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. Later I didn my third Bwiti initiation in the branch Bwiti Diboki in the temple of the village Mbankomo. 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 some products 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 ngomo (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 (or new branch of Bwiti) 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.
As time goes on, everything gradually evolves…
2022
We started very simply. I began taking people into the forest for several days, where we took iboga in nature, in the woods. It worked excellently, and I learned that the natural environment is very important.
2023–2024
I rented a house with a garden near the forest. We always started in the forest and then went inside the house to spend the night. Certain rituals became established, as well as a framework of 4-day stays with 2–3 doses of iboga.
2024–present
I managed to buy a piece of land — officially a garden, but in reality it’s a forest — located about 15 km from the city of Olomouc. I set up a large tee-pee tent, and ceremonies are now held inside the tee-pee. It provides excellent support; we remain in nature and in contact with the earth, while also having shelter and protection from rain.
If you are to join your own iboga experience with me, you can read authentic experiences and apply by filling out the questionnaire here. If you have any further questions, please contact me.