IBOGA PREPARATION: MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL
Iboga is a profound plant medicine revered in the Bwiti tradition for its ability to provide deep spiritual healing. Used for centuries, particularly within the Missoko sect, iboga serves as a gateway to the spiritual world, facilitating a soul-level journey for those seeking transformation. The Missoko tradition emphasizes that iboga allows individuals to confront their deepest truths, guiding them toward spiritual rebirth.
There are three main sects of Bwiti: Missoko, Fang, and Disumba. Each focuses on different aspects of spiritual practice, but all honor iboga as a sacred tool for healing and divine connection. The Missoko sect, where iboga’s therapeutic and divinatory roles are central, is known for its ability to facilitate deep personal healing and spiritual growth. In comparison, the Fang sect incorporates elements of ancestor worship and has been influenced by Christianity, while the Disumba sect emphasizes communal rituals and spiritual rites of passage.
The Soul Journey
In the Missoko sect, iboga is not just a plant medicine; it is considered a guide that helps individuals reconnect with their soul’s purpose. The Missoko view life as a sacred journey—each person has a unique path that can be clouded by ego, trauma, and societal conditioning. Through iboga, participants are given the opportunity to strip away these layers and access a deeper understanding of their true essence.
According to Bwiti beliefs, we live in two worlds: the physical world and the spiritual world. Iboga is a valuable tool for accessing the spirit world safely, allowing for spiritual discovery and profound self-examination. By opening the doors to this other realm, iboga reconnects participants with their soul, offering insights and truths that are inaccessible through ordinary consciousness.
A NEW BEGINNING
The Missoko Bwiti tradition emphasizes the importance of preparing for spiritual rebirth. Iboga ceremonies are seen as a process of death and rebirth—participants symbolically shed their old selves and emerge with a renewed connection to their spiritual essence. This is not just a metaphorical transformation but a deep spiritual renewal that offers participants clarity, healing, and direction.
One of the key Bwiti truths is that life is a gift from the creator, and we must value it fully. When preparing for iboga as a medicine for the soul, participants are encouraged to reflect on the value of life and the significance of their spiritual journey. Meditating on these themes helps align the mind and spirit, preparing them to receive the teachings of iboga.
To enter this process of spiritual rebirth, it’s essential to release fear and attachment. Bwiti teachings remind us that fear is not real—it is a product of the mind when we lose control of our thoughts. As you prepare for your iboga journey, reflect on the areas of your life where fear or attachment may be limiting your growth. Practices such as meditation and breathwork can help ground your spirit and quiet the mind, creating space for iboga’s teachings.
Connecting to the Spirit World
A central element of the Bwiti tradition is the belief in the spiritual realm and the importance of connecting with ancestors and spiritual guides. In preparation for iboga, it’s crucial to engage in rituals that help establish this connection. These rituals could include offerings, prayers, or meditative practices that honor your ancestors and invite spiritual guidance.
The Bwiti truth that there is only one truth—and that truth is directly experienced—reinforces the importance of this connection. Through iboga, participants gain access to the spirit world in a way that offers undeniable clarity and spiritual insight. By preparing spiritually, you create a sacred container within yourself that allows you to experience this truth fully during the iboga ceremony.
The Role of Music and Dance in the Soul Journey
In Bwiti ceremonies, music and dance are integral to the spiritual journey. Instruments like the Ngombi harp and the Mvet create a sacred space where participants can enter the spiritual realm and commune with their ancestors. These ceremonies often feature rhythmic drumming, dancing, and call-and-response singing, all of which serve to create a trance-like state that facilitates deep spiritual connection.
Music is not just a backdrop to the ceremony—it is a tool that helps bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. As you prepare for iboga, consider incorporating music and movement into your spiritual practice. Listening to sacred music or engaging in movement-based meditation can help open your spirit to the vibrational energy that is central to the Bwiti tradition.
