Steven Moubengui Callahan- Wisdom Keeper

In 2013, our lead provider Steven Moubengui; embarked on a spiritual journey to heal the mind, to be initiated into the Bwiti tribe and tradition…..

In the years leading up to this experience, Steven studied with many spiritual teachers and wisdom keepers. He apprenticed with African spiritual leader Malidoma Some, author of The Healing Wisdom of Africa. During this time he learned how to perform radical rituals; earth based ceremonies to bring about healing and reconnect the participant to the indigenous parts of themselves. Steven brought these teachings back to his home and offered radical rituals  to his community. He then joined Bolad’s Kitchen, a school led by Mayan Shaman and wisdom keeper Martin Prechtel, author of The Secret life of the Jaguar. With Martin he studied the intricacies of indigenous life and thought, creating elaborate community offerings in traditional Mayan style, intended to maintain humanity’s balance with the earth. Throughout the years his quest for truth and information brought him to many different traditions, to gather much needed and near forgotten pieces of what it means to be a human.

During this time he also worked full time as a farmer in the hills of Northern California, growing food and medicine for his family and community. In these hills he learned more about the ways of nature, the turning of the seasons, the timing of the earth. Studying herbalism and permaculture Steven deepened his connection to life and sustainability. His wife was studying midwifery, and Steven learned these sacred ways alongside her, catching their three children himself at their home in beautiful empowering home births. For their family, reclaiming the ways of their ancestors and holding their children close to the sacred was the most important thing. Making offerings to the land, growing their food, birthing their children together.

As life continued forward, Steven’s spiritual path lead him to the master plant Iboga. He embarked on a journey to Costa Rica, to meet the medicine for his own psycho-spiritual healing experience. This original Iboga ceremony for Steven was a cleansing of all remaining generational trauma, and a complete rebirth of himself.

He was then invited by Moughenda Mikala, 10th generation Bwiti shaman, to be a part of the first ever group of westerners to visit his village. With a wife and two small children at home, leaving for one month to go into the jungle with no phone or internet was daunting to say the least. Yet receiving this invitation was an immeasurable honor, and he knew this was the most important thing he could do for himself and his family.

Landing in Gabon with 9 other foreigners, their purpose was clear, Initiation. This opportunity to connect to an intact indigenous tradition holding the rites of one of the most ancient plant medicines used by humankind, was an answer to a lifetime of prayers and experiences.

After leaving the airport in Libreville, the first stop was Moughenda’s great uncles village, Moukoumou, a 16 hour ride through washed out ravines and muddy rainforest, sometimes propping the cars up on boards to get through the marshy jungle. After spending 3 weeks and countless ceremonies there, they ventured 8 more hours even deeper into rainforest, walking the final mile to the Pygmy village, to visit the original keepers of Iboga.

The Pygmy’s connection to nature is beyond that even of the local tribesman. Otherworldly and shy, having never encountered westerners before, their sensitivity to the new energies was palpable. These are a people who are literally a part of the jungle they live in, still holding the thread of the original magic given to the first humans at the beginning of time. They were the first to discover Iboga and realize it’s healing properties. They kept this sacrament a secret for centuries before sharing it with the Bwiti. During Steven’s time there, the Pygmies performed a ritual, which went on for days. The depth of their songs rang out into the jungle and became more of a background noise blending with the sounds around them. The purpose of this ritual was to call the spirit of the forest to meet their new guests. After ritualizing and singing for days, the veil between the spirit world and the physical world dissolved leaving the limitations of the mind behind. Once the group entered this state of being, spirits began to emerge from the jungle. Covered in palm leaves and vines, they danced their way through the village, accompanied and cared for by the local people. Torches lit their way on their symbolic journey as the entire village sang them into life. To have been witness to this ancient ritual was one of the most potent spiritual experiences of Steven’s life.

During this trip Steven was initiated into the Bwiti tribe. In a several day ritual, he ate the medicine, sang, danced, and was challenged deeply, undergoing the process of becoming a man in this ancient way. The women of the village offered their voices day and night singing songs that courted in the spirits and held the initiates in a nourishing and protected ceremonial space. Their unending energy seemed to only grow with time and was a testament to the capabilities of the human spirit. Steven was paraded through the jungle tied to his brother initiates with braided palm leaves, creating a chain of support and a new family. He connected to the element of fire and was able to use it as a tool to travel beyond the present moment. Ultimately he Was presented with the deepest part of himself, his true soul. Beneath all the layers of life and wisdom gathered, this was the missing piece, a homecoming to his own self, and the magic of life that he always knew was there.

Gabon, thriving with indigenosity and teeming with wisdom and pure life, was opening its doors to outsiders, and sharing their hard earned healing technologies with the world. For Steven, this is where all of the teachings he had gathered came together into one truth, that was whole and ready to be shared with the world.

His guide and mentor; Moughenda, invited him to come study in Costa Rica, and train to become an Iboga provider. After returning home from Africa, he knew that helping people heal with Iboga was his calling.

Steven and his family decided to pack all their belongings and move from Northern California to Costa Rica to learn as much as they could about this plant medicine and it’s tradition.  At that time, Moughenda was leading his own retreats in Costa Rica which offered psycho spiritual ceremonies as well as addiction detoxes. This environment gave Steven the chance to assist with treating 40-50 people per month for a variety of ailments. This hands on experience was invaluable to learning how to work with westerners and translate the tradition into an understandable body of knowledge. As he was training, he was also deepening his connection to the medicine and himself. Splitting his time between all night ceremonies and 2 small children and a pregnant wife at home, this rigorous year of his life expanded him in new ways, allowing him to hold the space necessary for this work. Steven graduated his training program as an Iboga provider 6 days before his daughter, his fourth child, would be born. Giving her a traditional spiritual shower in the jungle river as a newly approved steward of Iboga Plant Medicine was a blessing to everyone involved. New life meeting ancient wisdom to connect the timelines of humanity.

After graduating from his training, Steven went on to become the lead provider at Iboga Wellness Center Costa Rica, and then opened his own retreat, Iboga Healing Costa Rica. The years spent there in the dry tropical rainforest allowed Steven to gain experience working with hundreds of people from differing backgrounds and ages. Over his time there he fine tuned his skills, learning to meet each guest and their unique stories with integrity and skill. Learning the complexities of how Iboga effects different people, and how to utilize the Bwiti technologies in these situations, was invaluable to his expertise.

After 5 years in Costa Rica, Steven was invited to host a private retreat in Sintra, Portugal. From the moment he landed there he new that this was the next chapter. Iboga was being called to Europe, and Steven and his family knew it was time to make a move. Envisioning to open new access for Iboga to Europeans, Steven partnered with fellow providers in any areas of expertise to create a luxury experience with its traditional roots intact.

     This new endeavor came through a collaboration of hard work, lifetimes of prayer and dedication, the Bwiti spirits, and the spirits of this beautiful land working together. The intense peace of this new land calls every aspect of the Iboga experience to step up into a new caliber, and encourages the most comprehensive healing energy we have ever encountered.

  Steven continues to hold the torch for Iboga plant medicine to make its way forward into he world in a good way. Keeping the tradition intact and love at the center of the flame. It is his vision to resist the wave of large commercialized plant medicine centers, creating an intimate atmosphere with a high quality of care for guests, with well rested staff and providers. We look forward to learning more from him and the ceremonies he offers in the years to come.