Casita Iboga

Casita Iboga was founded on two ideas. First, the root is an intensely personal experience, and as caregivers, we must provide the optimal setting for transformation and healing to occur. Although many experience life-changing journeys with this medicine can happen in less welcoming institutional settings, we find that most would prefer our peaceful location and our personalized care.

The second- treatment with the root shouldn't be cost-prohibitive- is the basis for our continuing effort to provide high-quality service at the lowest price possible. We believe that safe, personalized treatment by experienced professionals in a comfortable place should be available to everyone. Many who might be otherwise limited due to cost considerations to an underground treatment in a motel may instead benefit from a much richer experience through the expert care we provide in this beautiful environment conducive to reflection and rejuvenation.

Casita Iboga is a cooperative effort by healers, guides, and other practitioners who seek to teach and learn the healing arts with the aid of natural allies, incorporating a wide range of techniques and disciplines, with the broad goals of personal healing, growth and community building. We strive to build a better tomorrow, starting right now.

Our foundation is a commitment to ethical practice, integrity, rigorous personal practices and discipline, and continued learning. Your safety and well-being on all levels is of paramount importance, and you will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion on your journey.

We generally work with one person at a time. That allows us to offer highly individualized care by knowledgeable, dedicated professionals, all of whom have experienced their own transformative journeys and are actively engaged in continuing personal growth.

Established in Baja California as a conventional stationary "bricks and mortar" center, our added focus has become the delivery of services to clients who are unable or unwilling to travel to Mexico. Contact us to see if more convenient options exist for the delivery of our services in your location or one of our centers including select U.S. cities and the Bahamas. Not all medicines that we work with are available at all the venues in which we work. Call us for more specific information.

"I cannot endorse the Casita strongly enough. When I arrived, I was greeted by James who was courteous, professional and welcoming. The environment was the perfect mix of comfort, privacy and peacefulness, surrounded on all sides by natural, beautiful landscapes. James was very honest, open and clear when he explained how the process worked, what I could expect and some pitfalls to avoid. He was there with me for every step of the way, he was always responsive to anything I needed and was willing to do whatever was necessary to make sure my treatment was successful. Over the span of days I spent at the Casita, I was always given healthy, fresh food to eat, the bedroom I stayed in was very well furnished and incredibly comfortable. When I needed space to be alone, I had it. When I needed company to help me process the experience, I had it. I was safe, well cared for and when I left, I felt prepared and healthy, better than I had felt in many years.

Months later, I am still in regular contact with James, I have never felt abandoned or left adrift, but also, I was not over-directed. My treatment was a very personal experience, and I have always felt that the experience there has given me direction in the form of a sign rather than a guide. They helped me to find my own way, rather than show me the whole path. I would say it's worth the trip to Mexico, but that's not accurate. The journey outside my comfort zone was a critical part of the process and crossing the border was a part of that. The trip wasn't part of the cost, it was part of the benefit."

"As promised, here is the log of my experience. I'd love to read your notes sometime too. Thanks again for the rebirth. I really needed it.

Down the Br’er Rabbit hole.

I first heard about the root through a movie in New York I went to see about psychedelic healing and research. I was especially interested in one man’s story of having come to the United States from Africa to cure the people of this country of addiction.

Having struggled with addiction myself for many years to opiate painkillers, the message resonated with me. More than just pills, I have an addictive personality. Food, sex, deep tissue massage, driving fast, the list goes on. It has been said that I have poor impulse control and I wouldn’t disagree. So, the idea that there was a magic pill out there that could reset my habits, my desires, was too tempting to ignore. We met a lovely young woman in Long Beach who came to our house and talked to both my wife and I about the root and what she thought it could do for us both.

After much consideration, we decided that my wife should go first. I’ll leave her reasons out of this narrative as that is her story to tell, but if you’re reading this then chances are you have already heard it. The immediate and measurable benefits from it are ongoing in her life over a year later, so I couldn’t have a stronger reference.

When my turn came around, I was nervous. I had heard and read so much about it since then, been somewhat immersed in the culture of it through my wife by proxy, but I still didn’t really know what to expect. Everyone reported something different, but in every case I learned of, one thing was the same. No one walked away unchanged.

I arrived mid-afternoon at the Casita in Baja Norte, just under an hour south of the border. It overlooks the ocean and a river at the same time- very comfortable furniture, a fireplace, lots of great books. An excellent sanctum sanctorum for psychedelic exploration: No television, few of the American amenities that I am used to, and AMAZING. If only the walls could talk, I’m sure that house has seen its share of adventure.

I had heard that there was a strong nausea effect so I had fasted that day. I hadn’t had my usual morning energy drink either, just water and a little juice. So I had a splitting headache, I was hungry, grumpy, and having just had driven down from LA, more than a bit shagged out. I was having some serious second thoughts about the whole thing, but James was an excellent guide and assuaged my fears like a boss. I decided to damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

We started after dusk. James gave me the first pill, a gel cap with some mysterious white powder in it. I trusted my guide implicitly, and I had no doubt what it was, but there was still a leap of faith as I swallowed that pill. J kept monitoring my blood pressure, remarking candidly that it was a bit unusual, but still OK to proceed. To be honest, I didn’t understand some of what he was saying about the pattern, but James was calm, and having recently had a full physical at my doctor and given a clean bill of health, I wasn’t too worried about it.

