Tutelary

A tutelary spirit is a god, usually a minor god, who serves as the guardian or watcher over a particular site, person, or nation. Belief in tutelary gods or spirits often reflects a tradition of animism.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Roman religion had dozens of tutelary spirits, such as Diana of Aricia, who watched over a sacred grove at Aricia, or the goddess Levana, who watched over young children. The Lares and Penates were local tutelary deities, as was the genius loci, a spirit said to be present in certain places. A person's own individual guardian spirit was his genius.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shinto is also a religion whose many spirits, or kami, could be described as tutelary.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Occasionally, patron saints are called tutelary saints.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spirit: :For other uses of the term spirit, see Spirit (disambiguation)....

God: :This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism. See deity, gods or goddesses for details on polytheistic usages. See Names of God for terms used in other languages or specific faiths. See God (disambiguation) for non-religious abbreviations....

Animism: Animism has been used in a number of ways since Edward Tylor used it (in 1871) as a label to define the essence of religion as the 'belief in spirits' (i.e. metaphyisical, non-empirical or imagined entities). The majority of this entry discusses the original term, and the changes in its definition o...