Tsini is the guardian spirit of the household among the Bezhta, one of the eastern Tsezic peoples. It dwells unseen within the home and takes the form of a grass-snake, a toad, a white mouse or a cricket; though normally invisible it may show itself for a moment, and it can quit the dwelling in one animal shape and slip back in another. As protector of the family, its hearth and its fortune, Tsini was addressed in prayer in times of trouble and hardship. It belongs to the widespread Daghestani complex of benevolent house-snakes and hearth-guardians, standing on the kindly side of Bezhta belief opposite the malevolent spirits.