Religion was a major part of everyday Taino life. Like other ancient peoples, the Tainos mixed art, medicine, and religion believing each was a piece to a more profound spiritual existence. They had an ancestral belief system, much like the Chinese, which praised their ancestors for giving them life and keeping their customs. They used small idols called cemis to communicate with the spirit world which were unique to each individual Taino and were made from anything from stone to cloth (depicted on left). The cemis were much like Christian crosses as the Tainos prayed over them and, unlike crosses, buried them with their crops to induce fertility. Hallucinogens were also a major part in rituals, such as the cohoba ritual which was used to predict the outcome of wars or crop yield. In the ritual, the shamans would use vomiting stick in an attempt to completely purify their bodies before they would snort the cohoba powder. This powder was ground from the seeds of the Anadenanthera tree and was believed to help the shaman cross into the spirit world. While under the influence of the hallucinogen, the shamans would often times make strange carvings or cave drawings which could be described as otherworldly in a way (depicted above).