Tutelary

From Free net encyclopedia

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, like the Islamic djinns, or "genies". Notable, however, is that the arabic word is of a completely different origin, though it has similarities with genius both phonetically and by meaning.

Occasionally, patron saints are called tutelary saints.

Tutelary spirits appear in Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner.sv:rådare