A crossroads is a road junction, where two or roads meet. In British English it is specifically defined as being where two roads cross each other (there are exactly 4 arms), while in American English it can refer to a road intersection with any number of arms.
The term is often used metaphorically, as an abstraction of places or occasions where people meet. Unlike the terms road intersection and road junction, crossroads is used in a more figurative or poetic sense (similar to fork in the road).
As a metaphor, "to be at a crossroads" refers to any turning point with an unpredictable outcome (the literal meanng of crisis).
Crossroads is also a frequent toponym, given to a hamlet located at such a junction.
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Another interpretation of the crossroad hinted at by some blues songs is that point at which a particular road is taken in life. Originally the blues "Crossroads" was a literal right-angle crossing of two railroads - "where the Southern cross the Dog" - in Moorhead, Mississippi. The "Southern" was a line of the Southern Railway, sold to the Columbus and Greenville Railway in 1920, and the "Dog" was the "Yellow Dog", officially the Yazoo and Delta Railroad, part of the Illinois Central Railroad system after 1897. This place is mentioned in a number of blues, including the recorded works of W. C. Handy and Bessie Smith. There songs were influenced by The king of the Delta Slide Guitar Robert Johnson who tells a story in his song "Cross Road Blues" about going down to the Crossroads and selling his soul to the devil to learn how to play guitar.
In the folk magic of many cultures, the crossroads is a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place. Symbolically, it can mean a locality where two realms touch and therefore represents liminality, a place literally "neither here nor there", "betwixt and between".
This is particularly pronounced in conjure, rootwork, and hoodoo, a form of African American magical spirituality. In conjure practice, it is said that in order to acquire facility at various manual and body skills, such as playing a musical instrument, throwing dice, or dancing, 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. Evidence of this practice can be found in 20th century blues songs, such as Sold It to the Devil by Black Spider Dumpling (John D. Twitty). Although many modern listeners believe that the premier song about soul-selling at a crossroads is Crossroads Blues by Robert Johnson, the song may be a description of standing at a cross roads and trying to "flag a ride" or hitch-hike; the sense of foreboding coming from the singer's apprehension of finding himself, a young black man in the 1920s deep south, alone after dark and at the mercy of passing motorists.[1] Others believe Robert Johnson sang this song in regards to the deal that was made with Legba in which Johnson exchanged his soul for his extraordinary guitar skills that seemed to appear suddenly. It should be noted, however that the idea of selling your soul for instrumental skills pre-dates the American South as several virtuoso classical musicians such as Paganini had stories told about selling their soul for music prowess (and that story may reference back to medieval troubadour doing something similar). The selling your soul for guitar power story has become a staple in both rock and metal guitarists.
In the Vodou tradition, Papa Legba is the lwa of crossroads.
Crossroads are very important both in Brazilian mythology (related to the headless mule, the devil, the Besta Fera and the Brazilian version of the werewolf) and religions (as the favourite place for the manifestation of "left-hand" entities such as Exus and where to place offerings to the Orishas). Eshu and Legba are the same gods, just a name change with different tribes and languages of West Africa.
There is also the now illegal tradition within England of burying criminals (particularly suicides) at crossroads. This may have been due to the crossroads marking the boundaries of the settlement coupled with a desire to bury those outside of the law outside the settlement, or that the many roads would confuse the dead. [1] (See also Burial)
Symbolically, the crossroads can be used as a metaphor for the afterlife.
Mandala and medicine wheels as the Christian cross for example are metonymic of crossroads and share in their lore.
In some Asian cultures further interpretations and traditions about what crossroads are diverge from the explanations given above.
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   | A photo of "where the Southern cross the Dog" - Mississippi Delta Crawl - 2005 |
| | What is the Crossroads? - The Blue Shoe Times - The Blue Shoe Times: What is the Crossroads? |
| | The Crossroads: A Culture Blog - Blogger: Login to read |
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