Tabernanthe iboga is the sacred essence of the religion of the Bwiti tribe and it it cultivated in Gabon and Cameroon by the Bwiti and Mbiri people for its root bark.
Most members of the tribe ingest it just once in their lives, during an initiation ceremony in which, they become a baanzi, one who has seen the other world. Bwiti tribe is a spiritual tribe of the forest-dwelling Babongo and Mitsogo peoples of Gabon and by the Fang people of Gabon and Cameroon.
Babongo’s belifs are very strong. They believe that Iboga is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. 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.
Iboga root bark is ingested in a ceremonial ritual whereby the participants travel on the astral trip to meet with their ancestors. Bwiti have a special ceremony called Iboga initiation ritual for becoming a man.
Women's visions are much shorter than men's visions, but there is no belief in Bwiti that women have shorter excursions than men. Initiation is expected to go through several stages and have a certain content. Banzie believe there is six initiation stages. Banzie believe that eboga enables a man or woman to return to infancy and to birth - to the life in the womb.
Doctor Claudio Naranjo was the first one to research Ibogaine for clinical effects. He discovered that Ibogaine was affective in treating emotional disorders.
In 1962, Howard Lotsof made a research which proved that five of seven heroin addicts successfully withdraw from heroine after Ibogaine treatment.