Mana
Our Hawaiian word-of-the week is “mana” which means spiritual power, spiritual force, or spiritual energy.
Say that with me— mana.
In Hawaii when we say you have a lot of mana— what we mean is that you have a lot of power. But it’s not power in the American sense of power— it’s the Hawaiian sense of power which is always spiritual and internal and connected to the forces of nature and the forces of the universe.
Mana, power, comes from our ancestors, from our land, from God.
It means energy— life force— chi.
In Sanskrit, they use the word Shakti.
In Brazil, they call it axe.
It’s like you have that special sumthing, that power, that charm, that energy— that soul— that gives something it’s essence. That’s mana.
When we say, ‘Hoa, Brah— can you feel da mana?” Can you feel the power or the energy?
“Brah, dis place get mana.” It means, this place has power.
Or if you say, “Hoa brah did you feel her mana?”
“Yeah. That girl has mana.”
That means, that girl has energy, she has power— and we could feel it.
Sign language (ASL)
The sign language for mana is like you’re receiving a heavy load and you are lifting it up. [see video]
The Lords Prayer Bible Verse in Hawai’ian
Our bible verse that uses the word Mana is from Matthew 5. It’s the Lords Prayer.
What is yours — no ka mea
Is the kingdom— no ke aupuni
And the power — a me ka mana
And the glory — a mea ka hoonani
Forever— a mau loa aku.
In the Hawaiian Bible— when the word power is used it doesn’t mean power as might— it means power as spirit or spiritual force.
