The Wa originally had animist religious beliefs centered around ritual blood sacrifices. Villages had a spirit healer "(Tax Cao Chai)" and the traditional way of dealing with sickness or other problems was to sacrifice a chicken, a pig or a larger animal, depending from the magnitude of the affliction. According to local legend, the practice of cutting a human head was intended as a ritual sacrifice in order to improve the fertility of the rice fields. Traditional villages had also shrines "(Nyiex Moeg)" where a buffalo was sacrificed once every year at a special Y-shaped post named "Khaox Si Gang" with an offering of the blood, meat and skin performed at it. Animals were also sacrificed at celebrations such as marriages and funerary rituals among the traditional spirit-worshiping Wa, a practice that still endures among the Christian Wa. However, the Wa that were under Buddhist influence developed different traditions.