Babongo’s beliefs are very strong. They believe they were the first people on earth. They believe they are together in the forest with the spirit figures called Macoi. Babongo believe that Macoi must be present in every ritual and call them from the forest with drums.
When a person dies, the Babongo believe their spirit will linger in the village and cause harm. They have a funeral ritual that starts with washing the body, wrapping it in a cloth and carrying it to the graveyard in the forest for burial. The women paint their faces white with kaolin to symbolise purification, and dance and sing to put the dead person's spirit to rest. After three days and three nights of mourning, the funeral is declared over.
The Babongo follow an animistic religion based on a belief in spirits which started in the forests thousands of years ago called Bwiti. Influenced in curious ways by Christianity, Bwiti has become one of Gabon's official religions - there are Bwiti churches, ceremonies and initiations. In the city, the Bwiti drug Iboga is taken almost as Catholics take the host at Mass, and festivals follow the Christian calendar. But out in the forest, the original form of the religion is still practiced, in all its potency.
The Babongo cultivate the drug Iboga for their ceremonies, and worship it as the source of spiritual knowledge. They believe that Iboga is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. Iboga is a powerful psycho-active drug - something like LSD, mescaline or amphetamines. Bwiti tribe have been using root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga plant for hundreds of years for their radical spiritual growth, to resolve pathological problems and for spiritual healing. Root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga plant is specially cultivated for the religion.
Bwiti have a special ceremony called Iboga initiation ritual for becoming a man.
When Bwiti shamans take Iboga, they have a power to see the future, heal the sick and speak with the dead. The Babongo believe that Iboga frees their soul to leave the body and go on a great journey, to speak with the spirits of animals and plants. They use Iboga as a stimulant before hunting and during initiation ceremonies.