Universal Archetype
Concepts analogous to mana in various other cultures include the power of magic, sympathetic magic and of seeking the intervention of a specific supernatural being, whether deity, saint or deceased ancestor.
The concept of a life-energy inherent in all living beings is a common archetype, appearing in many ancient religions and systems of metaphysics.
Analogies to mana in other societies include:
- Anishinaabe traditional beliefs: manitou
- Australian Aboriginal mythology: maban
- Aztec religion: teotl
- Basque mythology: Adur
- Egyptian mythology: ka
- Finnish mythology: Väki
- Greek mythology: ichor
- Inuit mythology: inua, sila
- Iroquois mythology: orenda
- Leni Lenape mythology: manetuwak
- Norse mythology: Sei?r
- Roman mythology: numen
- Salish-Kootenai mythology: sumesh
- Sioux Indians (Dakota): Wakan
- Welsh mythology: awen
- Yoga: prana, chakra, Bindu, mantra, ahamkara, karma, siddhi
- Yoruba mythology: ashe
Also related are the philosophical concepts of:
- Chinese philosophy: qi (or chi), Tao
- European alchemy and philosophy: aether, (or ether), quintessence
- Hindu philosophy: Maan (Respect, acknowledgement, belief)
- Japanese philosophy: kami, ki, rei; Ryukyuan mabui
- Tibetan Buddhism & Bön: yang (g.yang)
- Vitalism: Élan vital
Mana came to the attention of the anthropological community with the English missionary Robert Henry Codrington's (1830–1922) work The Melanesians (1891). It has since been discussed by anthropologists such as Émile Durkheim (1912), Marcel Mauss (1924), Claude Lévi-Strauss (1950) and Roger Keesing (1984).
Read more about this topic: Mana
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