Mana
A Polynesian and Melanesian idea of spiritual power or efficacy that can reside in people, places and things.
Also: mana (Polynesian)
In Oceanic languages mana names an efficacy or authority that makes things work: a chief, a canoe, a tool or a place can have it. The missionary Robert Codrington described it in 1891 for Melanesia, and Marcel Mauss and later scholars made it a model for a general idea of impersonal sacred force. Researchers since then have warned that the Western use of the word stretched local meanings, which differ from island to island and are tied to genealogy and conduct. In Hawaiian, Maori and other Polynesian settings mana remains an everyday term, often linked to rank and respect. In recent popular culture it has also become a game and fantasy term, far from its source.