I’d like to first acknowledge the Osage (Ni-u-kon-ska), Caddo, and earlier indigenous peoples who called the Ozarks home before their forced removal and who are still struggling to reclaim their land, traditions, and identities today.
My name is Brandon Weston and I’m a spiritual healer, folklorist, and writer living in the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks.
Some of the old terms Ozark folks have used for healers like me include Yarb Doctor and Power Doctor, but you don’t hear them much these days. Yarb Doctor comes from the Ozark word "yarb" meaning a healing plant. A Yarb Doctor is an herbalist who works with many of our native medicinal and edible plants. A Power Doctor is someone who holds knowledge of healing prayers, charms, rites and rituals, as well as the use of countless household items, repurposed for powerful healing. Sometimes you’ll hear folks refer to these healers as a person with the “gift” or “sight” or someone who “knows things.” All of these refer back to the inborn magical power within our traditional healers.
My name is Brandon Weston and I’m a spiritual healer, folklorist, and writer living in the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks.
Some of the old terms Ozark folks have used for healers like me include Yarb Doctor and Power Doctor, but you don’t hear them much these days. Yarb Doctor comes from the Ozark word "yarb" meaning a healing plant. A Yarb Doctor is an herbalist who works with many of our native medicinal and edible plants. A Power Doctor is someone who holds knowledge of healing prayers, charms, rites and rituals, as well as the use of countless household items, repurposed for powerful healing. Sometimes you’ll hear folks refer to these healers as a person with the “gift” or “sight” or someone who “knows things.” All of these refer back to the inborn magical power within our traditional healers.
My work is a living tradition. It's the work that Ozark healers have been doing for hundreds of years. You can see many different cultures and traditions represented in Ozark folkways. These beliefs and practices, much like the Ozark people who created them, are a mixture of many places, beliefs, and ways of life.
Specific folk traditions that have had a great influence on Ozark folkways include the European cunning craft, Cajun/Creole folk medicine including the path of the traiteur, Pennsylvania German Braucherei often also called Powwowing, Indigenous healing practices, West African folk traditions by way of Southern Rootwork, Hoodoo, and Conjure, and even Central/South American Curanderismo.
An important aspect of my research includes looking into all the traditions that have had such a great impact upon Ozark folkways. In looking at where these traditions intersect, we can start to understand so much more about the lives and practices of our ancestors. While you can look at Ozark folkways and see the fingerprint of all these traditions, remember that these practices remain unique to this specific area and should be approached with that mindset.
I’m an Ozarker through and through. This is the land where I was born, the land where my parents and my grandparents were born, as well as many more of my ancestors before that. In this way, my work is my own, the spirits I honor are my own, and while my work may be seen as a part of the larger tapestry of Southern folk magic, there are many practices that are unique to me as I have learned them. I hold true to all these traditions that I’ve been taught and those that have been Spirit led.
Specific folk traditions that have had a great influence on Ozark folkways include the European cunning craft, Cajun/Creole folk medicine including the path of the traiteur, Pennsylvania German Braucherei often also called Powwowing, Indigenous healing practices, West African folk traditions by way of Southern Rootwork, Hoodoo, and Conjure, and even Central/South American Curanderismo.
An important aspect of my research includes looking into all the traditions that have had such a great impact upon Ozark folkways. In looking at where these traditions intersect, we can start to understand so much more about the lives and practices of our ancestors. While you can look at Ozark folkways and see the fingerprint of all these traditions, remember that these practices remain unique to this specific area and should be approached with that mindset.
I’m an Ozarker through and through. This is the land where I was born, the land where my parents and my grandparents were born, as well as many more of my ancestors before that. In this way, my work is my own, the spirits I honor are my own, and while my work may be seen as a part of the larger tapestry of Southern folk magic, there are many practices that are unique to me as I have learned them. I hold true to all these traditions that I’ve been taught and those that have been Spirit led.
Published Works:
"Gift of the Spirit(s): Supernatural Healing in the Ozarks." Verdant Gnosis: Cultivating the Green Path, Volume 5. Edited by Catamara Rosarium, Marcus McCoy, and Jen Zahrt. Revelore Press. 2019.
Ozark Folk Magic: Plants, Prayers, and Healing. Llewellyn Worldwide. 2021.
"Cleanin' the Blood: Ritual Emetics and Purgatives in Ozark Folk Healing." Viridis Genii: Explorations of the Green Arte; Series 6, Vol. 1. Edited by Catamara Rosarium, Marcus McCoy, and Kim Schwenk MLIS. 2021.
Ozark Folk Magic: Plants, Prayers, and Healing. Llewellyn Worldwide. 2021.
"Cleanin' the Blood: Ritual Emetics and Purgatives in Ozark Folk Healing." Viridis Genii: Explorations of the Green Arte; Series 6, Vol. 1. Edited by Catamara Rosarium, Marcus McCoy, and Kim Schwenk MLIS. 2021.