Sometimes Death Is the Result of Ignoring the Advice of the Elders

Philosophical Summary

Eji Ogbe is the Odu of total illumination and of the ancestors. The elders (agbalagba) are those through whom the light of experience flows into the community. This proverb is the most severe expression of the respect-for-elders teaching — that the cost of disregarding their wisdom can literally be life itself. For the Eji Ogbe initiate, whose Odu is associated with the dawn that "lets the elder see the road," this teaching carries particular weight.