You know, I usually like to be warned before I’m violated by demon tongue.
—DEAN WINCHESTER, “CROSSROAD BLUES” (2-8)
"Crossroads demons, or similar mythical concepts and superstitions, have been around pretty much as long as there have been roads that cross. Crossroads lore is surprisingly universal and can be found in cultures from Europe, Greece, India, ancient Mongolia, Japan, and Native America. The list of supernatural beings to be found at crossroads varies from one culture to another but includes angry spirits, witches, sprites, ancestral ghosts, fairies, and (you guessed it) demons.
Some cultures used crossroads as burial spots for the undesirable dead, such as murderers, thieves, and suicides. Others reserved crossroad burials for the bodies of parricides (those who were guilty of murdering one or both of their parents). In post-Christian medieval lore crossroads were the meeting places of witches, who would use them to conduct their dark ceremonies. In the Supernatural episode “Crossroad Blues,” Sam and Dean make a reference to the musician Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in order to become the greatest blues musician in the world. Believe it or not, this story has been around for a long time.
Whether true or not, during his time Robert Johnson did become the greatest blues musician in the world. Robert Johnson was born May 8, 1911 or 1912 (new evidence has called his birth year into question), in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. His mother, Julia Dodds, was the wife of a wealthy plantation owner named Charles Dodds. Problem was, Robert’s biological father wasn’t Charles, but a man named Noah Johnson. As a baby, Robert’s mother was chased out of Hazlehurst by a lynch mob. Some say it was due to a quarrel her husband had with some white plantation owners. Others claim it was because her husband found out that the child wasn’t his. Regardless of why she was run out of town, she took Robert with her. Two years later, she sent the boy to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with her husband who had, for some reason, changed his name to Charles Spencer.
Many believe that it was in Memphis that Robert was first exposed to the blues. In 1919, when Robert was eight (or seven) years old, his mother had remarried, this time to a much younger man named Dusty Willis. She sent for Robert to come live with her in Robinsonville, Mississippi. According to the stories, it was at this time that Robert also began following around a legendary blues musician named Son House, trying to learn from him. House, however, did not see any special talent in the enthusiastic young boy. Robert received a formal education during this time and lived in Robinsonville until 1929. This was also the year Robert married Virginia Travis, who died shortly after during childbirth.
This is also where the story starts to get just a little weird. After his wife’s death, Robert disappeared. No one knows where he went or what transpired during his absence. Only a few months later, however, he reappeared— with an incredible new guitar technique, the likes of which had never been seen before. No one knows where he learned it, but the story goes something like this: When Johnson went missing, people said he found work on a Mississippi plantation, most likely the Dockery Plantation. While there, his grief over the loss of his wife led him back to his love of the blues, and he decided he would become a great blues musician. After consulting with a local hoodoo-voodoo mambo (kind of like a priestess), he was told to take his guitar to a crossroads near the plantation and start playing. Once at the crossroads, Johnson had barely struck a chord when he was met by a very large and well-dressed black man.
This man, whom the lore claims was the devil himself, took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it, and began to play. He then offered the guitar back to Johnson, who took it with the knowledge that this was a deal with the devil, and that the collateral was his soul. Johnson took back his guitar (sorry, no awkwardly homoerotic kiss to seal the deal in this story), and with it he gained musical ability that was far beyond that of any blues guitar player ever before. His ability would make him famous in his time as well as that of future generations who rediscovered his music in the 1960s. Johnson even toured with the man who had once not believed he possessed the necessary talent to become a great blues man— Son House.
In fact, many believe that it was Johnson and House who likely began spreading the “crossroad pact” story. House may have even believed it, some theorize, in order to explain how Johnson achieved such an extreme amount of guitar ability in what seemed like such an impossibly short amount of time. If the story is true, of course, Johnson’s dream of becoming the greatest blues musician in the world also came with a very hefty price: his soul. And the weirdness continues. Johnson died young, at the age of only twenty-seven (or twenty-six).
