The crossroads s the magical symbol of ingress and egress between the worlds, par excellence. Virtually every culture in the world recognizes the crossroads as a holy site associated with magic, witchcraft and strange transitions into the beyond. The lore of the crossroads as a place of power stretch-es from the medieval hysteria of the witches sabbat, with its lurid fantasies of wanton scantily clad ladies cavorting with Satan and his legion of saucy imps; to the 20th century mythology of Robert Johnson, selling his soul to the devil in return for virtuoso guitar skills. The annals of folk magic are littered with references to the crossroads as a site where spells are performed or where the materials of witchcraft are deposited after sorceries have been worked. A place where jars filled with charmed items may be buried, candle stubs may be left, or dirt itself may be gathered for use in any number of strange enchantments. The crossroads was often used as a location for places of execution, under the understanding that the souls of the dead may more easily pass onto the afterlife if their lives were taken at such a spot. In 16th century London, the Tyburn Tree was erected at the meeting of roads now occupied by Marble Arch. A place of mass execution where up to 24 condemned criminals could be hanged at any one time. A murder factory of previously unimagined precision and efficiency, where vast crowds of spectators would gather to watch infamous highwaymen and assorted scoundrels dispatched into hell from the terrible branches of the hanging tree. Soil from the foot of the gallows was prized by magicians as a powerful ingredient, and even the wife of Charles I is said to have prayed at the foot of the tree and gathered a handful of magic dirt.
Stephen Grasso – Open Up The Gate
