Shide (Shinto)

{{Short description|Paper streamer used in Shinto rituals}}

{{For|the poet|Shide (disambiguation)}}

{{Italic title}}

File:Shinto Hemp.jpg with {{Transliteration|ja|shide}} made out of unprocessed hemp fibre.]]

File:Types of Shinto shide en.png

{{Nihongo||紙垂, 四手|Shide}} are zigzag-shaped paper streamers, often seen attached to {{Transliteration|ja|shimenawa}} or {{Transliteration|ja|tamagushi}} to demarcate holy spaces, and used in Shinto rituals in Japan.{{cite web |title=Shimenawa: Basic Terms of Shinto |url=https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/bts/detail/?id=3937 |website=國學院大學デジタルミュージアム |language=ja}}{{cite web |title=Q10 紙垂(しで)の意味と種類を教えて下さい。 - 北海道神社庁のホームページ |url=https://hokkaidojinjacho.jp/ritual-dwelling/qa-10/ |website=hokkaidojinjacho.jp|language=ja}} They are usually found adorning doorways, shrine buildings, and kamidana.

The origins of shide are traced to the yūshide, a thread made from the bark of Broussonetia × kazinoki mentioned in the Kojiki. There are different styles of folding shide. One method requires placing the paper zigzags in a cut slit on a stick, creating a ritual object known as a gohei or heihaku.{{cite web |title=Heihaku, Go-hei: Basic Terms of Shinto |url=https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/bts/detail/?id=3726 |website=國學院大學デジタルミュージアム |language=ja}} A gohei is an offering to kami that can be seen on kamidana altars and inside the main building of a Shinto shrine.{{cite web |title=御幣のまつりかた {{!}} 青森港守護神 諏訪神社 |url=http://aomori-suwajinja.org/gohei.html |website=aomori-suwajinja.org|language=ja}}

A common purification ritual uses a {{Transliteration|ja|haraegushi}}, a wooden stick with linen or paper shide attached at the top.{{cite web |title=Haraigushi: Basic Terms of Shinto |url=https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/bts/detail/?id=3719 |website=國學院大學デジタルミュージアム |language=ja}} A Shinto priest waves the {{Transliteration|ja|haraigushi}} over a person, item, or newly bought property, such as a building or a car. The wand is waved at a slow and rhythmic pace, but with a little force so that the {{Transliteration|ja|shide}} strips make a rustling noise on each pass of the wand. For new properties, a similar ritual known as {{Transliteration|ja|jichiin sai}} (lit. "calming the land") is performed with a {{Transliteration|ja|haraigushi}} within an enclosed part of the land (enclosed by {{Transliteration|ja|shimenawa}}).