His death also came under very odd circumstances on August 16, 1938, only nine years after his supposed crossroad pact. Of course, there is nothing in a pact that says the person giving up his body cannot die and have his soul collected sooner than the contract’s expiration date. Sometimes, the devil might even find a way to help you along. And, for Robert Johnson, it would seem the devil was doing a little nudging.
A few days before his death, Johnson had been playing for a rural country dance hall in Greenwood, Mississippi. After his set was over, Johnson took a seat. The bar owner sent over an open bottle of whiskey, compliments of the house. For reasons unknown (though some say it was because Johnson was flirting with the bar owner’s woman), the whiskey had been laced with strychnine, a very potent poison (and, in small doses, a hallucinogen). As he raised the bottle, fellow bluesman and close friend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle from Johnson’s hand. Sonny Boy then warned Johnson that it was dangerous to drink from a bottle that he didn’t open himself. Johnson was annoyed by this and told Sonny Boy, “Never knock a bottle out of my hand.”
The bar owner, being the generous fellow he was, immediately sent over yet another open bottle of whiskey, laced with an equally generous amount of strychnine. Shortly after finishing off the entire bottle of whiskey, Johnson fell suddenly ill and had to be helped back to his room. Of course, it would be safe to say that most people would need a little help getting around after drinking a whole bottle of whiskey. Over the next few days, however, Johnson’s illness only worsened. He died in agonizing pain, according to those who were present, in a fit of convulsions (which, by the way, is a standard symptom of strychnine poisoning).
There are some, of course, who claim that the accounts of Johnson’s poisoning death are wrong. Rationalists, such as the toxicology experts cited in Tom Graves’s book Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, claim that a fatal dose of strychnine would kill a person in hours (not several days, as in Johnson’s case). Not to mention that even whiskey would be unlikely to cover the strong taste and odor of the poison. Then there are others, of course, who would say that it was not poison that killed Robert Johnson— it was the devil come to get his due."
Brown, Nathan Robert (2011-08-02). The Mythology of Supernatural: The Signs and Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show (pp. 67-71).
—DEAN WINCHESTER, “CROSSROAD BLUES” (2-8)
"Crossroads demons, or similar mythical concepts and superstitions, have been around pretty much as long as there have been roads that cross. Crossroads lore is surprisingly universal and can be found in cultures from Europe, Greece, India, ancient Mongolia, Japan, and Native America. The list of supernatural beings to be found at crossroads varies from one culture to another but includes angry spirits, witches, sprites, ancestral ghosts, fairies, and (you guessed it) demons.
Some cultures used crossroads as burial spots for the undesirable dead, such as murderers, thieves, and suicides. Others reserved crossroad burials for the bodies of parricides (those who were guilty of murdering one or both of their parents). In post-Christian medieval lore crossroads were the meeting places of witches, who would use them to conduct their dark ceremonies. In the Supernatural episode “Crossroad Blues,” Sam and Dean make a reference to the musician Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in order to become the greatest blues musician in the world. Believe it or not, this story has been around for a long time.
Whether true or not, during his time Robert Johnson did become the greatest blues musician in the world. Robert Johnson was born May 8, 1911 or 1912 (new evidence has called his birth year into question), in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. His mother, Julia Dodds, was the wife of a wealthy plantation owner named Charles Dodds. Problem was, Robert’s biological father wasn’t Charles, but a man named Noah Johnson. As a baby, Robert’s mother was chased out of Hazlehurst by a lynch mob. Some say it was due to a quarrel her husband had with some white plantation owners. Others claim it was because her husband found out that the child wasn’t his. Regardless of why she was run out of town, she took Robert with her. Two years later, she sent the boy to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with her husband who had, for some reason, changed his name to Charles Spencer.
Many believe that it was in Memphis that Robert was first exposed to the blues. In 1919, when Robert was eight (or seven) years old, his mother had remarried, this time to a much younger man named Dusty Willis. She sent for Robert to come live with her in Robinsonville, Mississippi. According to the stories, it was at this time that Robert also began following around a legendary blues musician named Son House, trying to learn from him. House, however, did not see any special talent in the enthusiastic young boy. Robert received a formal education during this time and lived in Robinsonville until 1929. This was also the year Robert married Virginia Travis, who died shortly after during childbirth.
