Adventure 0001 - Bwiti Iboga Initiation Ritual in Costa Rica

As I opened my eyes, reality appeared as a thousand different pieces no longer in their right place. It was as if my lens of perception was a mirror and that mirror had been shattered. Earlier that evening I had taken a flood dosage of Ibogaine at a licensed and legal clinic in Costa Rica. Being a psychonaut and explorer of both inner and outer worlds; Iboga for both its ritualistic history and for its anti-addictive properties, was a plant of great interest to me. Just a few weeks before this trip everything I owned in America had been sold and this felt like a perfect reset before beginning an around the world backpacking trip.

If you don't already know, Tabernanthe Iboga is a deeply healing plant that is mostly found in Gabon and in parts of Cameroon. It is likely to have been used as a sacrament by the pygmies deep in the forest of central Africa for thousands of years, before being discovered by other ethnic groups in the past two centuries. When the root bark of Iboga is ingested it is an insanely potent psychedelic plant and thus was made illegal in the United States in the 1960s. At that time it was placed into the same category as LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, giving it classification as a scheduled 1 controlled substance.

Its bark is the central focus of the Bwiti, which is the traditional religion of Gabon. After ingestion of this sacred root bark, Iboga produces a three-day long dream-like state for the seeker while inducing strong altered states of consciousness. The consumption of iboga is primarily used as a rite of passage into adulthood for the Bwiti as well as usage by shamans to treat mental and spiritual sickness. When taken for the initiation process, it leads the initiate through an out of body experience where it is said that you are guided towards extraordinary wisdom and healing. Perhaps it is your ancestors, perhaps it is your own mind's projection.. perhaps God. This substance is not for the faint of heart nor do I advise its use to anyone. Improper usage can result in death and it is advised to only ever be taken at a licensed and legal clinic. Please do your own research and understand that it is highly illegal in many places around the world. With that being said, Ibogaine, the active alkaloid in Iboga, was the strongest plant experience I have ever had. It’s like, imagine your body is computer and gets a reboot of the software with updates. Same machine, but more efficient than ever. The experience itself is brutal. It lasts a full 24 hours. You have tracers for days. The peak experience ranges about 9 hours. You can’t move, you're dizzy, and you would feel some of the strangest vibes you’ll ever feel. It can be very uncomfortable. You may notice your organs and become very aware of the different parts of your body and how they function together.

Thanks to the work of Howard Lotsof and others, the main alkaloid constituents of iboga , ibogaine, have been found to have the remarkable ability to be able to effectively interrupt addiction, mainly, Heroin and Opioid Addiction. However, as I mentioned previously, Iboga is illegal in the United States and a few other countries, but over 70 clinics offer ibogaine-based therapy for people with addiction have appeared, mainly in Mexico or Costa Rica in recent years. Although it's not magic, when taken in a proper therapeutic setting, ibogaine has demonstrated up to a 75% success rate of curbing addiction . This is  a figure well beyond traditional clinics offered in the USA.

For me as an explorer, I lay there that night in Costa Rica looking at myself through the lens of a shattered perception, I suddenly found myself floating above myself looking down at myself. It then suddenly felt like I was then sucked into a hyperdimensional space tube and was sent rushing up towards the stars. I felt energy speeding past me faster than anything I had ever experienced. I then abruptly came to a stillness and felt the veil between the world we normally exist in and the spirit world grow very thin. I saw spirits with bright green eyes come and look me as to check on whom had just entered into there world. The head medicine spirit of the Iboga felt very present and powerful. I was shown the big bang and saw that time constantly relives its self over and over. I was shown the world and all land connected together where Africa is now. It slowly separated into the continents we know today.

This medicine only comes from Africa. It is said it is from the garden of Eden, the center of Pangaea, currently known as the country of Gabon. It is known there as the tree of knowledge. Any questions that you have you can ask the spirit of Iboga and it provides you with a sort of like a slideshow, picture film reel as a vision that includes an answer.

Joe Rogan & Aubrey Marcus discussing Iboga: