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For other uses, see Crossroads.

A crossroads (the word rarely appears in singular) is a road junction, where two or more roads meet (there are three or more arms). A road junction is a location where vehicular Traffic going in different directions can proceed in a controlled manner designed to minimize accidents A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. Crossroads is also an alternate name for a hamlet located at such a junction. A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. The term is often used metaphorically, as an abstraction of places or occasions where people meet. Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects

In British English it is specifically defined as being where two roads cross each other (there are exactly 4 arms). British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the Unlike the terms road intersection and road junction, crossroads is used in a more figurative or poetic sense (similar to fork in the road). In the field of Road transport, an intersection is a road junction where two or more Roads either meet or cross at grade (they are A figure of speech, sometimes

Contents

Blues

Another interpretation of the crossroad hinted at by some blues songs is that point at which a particular road is taken in life - similar to Robert Frost's "road not taken". Robert Lee Frost (March 26 1874 &ndash January 29 1963 was an American Poet. " The Road Not Taken " is a Poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 in his collection Mountain Interval.

Originally the blues "Crossroads" was a literal right-angle crossing of two railroads - "where the Southern cross the Dog" - in Moorhead, Mississippi. In Geometry and Trigonometry, an angle (in full plane angle) is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common Endpoint, called Moorhead is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. 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 Delta Railroad, part of the Illinois Central Railroad system after 1897. The Southern Railway is a former United States Railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined reorganized and recombined beginning There have been two uses of Columbus and Greenville Railway, both for the same Rail line. The Illinois Central, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes This place is mentioned in a number of blues, including the recorded works of W. C. Handy and Bessie Smith. William Christopher Handy ( November 16 1873 &ndash March 28 1958) was a Blues Composer and Musician, often Bessie Smith (July 9 1892 or April 15 1894&ndash September 26 1937 was an American Blues singer

Spirituality

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. Folk religion consists of Beliefs Superstitions and Rituals transmitted from generation to generation in a specific Culture. The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Paranormal is an Umbrella term used to describe unusual Phenomena or experiences that lack an obvious Scientific explanation Symbolically, it can mean a locality where two realms touch and therefore represents liminality, a place literally "neither here nor there". Liminality (from the Latin

This is particularly pronounced in conjure, rootwork, and hoodoo, a form of African American magical spirituality. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa 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. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. For other uses see either Die or Dice (disambiguation. Dice (the Plural of Die, from Old French Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Midnight is literally "the middle of the night" In most systems it is when one day ends and the next begins when the date changes Dawn refers to the Twilight before Sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight while the sun itself is still below the horizon The Devil is the 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. The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression 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. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8 1911 – August 16 1938 is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians 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). Niccolò Paganini ( October 27, 1782 &ndash 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. vodoo, vodun, or vodoun may refer to any of West African vodun, a west African religion Haitian vodou, mostly derived In Haitian Vodou, Papa Legba is the intermediary between the loa and humanity The Loa (also Lwa or L'wha) are the spirits of the Vodou religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world

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). The term Brazilian mythology is used to describe a series of cultural elements of diverse origin that are found in Brazil, comprising folk tales traditions characters and beliefs The Headless Mule ( Portuguese Mula sem Cabeça is a character of the Brazilian Folklore. The Devil is the The Bestial beast (besta fera is a Brazilian version of a Centaur. See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to Afro-American religions (also African diasporic religions) are a number of related Religions that developed in the Americas among African Eshu (other names include Exú, Esu Eleggua, Esu Elegbara, Eshu Elegbara, Elegba, Legba, and Eleda An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God in the Yoruba spiritual

There is also the now illegal tradition within England of burying criminals (particularly suicides) at crossroads. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland 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. Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground AfterLife is a film drama set in Scotland directed by Alison Peebles made in 2003 about an ambitious Scottish journalist forced to choose between

In Lore

Some professors refer to the crossroads as a turning point with an unpredictable outcome. In ancient literature some scripts have references to other dimensional worlds with their own crossroads. In these texts the crossroads seem to have four different endings, a golden age, nothing changed, apocalypse, and a bad event that varies with every different world.

Other

In some Asian cultures further interpretations and traditions about what crossroads are diverge from the explanations given above. The culture of Asia is the artificial aggregate of the Cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, Religions and Ethnic groups

See also

External links

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