Iboga, the miracle hallucinogen?

A few weeks ago, navigating through the web (while researching raw food retreats), I accidentally ran into this.

I used to be a fan of Carlos Castaneda. I read ALL of his books and the books of Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner, bought the Tensegrity videos and practiced them on my own (for a few months). Anything that mentioned him or Don Juan became a magnet to my interest. (Then life took another course... another story.)

Back then I was very curious about trying peyote or mushrooms or some sort of hallucinogen. I never tried them (am actually happy I did not). This led me to read about these substances and their effects. Nowadays I keep hearing about people going into a ayahuasca retreats or the use of similar substances with the purpose of getting to know themselves deeply, but I had never heard of iboga.

According to several sources, iboga is a shrub originaly used in Africa by the Bwiti (a religious group) for spiritual and medical reasons. Its main ingredient, ibogaine, was accidentally found responsible for removing withdrawal symptoms and cravings from chemical addictions.

I know people whose lives have been completely ruined because of addiction to drugs and alcohol, people that have tried and tried but keep failing to completely let go. Letting go is not easy for most of them and the effects of stopping using such substances can be deathly. Alcohol, for example is one of those substances, more so than drugs.

So reading about Ibogaine, a substance that is prohibited in the US, but widely researched in other countries, opened my eyes to a new alternative. Research has showed that it:

- alleviates 90% of withdrawal symptoms

- addresses cravings for two to six months

- changes habitual thought patterns

- helps restore proper functioning of the brain's neurochemistry

- is non-addictive and needs not be taken on a continuing basis

(from 'awakeninginthedream.com')


There are plenty of youtube videos and material available online. This is just one of them:



It does sound like a miracle plant.

I wonder how many things can be found in nature whose true healing properties are yet to be discovered (or perhaps forgotten).