Smokey Mountain Breakdown

The day was really beautiful, that Sunday. I went back to the Edwina Church of God in Jesus' Name and this time I went alone. Friend Scott has been working really hard with a construction company and is not always available to accompany me on my jaunts.

I will probably just share some pictures and general impressions with you this time. My observations during this trip have more to do with issues I feel would be better addressed later. I think this trip said more to me about Pastor Jimmy's struggle to document and archive the history of his church. And by doing so, to project a future for his people and the followers of The Signs.

There were almost as many observers there this Sunday as there were worshipers. They were all very important intellectuals and artists... well, except for me. One of them was an acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Morten Parker, who I, myself, had studied when I was an undergrad. Dr. Ralph Hood, Jimmy's collaborator and editor, was there and I got a chance to tell him how much I admired his work on Handling Serpents. He must have had to fight very hard to preserve Jimmy's "voice" for that work. There was also a very wonderful and talented photographer named Don Dudenbostel who I really enjoyed and hope to see more of.

Pastor Jimmy attracts such lofty company, not just because of the fact that he practices a form of Christianity that is looked upon with curiosity from the outside world, but also because he is such a open and giving person. There are, after all, other Holiness churches that live by The Signs. I think that Pastor Jimmy's dedication and scholarship attracts like-minded people.

He explained the hand-burned wooden gates that hang on either side of the pulpit. He made them himself so that the children would know when there were snakes in boxes behind the dividing wall that separates the congregation from the stage. If the gates are closed, the children know they must sing on the other side of the wall. When no snakes are present, the children are welcome to come back and sing on the stage.

I was also interested that my perceptions of Pastor Jimmy's relationship with his wife, Pam, were also shared by the other observers. At one point in the service, Pam got up to sing in that amazing Lorretta Lynn voice of hers and Jimmy grinned like a teenager. He ducked his head shyly and said, "That's my Baby Doll!"

My heart gave a little lurch just watching the love these two shared. If you are anything like me, it does your heart good to see two people so in love.

Today, Pastor Jimmy had two Osage Copperheads with him. This subspecies of copperhead does not actually live in this area but lives in eastern Missouri to eastern Kansas and south to northeastern Oklahoma. Pastor Jimmy says these snakes came from Oregon. Most people assume that they only handle the serpents indigenous to the local area. They call successfully handling a serpent "claiming victory". In other words, Jesus has allowed them to claim victory over the serpent. Pastor Jimmy has claimed victory over many species of poisonous serpents, including Black Mambas, Cobras, Taipans, Death Adders and Australian Brown Snakes.

The list is probably much more extensive and I will probably have to sit down with Jimmy and figure out exactly which species he has handled. It may be easier to point out the ones he has not handled.

Another thing that strikes me is how delicate and prayerful Pastor Jimmy's hands become when he handles serpents. There is something very uncanny about it and I wonder if this is an element of the "anointing". I've read about some people who become so anointed that the snake actually dies.

But Pastor Jimmy handles them with reverence and delicacy.

When the snakes are not being used in services, they are kept much as any herpetological enthusiast keeps snakes. They are fed mice and kept with a heat source and in climate controlled conditions ideal for their species. They are largely wild-caught snakes. Pastor Jimmy sets out sheets of tin as traps to catch them. Sometimes, he is called to a place where he knows there will be a snake by an inner voice he attributes to God. After a time, he releases them into the wild. He does not do this with the more exotic species, but his wild-caught indigenous snakes return to the wild after a time.


As always, I came away with something from Pastor Jimmy's service. This time, I left thoughtful. I met some really wonderful people of the sort that I ran with in my former life. It was a lovely treat for me. It was a bit surreal to meet them in the cozy confines of Pastor Jimmy's church, rather than at an art opening at the High Museum or a theater reception at the Alliance....or any of the other venues in large cities or small countries I've called home in my life. There, we might have politely smiled as we sipped our bad champagne and wondered when we could leave and get these painful shoes off our tortured feet.

But I no longer wear painful shoes. It's true that I occasionally miss the comradery of other highly educated people. But as I've often said, there are different kinds of "smart".

