A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a
deity or a
spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship.
In
late Greek
Late Greek refers to writings in the Greek language in Late Antiquity and the Early Byzantine period; and in other words, from about the late 2nd century AD until about the late 7th century AD.See the definitions of "Late Greek" aDictionary.comanT ...
and
Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
, one type of tutelary deity, the ''
genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...
'', functions as the personal deity or ''
daimon'' of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the
familiar spirit
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to ...
of European folklore.
Ancient Greece
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or ''daimonion'':
The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance,
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
was the patron goddess of the city of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
.
Ancient Rome
Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to
ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
. The tutelary deity of a man was his
Genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...
, that of a woman her
Juno. In the
Imperial era
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the Genius of the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...
was a focus of
Imperial cult
An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult ma ...
. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
did
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the
Republican era Republican Era can refer to:
* Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China
It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to:
* Roman Re ...
, when for instance the
Roman dictator
A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, co ...
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla ha ...
advertised the
goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games ''(
ludi
''Ludi'' (Latin plural) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (''populus Romanus''). ''Ludi'' were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also ...
)'' in her honor.
Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege.
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see
Quintus Valerius Soranus Quintus Valerius Soranus (born between ''circa'' 140 – 130 BC, died 82 BC) was a Latin poet, grammarian, and tribune of the people in the Late Roman Republic. He was executed in 82 BC while Sulla was dictator, ostensibly for violating a religious ...
). The
Capitoline Triad
The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill ( Latin ''Capitolium''). It comprised Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The triad held a central place ...
of
Juno,
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...
, and
Minerva
Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...
were also tutelaries of Rome.
The
Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
town of
Lanuvium
Lanuvium, modern Lanuvio, is an ancient city of Latium vetus, some southeast of Rome, a little southwest of the Via Appia.
Situated on an isolated hill projecting south from the main mass of the Alban Hills, Lanuvium commanded an extensive vi ...
and the
Etruscan city of
Veii
Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...
, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the
''arx'' (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of
Praeneste was
Fortuna
Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until ...
, whose oracle was renowned.
The Roman ritual of ''
evocatio'' was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the ''Magna Mater'' (Great Mother, or
Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible foreru ...
) as "
tower-crowned" represents their capacity to preserve the city.
A town in the
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or
syncretize
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, ...
its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the ''
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () o ...
'' of the
Remi
The Remi (Gaulish: ''Rēmi'', 'the first, the princes') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes an ...
in
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...
adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day
Rheims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded b ...
), the tutelary was
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
Camulus.
Tutelary deities were also attached to sites of a much smaller scale, such as storerooms, crossroads, and granaries. Each Roman home had a set of protective deities: the
Lar or Lares of the household or ''familia'', whose shrine was a ''
lararium
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these.
Lares ...
''; the
Penates
In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates. ...
who guarded the storeroom ''(penus)'' of the innermost part of the house;
Vesta
Vesta may refer to:
Fiction and mythology
* Vesta (mythology), Roman goddess of the hearth and home
* Vesta (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character
* Sailor Vesta, a character in ''Sailor Moon''
Brands and products
* Lada Vesta, a car from ...
, whose sacred site in each house was the hearth; and the Genius of the ''
paterfamilias'', the head of household. The poet
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...
lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm. The
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
of a granary ''(
horreum)'' featured
niches for images of the tutelary deities, who might include the ''
genius loci
In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (plural ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl) or snake ...
'' or guardian spirit of the site,
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted th ...
,
Silvanus, Fortuna Conservatrix ("Fortuna the Preserver") and in the Greek East
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion (emotion), passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman god ...
and
Agathe Tyche.
The ''Lares Compitales'' were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood ''(
vicus
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
)'', each of which had a ''compitum'' (shrine) devoted to these. During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest.
Austronesian
*
Atua
Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of ''mana''. Today, it is also used for the ...
*
Hanitu
*
Hyang
*
Kaitiaki
Kaitiaki is a New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land. A kaitiaki is a guardian, and the process and practices of protecting and looking after the environment are referred to as kaitiaki ...
*
Kawas (mythology)
Kawas refers to an Amis supernatural entity. Though the Amis have converted to Christianity, their spiritual beliefs and Christianity have syncretized and the term kawas is still used.
Kawas are divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls ...
*
Tiki
Buddhism
*
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...
has
Yidam
''Yidam'' is a type of deity associated with tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. During personal meditation (''sādhana'') practice, the yogi identifies their own form, attributes and m ...
as a tutelary deity.
Dakini
A ḍākinī ( sa, डाकिनी; ; mn, хандарма; ; alternatively 荼枳尼, ; 荼吉尼, ; or 吒枳尼, ; Japanese: 荼枳尼 / 吒枳尼 / 荼吉尼, ''dakini'') is a type of female spirit, goddess, or demon in Hinduism and Bud ...
is the patron of those who seek knowledge.
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be fill ...
, both past and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death.
Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while
Mazu
Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. ...
is the patron of fishermen and sailors.
*
Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity.
*
Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.
Christianity
A similar concept in
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
would be the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...
example of
archangels
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
"Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc." or to a lesser extent, the
guardian angel
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a ...
.
Germanic
*
Fylgja
*
Hamingja
*
Landdisir
*
Landvættir
Landvættir (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; "land wights") are spirits of the land in Norse mythology and Germanic neopaganism. They protect and promote the flourishing of the specific places where they live, which can be as small as a rock or ...
*
Vættir
Hinduism
In
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...
, personal tutelary deities are known as
ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as
Kuladevata
A kuladevatā (), also known as a kuladaivaṃ, is an ancestral tutelary deity in Hinduism and Jainism.
