Debtera: Difference between revisions

{{Oriental Orthodox sidebar|expanded=practices}}

A '''debtera''' (or '''dabtara''';<ref name="Finneran">[https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30035127?uid=3739896&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21100952249093 Ethiopian evil eye belief and the magical symbolism of iron working, by Niall Finneran, Folklore 114 (2003):427-433]</ref> [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]]\[[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]]\[[Amharic language|Amharic]]: ደብተራ (''Däbtära)''; plural, Ge'ez\Tigrinya: ''debterat'', Amharic: ''debtrawoch'' <ref>Wolf Leslau, ''Comparative Dictionary of Geʻez (Classical Ethiopic): Geʻez-English, English-Geʻez, with an index of the Semitic roots'', Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1987, {{ISBN|9783447025928}}, p. 122</ref>) is an [[wikt:itinerant|itinerant]] religious figure among the [[Beta Israel]]<ref name="Greenfield" /> and in the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]es,<ref name="crc">[http://www.crcstudio.org/eritrean/Pages/glossary.php?s=glossary#DEBTERA Glossary], Eritrean Print and Oral Culture, hosted on Canada Research Chair Humanities Computing Studio.</ref> who sings [[hymns]] and dances for churchgoers, and who performs [[exorcism]]s and [[white magic]] to aid the congregation.<ref name="Finneran" /><ref name="Mirecki">[https://books.google.com/books?id=xMDHgzjSU_MC&lpg=PA170&dq=debtera&pg=PA170#v=onepage&q=debtera&f=false Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World, Part 4 edited by Paul Allan Mirecki, Marvin W. Meyer, Published by BRILL, 2002, p.170]</ref><ref name="Turner">Turner, John W. "Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity: Faith and practices". [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ettoc.html A Country Study: Ethiopia] (Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry, eds.) [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (1991), [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/about.html public domain]</ref> A debtera will claim an ecclesiastical identity<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pF6MxGrqdUwC&lpg=PA134&dq=debtera&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q=debtera&f=false Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions By Stephen D. Glazier, published by Taylor & Francis, 16 Jan 2001, p.134]</ref> and behave as in [[minor orders]].<ref name="Geleta">[http://www.lausanne.org/en/documents/all/nairobi-2000/187-ethiopian-case-study.html Case Study: Demonization and the Practice of Exorcism in Ethiopian Churches by Amsalu Tadesse Geleta]. The Lausanne Movement, Nairobi 2000.</ref> They may in fact be officially ordained as [[deacon]]s,<ref name="Finneran" /> or may act outside the Church hierarchy.<ref name="Glazier124">[https://books.google.com/books?id=pF6MxGrqdUwC&lpg=PA134&dq=debtera&pg=PA125#v=onepage&q=debtera&f=false Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions By Stephen D. Glazier, published by Taylor & Francis, 16 Jan 2001, p.124]</ref> They are usually feared by the local population.<ref name="Mirecki"/><ref name="Finneran" />

 

Not all of the Debteras duties and cures are [[supernatural]]. Debteras place [[scarecrow]]s in farm fields to protect them and shave heads to prevent [[head louse]] outbreaks.<ref name="Finneran" /> Before the [[Derg|1974 revolution]], nobles would often hire Debteras to educate their children.<ref name="Molvaer" />

 

 

On the other hand, the priests ([[kahen]]) use the practice of confession, fasting, penance and Church attendance as a means of healing together with some sort of advice and guidance. The soul-father, called ''yenafs abbat'', is a kind of family spiritual-doctor, common in many places makes frequent visits to the home and performs services as required.

 

== References ==

 

[[Category:Beta Israel]]