Hello all,
At long last, I'm sharing with you an element from my personal favorite of my worlds, Mythica
Orenda is a concept that I use for two of my races: the Haltiiani and the Rodlani (tentative name). Originally it was just a cool word that I found that was translated as "magical power". As I studied it a little further I found that Orenda is actually an old Iroquois name for the innate mystical power inherent in all things. One website (which I couldn't find again) said that a bird's song was part of it's orenda, just as a shaman's voice and a bear's claws were (the bear I added in on my own, but yall get the point). I find it ironic that now, my current concept of Orenda is much closer to that of the Iroquois than when I first adapted it.
Orenda is a part of a person of one of these races that is attached to a natural element or abstract force. I guess it would be a little more accurate to say that orenda is the link, but that doesn't quite cover it either. Let me see if I can describe this accurately.
In the beginning of my work, the Rodlani were basically a race that embodied natural and abstract forces. Some members include Power, Wonder, Wynd, Torchon, and several others. Each member of this race was in fact that concept/force in a physical body. Based on that original idea, I've since modified it so that the connection to whatever force they "embody" is a little more diverse. It can go from as basic as influencing the color of their hair and their overall temperament, to as dominating as making them literally fire, water, whatever, in a body; allowing them extreme control of their "element". It can also be so weak that no noticeable influence is present at all. Both the element and the connection to it (stronger connection = more influence on the person, weaker connection = less influence on the person) are called "orenda". Make sense?
Later, I decided to apply the same concept to my race the Haltiiani, which were originally my equivalent of minor nature gods. In the beginning of the idea, each Haltiia had control over a certain element of nature (sound familiar?). Later I decided that each Haltiia is connected to a certain element of nature, his/her "orenda". Similar to the case of the Rodlani, the strength of the orenda can vary. For instance, there's one Haltiia who's orenda is sparrows, but all this means is that she attracts large numbers of them and can occasionally communicate with them. Whereas there is another Haltiia whose orenda is wind that can summon tremendous gales with the force of her anger, fly on the wind, and form invisble solids out of air.
The main difference between the orenda of the Rodlani and that of the Haltiiani is that Rodlani are generally connected to abstract forces like power, wonder, discretion, speed, intelligence, etc. With some that are connected to natural forces like fire, tides, lightning. While the Haltiiani, on the other hand are connected to natural elements. There are cases of overlap. For instance I've had a Haltiia whose orenda is thunder and lightning, and a Rodlan whose orenda is lightning.
Some things I should mention as well. It's possible to have two or more people on earth at the same time with the same orenda, because it manifests itself in different ways and at varying strengths in different people. Also, by the time period that I focus on, the bloodline of the Haltiiani and Rodlani have both been diluted to the point that there are very few people with strong orendic connections and many whose orenda is unknown. And the final thing that I'm not sure I've made very clear: a person's orenda is a part of that person in the same way as their body or spirit or personality or mind. Even if the connection is an unrealized one, it is still a part of that person. So for someone whose orenda is the red-tail hawk, the red-tail hawk is a part of that person. A part that they can never separate. Eventually, I'll have to come online and share the histories of how these races, and thus orenda came about.
What do yall think?
In Christ,
Jordan
And most of my dinners at the dorms are just me, but those can be very interesting conversations 
Or Schizophrenia. Don't worry, Me and I offer counseling sessions. 