Mana (Oceanian cultures): Difference between revisions

According toIn [[MelanesiansMelanesian mythology|Melanesian]] and [[PolynesiansPolynesian culture|Polynesian]] mythologycultures, '''''mana''''' is thea spiritual life[[supernatural]] force energy or healing power that permeates the universe.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/mana-Polynesian-and-Melanesian-religion |title=Mana (Polynesian and Melanesian religion) |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a source of power.<ref name="britannica" /> It is an intentional force.<ref name="britannica" />

The [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]] word "*mana" is thought to have referred to "powerful forces of nature such as thunder and storm winds" rather than supernatural power.<ref name="Blust">{{cite journal |last1=Blust|first1=Robert|author-link=Robert Blust |date=2007 |title=Proto-Oceanic *mana Revisited |url=https://www.academia.edu/21896750 |journal=[[Oceanic Linguistics]] |volume=46 |issue=2|pages=404–423|doi=10.1353/ol.2008.0005|s2cid=144945623}}</ref> That meaning became detached asAs the [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic-speaking]] peoples [[Austronesian expansion|spread eastward]] and, the word started to refer instead to unseen supernatural powers.<ref name="Blust"/>

''Mana'' is a foundation of [[Polynesian culture|Polynesian theology]], a spiritual quality with a supernatural origin and a sacred, impersonal force. To have ''mana'' implies influence, [[authority]], and [[efficacy]]: the ability to perform in a given situation. The quality of ''mana'' is not limited to individuals; peoples, governments, places and inanimate objects may also possess ''mana'', 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 his ''mana''.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In [[Hawaii]]an and [[Tahiti]]an mythologyculture, ''mana'' is a [[Energy (esotericism)|spiritual energy]] and healing power which can exist in places, objects and persons. Hawaiians believe that ''mana'' may be gained or lost by actions, and Hawaiians and Tahitians believe that ''mana'' is both external and internal. Sites on the [[Hawaiian Islands]] and in [[French Polynesia]] are believed to possess ''mana''—for example, the top rim of the [[Haleakalā]] volcano on the island of [[Maui]] and the [[Taputapuatea marae]] on the island of [[Raiatea]] in the [[Society Islands]].{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Ancient Hawaiians also believed that the island of [[Molokaʻi]] possessed ''mana'', compared with its neighboring islands. Before the unification of the [[Kingdom of Hawaii]] by [[Kamehameha I|King Kamehameha I]], battles were fought for possession of the island and its south-shore fish ponds which existed until the late 19th century.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Prayers were believed to have mana, which was sent to the akua at the end when the priest usually said "amama ua noa," meaning "the prayer is now free or flown."<ref>{{Cite book|author=Cunningham, Scott|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/663898381|title=Hawaiian religion and magic|date=1995|publisher=Llewellyn Publications|isbn=1-56718-199-6|pagespage=15|oclc=663898381}}</ref>

