iBoga – “the plant that enables men to see the dead.”

*Sasha Mittsous is the Director at iBogaine-Thailand.net and this is his personal experience with iBogaine. iBogaine Thailand offers guidance, experienced reassurances, properly administered plant medicine and a holistic environment to encourage reflective time in a tropical paradise island in Southern Thailand. Our approach is to accommodate, encourage and heal each soul with iBogaine and client safety as number one priority. Contact us at info@ibogaine-thailand.net for more information.

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My dad passed away 25 years ago, I still read his diary and go through our family photos. Friends and relatives continue to tell stories of him during family gatherings. His music, thoughts, pictures and home movies made by him remain like a memorial. He’s gone, but his presence remains and he won't be forgotten by friends or family – even by those not yet born. All things grow in time except for grief. I didn't even know I was grieving inside till I had my first iBogaine session 5 years ago. And all of the sudden I was talking to my father. He said, "I'm doing very well here son. Please don't feel sad about me anymore. I love you very much and just live well my dear”. After conversing for a couple minutes, the grief was gone, and it hasn't come back since. In the silence of my iBogaine journey, I began to make peace and heal finally after grieving for 20 years.

In the Gabon region of Central West Africa lies one of humanity's greatest treasure. Discovered thousands of years ago, Tabernanthe iBoga was first used by the Bwiti tribe for its healing properties for mental, physical, as well as for spiritual purposes and rite-of-passage initiation ceremonies. The iBoga shrub is the central pillar of these spiritual practices and the members share a common belief, in the existence of a supernatural realm where the spirits of the dead may be contacted. iBogaine is scientifically classified as an “entheogen” - one of the sacred plant medicines that “generate the God within” along with an otherworldly consciousness. Accounts of its ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead, and the profound alterations in one's state of consciousness brought about by the use iBogaine show more than just man's desire to connect with our dead loved ones. These visions also articulated the founding axis for religious systems throughout the history of humanity.

Even today, we are witnessing the revival of this scared plant medicine. This renewed interest in iBogaine comes in a new wave of scientific recognition for a number of startling therapeutic effect claims that iBogaine has emerged, exploring the efficacy of enthogenic substances in the treatment of addictions, trauma, PTSD, end of life anxiety, and depression. As far as scientists understand, iBogaine affects the brain in three distinct ways. The first is metabolic. It creates a protein that blocks receptors in the brain that trigger cravings, stopping the symptoms of withdrawal immediately and brings people back to their pre-addiction stage. The second effect resets the neural pathways which constitute the patterns of addiction. It's third effect comes hand-in-hand with experiencing powerful entheogenic effects. Often spiritual or emotional damage is at the heart of a substance abuse problem, and this healing is vital to true recovery. The effects of iBogaine are physically, psychologically, and spiritually profound to say the least. It's like having the best doctor, psychologist and spiritual healer at the exact right moment.

Accounts from renowned author Graham Hancock detailing his personal experience and attempt to seek closure from his father’s death through iBogaine therapy in his book (Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind), and subsequently having an experience parable to the common iBogaine experience where 'the plant that enables men to see the dead'. As Graham writes in his book, "I hadn’t expected iBogaine to make a difference, but it did. From the moment I woke up with my strength recovered, I knew that it had flipped some sort of switch in me, because I was no longer able to see anything in the world in the same negative and nihilistic way as I had done before. From time to time a morbid thought would still stray across my mind and try to drag my mood down; previously I would have dwelt on it obsessively until it made me miserable; now I found it easy to dismiss it and move on. I didn’t feel so bad about my dad either. I’d not been at his bedside, and I couldn’t change that. But somehow, now, I no longer ached so much….Whether this healing was achieved through contact with the spirit world, or whether it was just a beneficial side effect of shaking up my brain chemistry, I felt grateful to iBogaine, iBoga is a shamanic drug. In the Bwiti scheme of things, it brings healing in this world by reconnecting us to the world of spirits”….

If you've endured a loss, you know these feelings. You know how grief rips through your heart, making you feel like life will never be the same. Truthfully, it won't be. Time won't erase all your pain. It is okay not to be okay. We have to fall apart in order to come back together as all shamanic practices say. Relationships, divorces, friendships, health and jobs end and they require grieving the loss as well. Trying to jump back into your life without skipping a beat is inhuman and self abusive. When you experience a loss, your life is forever changed. Your “normal" vanishes. But that doesn't mean hope is lost. Sacred plant medicine like Tabernanthe iBoga was available to our ancestors and would have had the same effects on them as they do on us. If we can do better to overcome our grief and have the closure and quietus that we long for, we should. Why not let iBogaine be part of the answer to help you heal?