As an enligthened being, if you find yourself in the midst of those who are yet to realize who they are and their essence, you need to apply wisdom when doing business with them. You don’t have to discard your authentic nature just because you want them to accept your service(s) in order for you to earn a living, no! There are ways to come down to their level without you loosing your authentic nature, and they would accept your genuine offer.
In ÒSẸ OGBÈ(228th chapter of IFÁ), IFÁ taught us an important lesson from the story of Igun and Salagereje.
In this verse, Salagereje and Igun were both competent IFÁ priest. The inhabitants of Iwereje were seeking development for their town, so they called on Igun to come cast IFÁ and prescribe the right Ẹbọ for them, that would enhance their expectations.
But the people of Iwereje were operating through a low consciousness, I mean, they loved to judge others by their outward appearance, they do not care about what is inside of others, as long as they are beautiful on the outside, then it’s fine. So they called on Igun to come prescribe the right Ẹbọ for the development of their town, and Igun answered their call. Igun got into iwereje town shabbily, he casted Ifá and prescribed the right Ẹbọ for them, but the inhabitants of iwereje refused to take his counsels. Even though Igun was a competent IFÁ priest, the inhabitants of Iwereje refused to perform the prescribed Ẹbọ because they thought he was a hungry priest, because of how he dressed. So they asked him to leave, and told him they would call him later to come perform the material Ẹbọ for them. That was how they cunningly discharged Igun. For the people of Iwereje, the messanger’s outlook was more important to them than his counsel, they focused on the messanger and not the message!
The next day, the same people of iwereje called on Salagereje to come cast IFÁ for them. But before Salagereje approved their invitation, he consulted from Ifá first. IFÁ told him that the inhabitants of Iwereje were expressing artificial attitudes, they focus more on the messanger’s outlook instead of the message, therefore they will not listen to him if he looks too ordinary from the outside, he was advised to dress well in order to look rich on the outside. Salagereje complied, he appeared like a rich man in the town of Iwereje. He casted ifa for them and prescribed the same Ẹbọ that Igun prescribed for them. They quickly made the Ẹbọ that Salagereje prescribed for them because he dressed like a rich man, and they assumed that he was a rich priest, therefore he must be competent. They performed the Ẹbọ without looking back. Thereafter, their town became successful and well developed.
After a while, Igun went back to the town to remind them of their Ẹbọ, he saw that everywhere had developed, he asked them if they performed the Ẹbọ that he prescribed, and they replied with a yes. They said they called on Salagereje and he prescribed same Ẹbọ, and they paid him to perform it because he dressed well. They begged Igun not to get angry, and Igun left the town in peace.
Conclusion:
The above insight has shown us that occasionally we need to descend the degree of others assuming we need them to pay attention to us. Also, we don’t need to neglect our valid nature while doing this. IFÁ spread the word about it that, individuals of Iwereje were excessively fake, and in light of the fact that Salagereje should be honored, IFÁ advised him to dress well so they will pay attention to his advice, and afterward, he would bring in money for himself.
Therefore, if you are going Into Business with the Unenlightened ones, you must apply wisdom so that they can accept your genuine service(s) while you make good profit.
Message: Efe Mena Aletor – IFÁ PSYCHOLOGY