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Encyclopedia > Crossroads (culture)

A crossroads (the word rarely appears in singular) is a road junction, where two or more roads meet (there are three or more arms). Crossroads is also an alternate name for a hamlet located at such a junction. The term is often used metaphorically, as an abstraction of places or occasions where people meet. The Latin word trivia (literally "three roads") is a place where three roads meet, and has given name to the kind of smalltalk that often occurs at such places. In the field of road transport, a road junction is a place where two or more roads either meet or cross. ... A road ascends a mountainside using hairpin bends in the French Alps. ... A hamlet is (usually — see below) a small settlement, too small or unimportant to be considered a village. ... In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Trivia can be either unimportant information, or basic, elementary knowledge. ...


In British English it is specifically defined as being where two roads cross each other (there are exactly 4 arms). Unlike the terms road intersection and road junction, crossroads is used in a more figurative or poetic sense (similar to fork in the road). Dialect areas of England British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate between the form of the English language used in the British Isles and those used elsewhere. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical , or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... A fork in the road is a place where one road divides into two, without either of them clearly being a turn off the main route. ...

Contents


Blues

Another interpretation of the crossroad hinted at by some blues songs is that point at which a particular road is taken in life - similar to Robert Frost's "road not taken". Portrait of Frost c. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...


Originally the blues "Crossroads" was a literal right-angle crossing of two railroads - "where the Southern cross the Dog" - in Moorhead, Mississippi. The "Southern" was a line of the Southern Railway, sold to the Columbus and Greenville Railway in 1920, and the "Dog" was the "Yellow Dog", officially the Yazoo Delta Railroad, part of the Illinois Central Railroad system after 1897. This place is mentioned in a number of blues, including the recorded works of W. C. Handy and Bessie Smith. This article is about angles in geometry. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... A crossroads (the word rarely appears in singular) is another word for road junction, where two or more roads meet (there are three or more arms). ... Moorhead is a city located in Sunflower County, Mississippi. ... The Southern Railway (AAR reporting mark SOU) was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894. ... The Columbus and Greenville Railway (AAR reporting mark CAGY) was founded in 1975 to operate divested Illinois Central trackage across the state of Mississippi. ... The Illinois Central (AAR reporting mark IC), sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. ... W.C. Handy photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941 William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873–March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer and musician, often known as the Father of the Blues. ... Bessie Smith photographed by Carl Van Vechten Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) is largely regarded as the most popular and successful blues singer of 1920s and 1930s, and she has had an enormous influence on singers throughout the history of American popular music, including Mahalia Jackson, Janis...


Spirituality

In the folk magic of many cultures, the crossroads is a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place. Folk religion consists of beliefs, superstitions and cultural practices transmitted from generation to generation, in addition to the formally stated creeds and beliefs of a codified major religion. ... The supernatural (Latin: super- exceeding + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are beyond ordinary scientific measurement. ... Anomalous phenomena are phenomena which are observed and for which there are no suitable explanations in the context of a specific body of scientific knowledge, e. ...


This is particularly pronounced in conjure, rootwork, and hoodoo, a form of African American magical spirituality. In conjure practice, it is said that in order to acquire facility at various manual and body skills, such as playing a musical instrument, throwing dice, or dancing, one may attend upon a crossroads a certain number of times, either at midnight or just before dawn,and one will meet a 'black man," whom some call the Devil, who will bestow upon one the desired skills. Evidence of this practice can be found in 20th century blues songs, such as Sold It to the Devil by Black Spider Dumpling (John D. Twitty). Strangely, although many modern listeners believe that the premier song about soul-selling at a crossroads is Crossroads Blues by Robert Johnson, that song is actually a mundane description of standing at a road crossing and trying to "flag a ride" or hitch-hike. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Typical role-playing dice, showing a variety of colors and styles. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... For other uses, see Midnight (disambiguation) Midnight, literally the middle of the night, is a time arbitrarily designated to determine the end of a day and the beginning of the next in some, mainly Western, cultures. ... Dawn or civil dawn is the time at which the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon in the morning. ... A modern interpretation of the devil, in red with goat like characteristics. ... The blues is blal vaökdgohdtzkhchg cnlncgdl a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the full twelve note chromatic scale plus the microtonal intervals and a characteristic eight and twelve-bar chord progression. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. ... For other people named Robert Johnson, see Robert Johnson (disambiguation). ...


The crossroads is also used as a metaphor for the afterlife. The afterlife (or life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual and experiential, beyond this world, or after death. ...


Other

In some Asian cultures further interpretations and traditions about what crossroads are diverge from the explanations given above. Culture of Asia is the aggregate of cultural heritage of the people of several nationalities, social and ethnic groups. ...


See also

A fork in the road is a place where one road divides into two, without either of them clearly being a turn off the main route. ...

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