Exploring Gabon's Sacred Pathways

Interview with Mar (Nyangou), a co-founder of the “Bwiti Initiations” portal, who lives in Gabon and studies the Bwiti tradition locally with reputable masters.

Q: What made you want to move to Gabon and study the Bwiti tradition?

After several years of visiting Gabon and practicing this tradition in different parts of the world, I realized that for me personally to go deeper into this tradition and learn, I would need to go to the land of this tradition — to go deep. This tradition is not just about learning from people — it’s about learning from the spiritual world. There, I received several messages that I needed to come and learn from a particular Bwiti master. So that’s what I did.

There’s a saying that Gabon is the Tibet of Africa. Imagine how more than 100 years ago, the first foreigners, the true seekers, arrived in Tibet. People like Alexandra David-Néel or Gurdjieff. They saw all these big monasteries and manuscripts full of wisdom that Western people had never heard of. Imagine their feeling. That’s how I felt when I discovered the Bwiti tradition. 

Except this tradition was never written. So how can you connect with an oral tradition that’s transmitted from the mouth of the master to the ears of students? The only way is to be there. To receive it in the same way as it’s been given for generations. So I started living here and began studying with the Bwiti masters. One reputable school is with the Bwiti Dissoumba Fang and another is with the Bwiti Missoko. At ‘Bwiti Initiations’ we connect seekers with masters who can transmit real knowledge. These initiations are for people who want to discover themselves.

Q: What have you discovered in your study of the Bwiti tradition so far?

This tradition is not about acquiring knowledge by your mind; it’s about acquiring knowledge by your heart, body, and spirit through practice, by experience. It’s not just that masters teach you. Here we talk about direct communication with the Divine. For the ngangas and nimas (spiritual practitioners) it’s not just a belief, it’s daily life. They communicate with the spiritual realm and learn from the spirits about who they really are. The spirits help them to grow, and help their spiritual evolution. Ngangas and nimas help people to heal on physical, mental, and spiritual levels. That’s what initiations are about — to help you know who you really are, and, of course, to heal you, for you to discover yourself. So you can connect with the Divine and with one’s Higher Self. It’s been an extraordinary journey.

Q: What similarities have you found between this and other traditions?

The Bwiti tradition is an expression of the Primordial Tradition, wisdom that existed from the beginning of time. With the development of humanity, this tradition took different forms depending on the geography, culture, and other factors that shaped each society's unique expression and interpretation of it. In India it took the form of Hinduism, in China — Taoism, in Siberia — shamanism, in Palestine — the teachings of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus of Nazareth. The same tradition took the form of the Bwiti tradition in Central Africa. Here, it was less influenced by organized religions and the outside world. It was transmitted orally and in secret. Even now, in Gabon, nobody talks about this tradition openly, even though many practice it. 

The similarities are in the essence. The form may be different, but the essence is the same. For example, in China, the name for the Divine, the Unknown, and the Unknowable, is called the Tao. Here it’s called the Bwiti.

As in many traditions, the main emphasis in the Bwiti tradition is discovering yourself, who you really are. And understanding your mission in this life.

Q: What’s it like to study the tradition as a foreigner?

It’s a big adventure. It’s a temple training in the forest. You see different tribes and different practices. The knowledge that’s never been transmitted to the Western world. Rituals that really work to heal people. Knowledge of direct communication with the Spirit.

But of course, it has its challenges. This tradition is all based on trust. For the Bwiti masters to be open to a foreigner, you need to prove that you’re serious. You’re not here to just grab their knowledge. Some foreigners after having a great experience with iboga, come back to their countries with the sacred wood and start a business out of it. They don’t know the tradition and all the tools. They’re not connected and recognized by the communities here or the spiritual world. It’s not a business or a game. This science needs to be studied thoroughly. It takes many years to learn and receive authorization to do this kind of work.

Q: What’s your view of using iboga outside of the Bwiti tradition?

I hear many in the West talk about “medicine”, "connecting to the medicine”, and “learning from the ‘spirit of iboga’.” In Gabon, we do not talk like this. People don’t ‘learn from iboga’ here. It’s just a sacred tool that helps them to be open to the spiritual world, to open gaps between their physical, energy, and spirit bodies. There, they learn directly from the Divine and from the spirits that are expressions of the Divine. These are things you can see during mystical spiritual initiations here. These initiations are very complex rituals that use hundreds of different tools and medicines — iboga is just one of them.

