Table of Contents
Definition of Mana
(noun) A sacred and essential supernatural force that resides in all people, places, and things (objects).
Example of Mana
- A charm (fetish) worn to influence the probability of success while gambling or hunting.
Mana Pronunciation
Syllabification: ma·na
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈmɑnə/
- British English – /ˈmanə/
Usage Notes
- This is a simplified definition of a vast continuum of societal and cultural concepts.
- Robert Henry Codrington (1830–1922) studied mana in The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (1891). Codrington’s ethnography began anthropology’s fascination with the topic.
- Animatism, coined by Robert Marett (1866–1943) in The Threshold of Religion (1909) was a criticism of Edward Tylor’s (1832–1917) concept of animism from Primitive Culture (1871). Marett developed the concept of animatism based on the work of Codrington. Marett contended that animatism is the earliest form of religion and a precursor to animism in a cultural development context. In addition to the The Threshold of Religion (1909), Marett continued to explore mana in Anthropology (1912), and Psychology and Folklore (1920).
- According to many animistic traditions, all things have souls or spirits inside them and they can interact with humans in positive and negative ways.
- A type of cosmogony.
Related Quotation
- “Additionally, in animism, as with mana, supernatural power is often harnessed through rituals that compel a spirit to act in a desired way” (Hughes and Kroehler 2011:350).
Additional Information
- Religion Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “mana” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- belief system
- force
- magic
- mantra
- personified supernatural force
- polytheism
- prayer
- priest
- religion
- supernatural
- totemism
Reference
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Works Consulted
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Mana
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “mana.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 27, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/mana/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
mana. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/mana/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “mana.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/mana/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“mana.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/mana/>.