GUARDIAN SPIRIT

supernatural teacher, frequently depicted in animal form, who guides an individual in every important activity through advice and songs; the belief in guardian spirits is widely diffused among the North American Indians. In some traditions the guardian manifests itself in a dream or by other portents. In other traditions it is the individual who sets out to discover his guardian by undertaking a vision quest (q.v.). Any Indian can and is expected to obtain a guardian spirit. Among the South American Indians, however, possession of a guardian spirit is limited only to shamans.