What iboga does is it opens people’s matrixes between physical, energetic, and spiritual bodies, so the spirit can be free for the duration of the initiation to receive the healing and teachings from the high realms. The experience happens not because of iboga, but because of you. And how deep you go also depends on your maturity and readiness to be healed or to receive certain knowledge. Some initiations happen without iboga. Once you are open, you do not need it. I prefer to do it without and I did many where it was not used and had great and deep experiences.

Being initiated is not just about eating iboga. So when people come from overseas and take iboga without the tradition with it, it’s a bit like jumping into an ocean with a scuba tank, without guidance and any understanding from the dive master about how to use it, how to watch for currents, how to get back to the boat, etc. Yes, you can see fish and corals and wonderful things when you just jump into the ocean with this tank, but is it safe? Is it efficient in its aims, beyond just being a mesmerizing experience? Is it safe to guide other people to do the same?

Surely iboga can help you, even outside the tradition. But the healing will not be as complete (or safe) as it could be.

Q: In your experience, what’s the difference between Bwiti Missoko and Bwiti Fang?

There are three main types of Bwiti traditions here in Gabon. The original is called Bwiti Dissoumba, or ‘Dissoumba of the South’, and it came from the pygmies. Bwiti Ndea is another expression of it.

The pygmies (Babongo people) transmitted this knowledge to Apindji, Mitsogo, Massango, and Pove in Gabon. From this tradition came the Missoko: Ngondet, Myobe, Maboundi, and other branches. Later, other non-bwitist traditions in Gabon (like the Mwiri, Nzegho, etc.) were included in this constellation of the tradition. These rituals are practiced mostly in the forest. Participants wear raffia and use only candlelight and torches. For foreigners, sometimes this branch of the tradition can feel more ‘legitimate’ because the costumes are made from natural materials, etc.

At the same time, in the north of Gabon, and its neighboring countries, the Fang people gathered knowledge of the ‘Dissoumba of the South’  too. They brought it back to their own context. The Bwiti tradition of the Dissoumba Fang began to develop slightly differently than in southern and central Gabon. The Fang developed several branches of the tradition: Biyeyeme Ozeng, Mboumba Eyano (or Abiale), Mimbare, Okana Kombi, and so on. The Fang also absorbed wisdom from their fraternal traditions (Mvett, Melan, l’'Elomba, etc.), their cultural neighbors, those they met as civilization changed, as well as direct teachings via their spiritual work. They also started using more modern materials in their rituals. For example, they wear colorful dresses made of different modern cotton fabrics and in their temples, they use electric light as well as fire.

The form is slightly different between the two branches of the tradition, but the essence is the same: to connect with the Divine and with your Higher Self. The way they do this slightly differs. 

Bwiti Missoko is like a microscope — you learn about yourself, how to show up in this life, how to be mature, about your nature, nature itself, the Universe, etc.

Bwiti Fang is like a telescope — you learn about the cosmos and the higher spiritual realms, but ultimately you learn about yourself because everything is connected. 

Both routes ultimately lead you to the same place.

Everything is connected: microcosm and macrocosm. As above, so below. As within, so without.

Q: People say Bwiti of Fang people is a christianised version of the more original Bwiti Dissoumba. How do you see it?

We don’t see it this way here in Gabon. Usually, it’s foreigners who see the physical expression of the Bwiti Fang tradition and notice symbols they’ve seen in the church. But in the Bwiti tradition, they work with spiritual principles. There is the principle of Christ, which is not connected only to the historical person named Jesus. Osiris of Ancient Egypt was also this Christ who died and was resurrected. In the Roman Empire, it was Mithra. In nature, it’s the seed of grain that dies in order to become a new plant that produces more grain. This is the principle of Christ. Each of us can embody this. The people who do so in Christian teaching, we say ‘hey became a ‘realized Christ’, for those in Hinduism, ‘realized Krishna’. In the Bwiti, there is also such a principle, we call it Mouniambi. For initiated people, we explain more about this principle: how to work with it, and how to embody it.

Pharaoh Akhenaten (left) and Nganga Missoko (right)

Q: What is the root of this tradition? Where did it come from? Some say the pygmies were the original people who gave it to people in Gabon.

The origin of this tradition in this particular form, came from the inhabitants of the equatorial African forests (Westerners call them “pygmies”). It’s them, who transmitted this tradition to other peoples of Gabon. But how did it come to pygmies? Of course, through a direct connection to the Divine, the spiritual world, their ancestors, the forest, animals, and nature. At the same time, we can also trace the roots of this tradition to influences from Ancient Egypt. 

Historically, Egyptians believed pygmies possessed divine qualities and celestial gifts. They called their performances “dances of the Gods”. That’s why sometimes the ancient Egyptians brought the pygmies to their palaces and temples. The pygmies shared some of their sacred knowledge but also learned from the Egyptians and gathered their spiritual science. That’s how this tradition became so rich. 