In [[Māori language|Māori]], a tribe with ''mana whenua'' must have demonstrated their authority over a territory. In [[Māori culture|Maori mythology]], there are two essential aspects of a person's ''mana'': ''mana [[tangata whenua|tangata]]'', authority derived from [[whakapapa]] ([[genealogy]]) and ''mana [[huaanga]]'', defined as "authority derived from having a wealth of resources to [[gift economy|gift to others to bind them into reciprocal obligations]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Whanganui River report (Wai 167).|date=1999|publisher=GP Publications|location=Wellington, New Zealand|isbn=186956250X1-86956-250-X|page=35 |url=https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68450539/Whanganui%20River%20Report%201999.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914150131/https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68450539/Whanganui%20River%20Report%201999.pdf |archive-date=2016-09-14 |url-status=live|access-date=31 December 2016}}</ref> [[Hemopereki Simon]], from [[Ngāti Tūwharetoa]], asserts that there are many forms of ''mana'' in Maori beliefs.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|url=https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/te-kaharoa/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/6/4 |title=View of Te Arewhana Kei Roto i Te Rūma: An Indigenous Neo-Disputatio on Settler Society, Nullifying Te Tiriti, 'Natural Resources' and Our Collective Future in New Zealand|journal=Te Kaharoa|date=2 February 2016 |volume=9|issue=1 |doi=10.24135/tekaharoa.v9i1.6|access-date=11 October 2018|doi-access=free}}</ref> The indigenous word reflects a non-Western view of reality, complicating translation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/viewchapter.asp?reportID=469d396b-ce85-4e30-b04f-a39dc8d03f38&chapter=36 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020102335/http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/viewchapter.asp?reportID=469D396B-CE85-4E30-B04F-A39DC8D03F38&chapter=36 |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 October 2007 |title=WaitangiThe TribunalNgāi Tahu Sea Fisheries Report 1992 |publisher=Waitangi Tribunal |access-date=26 January 2015}}</ref> This is confirmed by the definition of ''mana'' provided by [[MaoriMāori Marsden]] who states that ''mana'' is:<blockquote>Spiritual power and authority as opposed to the purely psychic and natural force — ihi.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Te Ao Hurihuri: The World Moves|last=Marsden|first=Māori|publisher=Hicks Smith|year=1975|editor-last=King|editor-first=Micheal|location=Wellington|page=145|chapter=God, Man, and the Universe}}</ref></blockquote>According to [[Margaret Mutu]], ''mana'' in its traditional sense means:<blockquote>Power, authority, ownership, status, influence, dignity, respect derived from the [[atua]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=State of Māori Rights|last=Mutu|first=Margaret|publisher=Huia|year=2011|location=Wellington|page=213}}</ref><ref name=":0" /></blockquote>In terms of leadership, [[Ngāti Kahungunu]] legal scholar Dr. Carwyn Jones comments: "Mana is the central concept that underlies Māori leadership and accountability." He also considers ''mana'' as a fundamental aspect of the [[Māori politics#Māori and colonial politics|constitutional traditions of Māori society]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=Carwyn|date=2014|title=A Māori Constitutional Tradition|url=https://www.victoria.ac.nz/law/centres/nzcpl/publications/nz-journal-of-public-and-international-law/previous-issues/volume-121,-september-2014/Jones.pdf|journal=New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law|volume=11:3|pages=187–204}}</ref>

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 ... ".<ref name="Marett">{{cite book |last1=Marett |first1=Robert Randolph |title=Threshold of Religion |date=2013 |publisher=Hardpress Ltd |isbn=978-1-313-15196-2}}</ref>{{rp|99}} In Melanesia the ''[[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.<ref name="Marett"/>{{rp|115–120}}

If ''mana'' is a distinct power, it may be treated distinctly. Marett distinguishes [[Spell (paranormal)incantation|spellsspell]]s, which treat ''mana'' quasi-objectively, and [[prayer]]s (which address the ''anima''). An ''anima'' may have departed, leaving ''mana'' in the form of a spell which can be addressed by [[Magic (paranormalsupernatural)|magic]]. Although Marett postulates [[Urreligion|an 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."<ref name="Marett"/>{{rp|xxvi}} Like Tylor, he theorizes a thread of commonality between animism and pre-animism identified with the [[supernatural]]—the "mysterious", as opposed to the reasonable.<ref name="Marett"/>{{rp|22}}

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".<ref name="Mana">{{cite journal|last1=Hogbin|first1=H. Ian|title=MANAMana |journal=Oceania|date=March 1936|volume=6|issue=3|pages=241–274|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.1936.tb00187.x}}</ref> However, Marett intended the concept as an [[abstraction]].<ref name="Marett"/>{{rp|99}} Spells, for example, may be found "from Central Australia to Scotland."<ref name="Marett"/>{{rp|55}}

