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Death:
The Asmat consider death and life as a continuous cycle, shifting between the material and the spiritual world. Birth and death are instrumental in keeping on balance the population living in the two worlds, preserving the universal equilibrium. The concept of rebirth to a higher spiritual level or as a punishment for a previous life does not exist. Only infants and old people die for natural causes; old people because it is natural to pass from this to the other world; babies because they do not have sufficient vital strength.The Asmat believe that children, of which 50-60% die before the age of five, choose to depart and return to the world of the spirits because they feel neglected or abused by their families. The souls of those who died in a headhunting attack, or because of black magic or during childbirth, wandered in a limbo between the physical and spiritual world, until their death was avenged and order was restored.
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