InMelanesian andPolynesian cultures,mana is asupernatural force that permeates the universe.[1] Anyone or anything can havemana. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a source of power.[1] It is an intentional force.[1]
Mana has been discussed mostly in relation to cultures ofPolynesia, but also ofMelanesia, notably theSolomon Islands[2][3] andVanuatu.[4][5][6][7][8]
In the 19th century, scholars comparedmana to similar concepts such as theorenda of theIroquois Indians and theorized thatmana was a universal phenomenon that explained theorigin of religions.[1] However, subsequent scholarship has dismissed this theory; many parallels previously drawn in this regard have been deemed specious.[by whom?][citation needed]
ThereconstructedProto-Oceanic word *mana is thought to have referred to "powerful forces of nature such as thunder and storm winds" rather than supernatural power.[9] As theOceanic-speaking peoplesspread eastward, the word started to refer instead to unseen supernatural powers.[9]
Mana is a foundational element ofPolynesian theology, a spiritual quality with a supernatural origin and a sacred, impersonal force. To havemana implies influence,authority, andefficacy: the ability to perform in a given situation. The quality ofmana is not limited to individuals; peoples, governments, places, and inanimate objects may also possessmana, and its possessors are accorded respect.Mana protects its protector, and they depend on each other for growth, both positive and negative. It depends on the person where he takes hismana.[citation needed]
In Polynesia,mana was traditionally seen as a "transcendent power thatblesses" that can "express itself directly" through various ways, but most often shows itself through thespeech, movement, ortraditionalritual of a "prophet,priest, orking."[10]
InHawaiian andTahitian culture, mana is aspiritual energy and healing power which can exist in places, objects, and persons. Hawaiians believe thatmana may be gained or lost by actions, and Hawaiians and Tahitians believe thatmana is both external and internal. Sites on theHawaiian Islands and inFrench Polynesia are believed to possess mana—for example, the top rim of theHaleakalā volcano on the island ofMaui and theTaputapuatea marae on the island ofRaʻiātea in theSociety Islands.[citation needed]
Ancient Hawaiians also believed that the island ofMolokaʻi possessedmana compared with its neighboring islands. Before the unification of theHawaiian Kingdom byKing Kamehameha I, battles were fought for possession of the island and its south shorefish ponds, which existed until the late 19th century.[citation needed]
A person may gain mana bypono "right actions". In ancient Hawaii, there were two paths tomana: sexual means or violence. In at least this tradition, nature is seen as dualistic, and everything has a counterpart. A balance between the godsKū andLono formed, through whom are the two paths to mana (ʻimihaku, or the search for mana). Kū, the god of war and politics, offers mana through violence; this was how Kamehameha gained his mana. Lono, the god of peace and fertility, offers mana through sexuality.[citation needed] Prayers were believed to have mana, which was sent to theakua at the end when the priest usually said "amama ua noa," meaning "the prayer is now free or flown."[11]
In theMāori culture of New Zealand, there are two essential aspects of a person'smana:manatangata, authority derived fromwhakapapa (genealogy) andmanahuaanga, defined as "authority derived from having a wealth of resources togift to others to bind them into reciprocal obligations".[12]Hemopereki Simon, fromNgāti Tūwharetoa, asserts that there are many forms ofmana in Maori beliefs.[13] The indigenous word reflects a non-Western view of reality, complicating translation.[14] This is confirmed by the definition ofmana provided byMāori Marsden who states thatmana is:
Spiritual power and authority as opposed to the purely psychic and natural force — ihi.[15]
According toMargaret Mutu,mana in its traditional sense means:
Power, authority, ownership, status, influence, dignity, respect derived from theatua.[16][13]
In terms of leadership,Ngāti Kahungunu legal scholar Carwyn Jones comments: "Mana is the central concept that underlies Māori leadership and accountability." He also considersmana as a fundamental aspect of theconstitutional traditions of Māori society.[17]
According to theNew Zealand Ministry of Justice:
Mana andtapu are concepts which have both been attributed single-worded definitions by contemporary writers. As concepts, especially Maori concepts they can not easily be translated into a single English definition. Both mana and tapu take on a whole range of related meanings depending on their association and the context in which they are being used.[18]
A tribe withmana whenua must have demonstrated their authority over a territory.