Early 20th-century scholars also saw ''mana'' 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 of ''mana'' as "power ''[[wikt:par excellence|par excellence]]'', the genuine effectiveness of things which corroborates their practical actions without annihilating them".<ref name="Mauss">{{cite book|last1=Mauss|first1=Marcel|title=A General Theory of Magic|date=2007|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780415253963978-0-415-25396-3|edition=Reprint}}</ref>{{rp|111}} Mauss pointed out the similarity of ''mana'' to the [[Iroquois]] [[orenda]] and the [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] [[manitou]], convinced of the "universality of the institution";<ref name="Mauss"/>{{rp|116}} "a concept, encompassing the idea of magical power, was once found everywhere".<ref name="Mauss"/>{{rp|117}}

Mauss and his collaborator, [[Henri Hubert]], were criticised for this position when their 1904 ''Outline of a General Theory of Magic'' was published. "No one questioned the existence of the notion of mana", wrote Mauss's biographer [[Marcel Fournier]], "but Hubert and Mauss were criticized for giving it a universal dimension".<ref name="Fournier">{{cite book|last1=Fournier|first1=Marcel|title=Marcel Mauss: A Biography|date=2006|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=9780691117775978-0-691-11777-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/marcelmaussbiogr0000four/page/138 138]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/marcelmaussbiogr0000four/page/138}}</ref> Criticism of ''mana'' as an archetype of life energy increased. According to [[Mircea Eliade]], the idea of ''mana'' 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".<ref name="Eliade">{{cite book|last1=Eliade|first1=Mircea|title=Patterns in Comparative Religion|date=1996|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln|isbn=9780803267336978-0-8032-6733-6|page=22|edition=2nd}}</ref> "With regard to these theories founded upon the primordial and universal character of ''mana'', we must say without delay that they have been invalidated by later research".<ref name="Eliade2">{{cite book|last1=Eliade|first1=Mircea|title=Myths, Dreams and Mysteries: The Encounter Between Contemporary Faiths and Archaic Realities|date=1992|publisher=Peter Smith|location=Magnolia, Massachusetts|isbn=9780844666259978-0-8446-6625-9|page=127}}</ref>

Hoolbrad Holbraad<ref>Holbraad, M. (2007). "The Powerpower of Powderpowder: Multiplicitymultiplicity and Motionmotion in the Divinatorydivinatory Cosmologycosmology of Cuban ifaIfá (or mana again)" In ''Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically'', Henare, A. Holbraad, M. and Wastell, S. London: Routledge. pp. 199-235199–235</ref> argued in a paper included in the seminal volume “Thinking"Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically”,Ethnographically" that the concept of mana highlights a significant theoretical assumption in [[Anthropologyanthropology]] : that matter, and meaning are separate. A hotly debated issue, HoolbradHolbraad suggests that mana provides motive to re-evaluate the division assumed between matter and meaning in social research. His work is part of the [[ontological turn]] in Anthropologyanthropology, a [[paradigm]] shift that aims to take seriously the [[ontology]] of other cultures .<ref>Heywood, P. (2017). "[https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/ontological-turn Ontological Turn, The]" in ''The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Anthropology, Available at: https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/ontological-turn''. (Accessed: 7/11/2021)</ref>

* [[Kami]] in [[ShintoismShinto]]

* [[ManaMelanesian (Mandaeism)mythology]]

* [[Claude Lévi-Strauss|Lévi-Strauss, Claude]]; Baker, Felicity (translator). 1987. ''Introduction to the Work of Marcel Mauss''. {{ISBN|0-415-15158-9}}.

* [[Marcel Mauss|Mauss, Marcel]]. 1924. ''Essai sur le don''.

* {{cite journal|last=Mondragón|first=Carlos|title=Of Winds, Worms and Mana: The Traditionaltraditional Calendarcalendar of the Torres Islands, Vanuatu|journal=Oceania |date=June 2004|volume=74|issue=4|pages=289–308|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.2004.tb02856.x|jstor=40332069}}

* van der Grijp, Paul. 2014. ''Manifestations of Mana: Power and Divine Inspiration in the Pacific''. Berlin: LIT Verlag.

[[Category:TahitianCulture cultureof Tahiti]]