Religious Beliefs- Carlos Garcia

The Waodani have a traditional Amazonian animistic view of the world; meaning that they believe in both a physical and spiritual world. As such, their forest is their home, and in turn they are protected by it. Moreover, they believe that animals have souls as well. Yet, this does not prevent hunting; it makes them respect their prey, and they show it in the ritual preparation of curare (blow dart poison) so the animal spirit is placated. Another main belief of the Waodani is the transformation of one's soul per say. Once a person dies, their soul travels to the spirit world where there is a gatekeeper in the form on an anaconda; if the soul goes through the snake it can stay in the spirit world; however, if the snake catches the soul, the soul returns to the physical world, most likely as a termite. Finally, Waodani people believe on the transfer of life energy (pii) between the cosmos and the soul, which temporarily resides in their bodies. As such, there is always a balancing act going on between both of their worlds.

Rival, Laura. University of Oxford, U.K. September 2005. The Attachment of the Soul to the Body among the Huaorani

 Reflection:
     I don't know how many posts are necessary to cover any groups religion, but I do know that just one won't even begin to cover their main beliefs. That being said, I invite anyone interested in the Waodani religion to do a search for it on the web. Interestingly enough, I think that the Waodani concept of pii is their most interesting subject, similar to the concept of chi in my opinion. However, that is simplifying things because pii goes deeper than that. Another interesting concept was their description of their need to kill because they were embedded with pii and therefore were acting according to the cosmos will.
      However, in order to fully ascertain and grasp their religious concept, one must perform an impossible task; establish contact with the groups of Waodani that have eschew contact with outsiders. Coincidentally enough, there is a religious reason to not have contact with outsiders. The Waodani people see themselves as prey to outsiders who they see as cannibals ready to hunt Waodani; therefore, they retreated further inside their forest which they happen to see as their protector. To further hinder the study of their religion the Waodani that have chosen to establish contact with outsiders have converted to Christianity.