The term “charisma” is one of the most enduring conceptions in the annals of sociology. Its origin, meaning “gift,” as derived from the Greek, is close to Max Weber's understanding of the term that has subsequently passed into common vocabularies. The notion of charisma can be seen as one of Weber's core typologies, one related to the underlying basis of authority. Weber, in works such as The Religion of China, speaks of charismatic leadership in terms not only of group cohesion but also of education, of the virtue of dynasty – the belief in the transfer of extraordinary endowments of religious, political, or military descendants – and as hereditary. He also uses the term “gentile charisma” with reference to such families. In a sociological sense, charisma refers to the qualities of those who possess, or are believed to possess, powers of leadership either as a virtue of exceptional personality or as derived from some unusual inspiration such as a magical, divine, or diabolical source, powers not possessed by the ordinary person. Since Weber's notion of charisma is closely related to the sacred, it has parallels in Durkheim's mana – a dynamic that may be socially disruptive and that seems to be inherent in certain objects or persons in tribal societies, as evidenced in the orenda among some North American tribes and in the maga in ancient Persia.