When I came home, I put on my barn clothes and went out on my back porch and called my milking does to me. As I sat next to the milking stanchion, rythmically coaxing the two gallons of milk I get each day from the girls, I hummed softly. I could see practically to North Carolina from my perch, 300 feet above Big Creek. The air was clean and there were no traffic sounds.

I don't wear painful shoes anymore. And somehow, that I ever did, seems odder to me than snakes in a church.

And that was the lesson I took home that Sunday from Pastor Jimmy's church.

I could have just gone in there and taken photos and snarkily portrayed them as the press has done so many times before. I could have just stopped at the snakes and the drinking of "the deadly thing" and left it like that. That's the easy way to go. Stop at the snakes and the poison and snicker. But you know me. That's just not me. And truthfully, the snakehandlers have thoroughly charmed me.

Before I go further on this journey, I wanted you to understand some of what I see in them. Some of what has made them a life-long fascination for me. I want you to know some of what they believe. I want you to understand their sweetness.

If I make mistakes in conveying the nature of their beliefs to you, it is only my imperfect knowledge of them and no deficit of theirs.

I know more about snakes than is strictly appropriate for a someone of my upbringing. We were raised with a healthy respect for poisonous reptiles. As a child, growing up on the coastal wetlands of South Carolina, they were an ever present danger. I remember having a craving for sassafras tea and taking myself, barefoot, off into the woods to gather roots. I looked down in horror to find a nest of just born copperheads just inches from my toes. It was not unusual for me to return home from school to find a huge water moccasin sunning itself on the front porch steps. I witnessed, more than once, the terrible damage their bites wrought on unsuspecting dog noses.

Later, in my teen years, I would help a local herpetologist remove snakes from the tomato fields. The migrant workers would grind to a halt any time a snake was spotted. We were actually trying to save the red rat snakes and the indigo snakes. But just as often, there would be a poisonous snake there.

I first heard of the Pentecostal Church Snakehandlers when I was in college. I was a theater major with very modest acting skills. Okay, really bad acting skills. But I hadn't come to that realization yet, so I was always looking for parts to audition for. One day there was an audition notice for Romulus Linney's "Holy Ghosts". Underneath, in bold, black magic marker it said, "Must NOT be afraid of snakes!!"

So I got my first role in a play and it was the beginning of my fascination with the Pentecostal Church Snakehandlers.

As sensitively as Romulus Linney portrayed them in his play, in hindsight, I don't think he quite "got it".

Jimmy Morrow is the Pastor of the Edwina Church of God in Jesus Christ's Name. I had known about Jimmy since I came here. Because of the blog, I sometimes get inquiries about snakehandling. If I felt they were respectful, I always referred them on to Jimmy. But I only met Jimmy face to face several weeks ago. I had been wanting to attend his service for a while but didn't think it appropriate to show up without an invitation.

Jimmy is not what you would expect. He is a tall man with greying hair and a gentle face who can talk a blue streak. His eyes are bright and animated and when he speaks you are aware of his keen intelligence. It is easy to see why so many university professors and intellectuals have befriended him. He is clearly "one of us". By that, I mean, that his thirst for knowledge and questing mind are evident when he speaks of his topic, the Jesus' Name Snakehandlers and their history. His archives, covering over 100 years of Appalachian history, are as meticulously documented and kept as any university don's. He has every right to be proud of his scholarly achievements.

"I've only got a fifth grade education." He said shyly after the first service I attended, "But I reckon I'm the only one up here that has a book out."

There is no doubt in my mind that had Jimmy been born in another place or time, he would hold three PhD's and be chairing the sociology department at an Ivy League university. His second book is on its way to the publishers.

His wife, Pam, is as quiet as Jimmy is loquacious but she is integral to the partnership. Her beliefs run as deeply as Jimmy's. She exudes a Madonna-like aura of joy, tranquility, love and peace. Just being near her is calming. She is gifted with tongues. She also has a fluting and sweet singing voice that does justice to every song she sings. It is a "joyful noise" indeed.

