article
Magic as a 'quasi-profession': the organization of magic and magical healing among Amhara
Ethnology • 14 (3) • Published In 1975 • Pages: 245-265
By: Young, Allan Louis.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an article on Amhara magician-healers, or DEBTERA, who affect cures through the use of amulets, esoteric knowledge, and in some cases demon-helpers. DEBTERA are considered by laymen to be failed priests, who through some weakness or sin must leave their parish and lose the customary support of the church. At some point they make a pact with demons, the source of their power and stigma. As youth, DEBTERA wander the countryside making a livelihood trading esoteric lore and amulets with lowlanders and other DEBTERA. Eventually, they become low-level functionaries in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, working as cantors, scribes, church historians, and most importantly, teachers. Young argues that the DEBTERA are able to maintain themselves as a profession without the support of an institution or cult ritual through their ability to travel and trade in amulets, and because of their stigmatized status, an image the DEBTERA indeed encourage.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Magical and mental therapy
- Sacred objects and places
- Revelation and divination
- Magic
- Magicians and diviners
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Amhara
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1966
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1960s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Begemder Province, Ethiopia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Allan Young
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 265)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 64005713
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Amhara (African people)/At/At/At