Tutelary deity
（重定向自Town god）
![The mural crown of Cybele represents the walls of the city she protects](/Images/godic/202502/17/Bronze_statuette_of_Cybele4736.jpg")
![Lararium depicting tutelary deities of the house: the ancestral Genius (center) flanked by two Lares, with a guardian serpent below](/Images/godic/202502/17/Vettii4736.jpg")
![Ready-made spirit houses for the Chao Thi in Thailand](/Images/godic/202502/17/Spirithouses014736.JPG")
A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture or occupation.
One type of tutelary deity is the genius, the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Pierre A. Riffard defines a tutelary spirit as either the genius (present since birth) or a familiar spirit.