Salvation on Sand Mountain is a story of snake handling and strychnine drinking, of faith healing and speaking in tongues. It is also the story of one man's search for his roots--and, in the end, of his spiritual renewal. Writer Dennis Covington came to this ecstatic form of Christianity as a reporter covering a sensational murder case; Glen Summerford, pastor of the Church of Jesus with Signs Following, had been accused of attempting to kill his wife with rattlesnakes. There, in a courtroom filled with journalists and gawking spectators, Covington felt the pull of a spirituality that was to dominate his life for the next several years. Attending Summerford's church out of curiosity, he soon forged close friendships with some of the worshippers, began attending snake-handling services throughout the South, and eventually took up snakes himself.
With subject matter this lurid, Salvation on Sand Mountain could have been a Southern-fried curiosity and little more. Covington goes far deeper. Tracing the snake handlers' roots in regional history, in the deep spiritual alienation of mountain people from the secular modern world they have so recently joined, Covington is more than just sympathetic to the snake handlers; in a profound way, he considers himself one of them. His reasoning is sometimes flawed--when he attempts to find snake handlers in his own family's past, for instance, the result is belabored and unconvincing--but there's no doubt that Covington's heart is in the right place. He's also not without his own brand of sly gallows humor, as in this conversation with the elderly Gracie McAllister: "She'd swore she'd never handle rattlesnakes in July again. She'd been bit the previous two Julys. 'I decided I'd just handle fire and drink strychnine that night,' she said. Good idea, I thought. It always pays to be on the safe side."
Covington eventually breaks with the snake handlers, but comes away from the experience a changed man. "Knowing where you come from is one thing, but it's suicide to stay there," he writes. An American Book Award winner and finalist for the National Book Award, Salvation on Sand Mountain is a nuanced, compassionate portrait of an unforgettable spiritual journey.
--Mary Park
The WebBoard Discussion of 1998:
Looking!
An old Prodigy discussion:
To: ALL Date: 02/08
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 10:11 AM
Dear Gail, Barbara & All: Yesterday I picked up my copy of
Dennis Covington's SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN:
SNAKE-HANDLING AND REDEMPTION IN SOUTHERN APPALACHIA and am
finding it to be a must-read, especially for anyone wanting
insight into the Southern soul.
Not only does it contain some beautiful writing, it's a
compelling narrative and is intensely personal without being
self-serving. One of the truest books about life in the
South I've ever read. As a jacket blurb says (from a college
history prof of mine, coincidentally, Dr. Wayne Flynt), "It
is a rare gift to make the grotesque a source of meaning
rather than ridicule. Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner
possessed it; so does Dennis Covington. I had expected to
encounter the descendants of Li'l Abner and the Beverly
Hillbillies; instead, I met the impoverished spiritual
descendants of the apostles Peter and Paul."
BTW, the bookstore owner told me I'd just missed Dennis's
wife Vicki by about 10 minutes yesterday when I came by. She
told him some people from a film production company were in
town to talk about movie rights. I hope the book does well
for Dennis financially. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
>>Dale in Ala.
=============== Reply 1 of Note 16 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/08
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:19 PM
Dale, from your quotes I shudder to think of this book in
the hands of the movie makers. Having read several accounts
of what these souless devils can do to a man's dreams, I'd
say this topic is rather too intimate and tender to trust to
such hands. I do hope for financial bliss for Mr.
Covington, one way or another, but I'm an eternal skeptic
where movies are concerned.
Yes, I know, I'm like the old cartoons of the two goats
scavenging in the movie theater garbage. Having eaten a
film can, one says, "The movie was good, but the book was
better."
Cathy
=============== Reply 2 of Note 16 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/09
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 9:14 AM
greetings CERTIFIED BOOK JUNKIE ..my copy is on its way...it
is a pity you can't send the book via the
computer..oh..perhaps one day..modern technology willthink
of a way where one of uspurchase a book and we all get in on
the action...
oops..i don't think you as an author would enjoy that
process..
gail..a passionate reader whose mouth as usual is watering
to read ..SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN...am immersed in THE
SWEETER THE JUICE ..shirlee taylor haizlip...