As a couple, they share a sort of love that one rarely sees. It flows off of them like sunbeams off of running water. It is the sort of love that makes you believe in love again even if you have lost your faith in love.

I'm sure that their shared beliefs and faith have something to do with that. They call it "living by the signs".

The Beliefs


One of the first things I noticed when I entered their church was a large hand drawn sign that had the name of God in Hebrew. Underneath it said, "The Name of God in English is Jesus Christ." That is a principle belief of theirs, that Jesus' name is also the name of God, superseding the Trinity. They believe that all things can be endured or accomplished in Jesus' name.

The Signs

The signs refer to the five attributes given in Mark 16: 17~18

1. Casting out Devils.
2. Speaking in Tongues.
3. Taking up Serpents.
4. Drinking of any Deadly Thing.
5. Laying on of Hands to heal the Sick.

They also take on fire. There is an acetylene torch that sits on Jimmy's pulpit for this purpose. It is not mentioned in Mark 16: 17~18, but it is something that they practice on occasion.

A common misconception is that they do these things as "tests" of faith. They are not testing their faith at all. They believe this is a way of life. They understand that they may die by living this way and sadly, they sometimes do. But they believe that if they "die by the signs", that it is merely God's wish for them to go at that time. It is a mark of honor to die this way and those that do are spoken of reverently.

They are also very gentle about their faith. There is no hard sell or proselytizing here. I found this very appealing about them. They never harp about the fact that they are the "one true" faith...though I'm sure they believe that. They expect people to come to them of their own accord.

So, there are the basics. I'll be looking into their faith more deeply. I'm not sure how far I'll go as of yet. I have no plans to handle serpents myself. My skeptics mind was toying with the theory that perhaps there was a genetic basis that allowed them to live through the dozens of snakebites, drinking of lye and lethal strychnine or being unburnt by fire.

But that was before I discovered I was related to them by blood. I'm not too keen on that idea anymore.

I know you are dying to see a snake at this point. Below is the copperhead I saw handled on Friday by Jimmy. He was in his box on the altar platform. I will get pictures of the actual handling at another time.

As I poked my head from the covers and wiggled my legs to see exactly how solidly the cocker spaniel cocoon had enveloped me during the night, my eyes focused out the french doors to my balcony towards Sol Messer Mountain. The sky was floating with swirling eddies of snow.

It's a good day for some housekeeping.

Link Love

I've been a bit remiss in spreading the link love that has been so generously offered to me. Please allow me to correct this oversight with my humble apologies. Sometimes when I'm in the midst of a story cycle or getting some research off the ground, I can be most churlish.

Bonnie @ bkfrogma

Bonnie and I met during my Buzznet days, so she's one of my oldest blog friends. I started the blog here, getting the first round of story cycles off in 2003. These stories are pretty rough but tell of my first year here in the mountains and my experiences getting the farm off the ground. Mostly they are about the amazing people who embraced me here. I felt my writing was missing something so I took off to Buzznet for a few years to do some photoblogging and satire. Writing from photos helps me tune my descriptions and think more visually.

Bonnie is an urban gardener, sailor and kayaker extraordinaire paddling the Hudson from Manhattan. She works for a huge corporate media giant...sort of like I used to, but in publishing rather than cable news. She has gorgeous photos of places we'd all rather be.

She wrote a lovely post all about me and the Easter Story about Friend Scott. I'm very honored that she did this for me.

Pissed-Off Housewife.

What can I say about Housewife? She's the Jewish mother we probably all should have had so that we would have turned out better. She's opinionated, shamelessly judgemental (in somehow a good way...not sure how she does it), and the least L-Alien from L.A. that I know.

And I'm absolutely terrified of her and slavishly do everything she tells me.

See, I have this nightmare. I'm as sure as the sun rising tomorrow that I could lick Hershey's chocolate syrup off of any surface in Housewife's home(including the carpet) without ever having to think about the 3 second rule. Me...ehhh...not so good a housekeeper. The kitchen is more my thing. In my dream, someone knocks at the door. At this moment, there are baby goats in the house, the dogs have gotten into the trash strewing it from one end of the house to the next and I, myself, am in nasty old sweat pants, bra-less and eating cheap ravioli out of the can with my fingers. To my horror...it is Housewife and her trusty side-kick Mrs. D and they have come to perform one of those awful TV housekeeping interventions on me.

