What is Crossroads Witchcraft?
What does it mean to be a Crossroads Witch? Well first, ask yourself "What does it mean to stand in the Crossroads?", or "What is a Crossroad in Witchcraft?". Whether you've walked the crossroads your entire life, or if today's the day you find yourself beginning your crossroads journey, I say the same to whoever you are; Welcome Home, Witch.
Let's take the basic definition of the word crossroads: which is a road or a path. That's okay, in fact that's perfect. We are all on different paths in our lives, and Witchcraft is no exception. When you face a crossroad, it's about focusing and observing the different options. Your life will forever change depending on what path you take, so be sure to think carefully when choosing a path. It's encouraged to spend time hanging out in front of those crossroads, and see which path is more to your liking. Does one follow a bright, shiny yellow brick road that's got a clear way ahead? Or maybe the one leading into the dark forest of unknown excitement is the one that calls to you?
Standing in the Crossroads
The crossroads are a place of "In-between", as a wise witch has taught me. It is the place between worlds. A time without time, a place without a place. And so much fun happens in those beautiful, magickal moments! It's the very place where you are neither in, nor out. You both have, and have not made that big scary work decision and instead of stressing your mind, body, and soul out over it, make the decision to dance in that uncomfortable energy. By dancing in that crossroad, the answer we seek reveals itself to us. It's not always about finding and seeking the answer, but allowing yourself to receive it. By making yourself comfortable in those uncomfortable stages of life, you can make decisions on which path to take with a clearer and more dynamic headspace.
Crossroads Witchcraft can be called "Grey Magick" as it's both light and dark. There will be a whole different post on the various shades of magick, but simply put, the Crossroads are the great. It's life and death, it's everything else, in-between breaths. It's neither harmful nor healing, it's not just about blessings and it certainly isn't only cursings, but instead Crossroads Witchcraft stands as both. It exists in a liminal space, and that space can be scary to some, but for many folks, the fear is simply in the unfamiliarity of it.
There's so much you don't know when you can't see the end result of some of those paths you could take, but guess what? We don't always know what direction we're going in life. It doesn't have to be scary, and the sooner you accept it and work through that fear of the unknown, the happier and clearer your mind is to make meaningful choices in life. Utilizing the magick of the crossroads change your life drastically for the better, or worse, or not at all. The choice lies on those who journey.
Yoga and the Crossroads
The crossroads of eastern spirituality practices with American folkloric witchcraft also provides us with maintaining a clear mind at the crossroads. Yoga means union, and through a still mind and body, we can make clear and conscious decisions at these crossroads, as the clarity comes from the union of these 3 factors. Aside from the mental benefits of being a yoga practitioner, in Hinduism, the deity Ganesh represents overcoming obstacles, and overcoming fears. He is the wise elephant diety who sits on a mouse for his mount, the paradox here is the cliche of the big, scared elephant managing to overcome his squeamish fear of mice. Surely, a mouse can't be too comfortable for taking journeys on (for either parties involved) but Ganesh represents overcoming all obstacles on that journey. He still made the plunge, he still persevered and was able to journey.
Ley Lines, Energy Vortexes and Crossroads Magick
Ever heard of a ley line? It is said that electromagnetic lines connecting and interconnect us all (I personally refer to these as energy vortexes), and that ancient practitioners built their churches perfectly aligned with these ley lines. Some may say they simply were put there by accident, but spiritualists tend to believe there's no such thing as a coincidence.
Common Ley Lines
I mean, I'm suuuure it's just a coincidence that these places of immense power were all built on ley lines, but that's another debate. Nonetheless, here's some common key lines across our beautiful planet:
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
Stonehenge, United Kingdom
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Washington Monument, Washington DC, USA
Temple Mount, Jerusalem
Kaaba, Mecca, Saudia Arabia
Sedona, USA
Witchy Story Time: What I do find fascinating is that if this is true, we have these wonderful places throughout our world where we can stand at such points of power. Having the blessing of standing at one of these crossroads, was the most incredible experience of my life. I took this trip to journey with spirit and allowing myself to feel the power of the earth beneath me in the beautiful, yet somehow chilling nature of the dessert.
