There are a heap load of folk songs that tell us the devil resides at the crossroads but we don’t really need to worry about him…what we are more interested in is the belief that the crossing of two roads is a powerful spot.  The crossroads is the centre of the four winds and the four directions.  The centre point links the two worlds, that of the living and the dead – it is an ‘in between’ place.   In some traditions you would go to the crossroads at midnight to meet Eshu/Elegba and in others it is the place sacred to the sun god Ra and the godsBhairava, Hermes and Mercury and the goddess Hecate.  The crossroads is also a place where Hoodoo tricks take place and where spells can be buried to ‘do their thing’.   

You may find in your local woods or even parks that there is a place where two dirt tracks cross or even where a bridge goes directly over a straight run of river or stream.  That centre spot is an excellent place to work magic.  It is also a good place to dispose of magic tricks and workings after you have finished with them including candle stubs.

Crossroads are also used in Romani and folk magic as a place where opportunities meet and where changes in direction happen.  They are unpredictable but also offer many choices.  This is a place where multiple forces come together and anything can happen, it is a place of transformation.  To stand in the centre of a crossroads you will be met with power, potential and choices.

Every town will have a crossroads somewhere unfortunately not all of them will be easily accessible to bury magical items at – please don’t get run over trying to lift tarmac in the middle city running in between the traffic lights…however if you can find a quieter road that has a crossroads it can be very useful for magical work.

If you don’t have a suitable crossroads nearby you can create your own.  Take some soil, salt or ground herbs and make a cross on the floor or table.  The point where your two lines cross is the ‘sweet spot’ and you can work and lay your magic right there.

The Crossroads keys

Another trick is to create your own crossroad keys, it works something like a talisman that links you directly to a crossroads so that you always have that connection whenever you need it.  You will need two old keys preferably the straight skeleton kind as the modern front door keys don’t work so well.  Measure a piece of red ribbon or wool from your heart to the outstretched wrist of your left hand, tie the keys together with this and then carry them with you for one full cycle of the moon.  Make sure you take the keys out and handle them every day, you can even tie pieces of your hair to them or add your saliva (ewww gross…but it works) so that you get a really personal connection with them.

Once the moon cycle is up you take a trip to the crossroads, dig a small hole in the centre of the crossroads and after cutting the ties on the two keys, drop one of them into the hole.  Keep the other key in your left hand and use your right hand to bury the key in the hole.  You now have a key to the crossroads to use as a direct connection to open the doorway between the worlds whenever you need it.