Our next retreats will be held in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia in March 2025 hosted by Maghanga Na Gho Pindi. We also host individually tailored Iboga Cures, Tobacca dietas, master plant dietas and Ayahuasca retreats. To register your interest please contact us here.

Maghanga Na Gho Pindi is a diverse and experienced collective of Bwiti initiates from different parts of the world who have come together to provide retreats based on the essential practices of Bwiti.  We have made these practices as universal as possible with the aim of optimizing the profound healing and integration of the Sacred Wood, while also recognizing that somewhere between the mystery and intelligence of the spirit of Iboga and the intention of our togetherness, is where the magic unfolds. 

  • Minanga Mussingi & M’Bilou

    Both Minanga Mussingi & M’Bilou have a background in deep transformational shamanic work with African, Brazilian and Peruvian traditional healers.

    They are very experienced workshop facilitators who have been in service and deep commitment to the teacher plant Iboga on its path around the world for the last 20 years. 15 years ago, they created their own set and setting to serve the sacred wood Iboga by respecting the essential rituals of the Bwiti tradition of Gabon. Their ceremonies are known by thousands of participants as "Bwitiful People Ceremonies”.

    Minanga Mussingui

    Minanga Mussingui was initiated twice in different tribes of the Bwiti tradition in Gabon, and after traveling back and forth to Gabon learning the ways of the Bwiti tradition and Iboga, received an initiation which gave her spiritual permission, guidance and protection to serve the ‘sacred wood’ Iboga. She is trained in hypnosis-therapy, energetic healing, Ayurvedic massage and using the IFS-method (internal family system) for bringing acceptance, compassion and safety to guide others to self leadership.

    M’bilou

    M’bilou has been an explorer of spiritual practices for the last 50 years. He has trained in pranic-therapy and meditation with a Tibetan teacher, also has done 5 years of shamanic healing training with a Sami-Shaman from Lapland and studied different types of massage and energetic healing. He was initiated into the Bwiti tradition in Gabon 18 years ago and has since combined his research with further studies of sacred Master teacher plants.

  • Reliba & Ndumu

    Reliba

    Reliba first began working with Iboga in 2013. Her first experience birthed an indelible change in her that led to a deep respect and appreciation for the sacred wood and her commitment to continuing her personal work with it. In 2020 she spent some months in Gabon where she was initiated. Since then, Her and her Husband Ndumu have begun serving wood to individuals, following the guidance of their mentors Minanga Mussingi and M’Bilou. Reliba has been working with plant medicines in a committed way since 2008, and began apprenticing in 2012 in the Shipibo Ayahuasca tradition of the Peruvian Amazon, completing many diets with numerous master plants. She has also trained with tobacco and trees under a Mestizo Tabaquero tradition. With over a decade of experience facilitating and running plant medicine retreats and ceremonies, Reliba is Passionate about bridging plant medicine and integrative practices. Her Background in yoga, Meditation, psychospiritual inquiry and somatic approach to working with trauma is a guiding source of inspiration in her work.

    Ndumu

    Ndumu began his journey of profound healing and work with plant medicines in 2006, which led him to the Peruvian Amazon in 2008 and apprenticeship with a Mestizo Tabaquero. This was followed by years of devotion to dieting master plants and beginning to work as a healer. When he first began working with Iboga in 2016, Ndumu was deeply touched by the degree of insight and healing he received and since then has been devoutly on a path of healing and learning with the sacred wood. This led him to Gabon in 2020 and initiation. He has continued on working with his wife Reliba, serving individuals the sacred wood under the guidance of their mentors Minanga Mussingi and M’Bilou. Having over a decade of experience working as a traditional plant medicine healer and facilitating plant medicine work, Ndumu also brings years of training in hypnotherapy and generative trance in addition to his deep sensitivity and sense of humor.

  • Mystère

    Mystère, born in Cameroon, arrived in Gabon when she was 10 years old. She discovered the Bwiti tradition at a very young age there, which was inaccessible and only reserved for a closed circle of initiated Gabonese people. Mystère was profoundly touched by this tradition and she participated in many Bwiti ceremonies whenever she could over the course of many years. Later, in 1986 she participated in Bwiti Dissumba at the temple Engong Aroma Mba where she met Ebouma Nfonha (known as Tata Yo, the founder of the temple Ebando in Libreville), with whom she was partnered for many years. In 1992 she was initiated into the Maboundi at Komi near Lambarené. In 1994 she was the main Maboundi at the inauguration of the temple Eliba Mbongo (association Ebando) at Akanda in Gabon, and recently had been assisting Minanga and M’bilou in an Iboga retreat in South America. Mystère brings decades of experience in the Bwiti tradition and embodies the spirit of this tradition in a beautiful way.