Some masters say, that after some time, the pygmies returned to their origin in the forest. They made their way through Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the countries of the Congo basin. Nowadays, traces of this tradition can be found in many African countries including the Serer people in Senegal, Debtera groups in Ethiopia, in Malawi and Mozambique in the form of Gule Wamkulu, the great dance of the secret Nyau brotherhood, and so on. The Bwiti tradition and all of the abovementioned traditions are expressions of the Primordial Tradition.

Q: Can you practice both the Bwiti Fang and Bwiti Missoko? 

It depends on the person. I practice both. For me, Bwiti Missoko and Bwiti Fang are like left and right legs. Both are useful, both take you somewhere. I’m trying to find a middle way in between. To me, there is no difference between Sufism, esoteric Christianity, Taoism, and the Bwiti tradition, as their essence is the same, though their forms and expressions vary.

Some people like to stay in just one expression of the tradition. It’s personal. You can take your personal approach.

But it’s important not to mix them. They are distinct. When I’m in the Missoko temple, I’m fully there. In the Fang, I follow the protocol there. Otherwise, it creates confusion. The energies are quite different. We respect each branch of the tradition.

Q: Can you practice other traditions with the Bwiti?

Bwiti is a spiritual tradition, not a religion. The spiritual world is endless. Then, there is space for everyone and everything in it. The Bwiti tradition is open to many people with different spiritual and religious backgrounds. It’s not based on dogmas but on personal experience. My master, the late Atome Ribenga, was Rosicrucian, Martinist, and a nima of three branches of the Bwiti Dissoumba Fang tradition. He was also baptized as a Catholic. My Missoko mentor, Apollon, is Buddhist with a Christian background, but at the same time, he’s a nganga. During Bwiti Dissoumba Fang ceremonies, sometimes women insert another tradition - l’Elomba, that they also practice. Women who practice Bwiti Missoko are also practicing another local tradition, called Nyambet. For me, apart from the Bwiti tradition, I do Sufi and Gnostic esoteric Christianity practices. At the same time for many years, I am studying and practicing Taoism, learning from Zhengyi and Maoshan Taoist sects. The only difference between these traditions is the language of how they describe things and the form that each tradition expresses in different places. But the essence is the same. 

Over the years, we’ve seen people being initiated in the Bwiti tradition from different backgrounds — Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Rosicrucians, freemasons, and atheists. We’ve seen pastors, priests, and imams initiated with us. Some people aren’t even looking for spiritual teachings, but just to let go of addiction and heal problems in their life. We’re open to all.

Ritual of Elomba

Q: Do you have to relocate to Gabon in order to study the Bwiti tradition?

No, you absolutely don’t have to. It depends on you and your life circumstances. It’s true that the heart of this tradition is here in Gabon. Here we have temples, all the natural elements, sacred wood (iboga), spiritual masters, the land, and the forest. Some people get initiated outside of Gabon, for example with the nima Gregory Puente, who after studying and practicing the tradition for 20 years in Gabon (and was consecrated as nima), now initiates people in Brazil and Europe. But some initiations like Bwiti Missoko, can only happen in Gabon because of the complexity of the ritual and the necessary elements that can only be found here. Those people who decide to go deeper decide to come to Gabon once or twice a year for a month or two and take the practices home with them. A few of us made a decision to relocate to Gabon and continue to learn here as students of this tradition.

Q: Why are you helping to offer Bwiti initiations to the world?

When I discovered this tradition for myself, it was a big surprise. All my life, I was looking for something like this, but I was never satisfied with religion. It wasn’t me that decided to be a bridge to help people access initiations. Masters of this tradition approached me and said despite the past history of Western abuse of Africa, slavery, forceful christianisation, and prohibitions and demonizations of local spiritual traditions, they’d like to spread their knowledge and share it with the rest of the world. They told me the key is to live with each other in peace and share wisdom with each other. And that’s why the Bwiti tradition is finally opening to the West. Before, it was a secret. Westerners were not allowed to access it.

It’s essential that when Western people come, they have someone who can facilitate their experience here. Someone to explain things in their language, to connect with them, to be a bridge between the African and Western worlds. It’s a really different world over here!

For me, when I explore something, I don’t like to just stay at the surface, I like to go deeper. So we offer people an opportunity to also go deep. It’s an incredible journey of self-discovery. That’s why when we receive people, we want to receive them as part of our Bwiti family. For us, this is not a business. We are building a community. We invite true seekers and those who are looking to change something in their lives to come and find what they’re looking for.