ABSTRACT
The psychology of primitive peoples has often been dealt with both by the general psychologist and the anthropologist. One may almost say that, as far as the beliefs of the lower races are concerned, it is the idea of impersonal, non-animistic “power” which has dominated the science of religion during the last decades. It is true that in most cases scientists in this field have adopted the “pre-animistic theory” without founding their opinion on independent investigations. The theory, however, includes two fundamental notions which have frequently been confounded although they should really be held apart. One is that already touched on and denoted by the name “animatism”. The other is that which refers to the idea of “power” in the strict sense, and for which a typical expression has been found in the mana of the Melanesians, the word they use for the Supernatural.