  • Mongabenda

    Mongabenda began sitting with Iboga in 2012 to complement years of shadow work and integration with other medicines and indigenous healing traditions. Having also trained in the dynamics of acting and theatre, he deeply understands the capacity of what we tell ourselves to shape our lives and worldview. Despite the intensity of these cleanings, there remained hidden aspects of his psyche untapped. Iboga not only unlocked the door, but helped him write a new story. He was subsequently initiated with the Bwiti in Gabon in February 2017. In healing work, so much emphasis is put on removing unwanted or unhelpful energies, yet Iboga taught Mongabenda that its purpose is really to uncover what had been there all along. The inherent quality of compassion informs his calling and desire to hold space for others and help them receive the same gifts he received: deeper love and clarity. He feels honored to serve in this spirit of sacred reciprocity.

  • Kengele

    Kengele started his path in the healing arts through western medicine 30 years ago. He is a physician trained in psychiatry and neurology and weaves together the science of modern medicine with the art of traditional healing. His background in plant spirit shamanism began in 2006 with ayahuasca and gradually proceeded to sitting wtih many dietas through the Shipibo and the Mestizo lines while living in the Amazon. In 2012 he was introduced to Iboga, and through this powerful entry he eventually became the medical director of Ibogaine clinics and an initiate in the Bwiti tradition. In addition to his medical degree (MD), Kengele received his doctor of divinity (DD) degree, and he serves as a teaching physician to many doctors in training so to support the return of present day psychiatry to its root as a soul centered medical field.

About Iboga

            To begin to comprehend something incomprehensible, one doesn’t try to look directly at it, but rather zooms out to allow the field of whatever is being observed to open and an impression to emerge.  Iboga is one of these quandaries, and so to begin to paint a picture of it we can imagine the Planet Earth, continents dividing from one mass to open up to the world as we know it now, puzzle piece petals of continents with the Atlantic Ocean at the center.   Tracing the horizontal midline of the equator we find the two largest Rainforests on Earth, the Amazon Basin in South America to the left, and the Congolese Basin in the heart of Central Africa to the right, two pieces of the same whole drawn apart from one another.  Both of these rainforests are vital to the health of life on this planet, just as both of these rainforests are themselves prolific pharmacies. 

            If we look to the Amazon Basin on the left, the most holistically powerful medicine we find there is Ayahuasca, which is ingested as a tea made up of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria viridis bush leaves.  If we look to the Congolese Basin on the right the most holistically powerful medicine we find there is Iboga or Tabernathe iboga, a shrub whose root bark is powdered and ingested.  The quintessence of either of these plant medicines on the left is Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and on the right Ibogaine, the worlds two most powerful entheogenic alkaloids.  There is a Yin/Yang or Lunar/Solar polarity that is embodied in these two master plants on the left and right sides of the world.   Whereas Ayahuasca has a more feminine quality to its way of doctoring, Iboga is more masculine. The first has a tendency to be indirect and circumspect, phantasmagorical and impressionistic, and opens the feeling body.   The later is more often direct and to the point, clear and literal, and allows one to know and feel truth directly.   Summing both plants up in such a reductionistic manner is however, not the totality of either.

            So what then, is Iboga?  The tree of knowledge of good and evil, a truth serum, a multidimensional ontological classroom, a habit pattern disrupter, a mind mirror that illuminates ones subconscious processes, a sacrament that defines and unifies primordial space and radiant luminosity, a complete medicine.  All are possibilities, and it is what it is for the one imbibing it.  On the most basic level Tabernathe iboga is a perennial shrub that is native to the Central African rainforest.  It is thought to have been first used by the Babongo Pygmies who were traditionally nomads of the Congolese Basin but now mainly reside in Gabon. In the Tsogo language the word Iboga means “that which takes care of”, and that’s exactly what this plant does; it takes care of that which needs taking care of, and it does so with a tenacious perseverance unmatched by any other plant medicine.  It is a long journey when one ingests Iboga in larger quantities, which can range anywhere from 12-18 hours in it’s peak, tapering off over a period of a number of days, and staying in ones organism both physically and spiritually, working for months afterward.  The part of the plant that is ingested is the inner root bark as it contains the highest amount of active alkaloids, which are numerous. 

