Alto Paraíso de Goiás
Begins February 12
On the high plateau of the Chapada dos Veadeiros.
The Retreat
An initiation, not a weekend away.
Five or ten nights in Brazil, held by Gabonese elders of the Bwiti tradition and carried from dusk to sunrise by the sacred harp.
Dates & Investment
Five nights or ten.
Every retreat opens the same way: a day to settle in, two ceremony nights, and a day of rest. Then you either go home, or you move with the group to a second site for five nights of integration.
Why we recommend ten nights
After two ceremony nights, many people do not have the fuel to travel or move around on their own. Airports, traffic, and decisions arrive too soon. The second five nights give the ceremony time to land, with the community still around you, and turn what opened into a plan for the life you go home to.
Every Place Includes
- A bed, and delicious, natural, vegan food, at every site.
- Ceremonies held in Portuguese, with translators for English speakers.
- Integration days held entirely in English.
- A WhatsApp group with your retreat community, and two preparation calls in the month before.
- The WhatsApp group and two integration calls after you leave.
- Initiation into a community. Once initiated, you can return for future retreats at a reduced cost.
Joanópolis, São Paulo
Begins April 9
In the forested hills of the Serra da Mantiqueira.
Bahia
Begins May 7
In Brazil's northeast. Venue details are shared when we speak.
What This Is
A rite of passage with a beginning and an end.
In Bwiti, iboga is not taken casually and it is not taken alone. It is taken inside a ceremony, at night, in a group, with elders who have been initiated themselves and who know what the plant does to a person over the course of a long night.
The word for what happens here is initiation. You arrive as one thing and you leave having crossed something. The tradition marks that crossing deliberately: with fasting, with washing, with silence, with music, and with two ceremonies that are named for what they ask of you.
This is not a wellness programme with a plant attached to it. The structure is older than the language we use to describe it, and the retreat follows the structure rather than rewriting it for a modern audience.
The Harp
The ceremony is carried by the harp.
Music is not atmosphere in a Bwiti ceremony. It is the method. Most of what you hear through the night is the ngombi, the sacred harp of Gabon, played by Cedric Akuma, a Bwiti master and master harpist. Voices, rattles, and the mougongo mouth-bow join it.
In Bwiti the harp is more than an instrument. Cedric describes it as the interpreter between people and the divine: it carries prayers upward and brings their answers back. It speaks three languages, he says: birth, death, and resurrection.
For most people this is the part they did not expect and do not forget: being carried through a very long night on sound, by people who are awake the whole time you are.
The Arc
Two ceremonies, one process.
The retreat is built as a single arc: a day to settle in, two ceremony nights, a day of rest, and then, for those staying ten nights, a move to a second location for integration.
Day one
Settle in
Arrive, meet the community, eat lightly, and sleep. Nothing is asked of you yet beyond arriving properly.
Day two
First ceremony
The Night of Death, the night for what has to be put down. The ceremony runs through the night with live music.
Day three
Second ceremony
The Night of Rebirth. The same rhythm and the same music. Where the first night clears, this one asks what will stand in the space.
Day four
Rest
Sleep, food, and quiet. Most people sleep a great deal.
Day five
Transition
The group moves to a new location for the integration days.
Days six to ten
Integration
For those staying ten nights, held entirely in English. An intensive period of rebuilding your future while you are still clear from the iboga's cleansing, with slow days, good food, and time in nature around it.
The days after
On leaving, prioritise introspection, silence, good food, and rest. Avoid highly stimulating environments, bright lights, loud noise, and large numbers of people for the first few days. Read the integration guide.
Conditions
What the container asks of you.
The retreat is a communal experience. There are usually around 15 participants and around 20 people supporting the ceremony, so that each person has real attention from the elders and the initiated assistants at every stage.
- Silence is encouraged wherever it is possible. Excessive conversation generates mental noise that works against the depth of everyone's process.
- Phones, watches, and electronic devices are not used during the retreat. One person is designated to handle communication in an emergency.
- Fasting and traditional cleansing begin on the first full day and hold until the closing banquet.
- Herbal baths are part of the preparation for each ceremony, not an amenity.
- Every guest speaks privately with the elder before the first ceremony.
- Support is continuous through both nights. Nobody is left to manage a ceremony alone.
More than a rite of passage, Bwiti is a call to reconnect with the ancestral wisdom already inside you, and to see yourself from a state of clarity. The Bwiti Tradition
Private Consultation
Begin with a quiet conversation.
Not everyone who asks should come, and not everyone who should come is ready this year. The first conversation is about timing, intention, health, and honest fit.