The Origin of the Word 'Mana' in Gaming

[Lilitu]

I was wondering where the term 'mana', meaning 'magic points' in gaming comes from.

At first I thought it came from the Maori word 'mana' but now I don't think so because 'mana' is more like authority, like the latin word 'auctoritas'.

I tried to google it but all I got was conflicted discussions.

Does anybody know?

[GossamerMoon]

Before I got into gaming, I was familiar with it in two ways:

1. Mana from heaven
2. Mana as a source of magic in fantasy novels.

I suspect the idea is that mana isn't literally bread (as one is led to think in the scriptural stories), but energy handed down from on high.

I'm half asleep. Hope it makes sense. I have no basis of knowledge other than my suppositions.

[Blue]

Here is the history behind the word, which pretty well explains why the gaming industry decided to make use of it.

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mana

[ChadCoxRox]

I think it's interesting that the word has developed in very diverse cultural histories over the globe.

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[Bookworm]

My understanding of the word was that it was used to describe some form of food energy that was provided from heaven to the Israelites as Moses led them across the Sinai desert and out of Egypt. I didn't realise it originated from Polynesian! Interesting.