Meeting at the Crossroads (updated)

Liminal places are those locales that can be described as neither here nor there, and since time immemorial, they have been considered the very best places to meet the Witchfather (or Witchmother) and perform spells.  Liminal spaces might be include the mouth of a cave (neither in the belly of the earth, nor upon the land’s breast), at the seashore (neither in the ocean, nor upon dry land), at a doorway (neither inside the house, nor yet outside its bounds). But the liminal place that has fired the imagination and bred some of the most enduring folklore is that of the crossroads — the place where two or more roads come together and the traveler can stand for a moment in true limbo, on their way to anywhere.

It is in this place of balance, of limitless possibility, of undiscovered potential that magic and initiation are possible. The Seeker of the Mysteries has access to all that Is, Was, and Will Be.

Cultures from all over the globe have expressed this concept in a myriad of ways. Some embrace it, and some fear it. The Keeper of these Mysteries is most often viewed as a devil, demon, whore, or hag, but sometimes they are known as the Master, Light Bearer, Psychopomp, Key Holder. (Sometimes they are both loved and feared, for the Mysteries that illuminate and set the soul aflame can also consume one with madness if not grounded and tempered.) Hekate and Hermes both held this role in ancient Greece.  In Africa (and African-diaspora) religions we see Legba/Elegua (and several others) as well as Pomba Gira.  Odin was honored at crossroads in parts of Denmark and elsewhere in the Norse world.

Folklore holds that rulers, dancers, musicians, artists, and merchants — just to name a few — have all made deals with the Devil at the crossroads to increase their talents, fame, power, and fortune. Perhaps the truer tale is that these intrepid (or desperate) seekers quested for mastery of their natural gifts. They may have come away changed by their initiation, startled by the Keeper they encountered there, but their work was fueled by Cunning Fire  after they had gone down to those crossroads.

Hecate

Hecate or Hekate is an ancient goddess, most often shown holding two torches or a key and in later periods depicted in triple form. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery. She has rulership over earth, sea and  sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul.

Hecate is also one of the ‘patron' goddesses of many witches, who in some traditions identify her with the Triple Goddess, for Hecate has three faces, or phases. Her role as a tripartite goddess, which many modern-day Wiccans associate with the concept of ‘the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone', was made popular in modern times by writers such as Robert Graves in The White Goddess.

Historical depictions and descriptions show her facing in three different directions, a clear reference to the tripartite nature of this ancient Goddess.


Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She appears to have been particularly associated with being ‘between' and hence is frequently characterized as a “liminal" goddess. Hecate was also associated with plant lore and the concoction of medicines and poisons. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. Medea was said to be taught by Hecate.


Hecate has survived in folklore as a ‘hag' figure associated with witchcraft. Scholars note that Hecate, conflated with the figure of Diana, appears in late antiquity and in the early medieval period as part of an “emerging legend complex" associated with gatherings of women, the moon, and witchcraft that eventually became established in the area of Northern Italy, southern Germany, and the western Balkans.

Epithets

Aedonaea (Lady of the underworld)
Anassa eneri (Queen of the dead)
Apotropaia (that turns away/protects)
Atalus (tender)
Brimo (the terrible one)
Chthonia (of the earth/underworld)
Enodia (on the way)
Klêidouchos (holding the keys)
Kourotrophos (nurse of children)
Liparocredemnus (bright-coiffed)
Nyctipolus (night-wandering)
Phosphoros (bringing or giving light)
Propolos (who serves/attends)
Propulaia/Propylaia (before the gate)
Scylacagetis (leader of dogs)
Soteira (savior)
Trimorphe (three-formed)
Triodia/Trioditis (who frequents crossroads)
Zerynthia (of Mt. Zerynthia in Samothrace)