I'm telling you...I wake up shaking in my bed with a hankering for clorox.

If you don't read her...you probably should. There are just too many funny, sad, angry, heartbreaking things in her blog. And they are all mixed up in a truly endearing way.

Hilarious posting today called:

Everything I've Done is Public Record

What's not to love about stoned teenagers, the press corps and a dead iguana?

and she kindly mentions me in these:

Why I read blogs instead of magazines...
Rosie and Momma and the other Mrs. D.
If you think that people are born good....

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Snakes in Church Update

I'm almost done reading Jimmy Morrow's book, Handling Serpents: Pastor Jimmy Morrow's Narative History of His Appalachian Jesus' Name Tradition. All I can say is "Wow." For me, as a writer, every sentence is a story all of it's own. His editor, Ralph Hood, has done a superb job. I really want my own copy for my library and I can't wait to digest all of it, then ask Jimmy about some of his beliefs and the history. Actually, I'm really interested in talking with Pamela, his wife. There is a wonderful photo of her handling a really big rattler.

Here's an excerpt:

U.G. Prince and his son, Charles, brought serpents back into the service. Charles got anointed to handle the serpent. He went outside to the parking lot, opened the car door, and got the serpent box out. He opened it and reached inside, got the serpents out, and took them into the church. Members that had not handled serpents for twenty-two years took turns handling the serpents. U. G. told Charles to go to the car and get the "deadly thing" --it was Red Devil Lye. U. G. got the jar and drank it down in the name of Jesus Christ and several more people also drank the lye. (p.42)

Scott called this morning. He's spending Easter weekend with his family. I had been thinking about Scott in terms of our snakehandling expedition. I'm an Episcopalian and we are pretty much immune to the anointing thing they talk about here. At least I am. Scott...I'm not so sure of. I'm going to be majorly pissed if I end up carting he big snake-bit ass to the hospital.

I'm also still looking for one of these: ZOOM H4 Handy Digital Recorder Or something like it. Preferably used and donated but functioning. It seems a shame to go in there and not get some decent quality sound. If you know any sound techy types...I'm desperate for something to take into the field that will work with my computer.

Today was hugely productive and I'm so excited I can barely stand it!

Friend Scott comes by today and takes me out to dinner at the local Chinese. On the way he relates this amazing Friend Scott story so hillbilly gonzo in its proportions that it can only be compared to "Snakes and Taxes". So I've got an amazing, hilarious Friend Scott story to relate after this current Friend Scott story is done. All I can say is it involves a drunk and licentious 400 lb "cousin" in a mini skirt with no underwear, rosebushes, calf-tagging, iodine, a consensual gang-banging and the phrase "He's gay...let him do it!"

And I say, "Why do you hang out with these people?"

So, we go into the Chinese and who should be there but the legendary Pastor Jimmy Morrow, who Scott knows and is, of course, related to. I've been wanting to meet Jimmy ever since I moved here mainly because of my fascination with the Pentecostal Church Snakehandlers. So, I finally got my invite, not only to attend one of Jimmy's snakehandling services, but also to come by his house to view his extensive archives of snakehandling history, photos and lore! Jimmy knows more about the history and genealogy of this area than anyone. He's is a backwoods genius and has been featured on The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel and Nat'l Geographic. I'm so honored to meet him and can hardly wait just to sit and soak up anything he wants to tell me.

So V-Man...I may not have been able to attend the amazing and drunken Feast of Snakes in Claxton with you, Eric, Joe, Zonker, Elisson, Rick, Georgia and Denny, but looks like I'm gonna have my own private Feast of Snakes. And we ain't gonna have no sissy press passes or safe bleachers or boxed in snake pits. I thumb my nose at you sir!

Snakes in a Church....coming soon to a blog near you.