Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Brandon Weston, author of the new Ozark Folk Magic. In the Ozark Mountains, rituals of cleansing have long played a vital role in being able to successfully mitigate the harmful effects of both physical illnesses as well as those of a magical origin (like hexes or being "spelled," as hillfolk often say). There are as many different variations of these rites as there are healers and magical practitioners in the Ozarks, but there are two common categories where most cleansing work falls: water and smoke. Water Cleansing using water is an ancient practice, influenced in the Ozarks from European folk magic sources as well as Indigenous