Buda

Buda is not presented as a single mythic founder figure but as a transmissible, socially-located power: a named capacity tied to envy and to particular social groups and occupations. Sources describe buda as a power held and wielded by those in a different social group (for example Beta Israel or metalworkers) and link its acquisition to lineage and artisan knowledge in folkloric interpretation; scholarly commentary frames this as a cultural diagnosis whereby specialized craft skill or social marginality is construed as deriving from an ambiguous or malign source. Geographically the concept is centred in Ethiopia and Eritrea and is also reported in related regional contexts (Sudan, Tanzania, and among Berber groups in Morocco).

The primary physical manifestation described in the sources is transformation into a hyena; buda-bearers are said to change into hyenas and to attack while concealing their human identity. The sources do not provide a standardized visual description of the human form of a buda-bearer beyond social and occupational markers—accusations commonly target members of Beta Israel or certain artisan/caste groups such as metalworkers (sometimes labelled with terms like tabib in related contexts).

Buda is credited with two linked harmful capacities: to inflict the effects commonly called the 'evil eye'—causing illness, misfortune, or other harm through envious gaze or magical influence—and to shapeshift into a hyena to attack victims covertly. Sources report that bearers are sometimes described as 'empowered by evil spirit' and that folkloric explanations connect the power's transmission to paternal lineage or artisanal origins; the literature treats buda as a real force that can be countered by religious and magical measures.