The ceremony · Missoko Bwiti tradition

A Bwiti ceremony, held with care

Our ceremonies follow the Missoko Bwiti tradition: the fire circle, the ceremonial palapa and Missoko Bwiti Music and sacred Songs through the night, at our center in the jungle on the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico. They are led by traditional practitioners graduated from the Bwiti House Iboga Provider Training Program in Gabon, and a physician stays in the room from the first dose to sunrise.

  • 12 hthe ceremony night, until sunrise
  • 2ceremonies in a seven-day program
  • 24/7physician on site
How the ceremony unfolds First time? Start here
A night ceremony at the center: participants lying on mats around candles, a practitioner standing at the altar
Ceremony night in the palapa, the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico
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Ceremony day

Before the ceremony

The day of a ceremony is slow on purpose. With the support of the team you turn inward, get clear on what you are asking, and are checked by the medical team before anything is received.

Candles and ceremonial objects laid out on the altar before a ceremony
A guest writing questions in a notebook

  1. Set your intentions

    You spend the day quietly, eating lightly and coming back to why you came. The team keeps the day free of distractions so your attention can settle.

  2. Write your questions for the medicine

    You write down the questions you want iboga to answer, as concretely as you can. If you have not prepared them yet, the three-step method is on our preparation page.

  3. One-on-one counsel with the practitioner

    Before the fire is lit, each guest sits with the practitioner for traditional Bwiti counsel: what you are carrying, what you are asking, and how the night will be held.

  4. Medical check-in

    The physician reviews your vitals, the day's ECG and your medication list one more time, and IV access is placed before any dose. Only then does the ceremony open.

    • Vitals and ECG
    • Medication review
    • IV access before any dose

How it unfolds

Three days, one ceremony

A ceremony is not one night. It is the night itself, the processing day that follows and the integration day after that. In a seven-day program you go through this cycle twice; in fourteen days, four times.

  1. Phase one about 12 hours

    The ceremony night

    The fire circle sets the tone. Around the fire, the practitioner shares the Bwiti teachings, opens the ceremony and performs clearings and protections for the space and for each participant before iboga is received.

    Doses are set by the practitioner for each person and paced through the night. Individual mattresses and blankets are laid out in the ceremonial palapa; when you begin to feel the medicine you lie down and receive a soft eye mask, which helps you focus within on the thoughts, feelings and images that arise.

    Missoko Bwiti Music and sacred Songs are played all night. They are specific to Missoko Bwiti iboga ceremonies and an integral part of the work: they connect you with the medicine, with Bwiti and with the ancestors, and they tether and protect you while you travel inward.

    Iboga does not make you feel high the way some other plant medicines or substances do. You stay aware of yourself and grounded in the room. As you breathe, relax and listen, thoughts, insights and images pass through the mind's eye like a film, carrying messages. In most cases the practitioner also guides you through a spiritual journey, to look more deeply at patterns, questions and truths. The ceremony lasts until sunrise.

    • Fire circle and clearings
    • Doses set by the practitioner
    • Missoko Bwiti Music and sacred Songs
    • Until sunrise
    Cory Poolman, hand on his heart, speaking at the fire circle before the ceremony
    The fire circle

  2. Phase two up to 24 hours

    The processing day

    After sunrise you are walked to your room, where you rest in bed under the care of the practitioner and the team. Most guests stay awake and keep feeling the medicine through the day, sometimes into the evening, and it is common to keep receiving messages and insights during these hours.

    The team checks on you regularly, bringing water, fruit, light healthy food and counsel when you want it. Journaling is encouraged: write down what came, before it fades. At some point you will feel the need to fall into a deep sleep. That sleep closes the ceremony.

    • Rest in your own room
    • Water, fruit, light food
    • Journaling
    • Medical checks
    A private room at the center: a queen bed under a jungle mural, a tub at the foot of the bed
    Your room, Nido Toh

  3. Integration day up to 24 hours

    The integration day at the cenote

    The next day the physical effects of the medicine have mostly subsided, but its energetic and spiritual impact continues. This day is for reflection, for receiving guidance from the practitioner and, when another ceremony follows, for preparing it.

    In the afternoon we take you to a cenote, one of the natural freshwater sinkholes of the Yucatán jungle. A quiet swim in cool, clear water, time under the trees and nothing to perform: the jungle does part of the integration for you.

    • Reflection and guidance
    • A swim in the cenote
    • Time in the jungle
    • Preparing the next ceremony
    A turquoise open-air cenote ringed by jungle and palm trees, with a wooden dock at the water's edge
    The cenote
The main house of the center and its pool, surrounded by jungle

The center

In a timeless space, you can just be

The center is a place of community and healing where the Bwiti principles are learned and practiced, including the offering of iboga. It lets you step out of your regular life to slow down, ground into the present moment, reflect on your life and work on your relationship with yourself. Much learning takes place here, and much unlearning of harmful beliefs and conditioning.

Hidden in the jungle on the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico, twenty minutes from Cancún airport, the center has seven private rooms, a cenote-fed pool, a fire circle and a dining palapa. With only an intimate number of guests, the quiet corners of the garden support your descent inward.

  • Mayan Riviera jungle
  • Seven private rooms
  • Cenote-fed pool
  • Fire circle and dining palapa
See the center

Integration specialists

Supported from the first call to the last

From your preparation call before arrival, through every day at the center, to the three months of continuing care as you settle back home, the same team stays with you.

  1. Before you arrive

    Screening and preparation

    Medical screening with 110+ biomarkers, a 12-lead ECG and a medication review, then a preparation call with the team and the guide for body, mind and soul.

    How to prepare
  2. At the center

    Counsel and supervision

    Traditional counsel with the practitioner before and after each ceremony, and the physician on site around the clock, in the palapa and on the processing day.

    Meet the team
  3. Back home

    Three months of continuing care

    Four integration calls, one right after the retreat and one at the start of each month for three months, plus three months of clinical follow-up and integration coaching are included. More counseling is available at $100 per hour.

    Programs and pricing
Dr Paola Villarreal, Michael Cassidy Mboma, Cory Poolman, Tania, Jenny, Lisa FungThe physician who clears you, the practitioners and provider who hold the ceremony, and the psychologist who follows your integration

All stays include

Every stay includes

Seven days with two ceremonies or fourteen days with four: whichever program you choose, these are part of it.

Bring back your inner fire

You've carried this long enough. Start with a conversation with our medical team.

Apply for a retreatBook a discovery call