We sat by the fireplace and talked, I honestly can’t remember what about. It starts to get a little hazy at this point in my recollection as I put this down. Thirty minutes or so later, I start to feel some mild effects. James gave me another pill, identical in appearance but a third again stronger than the first one. My attention started to wander, I was having a hard time holding any train of thought. The fire felt so good I didn’t want to move, but I knew if I laid down on the couch I wouldn’t be able to get back up, so I had my guide help me up and into bed. It was very difficult to walk at this point, I had a strong feeling of ataxia.

I got very cold and started shivering uncontrollably. James brought in a blanket that weighed about as much as a small black hole and it was the most magnificent thing in the world. At some point, he gives me another pill, this one even stronger. The shivering slowed down into something more like a full body writhing motion that continued unabated for most of the entire experience.

We had started out with this Bwiti tribal music, which was actually pretty good, and interesting, and I really did enjoy it as part of the experience, but I did eventually tire of it and asked to change it. J put Shpongle on, bless his heart and soul. Music by trippers, for trippers. At some point, J gives me one more pill and I am a little incredulous. I ask him, are you sure? I mean, I’m waayyy out there.. He assures me that I should take it, so I did, but I told him I didn’t want any more. He said that was oK, it was the last one. Then things really went sideways.

I don’t know how much time passed. My brain accelerated into some kind of autistic computer. My emotions were all firing at once, cranked to 11, in every direction at once. I felt everything there was in me to feel, simultaneously. Somehow, though, I was able to step back and observe it from a space of detachment, even enjoy it.

It was about this time that I made use of the bucket next to the bed. Thank the gods of hither and yon that I fasted. That could have been soo much worse than it was, and as it was, the taste was something straight out of Vogon poetry. Too horrible for words.

After that, things slowed down a bit, I was able to have some sliver of control over directing my consciousness, but I had an attention span of about 6 seconds. I was solving incredibly complex math in my head, like I had a whiteboard with the solution on it right in front of me, but it would erase every 6 seconds. I started to see words in my head, and I was breaking them down into roots, comparing them, understanding their underlying meanings in new ways.

I remember talking to James at length about Kurzweil, the 8 circuit model, how I was feeling, what I was seeing and hearing. The Shpongle was in rotation with Portishead, another incredible pairing with the experience, but there was this enduring sound, like the jaw harp in the Bwiti music, that was non-stop. In and out, up and down, it wove through Posford’s electronic tapestry. It was bouncing around inside of my hooded sweatshirt in a pleasant way.

Another underpinning of the experience was the near constant nausea and pretty wild temperature fluctuations. I had some mild anxiety about having overdosed and needing to go to the hospital, but James reassured me that was not going to happen. I was sweating more than I had ever sweat, both cold and hot at the same time. I was burrowed down into the blankets pretty deep, I figured that it was better to sweat more than to get the shivers again. My brain was still on overdrive. I was seeing clear visual hallucinations throughout the experience as well. J’s face was morphing constantly, his left ear took up the entire side of this face. The little Domo plush next to my bed was also having the same thing, his face looked like the drug cops in the animated Scanner Darkly movie. Shadows were also constantly moving, shifting, tantalizing like there was some secret truth to be revealed there. Some voice in my head said not to listen, that was just silly. Nothing in the shadows but shadows, no need to delve into that. So I delved into myself instead.

I turned inward, saw the blocks to things that I have long wanted. My physical health and appearance, my lack of progress on my book and other creative projects, things that usually caused me some discomfort to dwell on, were present and painless. I could look right into it, see the fear and doubt just disappear. It was a very illuminating process, but it seemed to happen very quickly, as if that was just the easiest part of the whole thing, then onto the harder stuff. My memory is pretty cloudy but I took the extended tour of my own consciousness in that period of time following. I strayed out of thought and time, as a certain newly elevated white wizard would say. Time was completely out of the question, I had no idea how long things were taking.

I didn’t really sleep, sometime around 8am (that may be a wild guess, I don’t know), I felt slowed down enough where I might have dozed for a minute or two. I did have my eyes closed at this point, and was seeing faces in my eyelids, floating lights, like fireflies, patterns. The music had stopped by this point, but the bwiti music was still strong in my head. It was pretty incredible. I opened my eyes, I think it was 10am or so. I was still feeling dizzy and weak. I was able to get out of bed without assistance though, make my way to the bathroom and then out to the front room. My guide noted how impressed he was with my quick recovery.

I had a little coconut water, hung out on the couch most of the day. I was mostly physically and mentally exhausted, but also still seeing visual hallucinations, still hearing the jaw harp music. I ate some beautiful cut up fruit for lunch and later in the evening some roast chicken, cabbage and fresh guacamole that J prepared for us. That evening I started feeling cold again so I took a hot shower and went to bed early, about 10PM. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up the next morning at about 7am, but laid in bed till 10. It was a very comfortable bed. When I did finally decide to get up, I expected the same weakness I had felt the day before but there was no sign of it. I practically vaulted out of bed. I felt better than at any time I could remember. Light, clean, powerful, wise. I was full of energy and mirth, a feeling that persists as I write this. I was anxious to write, to create, to heal.
 
I had planned on staying another day but honestly I felt ready to get home, get started. Even after a 3 hour wait at the border crossing, my thoughts have never been clearer, more focused than they are now. I am looking forward to the coming days as this newly attained knowledge and wisdom continue to unfold for me."