For those who have not been initiated into a mask society, this mask symbolises a bird in flight: specifically, the Kommolo tebu, a bird with a white belly and wings and a black forehead. Initiates interpret the Kanaga mask differently. To them, the double bars stand for the first Creation of the earth god Ama, with the heavens above and the earth below. They symbolise the equilibrium between heaven and earth, and hence the order of the universe. Wearing Kanaga masks, the participants dance on the house of the deceased to ensure that he or she will leave the earth and not trouble the living.