special divine protectors to every house
or village or grove, as among the Ainu (with whom the tutelary power is
the head of a bear), in Borneo (where every house has a human skull as
protector), among the Khonds, in the Vedic Vastoshpati, the "lord of the
house," in the Hindu "house goddess," and in the Chinese tutelary god
for every year.[1134] From such a scheme to the assignment of a
protecting spirit to every human being there is but a step, and this is
made natural or necessary by the increasing sense of the value of the
individual. Such tutelary spirits or deities are found in Polynesia and
Africa.[1135] The North American manitu and the Central American
nagual,[1136] referred to above, are not only special objects of worship
but also constantly present guardians of individual men. The Iroquois
have special tutelary spirits.[1137] In Ashanti such a function is
performed by the indwelling spirit, which is scarcely distinguishable
from the man himself.[1138] The Roman _genius_ represents the man's
individual life, but becomes also his guardian;[1139] and the _daimon_
of Socrates was possibly originally a being of the same sort,[1140]
though he may have identified it with conscience.

+673+. In the great religions of antiquity every city and every state
had its special divine protector. The Persian fravashis are the
guardians of individual human beings. The later Jews held that there was
a guardian angel for every nation and for every person.[1141] All such
conceptions embody the human sense of dependence on divine aid and the
demand for specific divine protectors standing near to man and
sustaining special relations with individuals. In some forms of
Christianity the function of protection is assigned to patron saints.

+674+. Certain classes of departmental or specific gods may be mentioned
here for the purpose of indicating their development.

+675+. _Creators._ The work of the creation of the world is assigned
among various peoples to a great variety of beings. In the earliest
strata of religious belief animals play a great role as creators. The
known examples of their creative function are so numerous that we may
well be disposed to regard it as universal. In general it is the
best-known animal, or the one credited with the greatest sagacity, that
is regarded as creator.[1142]

+676+. But the natural progress of thought involved the advance to the
conception of anthropomorphic creators. A transitional stage