What I didn't realize is that I would experience immense growth in myself, by allowing myself to walk to the edge of those crossroads on this trip, I had a moment with spirit, and for a moment, I journeyed at a literal crossroad, a path that I knew I shouldn't have taken. Spirit was there with me the whole time, asking me if I was sure I wanted to take this path, and through my stubbornness, I ignored his wisdom, and got myself into a little bit of trouble, and I knew it. Through a very exhilarating situation I was able to focus enough, by surrendering and believing in myself, and got a flash of what it felt like to get myself out of my own head, and fortunate enough to turn around and take a different path.
I had this experience on the first day of my trip, after experiencing the fear of the crossroads, as the law of recricprocity explains, I was able to step back, and feel the power of Divinity all around me. I had questioned if I could truly process energy as a physic intuitive on this trip, but after so distinctly physically feeling spirit in my heart, it forever changed my bond with the Divine. The moral of this story is as long as we make wise, conscious choices at these crossroads, spirt will be there to support and us, should we listen.
There's more to this story.....if anyone is curious?
Witchcraft and the Crossroads
There are a handful of deities that honor and represent the Crossroads that many of the witches in our coven work with, such as Hecate, the keeper of the crossroads. I have learned about this goddess through my moon sister Daena, and with our coven we often On many dark moons we gather offerings from plants and flowers and place them at a literal crossroads at midnight.
In almost every magickal path, you'll find a deity to the crossroads. Hermes for the Greek, vikings love Heimdall, conjuring folk have Papa Legba waiting for them at the crossroads, there is even a Japanese god Chimata-No-Kami who honors their crossroads. Each deity is honored in their own way, and if the crossroads call to you, lean in a little bit and see if there is someone waiting for you at the crossroads.
Working with the entities at the crossroads may just be taking the moment to listen and heed the messages of spirit when they offer us divine guidance. How many times have we been given good advice and not followed it, instead, submitting to our own ego and falling into our same patterns? Spirits at the crossroads may just be that voice in your head that's is yearning to be heard. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen, allow the magick to happen.
When witches, and spiritualists find that we aren't in alignment with our highest selves we often find ourselves at a personal crossroads. What we don't realize is that we often find ourselves taking that very same path, over and over again, because it's the one that's the most familiar. Taking that path may seem to offer us everything we want in life, yet why do we continuously find ourselves at that same fork in the road?
Just because the path we are the most familiar with is presented to us, time and time again, doesn't mean it's the best path for us. Sometimes taking the path into that dark, mossy forest leads to a land far more beautiful land than ever imagined, but only if we dare to have enough courage to enter through the unknown. Sometimes we mistake the darkness, for dangerous, because of our own self constructed image of safety. From those challenges, will come obstacles, but the magick is when we can learn to press forward, and overcome them, move forward, and find a new path.
Over time, we find that we finally have learned the lessons presented with us, and we are able to move forward with our path, ultimately presented with new obstacles. We should consider ourselves lucky to live our life as we pass through these crossroads. Many people choose the safe and predictable route, no matter how miserable it may be.
Only a few will allow themselves empowerment to enter new depths.
Further Reading
Leaning in? For a bit more information on exactly how to work beautiful magick in the Crossroads, I would highly recommend to you a beautiful book written by my friend and mentor, Taren S, the witch herself who first showed me how to open the crossroads and how to dance in between. Crossroad Witchcraft is an amazing guide on what the Crossroads are, and a ton of great workings inside!
Have you ever stood in a crossroads before and didn't realize it until now? Tell us about it below and thank you all so very much for journeying with The Season of Anya with me, please check out my Youtube channel @SeasonofAnya for other fun videos and information!
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