Atutelary (/ˈtjuːtəlɛri/; alsotutelar) is adeity or aspirit 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.
Inlate Greek andRoman religion, one type of tutelary deity, thegenius, functions as the personal deity ordaimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is thefamiliar spirit of European folklore.[1]
Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit ordaimonion:
You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.[2]
The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance,Athena was the patron goddess of the city ofAthens.
Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental toancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was hisGenius, that of a woman herJuno.[3] In theImperial era, the Genius of theEmperor was a focus ofImperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary,[4] asAugustus didApollo.[5][6] Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in theRepublican era, when for instance theRoman dictatorSulla advertised thegoddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games(ludi) in her honor.[7]
Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege.Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, seeQuintus Valerius Soranus).[8][9] TheCapitoline Triad ofJuno,Jupiter, andMinerva were also tutelaries of Rome.[10]
TheItalic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at theLatin town ofLanuvium and theEtruscan city ofVeii,[11] and was often housed in an especially grand temple on thearx (citadel) or other prominent or central location.[12] The tutelary deity ofPraeneste wasFortuna, whose oracle was renowned.[13]
The Roman ritual ofevocatio 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.[14][15] The depiction of some goddesses such as theMagna Mater (Great Mother, orCybele) as "tower-crowned" represents their capacity to preserve the city.[16]
A town in theprovinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, orsyncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within thecivitas of theRemi inGaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-dayRheims), the tutelary wasMarsCamulus.[17]
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: theLar or Lares of the household orfamilia, whose shrine was alararium; thePenates who guarded the storeroom(penus) of the innermost part of the house;Vesta, whose sacred site in each house was the hearth; and the Genius of thepaterfamilias, the head of household.[18] The poetMartial lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm.[19] Thearchitecture of a granary(horreum) featuredniches for images of the tutelary deities, who might include thegenius loci or guardian spirit of the site,Hercules,Silvanus, Fortuna Conservatrix ("Fortuna the Preserver") and in the Greek EastAphrodite andAgathe Tyche.[20]
TheLares Compitales were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood(vicus), each of which had acompitum (shrine) devoted to these.[21][22] Theirannual public festival was theCompitalia. During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest.[23]
Chinese folk religion, 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, whileMazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors.
A similar concept inChristianity would be thepatron saint example ofarchangels "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc."[24][25] or to a lesser extent, theguardian angel.
InHinduism, personal tutelary deities are known asishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known asKuladevata.Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages or regions.Devas can also be seen as tutelary.Shiva is patron ofyogis and renunciants. City gods and goddesses include:
Influenced by the religion ofIslam,Indonesian people believe injinn, 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.[26]
Some of the prominent tutelary deities:
Spirits calledshedim are mentioned twice in theHebrew Bible. In both of these instances (Psalm 106:37 andDeuteronomy 32:17) theshedim are associated withchild sacrifice oranimal sacrifice.[27][28] The term "shedim" is believed by some to be aloan-word from theAkkadianshedu, which referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent.[29][30][31]
InKorean shamanism,jangseung andsotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities.Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody theSeonangdang.
InMeitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) ofManipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among whichLam Lais are the most predominant ones.[32][33][34]
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In Philippineanimism,Diwata orLambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians.
InShinto, the spirits, orkami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped.
Some tutelary deities are known to exist in Slavic Europe, a more prominent example being that of theLeshy.[35]
Altought they are not necessarily subject to worship,İye are tutelary spirits which empower and protect from harm, in the legends of theTurkic peoples.
InVietnamese folk religion,Thành hoàng are gods who protect and bring good things to the village.
Local elites … were well aware of the mythological tales connected with the various Roman gods, and in the choice of a tutelary god for theircivitas orpagus opted deliberately for a deity who, in all his aspects, was most in keeping with their own perception of the world.
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