The Crossroads Ritual

The Crossroads - a place where two roads meet at right angles to make a "+" shape - is considered a very powerful magical place. Often times, the remains of spells or tricks are disposed of in a crossroads in order for the energy of the spell to be dispersed to the four quarters of the earth. Bath water from cleansing baths is often tossed into the crossroads toward the rising sun in order to dispel and dissipate the influence that was taken off of the person. Other spells will require a portion of the spell's remains to be deposited at sequential crossroads leading either toward or away from the home to either attract or repel a person or an influence from a person's life.

The crossroads is a unique place in that it is a place that is between places (neither this way nor that way), and it is also a directional point from which decisions or directions must be made. Consequently, there is common association of crossroads to special deities or spirits found in many cultures - including West African cultures.

The Black Man at the Crossroads
In hoodoo, there is a traditional ritual performed in order to gain mastery over some manual skill - typically playing guitar, playing dice or singing/dancing. The most famous example of this is typically attributed to Robert Johnson who is said to have "sold his soul" at the crossroads to learn mastery at writing songs and playing the guitar. This attribution is a mistake, however, and it was actually his contemporary Tommy Johnson (no relation) who said this and performed this ritual. When asked, Tommy Johnson stated,

"If you want to learn how to play anything you want to play and learn how to make songs yourself, you take your guitar and you go to where a road crosses that way, where a crossroad is. Get there, be sure to get there just a little 'fore 12:00 that night so you'll know you'll be there. You have your guitar and be playing a piece there by yourself.... A big black man will walk up there and take your guitar, and he'll tune it. And then he'll play a piece and hand it back to you. That's the way I learned to play anything I want." (As told by LeDell Johnson to David Evans and quoted from Peter Guralnick's Searching for Robert Johnson, copyright © 1982, 1989.)

It is also important to note that the man encountered at the crossroads is black - as in the color black - not of African descent. This can be interpreted to be dressed completely in black, or that his skin is all black in color, etc.

The Crossroads Ritual
Accounts on this ritual vary a bit. Some folks say to go for 9 consecutive nights, others say 3. Some say to go before dawn and wait for the sun to come up. Here is my personal suggestion:

Perform this act for 9 consecutive nights. Take the item you wish you master with you to a crossroads (where two streets intersect at right angles to make a "+" shape) arriving about 15 minutes before midnight. When you arrive, sit on the corner and use your item (toss your dice trying to get a 7, play your guitar, etc.) the entire time you are there. Continue until about half an hour past midnight. While you are there, take note of black animals that might approach you, people dressed in black, etc. There is absolutely no need to do anything aside from showing up and doing your skill that you wish to master. The effort of showing up every night IS your offering to the spirit of the black man at the crossroads.

On the final night, a black man will approach you, take the object from your hand, show you how to use it, and hand it back to you. You've just made your pact with the Black Man at the Crossroads to become a master in your skill.

Some folks say that you are selling your soul to the Devil. Others say that you're making an alliance with him. My own personal experience has shown me that the spirit of the Black Man comes with you and inspires you in your work from that point forward, but your experience may vary.

Powders for Sneaky Spells and More

Magical powders consist of various herbs ground up VERY fine, and blended with either cornstarch or talcum powder. (Dr. E. Products uses cornstarch for their powder base because of the recently revealed carcinogenic qualities of talcum.) They are a great way to deploy magical tricks on people without them knowing, and are one of the most powerful but under-utilized methods in the hoodoo toolbox.

The Infamous "Hot Foot Powder"
One of the most infamous powder recipes in hoodoo is Hot Foot Powder. This blend of hot spices and sulfur is used to make someone get away from you. It's not a curse, per se, but it effectively gets someone to leave - no harm intended or manifested - by lighting a fire of motivation under their feet to move on.

Hot Foot Powder is typically laid in a person's tracks where they'll walk over it and be "poisoned through the feet" (afflicted with magic through the soles of the feet). The trick with having it undetected is to mix it with local dirt to mask its color. Hot Foot Powder (or any powder, really) can be sprinkled in a line across someone's doorstep, at the foot of their driver's-side door to their car, across a walkway leading up to their home, or even a pinch in the footwell of their car or under their desk at work. You can also put a pinch in their shoes if they are the type that leaves their shoes laying around or outside their home, or you can even dust their door knobs to their homes so that they get the powder physically on them for maximum effect.

Love Me NOW! Spell Using Powders
This spell works best if you have regular communication with someone and already have a friendship in place. Write a letter by hand to your intended target. Turn the letter over and sprinkle some Love Me NOW! Powder on the back of it. Run your four fingers over the powder in a wavy pattern to dress the back of the letter. Shake off the excess then flick the paper with your index finger to get the remaining powder to fly off. Fold up the letter with the dressed side on the outside so your target will touch the dressed paper when he opens the letter. Seal the envelope with a dab of your own urine or sexual fluids. Mail the letter to your target and when he opens it, he will be affected by the powder and your personal concerns and start looking at you with loving eyes.

Neutralizing Evil With Powders

If you find some kind of evil spell left on your doorstep, or you see that someone has tried to lay a line of powder for you to cross over, do not step on it. Instead, sprinkle some Evil BEGONE! Powder or Fear Not to Walk Over Evil Powder over that line while praying for the trick to be unraveled by the just and watchful eye of God. Sweep the mess away and follow it up with a Chinese Floor Wash to cleanse away the remaining mess.

How to Sprinkle Powders
Powders are typically sprinkled from your own hand while calling out the intended target by name. It is important to call them by name, for it is the only person that the trick will affect. Anyone else who walks over the powder or touches it will not be affected. Also remember to blend the powder with local dirt to mask its color. Powders are typically sprinkled while walking backward in an odd number of steps while praying for the intended magical effect.