For those who never heard of them, werehyenas are creatures found in folklores from various regions in Africa, including Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia, the ability to transform into a hyena is known there as "buda". In Ethiopian folklore, wizards, witches, and blacksmiths to a less extent, are thought to have the buda; the buda is caused by the vice of envy, and is inherited from a witch, a wizard, or a blacksmith's paternal lineage. The buda is used to pass off as a hyena and hide oneself's human form, while attacking other humans; it's thought, in Ethiopia, that talismans and priests can defeat werehyenas, though they occasionally resist exorcism practiced by priests. In Ethiopia, the belief about werehyenas and the buda was just to justify the persecution of jews, them having been accused of eating human corpses.
To add to what other people said, all professionals were seen as possessing supernatural knowledge. Won't speak for other cultures, but in Slavic folklore smiths, stonemasons, builders, woodcutters, veterinarians, shepherds, musicians, millers and beekeepers were all though of as at least a bit of sorcerers.
It's like that adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 6d ago
For those who never heard of them, werehyenas are creatures found in folklores from various regions in Africa, including Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia, the ability to transform into a hyena is known there as "buda". In Ethiopian folklore, wizards, witches, and blacksmiths to a less extent, are thought to have the buda; the buda is caused by the vice of envy, and is inherited from a witch, a wizard, or a blacksmith's paternal lineage. The buda is used to pass off as a hyena and hide oneself's human form, while attacking other humans; it's thought, in Ethiopia, that talismans and priests can defeat werehyenas, though they occasionally resist exorcism practiced by priests. In Ethiopia, the belief about werehyenas and the buda was just to justify the persecution of jews, them having been accused of eating human corpses.