Iboga

Tabernanthe iboga

A shrub of the dogbane family up to ten metres tall. The root bark contains ibogaine and about ten other alkaloids. In small amounts stimulating; in large amounts a dreamlike state with visions that lasts for days.

Safety notes

Can cause fatal heart rhythm disorders, even with supervised use; dozens of people have died worldwide, including in the Netherlands, roughly one in three hundred treatments outside a hospital. That is why no preparation is given here on purpose. Iboga is not on the lists of the Opium Act, but neither is it an approved medicine. Wild iboga is overharvested. This information describes traditional use and is no encouragement or advice. Use is at your own risk; the makers of this site are not responsible for the consequences. Never alone, never together with alcohol, other drugs or medicines, not in pregnancy, with heart disease or mental illness (also in the family), and do not drive. In an emergency call 112.

Cautions by tradition (1)

African healing traditions: Can cause fatal heart rhythm disorders, even with supervised use.

Preparation

Do not prepare or use it yourself. In the Bwiti religion the scraped root bark is eaten during an initiation that lasts several days, under constant supervision by experienced initiates, with music and dance.

Use in traditions

Iboga is central to Bwiti, a religion in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo in which Christian and ancestral elements come together. Anyone initiated must have 'seen' the god Bwiti and meets the ancestors in the visions. In small amounts hunters used the root to stay awake at night. Since 1994 Gabon has banned the export of iboga as national heritage. In the West ibogaine attracted attention as a treatment for addiction.

Applications

Use by tradition

How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.

African healing traditions

Attributed effects

The root bark in the Bwiti initiation, and in small amounts to stay awake.

Preparation and amount

Do not prepare or use it yourself.

Caution: Can cause fatal heart rhythm disorders, even with supervised use.

Sources

All herbs from Africa →