The Crossroads and the Devil

Long before the blues legends, the crossroads was where a person went to learn a skill they could not learn any other way. They got it from the devil, or from the black man who met them there.

Hyatt recorded more than a hundred accounts. They are remarkably consistent about the place, the time and the price.

The place

• A true fork, where two public roads meet. One informant was firm: “not no blind roads” (Hyatt 340 · Fayetteville, N.C. · informant 1415).
• Some said a crossroads with four forks, standing in the square at the centre (Hyatt 285 · St. Petersburg, Fla. · informant 1014).

The time

• Twelve o’clock on a dark night (Hyatt 278 · Sumter, S.C. · informant 1368).
• Twelve o’clock on a Friday night (Hyatt 339 · Jacksonville, Fla. · informant 556).
• Nine mornings in a row, the devil appearing on the ninth at sunrise (Hyatt 291 · Fayetteville, N.C. · informant 1395).
• Nine Sunday mornings, then seven more (Hyatt 341 · Fayetteville, N.C. · informant 1438).

What was done there

• Stand at the fork and speak to the devil directly: tell him what you want and what you will do with it (Hyatt 278).
• Carry a black chicken for nine mornings. On the ninth, the devil meets you and teaches you “anything yo’ want” (Hyatt 340).
• Bring a guitar. The devil shows you how to play, and how to “cut all kinda tricks” with it (Hyatt 341).
• Read the Bible backwards on a Sunday night at midnight. With each verse you hear the next verse spoken in the woods. When you finish, you belong to the devil (Hyatt 345 · Brunswick, Ga. · informant 1240).
• Face west with your back to the east, and call the one who can do whatever you desire (Hyatt 335).
• Kneel and make a vow to stay with the devil and do as he says for as long as you live (Hyatt 339).

The signs

Several informants said that when someone who has made the deal comes back, they come in a whirlwind (Hyatt 146 · Wilson, N.C. · informant 1506; Hyatt 170 · Wilson, N.C. · informant 1514).

Hyatt notes, with some humour, that one woman fanned herself so hard during the telling that she nearly ran him crazy.

How it’s worked today

The crossroads rite is still done, mostly to master a skill: music, cards, dice, fighting, or the work itself.

Many workers now read the man at the crossroads as an older spirit than the Christian devil, a keeper of the roads and of skill, closer to the West African and Kongo crossroads powers than to the Bible.

The structure Hyatt recorded is still the one people follow: a true fork, the same hour, nine or more visits, an offering, and nerve.

Learn the work

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Source: Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork, 5 vols., 1970-1978. Numbers refer to Hyatt’s own item numbers; the town and informant number follow. Written by Hoodoo Witch in our own words, with short quotations for reference.