Two faces of the Bwiti Tradition
by Mar Lébou
There are two understandings of the Bwiti Tradition. The first one, is the Bwiti Tradition of anthropologists, people that have been trained to study the form, the outward appearance of what we call the Tradition. They spend many months or years with the communities during their field work, read many books written by their colleagues, meticulously describe every detail of the ritual — the temple, the songs, the robes and so on. Some of them even undergo the initiation to get access to the information shared with only the initiated people. However, the intention of the initiation still remains based on the aims of the physical world (anthropological research), hence they only receive a physical initiation. This kind of initiation doesn’t have the spiritual or mystical elements, which give a door to the higher knowledge.
In the same category, we find ‘plant medicine’ tourism, which has become very popular in recent years. People travel to places like Mexico, Peru or Gabon, driven either by their curiosity or desire to try a new psychedelic, a ‘teacher plant’ or whatever they prefer to call it. The intention of many behind this is to try ayahuasca or iboga for the sake of it, for the new experience, for ‘cosmic downloads’, or for the story (“I’ve been there and I did that”). They come for the plant itself, placing it on a pedestal, attributing all the healing successes and visions to the chemical properties of the plant. They do not know that the plant is just a tool — like a finger pointing to the moon, but it is not the moon itself. They participate in a ritual physically and emotionally, but the true spiritual nature of it still remains hidden from them. They become Bandzis (initiates) by name, leaving the place of the initiation fully satisfied, without even beginning to understand what the Bwiti Tradition is. For them is just another ancient shamanic ritual, and they are happy to experience it.
In some cases, a Western person comes to Gabon for initiation to quickly learn the physical side of the ritual, buys the iboga bark and goes back to the West to start offering the plant to others. Some even offer ‘initiations’. This is the reality of the modern new age neo- shamanism. They don’t spend the necessary time to learn, understand and practice the tradition and its science in its all aspects: physical, energetic and spiritual. Instead, they pick up what they could quickly grasp and mimic the form of the ritual, adapting it for the modern world, but having no idea of how to operate within the spiritual world. Belonging to no lineage and lacking any real Knowledge, they have no spiritual authority to initiate others. Imagine if someone was baptized into the church yesterday and today they began baptizing people, taking confessions and giving communion. It would be nonsense. What is unheard of and unacceptable in a Christian or a Buddhist world — where to become a priest or a lama, one needs to pass through many years in a priest school or a similar study and get ordained by a lineage holder — happens very commonly in the new age world. Only a few receive a multi- year training from a Bwiti master and get consecrated as a Nyma, the Bwitist shaman or priest.
A respected Gabonese Bwitist, Master Atome Ribenga, wrote in one of his books, “being very noble, the functions of Nyma require a very long training, at least 10 years, but often 15 or 20 years. It all begins at initiation”.
Initiation is only the beginning of the long path, the key to the door which we can open, but behind it lies the whole Universe with all its mysteries.
There is another layer to this which I will illustrate with the analogy of a scuba diver. The diver can plunge into the depths of the sea — an environment that humans do not access in ordinary (terrestrial) reality. The diver can reach such places because of his scuba gear. Iboga is like that scuba gear, enabling you to enter another world (which, like the sea, is not without dangers). But it’s not just the gear that enables you to journey safely in these waters — the diver also undergoes appropriate training and has a dive master to guide in the ocean’s depths. Without this preparation and guidance, the diver wouldn’t know the marine life, dive sites, underwater communication, dangerous currents in the area, etc. And, without being properly trained as a dive master, you would never guide others into the waters with you, otherwise their life will be also in danger. It’s the same with the spiritual world. Undergoing the appropriate training enables you to navigate in the spiritual world, avoid dangers and know what to do if something goes wrong. Training connects you with a true spiritual lineage of ascended masters that can protect you while you journey in spiritual planes — with this you can safely travel and come back without getting tangled with malevolent entities.
The second understanding of the Bwiti is that the Bwiti is everything. It goes beyond the tradition. It is the Unknowable, Inexplicable, the true Mystery of the Universe, the Tao.
Can you grasp what is Eternal and Infinite? The question is rhetorical. With this, the attitude towards what you really can learn with the Bwiti Tradition completely changes.
Bwitists call their tradition primordial, tracing its roots from the first people on Earth to ancient Egypt. It was there, long ago, where the pygmies were invited by Egyptian pharaohs and priests to participate in temple mysteries and initiations. There, the pygmies shared with them the true knowledge of the Nature, Man and the Universe. Later, they migrated back to the forests of Central Africa and passed their Tradition to the tribes of Apindji, Mitsogo Massango, Pove, Fang and other peoples of the region.
This mystical and spiritual understanding of what the Bwiti is requires a different state of mind in order to prepare the novice for a true initiation. Master Atome Ribenga wrote about physical, mystical and spiritual initiation, pointing out that sometimes a person can receive only a physical initiation, but not a mystical or a spiritual one. It all depends on the initiate’s mind, heart and intentions. That’s why you have a long process of purification, meditation and contemplation before you undergo initiation. If your mind is closed, your heart remains impure or your intentions are corrupted, you will not be able to access the higher levels of initiation. The spirits simply won’t allow you.
As Prince Birinda de Boudiéguy writes in his book The Secret Bible of Africa according to Bwiti, “upon awakening, and if he was fully successful, the neophyte becomes Bandzi. Indeed, according to Bwiti, there are, among men, individuals whose physical body is still almost the only one to have reached a certain development”.
A truly successful initiation is when your body, soul and spirit are purified and initiated — the physical, mystical and spiritual are contacted. Here comes the understanding, that it is not the iboga (the ‘scuba gear’ that enables you enter the subtle realms) that is solely responsible for your initiation — it’s the Spirits. Bwiti initiation is a combination of many components, many tools, and iboga is just one of them. In fact, some people do initiation without ingesting the iboga root bark and they have the same depths of experience as those who took the sacred wood. What is vitally important in the initiation is the purity of your heart, the work of the Nyma or Nganga (priest, shaman), envocational music of the Beti (harpist), the sacred songs and movements, and many other things that support the journey.
Imagine a king’s palace that holds the treasures (Knowledge, healing, etc.) you’re really seeking. The sacred plant gives you the key to the main gate. But the palace is enormous and you have no idea how to reach the king’s chambers where the treasures lie. Without guidance you can spend an eternity there, opening the wrong doors and walking from floor to floor trying to find your way (one’s hope is you don’t take a wrong turn and lose yourself inside a closet, or worse, the prison chambers!). To reach your destination, you also need to pass through many checkpoints with armed guards. Without a guide (a Nyma) it is not easy at all. That’s why it takes many years to learn how to become a Nyma. You need to learn how to access and then successfully operate in the Spirit world and know what to do if a difficulty arises.
All of the Bwiti tradition — with its colourful temples, dances, dresses, prayers, songs and music — is here to support you in your direct communication with the Divine.
Here we see the difference between two understandings of the Bwiti Tradition. By reading books, learning the songs and meaning of the dances, you learn about the Bwiti Tradition. By having the direct communication with the Divine, you will begin to learn about the Bwiti itself, the Unknown and the Unknowable, and about your place in it. Sometimes it takes multiple initiations to begin to penetrate its depths (and every time you go deeper, if you are ready). In the world of the Spirit, you can experience and understand that this depth is Infinite. In the world of the Spirit, you understand that you need to unlearn everything to truly understand what lies inside this Infinite well, which is You.