Ayahuasca is said to be a feminine teacher plant and Iboga a masculine one. Ayahuasca is very interactive while Iboga is like watching things on a TV screen. If you have done both of these in ceremony, how would you define their differences...was one more insightful than the other, and can they really be compared?
Comparing Iboga and Ayahuasca the most difficult part is finding any common ground at all. They are as different as two experiences could be, though each of them are master medicines in their own right. The Iboga experience is completely unique in the realm of psychedelics, almost to the point where it should be a part of a different category. The intense stimulant effect of the Ibogaine alkaloid is largely responsible for the separation. Whereas most psychedelics either heighten normal senses or make them seem to disappear altogether, during the Iboga experience you are acutely aware of the physical discomfort of the body. Rapid heart rate, persistent nausea, intense dizziness, buzzing in the ears, and the stern voice of the Truth–This lasts for 24 hours strong. There were some people who didn’t sleep for 3 days after taking Iboga. Contrastingly, Ayahuasca arrives with a warm buzz, brings the fireworks, a purge, and then 8-10 hours later a peaceful connectedness that allows you a full night’s sleep. Looked at this way, Ayahuasca may seem preferable. However, the sheer psychobytes of content downloaded from Iboga is unrivaled, and part of what makes that medicine so incredibly powerful.
Going Farther vs. Going Deeper
The Ayahuasquero shamans speak of going father–To explore dimensions beyond our own, and this may well be a function of the DMT. With the strong correlation between natural DMT release during physical death, DMT seems to be a gateway to the realms beyond the physical. I experienced several of these dimensions in an epic Ayahuasca journey and can attest to the ‘otherness’ of these realms. Those who smoke DMT also generally report the feeling of seeing something far beyond one’s self.
The Iboga Bwiti shamans speak of going deeper, not farther. They believe that their medicine accesses the infinite nature of the soul inside of us, and that soul’s infinite knowledge that extends all the way to the beginning of time. In my entire 24 hour encounter with Truth, there was never the feeling that I was accessing anything outside of myself. It is simply that the self I was accessing was virtually omniscient and had our best interest at heart!
Content Delivery
In the Ayahuasca experience content is delivered to you largely through images or encounters with other beings. The images then can lead to greater introspection, but it takes some insight at times to understand what the medicine was trying to tell you. Perhaps this is because there is a translation issue between the dimensions. How does the non-physical dimension communicate with the physical mind? As the brain scrambles to form its own Rosetta stone to translate the input it is receiving, strange imagery is often the result.
In the Iboga experience there is no translation issue because it is you talking to yourself. If you can’t understand yourself you are in big trouble. People have called Iboga your ‘stern father’ and this is due to the nature of what Iboga tells you. It will very bluntly explain to you how you have been fucking up, and tell you to shape up! And for many of us, that may sound like our father, but really it is just your true self trying to get your mind in line with what would be best for your destiny.
Full article:
https://www.aubreymarcus.com/ayahuasca-vs-iboga/
