At a Shinto shrine, the zigzag paper strips that mark sacredness are called shide.
Shide are folded strips of white paper commonly attached to a shimenawa rope, a sacred tree, a ritual wand, or another object associated with a kami. Their distinctive lightning-like shape makes them immediately recognizable in shrine settings. They help signal that a space or object has a special ritual status.
The exact symbolism of the folded form has been interpreted in different ways, and shide can appear in several folding patterns. They are especially familiar when attached to a shimenawa marking a boundary between ordinary and sacred space.
Shide are sometimes confused with gohei. A gohei is a ritual wand or offering decorated with one or more paper strips, which may be folded into shide-like forms. Thus, shide refers to the paper decoration itself, while gohei refers to the larger ritual object. Both are connected with Shinto ceremonial practice.