Both master plant teachers. Both grown in dense tropical rainforests. With their protectors — the Bwiti for Iboga, and Ayahuasqueros for Ayahuasca — using and understanding that fire is an essential piece of the journey, as a protector spirit. Both traditions use music in ceremony that is channeled by the plant itself, as a reflection of that plant’s spirit and journey.
But is that where the similarities between Iboga and Ayahuasca end?
With the spread of plant medicine more and more people are interested in learning the difference between ayahuasca and iboga. Ayahuasca compared to iboga has some significant differences in how they work and how the experience happens.
Of all the plant and animal medicines known to man at this time, it is no question that Iboga and Ayahuasca are the most powerful and transformative. But with regard to which is the right plant for someone to experience — that depends on which of them a person resonates with. Their differences are stark.
Only an individual — based on his or her own unique life experiences — will be able to know which plant is a better fit for them.
**It is important to note that because each medicine has the capacity to take us anywhere, this is simply a breakdown of how people most commonly experience each medicine.
From Nature To Nurture
A root in nature, Iboga moves us in the same direction during our journey — inward, and as deep as we’ve ever dared to venture inside of ourselves, looking at what’s happened in our lives, what’s created our fears, our blocks.
And like the vine in its natural habitat, Ayahuasca moves this way as well — upward and outward, exploring the cosmos, inter-dimensional possibilities, connecting us to the larger fabric that weaves all of existence together.
Both of these directions — inward and downward vs. upward and outward — are hugely transformative in one’s life path. But the energy of one type of journey may benefit a person more than the other. For instance, if someone has had extreme sexual trauma in childhood, and is using negative behavioral patterns to numb the reality of existence, Iboga would show up to provide a deep dive into this person’s life and experiences, in order to break through the walls that have allowed them to cope/exist without actually authentically living. For a person who doesn’t understand the meaning of life, who doesn’t believe in a higher love — a journey with Ayahuasca would likely reveal the intricacies and infinite spiritual realities of this existence. It would be quite difficult to deny a higher power after having a profound journey with Ayahuasca.
Relating To The Journey
In the Iboga journey, information is commonly revealed in a very clear, direct way. You are aware of watching your life from a third-person perspective, often as an objective witness. You may receive guidance or direction in both a voice and language that is comprehendible to you; things that need to be done (or undone) are understood, and this information can be integrated after the ceremony in a clear way — because it was delivered in simple and direct terms. We generally leave an Iboga ceremony knowing definitively what we must do to heal. Though Iboga appears in both masculine and feminine form to journeyers, it is more commonly felt as a masculine presence — referred to as a stern Father or Grandfather, breaking down those self-imposed blocks and laying down the truth on us with an energy of tough love (for many, this harsh but profound confrontation with truth is the only thing they’ve ever experienced in life that has initiated a demolition of old patterns and provided the opportunity to start completely anew). It is, essentially, a rebirth of the deepest level, coming from a place of the deepest love. It is a reconnection to who and what we truly are, and to our purpose. Iboga allows us to remember that life is a gift which should never be squandered, but that it’s up to us to begin again and live as we were intended to.
During the Ayahuasca experience, beings and light languages and navigation of realms outside of our physical reality can sometimes feel confusing. We often do not understand with our minds what we are hearing, seeing, or feeling, as it is like nothing else we’ve ever experienced. This is because (not all) but many of Ayahuasca’s teachings are felt in the heart, the healing is downloaded in ways our mind and our speech cannot comprehend or convey — but the experience is solidified by the unfolding and subsequent healing in our lives following ceremony, as the integration period slowly reveals the work which was done. Where Iboga shows us the truth about our own lives, Ayahuasca can reveal the truth about cosmic and preternatural realities. Ayahuasca is usually always presented to journeyers as a deep and mystic feminine energy — the Grandmother of all Grandmothers. The divine and cosmic mother, the One who creates, nourishes, births and cradles all things, both seen and unseen.
In Or Out
Regardless of which medicine calls to you, it is to be remembered that these plant teachers both have the ability to help us heal and transform our lives beyond even our deepest wishes. Whichever plant we choose — and for many of us, we will meet with both throughout the course of our lives, depending on where we are currently at and what type of energy we need to help us heal at that time — there is only good that comes from the two Master Teachers. All we have to do is show up. The plants are intelligent enough that they know to give us only what we put in. They meet us exactly where we arrive. The more respect, humility, surrender and love we bring into our ceremony, the more healing we shall experience.