Crossroads (folklore)

In folklore, crossroads may represent a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place.

The Greeks and Romans believed doors, gates, rivers, frontiers and crossroads held spiritual meanings regarding transitioning, leaving one area and going somewhere else, a change in directions physically and spiritually; therefore rituals of protection and rituals regarding change (transition) were done at crossroads.

The modern English text gives: "There once lived a man named Mercury, who was very deceitful, and, though quite wise in speech, was treacherous in actions and lies.

For example, the 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten, describes the character Faust inscribing magic circles at a crossroads in order to summon the devil.

The Freischütz folktales often similarly involve summoning the devil at a crossroads in order to cast magic bullets.

Archeologists unearthed representations of the Kongo cosmogram on slave plantations in South Carolina on clay pots made by enslaved Africans.

The 'turn' in the path,' i.e., the crossroads, remains an indelible concept in the Kongo-Atlantic world, as the point of intersection between the ancestors and the living.

Folklorist Newbell Niles Puckett, recorded a number of crossroads rituals in Hoodoo practiced among African-Americans in the South and explained its meaning.

It is believed that one may attend upon a crossroads a certain number of times, either at midnight or just before dawn, and one will meet a "black man," whom some call the Devil, who will bestow upon one the desired skills.

For example, Papa Legba is considered by Haitian Vodou practitioners to be closest to Saint Peter, although in Brazilian Quimbanda it is not uncommon to see Exu closely associated with demonic entities such as Lucifer, clad in Mephistophelean attire and bearing a trident.

Many modern listeners believe that the premier song about soul-selling at a crossroads is "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson.

Relief triplicate Hekate marble - The Goddess Hekate resides at crossroads.
A herma was a statue associated with Hermes. It was used to mark boundaries and crossroads in ancient Greece, and thought to ward off evil. Museum of Ancient Messene, Greece.
A herma was a statue associated with Hermes. It was used to mark boundaries and crossroads in ancient Greece, and thought to ward off evil. Museum of Ancient Messene, Greece.
The Yowa, or Dikenga Cross, is a symbol in Bakongo spirituality that depicts the physical world, the spiritual (ancestral) world, the Kalûnga river (line) that runs between the two worlds, and the four moments of the sun. The Yowa cross is the origin of the crossroads in Hoodoo.
The Kongo cosmogram
In Hoodoo crossroads are where two roads meet to form an X. The crossroads in Hoodoo originates from the Kongo cosmogram in Central Africa.