Yorishiro

A yorishiro (依り代/依代/憑り代/憑代) in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called kami, thus giving them a physical space to occupy[1] during religious ceremonies.

Early Japanese culture did not have the notion of anthropomorphic deities, and felt the presence of spirits in nature and its phenomena.

[1] Yorishiro were conceived to attract the kami and then give them a physical space to occupy to make them accessible to human beings for ceremonies,[1] which is still their purpose today.

[2] Village council sessions were held in a quiet spot in the mountains or in a forest near a great tree, rock or other natural object that served as a yorishiro.

[1] Most of the sacred objects found today in shrines (trees, mirrors, swords, magatama) were originally yorishiro, and only later became kami themselves by association.

[1] The most common yorishiro are swords, mirrors, ritual staffs decorated with paper streamers called gohei, comma-shaped beads called magatama (勾玉/曲玉), large rocks (iwasaka (岩境) or iwakura (磐座), and sacred trees.

[7] Similarly an iwasaka (磐境) is a stone altar or mound erected as a yorishiro to call a kami for worship.

[4][9] Kamifuda, plaques of wood or pieces of paper (similar to an ofuda) representing the kami, are hung above the door.