Superstition is highly prevalent in Ethiopia. Like Turkey and Greece, Ethiopian culture believes in the evil eye. In Ethiopia this belief helps uphold a caste system.[1]
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Main article: Buda (folklore) |
One folk religion inspired by superstition is Buda. Buda is associated with Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and lower castes, primarily with artisans and manual laborers. Manual laborers are considered lower caste by the aristocratic families, who, like tribal lords, spiritualists, and scholars are considered part of the highest caste. Within this social structure, manual laborers socializing with higher castes is seen as sinful and impure, with the lower caste being referred to as "envious, malevolent, and selfish", and "carriers of evil". Beads and amulets such as Kitab jewelry are worn to protect against some effects of the evil eye.[1]
According to Niall Finneran, "the idea of magical creation underpins the perception of artisans in Ethiopia and in the wider African context. In many cases, these skills have been originally acquired from an elemental source of evil via the paternal lineage, rather like a Faustian pact."[2][3]: 20–21 It is also believed that these powers allow one to shapeshift into animals such as hyenas. These beliefs are also present in Sudan, Tanzania, and among the Berber people in Morocco.[4]
Samuel Gobat argued that some Beta Israel rejected the belief as a Christian superstition. He wrote, "If Buda exists, you are obliged to believe that they can do nothing contrary to the will of God".
In Ethiopia, it is generally agreed that there are twelve harmful superstition-related practices, including female genital mutilation, polygamy, uvulotomy, milk teeth extraction, forced marriage, food prohibition, work restriction, abdominal massaging of pregnant women, excessive feasting, unnecessary incision, and widow inheritance.
Among the Bale Oromos, fungo is a belief that a dowsing rope will act as an object of divination. This superstition was observed during the Ethiopian Civil War, when parents went to a diviner to find their children who had been displaced during the war.
Other superstitious Ethiopian practices and beliefs include:[5]
Among the southern Omotic language-speaking community, mingi is a type of superstition that asserts that children born with physical abnormalities, including the top teeth coming in before the bottom teeth, are cursed. These children were killed by drowning, suffocation, strangulation, or by leaving the infants in the forest. In July 2012, the Bari people officially banned the practice of infanticide but retained the belief.[7]
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Main article: Zār |
Belief in Zār (evil spirits) is widely prevalent in Ethiopia, though many Ethiopian also believe in benevolent, protective spirits or adbar. Zār is also practiced by Beta Israel, the Ethiopian diaspora living in North America and Europe, and northern Ethiopian Amhara people with its center in Gondar. Zār is believed to have started in Harar by Harari and Somali women.[8]
Dr. Simon Messing, a sociologist who did his work in northwestern Ethiopia (Gondar) in 1953–1954, collected 80 essays on beliefs representing 13 provinces of Ethiopia of 80 students of Haile Selassie I University.[9]