This is also where the story starts to get just a little weird. After his wife’s death, Robert disappeared. No one knows where he went or what transpired during his absence. Only a few months later, however, he reappeared— with an incredible new guitar technique, the likes of which had never been seen before. No one knows where he learned it, but the story goes something like this: When Johnson went missing, people said he found work on a Mississippi plantation, most likely the Dockery Plantation. While there, his grief over the loss of his wife led him back to his love of the blues, and he decided he would become a great blues musician. After consulting with a local hoodoo-voodoo mambo (kind of like a priestess), he was told to take his guitar to a crossroads near the plantation and start playing. Once at the crossroads, Johnson had barely struck a chord when he was met by a very large and well-dressed black man.
This man, whom the lore claims was the devil himself, took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it, and began to play. He then offered the guitar back to Johnson, who took it with the knowledge that this was a deal with the devil, and that the collateral was his soul. Johnson took back his guitar (sorry, no awkwardly homoerotic kiss to seal the deal in this story), and with it he gained musical ability that was far beyond that of any blues guitar player ever before. His ability would make him famous in his time as well as that of future generations who rediscovered his music in the 1960s. Johnson even toured with the man who had once not believed he possessed the necessary talent to become a great blues man— Son House.
In fact, many believe that it was Johnson and House who likely began spreading the “crossroad pact” story. House may have even believed it, some theorize, in order to explain how Johnson achieved such an extreme amount of guitar ability in what seemed like such an impossibly short amount of time. If the story is true, of course, Johnson’s dream of becoming the greatest blues musician in the world also came with a very hefty price: his soul. And the weirdness continues. Johnson died young, at the age of only twenty-seven (or twenty-six).
His death also came under very odd circumstances on August 16, 1938, only nine years after his supposed crossroad pact. Of course, there is nothing in a pact that says the person giving up his body cannot die and have his soul collected sooner than the contract’s expiration date. Sometimes, the devil might even find a way to help you along. And, for Robert Johnson, it would seem the devil was doing a little nudging.
A few days before his death, Johnson had been playing for a rural country dance hall in Greenwood, Mississippi. After his set was over, Johnson took a seat. The bar owner sent over an open bottle of whiskey, compliments of the house. For reasons unknown (though some say it was because Johnson was flirting with the bar owner’s woman), the whiskey had been laced with strychnine, a very potent poison (and, in small doses, a hallucinogen). As he raised the bottle, fellow bluesman and close friend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle from Johnson’s hand. Sonny Boy then warned Johnson that it was dangerous to drink from a bottle that he didn’t open himself. Johnson was annoyed by this and told Sonny Boy, “Never knock a bottle out of my hand.”
The bar owner, being the generous fellow he was, immediately sent over yet another open bottle of whiskey, laced with an equally generous amount of strychnine. Shortly after finishing off the entire bottle of whiskey, Johnson fell suddenly ill and had to be helped back to his room. Of course, it would be safe to say that most people would need a little help getting around after drinking a whole bottle of whiskey. Over the next few days, however, Johnson’s illness only worsened. He died in agonizing pain, according to those who were present, in a fit of convulsions (which, by the way, is a standard symptom of strychnine poisoning).
There are some, of course, who claim that the accounts of Johnson’s poisoning death are wrong. Rationalists, such as the toxicology experts cited in Tom Graves’s book Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, claim that a fatal dose of strychnine would kill a person in hours (not several days, as in Johnson’s case). Not to mention that even whiskey would be unlikely to cover the strong taste and odor of the poison. Then there are others, of course, who would say that it was not poison that killed Robert Johnson— it was the devil come to get his due."
Brown, Nathan Robert (2011-08-02). The Mythology of Supernatural: The Signs and Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show (pp. 67-71).