here.[430]

+232+. It shows itself in any object, nonhuman or human, that produces
extraordinary effects. In the Pacific islands all great achievements of
men are attributed to it--all great chiefs possess it in an eminent
degree;[431] it is then nearly equivalent to what we call capacity or
genius. When it resides in an inanimate thing it may produce a physical
effect: it comes up in the steam of the American sacred sweat lodge, and
gives health to the body (and thus buoyancy to the mind);[432] here it
is identical with the soothing and stimulating power of the steam. It
is, in a word, a term for the force residing in any object.[433] Like
sickness and other evils, blessings, and curses, it is conceived of as
having physical form and may be transmitted from its possessor to
another person or object. In some cases its name is given to the thing
to which it is attached.[434]

+233+. How widely the conception exists is uncertain; further research
may discover it in regions where up to now it has not been recognized.
Scarcely a trace of it exists in the higher ancient religions. The Latin
_genius_, the indwelling power of the man, bears a resemblance to it.
The Old Testament "spirit of God" is said to "come on" a man or to be
"poured out on" him, as if it were a physical thing--it gives courage
and strength to the warrior and knowledge to the worshiper;[435] the
power or energy is here (in the earlier Hebrew writings) identified with
the spirit or animus of the deity, which appears to be thought of as
physical.

+234+. Mana is conceived of by the peoples mentioned above not as a
vague influence diffused through the world, but as a power resident in
certain definite persons or things. It is impersonal in the sense in
which any quality, as courage, is impersonal, but it is not itself an
object of worship; worship is directed toward the thing that possesses
or imparts mana. It may reside in a natural object or in a supernatural
being--the object will be used to secure it, the supernatural being will
be asked to bestow it. In both cases the act will be religious.

+235+. Mana is itself, strictly speaking, a scientific biological
conception, but it necessarily enters into alliance with religion.
Belief in it exists along with belief in ghosts, spirits, and gods--it
is not a rival of these, but an attachment to them. As a thing
desirable, it is one of the good gifts that the great Powers can bestow,
and it thus leads to wors