Kumacenge is the “Czech Bwiti Temple of the Abundance of the Mother Earth”.
The whole project is born step by step since June 2022, when I flew to Gabon to experienced a Bwiti initiation with iboga in the Bwiti tradition. Read here.
The whole concept became very clear during my third African trip to Cameroon in June 2023. I underwent another initiation in the village of Bwiti Dissoumba Benganga. A Cameroonian family provides long-term support and oversight to our temple.
My main intention for the initiation in Gabon and also the other in Cameroon was to get a clear confirmation how to share iboga in the Czech Republic. Step by step it is happening, I feel great support and gentle guidance of the spirits. It’s a very special magical process and with each step and step I know clearly that I’m going in the right direction.
During the initiations, I gained a clear vision of Czech ceremonies, as well as related activities such as art therapy and painting school, music therapy, music and theater, also the production of raw vegan attractions and creations with herbs… Simply what I enjoy and what gives me meaning to develop and share, it is possible to join the Kumacenge project.
The word “Kumacenge” itself is a word in the African language Fang, and means “Abundance of the Mother Earth”.
After my initiation in Gabon, I asked William, a Bwiti brother from our village, to make me a ngoma (Bwiti harp) because I decided that I wanted to learn to play it and accompany Iboga ceremonies and therapies with it. Each Ngoma has its own name and its own personality, and the word “Kumacenge” seemed appropriate for the name of the harp, so Kumacenge is both the name of the harp and the name of the whole “temple”. More about Bwiti music.
It was explained to me that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Bwiti temples in both Gabon and Cameroon, and they are very different from each other. In Bwiti, there are many many branches, they differ greatly, overall spirituality and let’s say “cosmology”, which is manifested in a different approach to iboga, life, the invisible world… they use different songs, different rituals, etc. The initial Initiation is also different. All this gave me the courage to believe that it is possible to create a new tradition in the Czech Republic that will be inspired by the African Bwiti, but that there is no need to blindly copy exactly the way they do in Africa.
We often go to the forest because it’s the way how to connect much more deeper to the Abundance of the Mother Earth.
During the first months in the Czech Republic, I learned to play the ngoma (harp) (see page Music) fairly well, created a lot of songs, and gradually three types of iboga ceremonies and therapies crystallized from the iboga processes:
- Ceremony – an evening “tasting” (with a micro dose) or an all-night ceremony, preferably by the fire, everyone gets one to one and a half teaspoons of iboga, iboga does not induce vomiting, but it will still bring a solid process to the next days and weeks… It includes teaching songs, dances and Bwiti rituals.
- Short Initiation (4-days) – for people who are not addicted. 1 preparation dose, 1 full initiation dose and integration dose. More information here
- Full Initiation – a process of week with me, which then integrates for many months, there are at least three preparatory doses on the schedule and then we have a initiation dose. It includes Bwiti rituals, dances, music with Ngoma (Bwiti harp) and other activities… More information here
In addition, it is possible to arrange for:
- Lecture on iboga, Bwiti and initiation in Gabon and Cameroon – with film or photo screening (2-3 hours long)
- A concert of Iboga songs with an eight-stringed ngoma harp – see page Music for an example
- A tasting iboga ceremony for your group (for example, as an unusual team building, meditation, yoga seminars, etc.) – full night ceremony with small dose.
If you are interested in living your own iboga experience with me, you can apply by filling out the questionnaire here. If you have any further questions, please contact me.