In Western use of Ibogaine, physical movements don’t play any significant role. In the traditional use, this is essentially different: Active musical performance, different exercises and especially dancing are important elements.- Most radically, Mabandji women´s cult of the Mitsogho tribe uses the Iboga plant in a very special way: Principal purpose of the ceremonial intake is not personal insight but the training of a special ability to dance in a state of possession trance. The healers claim, that this will help the initiate to regain somatic and psychosomatic health.- Showing video clips of several ceremonies in which we could assist, we would like to explain the ideas and the logic of these ritual elements and discuss them in the context of contemporary Western therapy: What could we learn from it?
Süster Strubelt wrote her MA thesis on Iboga healing ceremonies in Gabon, and was initiated into the Mabandji women’s cult in 2003. After completing her studies in psychology and sociology, she worked as a journalist in Central America. As a clinical psychologist, she worked in different pediatric hospitals in Germany and in the development aid in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Rwanda. She is trained in Systemic family therapy and hypnotherapy.