Orenda
In today's article we are going to delve into the topic of Orenda, an aspect that has been debated for a long time. Orenda is a topic that has generated great interest among experts and fans alike, and is crucial to understanding its impact on different aspects of modern society. Throughout this article, we will analyze the different approaches that have been taken in relation to Orenda, as well as their implications on a personal, social and global level. Additionally, we will explore some of the most recent research on Orenda and discuss possible implications for the future. Ultimately, this article aims to offer a complete and updated view on Orenda, with the aim of providing our readers with a deeper understanding of this very relevant topic.
Orenda /ˈɔːrɛndə/ is the Haudenosaunee name for a certain spiritual energy inherent in people and their environment. It is an "extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois Native Americans to pervade in varying degrees in all animate and inanimate natural objects as a transmissible spiritual energy capable of being exerted according to the will of its possessor." Orenda is a collective power of nature's energies through the living energy of all natural objects: animate and inanimate.
Anthropologist J. N. B. Hewitt notes intrinsic similarities between the Haudenosaunee concept of Orenda and that of the Siouxan wakan or mahopa; the Algonquin manitowi, and the pokunt of the Shoshone. Across the Iroquois tribes, the concept was referred to variously as orenna or karenna by the Mohawk, Cayuga, and Oneida; urente by the Tuscarora, and iarenda or orenda by the Huron.
Orenda is present in nature: storms are said to possess orenda. A strong connection exists between prayers and songs and orenda. Through song, a bird, a shaman, or a rabbit puts forth orenda.
See also
- Manitou, similar concept among Algonquian peoples
- Mana
- Indigenous American philosophy
- Ecopsychology
- Spiritual ecology
Footnotes
- ^ Hewitt 1902.
- ^ "orenda". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ^ nature worship. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ^ Hewitt 1902, p. 40-43.
References
- Hewitt, J. N. B. (1902). "Orenda and a Definition of Religion". American Anthropologist. 4 (1): 33–46. doi:10.1525/aa.1902.4.1.02a00050. JSTOR 658926.