411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Bwiti
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
bwiti
English
Etymology
From en fan Bwiti.
Proper noun
en religion A syncretistic religion and spiritual discipline practised in Gabon and Cameroon.
en 2007 Margaret P. Battin; Erik Luna; Arthur G. Lipman; Paul M. Gahlinger; Douglas E. Rollins; Jeanette C. Roberts; Troy L. Booher Drugs and Justice: Seeking a Consistent, Coherent, Comprehensive View http://books.google.com.au/books?id=FwWTNzvF4j4C&pg=PA194&dq=%22Bwiti%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lIIoUqqcCsSnlAWZwYHwAQ&ved=0CMsBEOgBMB4#v=onepage&q=%22Bwiti%22&f=false 194 Bwiti has not yet appeared in the United States and thus has not made a request for a religious exemption for its consumption of iboga. Clearly, Bwiti would satisfy criteria for a bona fide religion in the context of drug use (or “nondrug” use).
en 2009 Marlene Dobkin de Rios The Psychedelic Journey of Marlene Dobkin de Rios 85 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=01Ue6qq-N08C&pg=PA85&dq=%22Bwiti%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lIIoUqqcCsSnlAWZwYHwAQ&ved=0CKUBEOgBMBc#v=onepage&q=%22Bwiti%22&f=false Under the influence of iboga, the Bwiti initiates are able to communicate directly with an assembly of dead ones—a chain of ancestors.
en 2010 Stephen Gray Returning to Sacred World: A Spiritual Toolkit for the Emerging Reality 297 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ui_KnlcnAHwC&pg=PA297&dq=%22Bwiti%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lIIoUqqcCsSnlAWZwYHwAQ&ved=0CHwQ6AEwDw#v=onepage&q=%22Bwiti%22&f=false In West Africa, iboga is most often used as a sacrament of initiation in the Bwiti religion. Bwiti is a widely accepted and officially recognized religion in Gabon and in recent decades has spread to several neighboring countries.
en 2013 Des Tramacchi 6: Entheogenic dance ecstasis: cross-cultural contexts Graham St John Rave Culture and Religion http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ze2MCltwfigC&pg=PA132&dq=%22Bwiti%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lIIoUqqcCsSnlAWZwYHwAQ&ved=0CF4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22Bwiti%22&f=false 132 Bwiti is a new religious movement found among the Fang and Metsogo peoples of Gabon in equatorial West Africa. This ecstatic, syncretic cult, influenced by the Bieri ancestral cult and Christian evangelism, has been characterized as a reformative movement and as a dynamic form of resistance and response to colonialism (Fernandez 1982). The polymorphous Bwiti religion is spread throughout Fang territory, but chapels are relatively autonomous, and there is little organization beyond that found at the level of individual villages (Fernandez 1972).
Translations
an animistic religion of Gabon and Cameroon
Portuguese: pt bwiti m, pt buiti m
Noun
*
en religion Bwiti An ancestor or other religiously relevant figure, especially one appearing in a drug-induced vision to an initiate of the Bwiti religion.
en 2007 Christina Pratt Bwiti An Encyclopedia of Shamanism Volume One: A-M, page 75 To enter the Bwiti religion initiates must see Bwiti, the Ancestors. The only way to see Bwiti is in the altered state of consciousness induced by Iboga, the sacred plant entheogen utilized by Bwiti followers.
en 2009 Marlene Dobkin de Rios The Psychedelic Journey of Marlene Dobkin de Rios 85 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=01Ue6qq-N08C&pg=PA85&dq=%22Bwiti%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lIIoUqqcCsSnlAWZwYHwAQ&ved=0CKUBEOgBMBc#v=onepage&q=%22Bwiti%22&f=false The initiate falls to the ground in a stupor after drinking the iboga brew. The Bwiti then is supposed to reveal itself under diverse and macabre forms.
Fang (Bantu)
Etymology
From fan bwiti.
Proper noun
fan proper noun
fan religion A syncretistic religion and spiritual discipline practised in Gabon and Cameroon.