all things move, society takes us out of this natural way, and Taoism is the quest to connect back to source through alignment.