The Crossroads Part One

The Crossroads create a place considered "betwixt and between" where 'two realms touch'; a 'liminal arena' known for strong magic, where pacts are made and myth and legend dance.

Hekate, goddess of witchcraft and the dark arts, frequents such places contributing to the strength of the forces found there.  Crossroads are an important ingredient in the practice of magic which asks one to delve into the center where a vortex exists not governed by man or time.  Such a place is frequented by the newly, beloved and the not so dearly departed so care should be given to one's intention. Crossroads are the unclaimed, waste and forgotten areas where none tarry long for fear of what might happen there. 

 Because Hekate has always been associated with such landscapes, it is little wonder that sensing her presence there is often acutely felt.

In medieval England there were stories surrounding the late night activities of ghosts at such places, and it was thought, given the severity of spectral retribution on the living, condemned criminals should therefore be hung and displayed at this infamous spot.  This visual not only worked as a silent symbol of 'fair warning' to outsiders, it was believed to protect the town from the criminal's spirit out for ghostly retribution.

Consequently, suicide victims were not granted access to internment within the village graveyard even those which lay beyond the town's boarders.  Ghosts might place blame on those who survived them, whether they be family or town official, and moral responsibility was not a virtue of those who spat in God's eye by taking their own life.  Revenge by the dead was a threat, and anyone might fall prey to a grisly specter out to even the score.

What is important to understand is that there are in fact two types of crossroads one might come across. The first is more common where one road is bisected by the other; the second, and harder to find, consists of the intersection of three roads, or paths, also known as a 'fork in the road.' In the form of actual roads each one must have a different name.  This has been purported to be by far the most powerful type due to its rarity and is often referred to as the “corpse cross” or “the' way.” Funeral processions would take this track to confuse the corpse's ghost preventing it from following anyone back to town after burial.

The well-known Goddess of the Crossroads is of course Hekate, known by many names and often referred to the “Queen of Ghosts.” She stands, listening to sounds well beyond what the human ear might perceive, for She is quite intent on leaving no soul behind.

Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, Hekate has held dominion over this realm; and to this day, by those of us who continue the practice of Hekate Veneration, define the Crossroads as the Threshold to the Underworld. 

Offerings are customarily left there, on the bare ground, and timing is important; the approach of midnight is thought to represent the overlap of the past, present and future. Wearing a skeleton key, consecrated and dedicated to the Dark Queen, aids one in conversation with the dead and the other unseen forces that reside there, affording some protection.

Once the offering is left, it is crucial to walk away without looking back, Hekate is there whether you see Her or not, surrounded by Her night shrouded specters.  To behold Her face has consequences said to be dire for the living and breaks the code of nature, for whatever is given cannot be reclaimed, don't let your soul be amid the benefaction. Within this realm there is a collapsing inward of time, and with it, obligations to the dead beyond one's comfort. 

I am of the tradition of placing small candles directly into the cakes left as an offering, enabling Hekate's Entourage to partake of it's essence. The early Greeks were the forerunners of this tradition I'm told.  History tells us that regarding the Goddess Artemis, who, Hekate shares an association, was honored in this way in her temple in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  This flickering candles represented the glow of the moon, one of her many symbols.

Having left many an offering at the crossroads, I suppose to those who understand, it is common practice, to others driving or walking late at night, it is a sight which might instill both awe and perhaps a bit of trepidation as perhaps, it should.