Harai gushi / harai kushi (祓いぐし) are those “lightning wands” you see Shinto priests waving around, made of bundles of folded paper strips attached to a wooden handle.
The strips themselves, called shime, are also used to hang individuallyA single one on a tree is a tamagushi (玉串 = たまぐし)
See also:How-to links:
- From Nihon Bunka: how to Fold a shime
- From Nihon Bunka: how to Bundle them into a harai gushi
From David Lister’s
“Zigag Papers in Shinto shrines“:
O-shide are the simplest form and usually have a single zigzag. They may, howevr be double, anging in pairs. Go-hei (御幣) are also like twin O-shide, which re joined at the top. Harai gushi on the other hand are a whole bundle of zigzags tied to the top of a short rod. They look superficially like a cheerleader’s pompoms or “wavers”