Mana (Mandaeism)

{{For|the religious concept in Pacific religions|Mana (Oceanian mythology)}}

The Mandaic word mana ({{lang|myz|ࡌࡀࡍࡀ}}) is a term that is roughly equivalent to the philosophical concept of nous. It has been variously translated as "mind", "soul", "treasure",{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}} "Garment", "Intellect",{{cite book | last=Häberl | first=Charles | url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781800856271 | title=The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire | location=Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool University Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80085-627-1}} "Intelligence", "Heart", "Spirit", "Being"; or alternatively as "nous",{{Cite book|url=http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/mandaean/adam.pdf|title=The Secret Adam: The Study of Nasoraean Gnosis|last=Drower|first=E. S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1960|location=London|page=46}} "consciousness", or "vessel".

Theodor Nöldeke argued that the word is of Iranian origin although a Sanskrit origin is much more likely.Häberl, Charles G. (2007). [https://scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991031549909304646/01RUT_INST:ResearchRepository Introduction to the New Edition, in The Great Treasure of the Mandaeans, a new edition of J. Heinrich Petermann's Thesaurus s. Liber Magni, with a new introduction and a translation of the original preface by Charles G. Häberl]. Gorgias Press, LLC. {{doi|10.7282/T3C53J6P}}

Meaning

E. S. Drower (1960) translates the literal Aramaic meaning of mana as 'a garment, robe, vehicle, vessel, instrument'. Symbolically, it refers to the 'soul' or 'mind'.{{cite book|last=Drower|first=E. S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|date=1960|title=The secret Adam: a study of Nasoraean gnosis|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press}}{{rp|2}} Drower compares mana to the Valentinian concept of Sophia (Wisdom) and the Marcosian concept of Ennoia (Idea, Thought).{{rp|81}}

In Mandaean scriptures

All of the hymns in Book 2 of the Left Ginza, in which the mana laments that it has been cast into the physical world, begin with the following refrain:{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}{{cite book|last1=Gelbert|first1=Carlos|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba-2/|title=گینزا ربَّا = Ginza Rba|lang=ar|location=Edensor Park, NSW, Australia|publisher=Living Water Books|year=2021|isbn=9780648795407}}

{{quote|I am a mana of the Great Life ({{transl|myz|mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia}})

:I am a mana of the Mighty Life ({{transl|myz|mana ana ḏ-hiia rurbia}})

I am a mana of the Great Life ({{transl|myz|mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia}})

}}

"I am a mana of the Great Life" ({{transl|myz|mana ana ḏ-hiia rbia}}) is also frequently used in the Mandaean Book of John.{{cite book|last=Haberl|first=Charles and McGrath, James|title=The Mandaean Book of John: critical edition, translation, and commentary|publisher=De Gruyter|publication-place=Berlin|year=2020|isbn=978-3-11-048651-3|oclc=1129155601}} In Psalm 5 of the Manichaean Psalms of Thomas, the phrase "treasure of life" is derived from the aforementioned Mandaean formula according to Torgny Säve-Söderbergh.{{cite book|title=Studies in the Coptic Manichaean Psalm-book|first=Torgny|last=Säve-Söderbergh|year=1949|location=Uppsala|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB|oclc=5687415}} This phrase has also been borrowed by the Valentinian Gnostics from Mandaeism.{{cite journal |last=Buckley |first=Jorunn J. |date=2010 |title=New Perspectives on the Sage Dinanukt in Right Ginza 6 |url=https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/secure/POJ/downloadpdf.php?ticket_id=60d7526db47aa |journal=ARAM Periodical |volume=22 |pages=15–29 |doi=10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131030}}{{rp|28}}

The Book 3 of the Right Ginza, the "mana within the mana" and the "fruit (pira) within the fruit" existed before even the spiritual universe (the World of Light) with its uthras and emanations came into being.

In Book 5, Chapter 1 of the Right Ginza (also known as the "Book of the Underworld"), Hag and Mag, two inhabitants of the World of Darkness, are described as the two manas of darkness.

On the origin of mana (reason or mind) in mankind, Book 10 of the Right Ginza states:{{rp|272}}

{{quote|Thus when Ptahil went to his father Abatur, he took (away) a hidden Mana (mana kasia), which had been given to them from the house of the Life. And he brought it (back) and cast it into Adam and his wife Hawa.}}

As names of Hayyi Rabbi

According to E. S. Drower, the name Great Mind or Great Mana refers to the "over-soul" or "over-mind", the earliest manifestation of Hayyi ("Life"), from which the soul of a human might be seen as a spark or temporarily detached part.{{cite book |last=Drower |first=Ethel S. |author-link=E. S. Drower |title=The Haran Gawaita and The Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa: The Mandaic text reproduced together with translation, notes and commentary |place=Vatican City |publisher=Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana |year=1953 |at=p. 35, translator's footnote #1}} In book three of the Right Ginza, Hayyi is said to have "formed Himself in the likeness of the Great Mana, from which He emerged".{{cite book |section=Book Three, 1st Glorification: The Creation |pages=27–57 |title=Ginza Rabba |volume=Right Volume |translator1-last=Al-Saadi |translator1-first=Qais |translator2-last=Al-Saadi |translator2-first=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}

As part of uthra names

As Mana Rba Kabira, he is paired with the name Kanat, a female uthra.{{cite book |last=van Rompaey |first=Sandra |title=Mandaean Symbolic Art |publisher=Brepols |publication-place=Turnhout |date=2024 |isbn=978-2-503-59365-4 |url=https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593654-1}}

References

Category:Mandaic words and phrases

Category:Mandaean philosophical concepts

Category:Intelligence

Category:Mental content