Three Types of Mana

Okay, here is my take on the types of mana. Firstly, I use this phrase from Māori Marsden:

Waiho atu rā ki te ara tawhito i poua ai te ara mai o te mana
Mana Atua, Mana Tupuna, Mana Whenua.
Hence, he mentions three types:

Mana Atua - mana derived from 'beyond'. In the past, this was the 'God' to whom one was dedicated. A person was baptised and dedicated to Maru perhaps, or Tū perhaps, so on. This was a person's final and most deepest commitment. In the Christian tradition, this is what Tāwhiao meant by 'piringa'. Ko Ihowa tōku piringa. Jehovah is my refuge.

Today, I see mana atua as a term for this deep commitment. If one is a Christian it is more than just saying that my mana atua is Jesus Christ. It is about saying that my deepest, most passionate, most serious commitment is with love, compassion and faith.

In other settings, a person may commit to beauty or justice and so on.

Mana Tupuna - mana derived from one's inheritance. We usually see this as mana derived from one's immediate human ancestors, and so it is. Our immediate ancestors, parents and grandparents, impart to us sorts of riches. It is human for children to imitate their parents, elders and key mentors.

However, tupuna not only refer to one's human ancestors but to the inheritance of the entire natural world. As all things descend from earth and sky, in this traditional worldview, all things exist in relationship to one another. All things are whanaunga and are tupuna. Hence, mana tupuna is mana derived from our entire inheritance which include not only our human heritage but the heritage of the entire natural world.

Mana Whenua - this is usually interpreted to be 'authority in the land'. Much like a local council has power and authority in a particular region. But I find this a simplistic and undernourished view of mana whenua.

In my view, mana whenua is the creative principle at play in a person's life. A person has found foundation in the world, they have found a foothold, orientation, a 'place to stand' and as such are able to move with confidence and authority in the world.

Whenua means both land and the placenta. A placenta is seen when a birth takes place and birth (whānau) is the preeminent perspective in traditional Māori thinking concerning creativity, acts of creativity. That is, some one is creative when a birth takes place. Creativity is birth.

Hence, in this model, one has found foundation and confidence to project their view of things into the world, to create. This creativity flows forth from the fundamental foundation and commitment within them (mana atua) together with giving expression to their entire natural inheritance which flows through the person.

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