How the Desana think about symbolism. First the Desana have words to talk about symbolism. Central preoccupation of the Desana religious system is control of human and animal sexuality and fertility. Concern with maintenance of world common in Native American belief systems. Most everything a Desana would see on a daily basis can take on symbolic, hence religious significance.
Natural world becomes huge elaborating symbol of the root metaphor type.
Becoming wise and sophisticated means being more able to make elaborative interpretations from root metaphor. Consider another root metaphor for the Desana-the maloca , or house. Interior of the house is divided in a complex and dualistic manner. Duality an important principle in many symbolic systems. Among Desana, however, not everyone totally immersed in symbolic thought.