RECIPROCITY

Our relationship with Bwiti Roots is deeply personal.

Bwiti Roots was founded by Audrey Jover, a lineage keeper whose late mother was a respected Nima in the Ntann Village, Gabon. Audrey has become a teacher, friend and bridge for ETÉREO founder Paije Alexandra West, a twice-initiated member of Bwiti traditions.

In 2025, Paije traveled to Gabon for her second time, to undergo her second initiation in Ntann Village, deepening an existing relationship with Audrey, the village, its elders and the traditions surrounding Iboga.

From this relationship, a larger partnership between ETÉREO and Bwiti Roots has continued to grow. Together, we are exploring what meaningful exchange between Baja and Gabon can look like beyond the medicine itself, including support for Iboga reforestation, education, village infrastructure and the continuation of ceremonial traditions.

Our intention is not simply to financially “give back,” but to remain in relationship: to listen, learn, return, support what is being asked for, and ensure that as our work with Iboga grows, our connection to its people and homeland grows alongside it.

Our relationship with Bwiti has been built through initiation, mentorship, friendship and continued relationship with elders and communities in Gabon.

ETÉREO founder Paije Alexandra West has undergone two Bwiti initiations, first within the Missoko tradition in 2021 and later within the Fang tradition in Ntann Village in 2025. These experiences, and the relationships that have grown from them, continue to shape how we understand Iboga, responsibility and our role as people working with this medicine outside of its homeland.

We are also clear about the distinction between being in relationship with Bwiti and claiming to represent it. ETÉREO is not a Bwiti center, and our ceremonies in Baja Sur are not traditional Bwiti ceremonies.

Our responsibility is to honor what has been shared with us, remain students, maintain real relationships with our teachers and elders, and ensure that our work with Iboga continues to support the people, traditions and land from which it comes.

Our relationship with Gabon continues each time we sit with Iboga in Mexico.

Through Bwiti Roots, elders in Ntann Village hold ceremony in Gabon alongside our ceremonies at ETÉREO, creating an intentional bridge between the two communities across continents.

This is more than symbolic. It is an ongoing practice of relationship, prayer and exchange that keeps our work connected to the people and traditions who have carried Iboga for generations.

We do not consider the medicine separate from the relationships surrounding it. As we continue our work in Mexico, this ceremonial bridge is one of the ways we remain connected to Gabon and honor the living lineage from which so much of our understanding has come.

Knowing where our medicine comes from is fundamental to how we work.

Our Iboga is sourced through relationships in Gabon, allowing us to remain connected not only to the medicine itself, but to the people and communities responsible for its cultivation and stewardship.

As global interest in Iboga and Ibogaine continues to grow, so does pressure on wild populations. We believe those of us who benefit from this medicine have a responsibility to care about how it is sourced, who benefits from its exchange, and whether Iboga will continue to thrive in its homeland.

This is why our work with Bwiti Roots includes supporting the reforestation and cultivation of Iboga in Gabon. Our goal is not simply access to medicine, but participation in a future where Iboga is protected, replenished and valued alongside the communities who have stewarded it for generations.

Stone West is a nonprofit initiative separate from ETÉREO, created to support reciprocity, access to care, conservation and community-led projects connected to the medicines and traditions we work alongside.

Our contributions and fundraising for projects in Gabon, including our work with Bwiti Roots and Ntann Village, are directed through Stone West. This creates a clear separation between ETÉREO’s retreat operations and the funds dedicated to community support.

Through Stone West, we support Iboga reforestation, the local village school, ceremonial continuity and community infrastructure, alongside scholarships, harm reduction and access-to-care initiatives closer to home.

Stone West’s nonprofit status is currently pending. As it develops, our intention is to create an increasingly transparent structure for directing resources toward the communities, ecosystems and traditions at the heart of this work.

LEARN MORE ABOUT STONE WEST →