In contemporaryNew Zealand English, the word "mana" refers to a person or organisation of people of great personal prestige and character.[19]
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MissionaryRobert Henry Codrington traveled widely inMelanesia, publishing several studies of its language and culture. His 1891 bookThe Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-Lore contains the first detailed description ofmana in English.[9] Codrington defines it as "a force altogether distinct from physical power, which acts in all kinds of ways for good and evil, and which it is of the greatest advantage to possess or control".[4]
Describing pre-animism,Robert Ranulph Marett cited the Melanesian mana (primarily with Codrington's work): "When the science of Comparative Religion employs a native expression such as mana, it is obliged to disregard to some extent its original or local meaning. Science, then, may adopt mana as a general category ... ".[20]: 99 In Melanesia,"animae" are the souls of living men, the ghosts of deceased men, and spirits "of ghost-like appearance" or imitating living people. Spirits can inhabit other objects, such as animals or stones.[20]: 115–120
The most significant property of mana is that it is distinct from, and exists independently of, its source. Animae act only through mana. It is impersonal, undistinguished, and (like energy) transmissible between objects, which can have more or less of it. Mana is perceptible, appearing as a "Power of awfulness" (in the sense of awe or wonder).[20]: 12–13 Objects possessing it impress an observer with "respect, veneration, propitiation, service" emanating from themana's power. Marett lists several objects habitually possessing mana: "startling manifestations of nature", "curious stones", animals, "human remains", blood,[20]: 2 thunderstorms, eclipses, eruptions, glaciers, and the sound of abullroarer.[20]: 14–17
Ifmana is a distinct power, it may be treated distinctly. Marett distinguishesspells, which treat mana quasi-objectively, andprayers, which address the animae. An anima may have departed, leaving mana in the form of a spell which can be addressed bymagic. Although Marett postulatesan earlier pre-animistic phase, a "rudimentary religion" or "magico-religious" phase in which the mana figures without animae, "no island of pure 'pre-animism' is to be found."[20]: xxvi Like Tylor, he theorizes a thread of commonality between animism and pre-animism identified with thesupernatural—the "mysterious", as opposed to the reasonable.[20]: 22
In 1912, French sociologistÉmile Durkheim examinedtotemism, the religion of theAboriginal Australians, from a sociological and theological point of view, describingcollective effervescence as originating in the idea of the totemic principle or mana.[citation needed]
In 1936,Ian Hogbin criticised the universality of Marett's pre-animism: "Mana is by no means universal and, consequently, to adopt it as a basis on which to build up a general theory of primitive religion is not only erroneous but indeed fallacious".[21] However, Marett intended the concept as anabstraction.[20]: 99 Spells, for example, may be found "from Central Australia to Scotland."[20]: 55
Early 20th-century scholars also sawmana as a universal concept, found in all human cultures and expressing fundamental human awareness of a sacred life energy. In his 1904 essay, "Outline of a General Theory of Magic",Marcel Mauss drew on the writings of Codrington and others to paint a picture ofmana as "powerpar excellence, the genuine effectiveness of things which corroborates their practical actions without annihilating them".[22]: 111 Mauss pointed out the similarity ofmana to theIroquoisorenda and theAlgonquianmanitou, convinced of the "universality of the institution";[22]: 116 "a concept, encompassing the idea of magical power, was once found everywhere".[22]: 117
Mauss and his collaborator,Henri Hubert, were criticised for this position when their 1904Outline of a General Theory of Magic was published. "No one questioned the existence of the notion of mana", wrote Mauss's biographerMarcel Fournier, "but Hubert and Mauss were criticized for giving it a universal dimension".[23] Criticism ofmana as an archetype of life energy increased. According toMircea Eliade, the idea ofmana is not universal; in places where it is believed, not everyone has it, and "even among the varying formulae (mana,wakan,orenda, etc.) there are, if not glaring differences, certainly nuances not sufficiently observed in the early studies".[24] "With regard to these theories founded upon the primordial and universal character ofmana, we must say without delay that they have been invalidated by later research".[25]
Holbraad[26] argued in a paper included in the volume "Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically" that the concept of mana highlights a significant theoretical assumption inanthropology: that matter and meaning are separate. A hotly debated issue, Holbraad suggests that mana provides motive to re-evaluate the division assumed between matter and meaning in social research. His work is part of theontological turn in anthropology, aparadigm shift that aims to take seriously theontology of other cultures.[27]
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