ABSTRACT

Debtera are Ethiopian Orthodox ritual specialists known for their advanced religious education, as well as for engaging in illicit magic. This article traces how their secret magical knowledge and practices emerge from the official Orthodox tradition. Yet, while drawing on this tradition, the debtera’s ritual repertoire also transgresses some of its central proscriptions. Transgression, in this context, does not abolish the boundaries it violates, but reinstates their legitimacy. This dynamic prompts debtera to engage in imaginative ethical reassessments of the unstable relationship between illicit knowledge and official tenets. Through their transgressive performances, debtera enable their clients to secretly address and actualise sinful desires that otherwise remain unacknowledged or are suppressed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. By examining this ritual management of covert desires, I conclude that the study of debtera’s secrecy illuminates fundamental complexities and contradictions in Ethiopian Orthodox sociality which operate beneath the surface of public moral discourse.

摘要

Debtera是埃塞俄比亚东正教仪式专家，以其先进的宗教教育和从事非法魔法而闻名。这篇文章追溯了他们的秘密魔法知识和实践是如何从官方的东正教传统中产生的。然而，在借鉴这一传统的同时，债务人的仪式曲目也违反了它的一些核心禁令。在这种情况下，越界并没有废除它所违反的界限，而是恢复了它们的合法性。这种动态促使债务人对非法知识与官方信条之间的不稳定关系进行富有想象力的伦理重新评估。通过他们的违规表现，债务人使他们的客户能够秘密解决和实现埃塞俄比亚东正教教会不承认或压制的罪恶欲望。通过研究这种对隐蔽欲望的仪式管理，我得出结论，对债务人保密性的研究揭示了埃塞俄比亚东正教社会的基本复杂性和矛盾，这些社会性在公共道德话语的表面下运作。