THE SENSES
In the Bwiti tradition, the senses play a crucial role in understanding and connecting with both the physical and spiritual worlds. According to Bwiti teachings, humans possess six senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and the often overlooked sixth sense, intuition, or the ability to sense spiritual truths through the third eye. The senses are considered the gateway to experiencing reality, and within the Bwiti belief system, it is through these senses that we perceive and confirm the one truth that governs all existence.
The Bwiti truth states that “to know the truth, we need to rely on our senses to directly experience it.” This means that Bwiti practitioners view the senses as the tools for gaining clarity about the world and themselves. This is especially true during iboga ceremonies, where participants are encouraged to use their sharpened senses to perceive deeper spiritual truths and unlock the wisdom of their souls.
During a Bwiti iboga ceremony, participants often report heightened sensory experiences—vivid visions, intensified sounds, and deep awareness of bodily sensations. This sharpening of the senses is not only a result of the iboga medicine itself but also an integral part of the Bwiti philosophy, which emphasizes direct experience over intellectual understanding. Bwiti teachings warn against blindly following ideas or beliefs that have not been directly experienced through the senses. They believe that true knowledge comes from what we can perceive and feel, rather than from external concepts.
Additionally, the intuitive sense, or the third eye, is particularly emphasized in Bwiti practice as a powerful tool for perceiving the spiritual world. This intuitive insight allows individuals to access knowledge and wisdom that cannot be obtained through the physical senses alone. As iboga opens the pathways to spiritual realms, the third eye becomes a key tool in navigating these realms, helping participants receive visions, messages from ancestors, and spiritual guidance.
In preparation for iboga ceremonies, it is important to begin cultivating awareness of your senses. Practices like mindful meditation, sensory awareness exercises, and spending time in nature can help heighten your sensory perception, making it easier to navigate both the physical and spiritual realms during the ceremony. By being fully present and aware of your senses, you prepare yourself to experience the deep truths that iboga will reveal during the journey.
Bridging Ceremonial Traditions with Modern Life
In today’s fast-paced, often disconnected modern world, many people are missing the deep sense of ritual and ceremony that has historically provided meaning and structure to human life. At ETÉREO, we recognize this gap and believe in the importance of reconnecting people to the spiritual wisdom of earth-based traditions, like those of the Bwiti. Through this connection, we can facilitate a healing process that addresses the disconnection many people feel in the Western world.
During Paije’s travels to Gabon, many members of the Bwiti tradition encouraged her to share their teachings with the world, particularly to help heal the Western mind. Their request came from a recognition that modern life often leaves little room for the type of deep, introspective healing that comes from engaging in ceremony and ritual. Many in the Western world are looking for ways to reconnect with their inner selves and the larger spiritual realities around them.
We seek to honor the integrity of the Bwiti tradition while also adapting the ceremonial practices to serve a modern, Western clientele. By blending these ancient teachings with contemporary therapeutic and spiritual approaches, we create a bridge between the ceremonial wisdom of the earth and the psychological needs of the modern world. Our retreats are designed to integrate the depth and wisdom of iboga ceremonies with accessible practices like mindfulness, integration counseling, and body-mind therapies, ensuring participants can truly benefit from the soul-level healing that iboga offers.
In Western culture, where daily life is often disconnected from the cycles of nature and spiritual ritual, many people find it challenging to achieve the sense of spiritual renewal that is central to the iboga experience. Our approach at ETÉREO aims to reintroduce these sacred rituals in a way that speaks to modern people, offering them an opportunity to experience the healing power of ceremony that has been missing from their lives.
SOUL LEVEL PREPARATION
Preparing for an iboga ceremony is not just about the physical or mental aspects—it is a deep spiritual preparation that aligns your soul with the medicine’s teachings. As you embark on this sacred journey, remember that life is the greatest gift, and iboga offers the opportunity to reconnect with the essence of that life.
Through spiritual practices, ego surrender, and connection to the spirit world, you can create the internal space necessary for profound soul-level healing. Iboga is not simply a tool for personal growth—it is a teacher that guides you toward a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you. The Missoko Bwiti tradition reminds us that everything comes from life, and by reconnecting with the soul’s truth, you can access the wisdom and clarity that iboga has to offer.
