By: GIORGIO SAMORINI
The problem of the origins of the human relationship with the hallucinogenic plant of iboga, and the real or mythical involvement of the Pygmies in the discovery of its intoxicant properties is discussed. The traditional use of iboga in equatorial Africa is framed within the general systematisation of the purposes of use of the intoxicant sources, recognising the divinatory, visionary, spirit possession, religious, cynegetic, cognitive and profane purposes of this plant. A historical overview of the religious cults of the Bwiti is then described, both the traditional ones, and the syncretic one of the Fang, including an exposition of the missionary and colonial persecutions directed against this religious cult that were perpetuated in the years 1930–1950 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
