If there is a single narrative that captures the modern understanding of transformative crossroads magic it is the spurious fable of the selling of Robert Johnson's soul. When, in the palaeoanthropology of 20th century rock and roll music, the biographers of the short-lived blues legend claimed that he had been down to the Dockery Plantation crossroads at midnight to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for guitar skills, they were perhaps unwitting witnesses to the deep history of myth and ritual that has long been associated with the transformative space of the crossroads. They were not lacking in foresight, however, about the way in which such a claim would enhance their subject's credibility. The value of such a sulphurous reputation for a musician is not merely a recent phenomenon but also has historical precedents. A hundred years before Johnson (who lived 1911–1938), the guitarist and violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840) was considered such a suspiciously devilish virtuoso that his audiences were reputed to cross themselves before his concerts in hope of protection from subtle demonic influence. One audience member even fled a concert after reporting seeing the Devil himself aiding Paganini's performance. Going a little further back, Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770) explained of his best-known sonata, The Devil's Trill (1713), that he had ‘written down the piece after waking from a particularly vivid dream of the Devil playing a violin with ferocious virtuosity’, and claimed that it was ‘but a shadow of what he had witnessed in the dream, for he was unable to capture on the page the Devil's full intensity’. His long career was certainly not harmed by this youthful excursion into Hell.

中文翻译：

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走向十字路口：流行音乐与变革魔法

如果有一个单一的叙述能够捕捉到现代对变革性十字路口魔法的理解，那就是出卖罗伯特·约翰逊灵魂的虚假寓言。什么时候，在 20 年代的古人类学中th世纪摇滚乐，这位昙花一现的布鲁斯传奇人物的传记作者声称，他曾在午夜来到 Dockery Plantation 的十字路口，将自己的灵魂卖给魔鬼以换取吉他技巧，他们也许是不知情的见证人长期以来一直与十字路口的变革空间联系在一起的神话和仪式。然而，他们并不缺乏远见，对于这样的主张将如何提高他们的主题的可信度。对音乐家而言，这种硫磺声誉的价值不仅是最近的现象，而且还有历史先例。比约翰逊（1911-1938 年）早一百年，吉他手和小提琴家尼科洛·帕格尼尼（Niccolo Paganini，1782-1840 年）被认为是一位令人怀疑的恶魔般的演奏家，以至于他的听众被认为在他的音乐会前会在自己身上打十字，以期免受微妙的恶魔影响。一位观众甚至在报告说看到魔鬼亲自帮助帕格尼尼表演后逃离了一场音乐会。再往前走一点，朱塞佩·塔蒂尼（Giuseppe Tartini，1692-1770）解释了他最著名的奏鸣曲，恶魔的颤音（1713 年），他“在一个特别生动的梦中醒来后写下了这首曲子，魔鬼以凶猛的技艺演奏小提琴”，并声称这“只是他在梦中目睹的东西的影子，因为他无法在页面上捕捉到魔鬼的全部强度”。他漫长的职业生涯当然不会因年轻的地狱之旅而受到伤害。