Such a deity is often the object of one's devotion ('' bhakti''), and is coaxed to watch over one's clan (''kula''), gotra, family, and c ...
.
Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages.
Devas can also be seen as tutelary.
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...
is patron of
yogi
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 ...
s and renunciants. City goddesses include:
*
Mumbadevi
Mumba Devi Mandir is an old temple in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India dedicated to the goddess ', the local incarnation of the Devi (Mother Goddess). The Marathi ' derives from Sanskrit. Mumba Devi is the goddess of the city of Mumbai. The name Mumb ...
(
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
)
*
Sachchika (
Osian Osian or Osiyan may refer to:
* Osian art fund, an arts fund started in Mumbai (2010).
*Osian, Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan, India
* Osiyan, Unnao, a village in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India
* Osian (name), a name common in Wales, derived fr ...
)
:Kuladevis include:
*
Ambika (
Porwad)
*
Mahalakshmi
*
Kal Bhairava is the protector of
Ujjain
Ujjain (, Hindustani pronunciation: d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative centre of Ujjain district and Ujjain ...
.
Indonesian folk religion
Influenced by the religion of
Islam,
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
people believe in
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic my ...
, particularly on the island of Java. Those jinn who adhere to the religion of Islam are generally benevolent, however, non-Muslim jinn are considered to be mischievous. Some of them guard graves. If a pilgrim approaching the grave has evil intentions, they would cause severe illness or even death.
Korean shamanism
In
Korean shamanism
Korean shamanism or Mu-ism is a religion from Korea. In the Korean language, alternative terms for the tradition are ''musok'' () and ''mugyo'' (무교, 巫敎). Scholars of religion have classified it as a folk religion. There is no central aut ...
, ''
jangseung'' and ''
sotdae'' were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities.
Seonangshin
Seonangshin (Hangul: 서낭신) is the patron deity of the village in Korean mythology. As the goddess of villages, boundaries, and war, the deity is one of the better-known Korean deities.
Worship
The goddess was believed to embody the Seo ...
is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the
Seonangdang.
Meitei
In
Meitei mythology
Meitei mythology or Manipuri mythology ( mni, Meitei Mi Lai Tingi Wari) is a collection of myths, belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. It is associated with tradit ...
and
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...
(
Sanamahism
()
, native_name_lang = mni
, image = The Symbol of Sanamahi.svg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = The Symbol of Sanamahism (Source: Wakoklon Heelel Thilen Salai Amailon Pukok Puya)
, ...
) of
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...
, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which
Lam Lais are the most predominant ones.
Native American
*
Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the
Zapotec.
*
Totem
A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan ...
s, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.
Philippine folk religion
In Philippine
animism
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
, ''
Diwata'' or ''Lambana'' are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians.
*
Maria Makiling
Maria Makiling, more properly Mariang Makiling, is a ''diwata'' (anito) or ''lambana'' (fairy) in Philippine mythology, associated with Mount Makiling in Laguna, Philippines. She is the most widely known ''diwata'' in Philippine mythology and w ...
is the deity who guards
Mt. Makiling.
*
Maria Cacao and
Maria Sinukuan.
Shinto
In
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...
, the spirits, or ''
kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...
'', which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped.
Slavic Europe
Some tutelary deities are known to exist in Slavic Europe, a more prominent example being that of the
Leshy
The Leshy (also Leshi; rus, леший, p=ˈlʲeʂɨj; literally, " efrom the forest", pl, borowy, leśnik, leśniczy, lasowik, leszy) is a tutelary deity of the forests in pagan Slavic mythology. As the spirit rules over the forest and huntin ...
.
Thai religion
*
Thai provincial capitals have tutelary
city pillars and
palladiums. The guardian spirit of a house is known as ''Chao Thi'' (เจ้าที่) or ''Phra Phum'' (พระภูมิ). Almost every traditional household in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
has a miniature shrine housing this tutelary deity, known as a
spirit house
A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The spirit house is normally in the form of sma ...
.
Vietnamese folk religion
In
Vietnamese folk religion
Vietnamese folk religion ( vi, tín ngưỡng dân gian Việt Nam, sometimes just called , Chữ Hán: ) is the ethnic religion of the Vietnamese people. About 86% of the population in Vietnam are associated with this religion.
Vietnamese f ...
,
Thành hoàng Thành hoàng (Chữ Hán: 城隍) or Thần hoàng (神隍), Thần Thành hoàng (神城隍) refers to the gods that is enshrined in each village's communal temple in Vietnam. The gods is believed to guard the village against disasters and bring ...
are gods who protect and bring good things to the village.
See also
*
Dvarapala
A Dvarapala or Dvarapalaka (Sanskrit, "door guard"; IAST: ' ) is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, usually armed with a weapon - the most common being the ''gada'' (mace). The dvarapala statue is a widesp ...
*
Ethnic religion
In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam, in which gaining converts is a pr ...
*
Eudaemon (mythology)
*
Guardian angel
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a ...
*
Hiisi
Hiisi (; plural ''hiidet'' ) is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities.
In later, Christian-influenced folklore, they are depicted as demonic or trickster-like enti ...
*
Liminal deity
*
Nagual
In Mesoamerican folk religion, a nagual (pronounced a'wal is a human being who has the power to shapeshift into their tonal animal counterpart. Nagualism is tied to the belief one can access power and spiritual insight by connecting with the ...
*
National god
*
Neoshamanism
Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals a ...
*
Patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...
*
Uay
References
{{Wiktionary, tutelar
Comparative mythology
Mythological archetypes