Ok, yeah, I know something about ibogaine. A little. It is one of the entheogens, or considered one of the "teacher" plants, traditionally considered to have a body of knowledge that it can communicate to us - but I know that is a little way out for some of us.

Anyways, I was just visiting a young Belgian filmmaker who has made a film about Ibogaine, and who knows many people who have worked with it. Seems like it can completely "reset" the body in a period of two or three days from addictions such as heroin or cocaine - the body is completely cleared and undependent on these substances. I have wondered about how that would work with dependency on PD drugs, but because it's unclear in many cases how much is the idiopathic disease and how much is the secondary Parkinsonism created by the medication, not sure what that would do to somebody. But there's got to be some way to find out. Especially with the whole GDNF link, it sounds kinda promising. I'll work on it.

Ibogaine is used in Africa to treat various kinds of illnesses. The experience is so intense that it takes a whole village to care for one person who is undergoing the 3-day treatment. I kind of love that idea of a whole community feeling responsible and involved in the sickness of one of its members, and committed to seeing his/her healing through.

As far as the hallucinatory aspect, many cultures would call these visions, and think of them as essential to the curative value of these substances. In Africa they often place a mirror in front of you as these visions occur, so that you have to confront the truth about yourself as part of your confrontation with the disease. SO dealing with the psychological/emotional/spiritual aspects of your life and your condition in ways that have both symbolic and shall I say psychiatric significance is integral to the healing experience. Think of it as something like reporting your dreams to your therapist and analyzing them in order to deal with your past and its effects on your present and your future.

Incidentally, in the cultures I am familiar with in South America where Ayahuasca is a sacrament (there are at least 72 different cultures which use Ayahuasca), which is also extremely hallucinatory - interestingly most of these cultures are Christian and see the visions as a way of understanding the Christian mysteries. Small children - babies even -regularly participate in the Ayahuasca ceremonies, and have visions and relay them to the rest of the community. It's kind of like putting a child to bed and saying sweet dreams - the child may have good or bad dreams, but it is all part of the healthy development of their consciousness.