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The cosmos - organized by Kwamóty and his grandchildren, Xixi e Nunâ - is conceived as consisting of several layers which meet on the horizon. There exist two earths, one concave and the other convex, with one being the negative mould of the other, each having its own rivers and subterranean waters. There is a bell-shaped jar, like an immense umbrella, containing the subterranean waters of the upper earth, the borders of which are held in place by immense mythical frogs. Between this bell-shaped jar and this earth there is the air which is necessary for life. The sun and the moon, where Xixi and Nunâ, respectively, went to live, move in such a way that, when it is day on this earth, on the other it is night and vice-versa. These layers are interconnected by invisible trails that only the shamans can see and travel over.

In ancient times, these two earths were interconnected by a type of stairs that Kwamóty left so that they, the primordial Bakairi, could live in both. As they came to make “gossip” amongst themselves and between the two earths – causing ruptures in the society in formation - he cut the stairs, provoking a deluge, from which only two pairs of brothers were saved. The two earths moved further away from each other, while the sun and the moon met. The Bakairi believe that the eclipse of the sun is an augur of the return of chaos.

Kwamóty controlled chaos by putting the bell-shaped jar in place, but abandoned them [ the Bakairi] to their own fate. Thus they came to know pain, sickness, death, and the struggle for survival.

The structure of the universe was defined when death came into existence, for the earth on which the Bakairi lived did not accept that they inter their dead in it. In a final gesture, Kwamóty inverted the position of the two earths. With that, the most feared of cosmic forces – the iamyra – entered into circulation. Each person who dies liberates two iamyra: one that goes out by the left eye, which will go to inhabit the rivers of this earth, where it controls the supernatural tutelary spirits of the species of fish, aquatic animals, riverine birds; and the other that goes out through the right eye and goes to reside in the other earth, and which is hierarchically superior to all other supernatural beings, as they preside over the natural cycles – including the seasons of the year – and cosmic order.

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Time and space are related through the cycle of a vital substance called ekuru. Present in all living beings, inanimate and animate, it is obtained through food, making itself present in the blood. Without it, blood - yunu - coagulates, which is followed by death. This substance is eliminated through body fluids, residues, secretions and excrement which, in contact with the earth, is reprocessed by the plants. In its free and pure form, only the plants contain it. In the interval between contact with the earth and reprocesssing, all ekuru that is eliminated keeps within itself the properties of whoever expelled it. In the case of the human being, ekuru of the fingernails, of hair, of feces, of saliva “raise kadopy", which are similar to it but supernatural. Their preferred places are the abandoned houses, dark places. They appear to the living, frightening them, which causes fainting and sicknesses.

The terrestrial kadopy, which are residues of the body residues, have an ephemeral existence , in contrast with the iamyra, which are essence. Space is polluted by infestations of kadopy and iamyra, making it inhospitable, and unhealthy. This is one of the reasons for Bakairi dispersion and mobility.

Thus they explain the existence of different spatial domains that they call iduanary and pojianary, "region of the forest" and "region of grass", respectively. They basically extract the ekuru necessary for life from the forest and the rivers. The Kurâ-Bakairi only consume plants and vegetarian or essentially vegetarian animals, disliking carnivores.

In the forests bordering lakes, ponds, or rivers, they practice agriculture and group hunting. Due to the dangers associated with these forests, the presence of members of the female sex is forbidden before the earth has been prepared for planting. Among these dangers, the most notable is Ynhangõnrom, a monstrous supernatural being, "lord" of the forests, who has an enormous breast that he squeezes, pouring out a lethal milk on those who destroy the forest. He has an assistant Karowi, a little, but horrendous being. In the more closed forests one can encounter the iamyra which seek shelter in it when surprised on this earth by the day. In the gardens and shrubbery one can also encounter them, for they long for their “kin”, for the places where they lived and worked. The contact with these supernatural beings is the cause of bio-psychical disorders and imminent death. To pronounce the names of the dead signifies evoking them, which must be avoided until they are put back into circulation. Each species of animal has its “owner”, a supernatural being that is that species’ ward and who turns against those who commit excesses. A malicious being, Kilâino, makes hunters lose their ways in the forest. Associated with the aquatic domain, there are many supernatural beings. Besides the “wards” of each species of fish, aquatic animal and riverine bird, there is pakororo, an enormous white and supernatural jaguar which turns over the canoes of fishers, as well as poro tapekéim, an immense and monstruous fish that can turn canoes over and swallow the fishermen alive. There is also a legion of supernatural beings, with human forms, called kurâmã.

Of the supernatural beings related to this domain, the Bakairi most fear the subaquatic iamyra, which can assume the forms of fish. With so many dangers, the aquatic domain is essentially a male realm.