            From the Pygmies, Iboga found its way into the Bwiti tradition, which is a tradition that spans central Africa through numerous different tribes.  What Bwiti is cannot be encapsulated so easily as it is many things.  The word Bwiti itself means emancipation.  It is a school of life, a path of connecting with, understanding, honoring and healing our ancestors, a university of the forest that shows us how to live in a good way with the natural world and each other.  It is a way of reckoning the dualistic qualms of relative reality and understanding directly the underlying unifying essence of ultimate reality. The common Bwiti saying “nous sommes ensembles” or “we are together” encapsulates this principle. It is a tradition that one can only enter and know through initiation and direct experience.  Bwiti in its myriad forms is characterized by the ingestion of iboga in a communal setting, livid dancing through an all night ritual and the music of the mongoungo(mouth bow) which has a masculine quality, and ngombi (harp) which is feminine in nature.  Bwiti is neither masculine or feminine, but both, as is Iboga. 

            In the western world Iboga Is most commonly known for its incredible ability to cure opiate addictions.  Ibogaine, the main active alkaloid responsible for this action, has a complex effect on the brain by affecting the activity of several neurotransmitters. By increasing dopamine levels and blocking N-acetylcholine receptors, the alkaloid can restore the normal biochemistry of the brain and reduce the symptoms of addiction.  By increasing serotonin levels in the brain, Ibogaine also improves symptoms of depression and anxiety.  It has also shown to be effective in treating PTSD.  Ibogaine has a profound ability to rewire the brain which in part can be explained by its activation  of several neurotrophic growth factors: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), and Glial Cell-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) all of which have neuroprotective and neuro-remodeling effects. The combined effect on the various nerve growth factors is likely the key to the long-term effect of Ibogaine on addictions. BDNF might also stimulate the formation of new neurons in parts of the adult brain that still retain stem cells.  Iboga is also a potential treatment for autoimmune diseases, especially showing potential for the management of Parkinson’s, stroke, brain injury and Multiple Sclerosis.  There is also evidence from scientific studies showing that Iboga may have antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal properties.

            Iboga also provides a strong detoxification of the mind/body/spirit.  Nausea and vomiting may be a part of the cleaning effects of Iboga although that is not experienced by all.  The heart pumps the blood at very high rates throughout the experience, as though one is running a marathon, and at other times the heart rate is almost imperceptible.  As there is so much action of the heart going on, the liver is also working a lot as it is in charge of filtering the blood pumping through the body and detoxifying it.  Iboga is perfectly safe and very beneficial for the body, so long as there has been proper medical tests for the heart and liver prior to ingesting larger amounts of the Wood.  It is a prerequisite for this work to have an EKG and a liver panel to ensure that working with Iboga is right for each individual.  If one comes into working with Iboga with a lot of fatigue this medicine will make you rest in order to restore your energy levels, and if one comes in with good energy levels, they will come out the other side with more vitality. 

            Looking at the medicinal properties of this plant on a more psychospiritual level, we could say that part of why Iboga is so effective at curing opiate addiction is that Iboga is the opposite of a dissociative, which is what opiates are.  Dissociation is one of the main human reactions to trauma.  The root of addiction stems from trauma and there are many ways in which we are all addicts of one thing or another: shopping, social media, sex, food, distraction in one form or another, etc.  Iboga is an associative medicine that desolidifies our internal structures and brings one into direct contact with what is happening on the inner level. It shines a luminosity through the mind/body revealing unconscious processes and unpacking the origins and repercussions of our unwholesome habit patterns.  It has the power to unearth long forgotten deep woundings, bringing them to the light of awareness, allowing for the possibility of metabolizing these experiences, the possibility of becoming more whole.

            Alongside the display its radiance reveals, Iboga opens the dimension of space, allowing for whatever is passing through the lens of awareness to be witnessed in a more objective, less fixated way.   This points to the quality of plasticity that this plant medicine affords which lends the capacity to look directly at that which has been negated, and take the full measure of the current situation of ones life.  Iboga also has a primordial quality that is somewhat ineffable. Often it is experienced on the physical level as quality of weightiness or gravity.  Iboga can cause temporary ataxia which can make movement difficult due to dizziness and lack of coordination of the body.  At the same time this plant is also a very powerful stimulant that turns on ones inner light of noticing.  These temporary effects are a part of this medicines action of softening the ground of our habituated tendencies and rooting one down below the surfaces of themselves, breaking open that which has been covered up and bringing it to the light of awareness.  This could be also pointed to by imagining the iboga tree itself, half its form above ground half below.  The part of the tree that is ingested is the part below ground, which elucidates its character signature of shining light into the darkness of our psyche.