=============== Note 17 =================
To: ALL Date: 02/08
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 11:52 AM
Here's a brief section from Dennis Covington's SALVATION ON
SAND MOUNTAIN, about an outdoor worship service at dusk when
he first hears a member of the congregation "speaking in
tongues":
***
There were only thirteen people under that brush arbor,
but suddenly it seemed like there were three hundred. They
were jumping and shouting, and pretty soon Brother Carl was
anointing Burma and Erma with oil, and Brother Charles had
launched into "Jesus on My Mind" on his guitar, and J.L. and
I had our tambourines going.
There was so much racket that at first it was hard to hear
what Aline was doing over in the corner by a length of dog
wire that the morning glory vines had twisted around. Her
back was to us. Her hands were in the air, and she was
rocking slowly from side to side, her face upturned and her
voice quavering, "Akiii, akiii, akii. Akiii, akiii,
akiii..."
It was the strangest sound I had ever heard. At first, it
did not seem human. It sounded like the voice of a rare
night bird, or some tiny feral mammal. And then the voice
got louder, mounting up on itself, until it started to sound
like that of a child who was lost and in great pain. But
even as the hairs on my arm started to stand on end, the
voice turned into something else, a sound that had pleasure
in it as well as torment. Ecstasy, I would learn later, is
excruciating, but I did not know that then.
"Akiii, akiii, akiii..." The singing and praising
elsewhere in the brush arbor had started to diminish. Except
for an occasional amen or praise Jesus, the air fell silent
around Aline's voice. Everyone was listening to her now. I
could not disentangle myself from the sound of her voice,
the same syllables repeated with endless variation. At
times, it seemed something barbed was being pulled from her
throat; at other times, the sound was like a clear stream
flowing outward into thin air. Her voice seemed to be right
in my ear. It was a sobbing. A panting after something she
could not quite reach. And then it would be a coming to rest
in some exquisite space, a place so tender it could not be
touched without "Akiii, akiii, akiii..."
(Continued in next note)
=============== Reply 1 of Note 17 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/10
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 8:41 AM
greetings BROTHER DALE..you guessed it i have 50pages left
to read of SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN...it was indeed a
surprise when i entered the library and spied this book
awaiting my pick up...it certainly appeared quickly...infact
i had just left my office and had intentions of running some
ridiculous errands...anything beside reading is a waste of
time especially when this book was crying out to be read...
i quickly departed and as i stipulated read all but 50
pages....
now BROTHER DALE..amazing how you have written about
COVINGTON's snake handling experience when i had zeroed in
on that particular part....i was awaiting for sometime his
adventurous spirit to lead him into the throes of the
experience of snakehandling...
COVINGTON's descriptions of snakes was not my favorite
part....infact snakes are low man on my totem pole...they
always scared me to death as a child and proceeded into
adulthood....the pictures that were incorporated into the
book could have been deleted...i swiftly glanced and
shivered as snakes repel me....he had done his homework..and
his experiences as a youth in capturing nonpoisonous snakes
led him easily into this area of exploration...their are
many facets of this book.....the suspenseful part ..i was
awaiting COVINGTON and his crew to delve into snakehandling.
it was a natural building of excitement or technique or
whatever you'd like to term it...
i had never read about snakehandling...mr. g knew all
about this...mr. g remembers everything you tell him of 20
years ago...it is frightening...ihave learned to capitalize
on his abilities...
I was drawn into the mysticism and i can understand the
trance and spiritualism that can overpower one...i need to
finish the last 50 pages and then return for some additional
comments ...
BROTHER DALE...have you experienced any of these snake
handling churches...they appear to be in your backyard...
perhaps you have known others who have...pray tell..do
share...
COVINGTON's writing...superb...smooth and easy to
digest...APPALACHIAN culture..history.... ..another
fascinating element in this short novel of 240 pages..
question...twenty dollars for his book..isn't that a week
bit much....
the sensationalism that was portrayed on the DATELINE
episode..which incidentally i missed...had no bearing on
this expertly written book on a subject that intrigues me...
i thank DENNIS COVINGTON for this brief book...a longer
book was not necessary...gail..a passionate reader in sunny
=============== Note 18 =================
To: ALL Date: 02/08
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 11:52 AM
(Continued from previous note) From SALVATION ON SAND
MOUNTAIN, by Dennis Covington:
***
...The sun had set and the electric lights were not yet
turned on, but the arbor seemed filled with a golden light.
We were swaying in it, transfixed, with Aline silhouetted
against the dog wire and the morning glory vines. All but
her trembling voice was silent, or so it seemed, until I
realized with horror that my tambourine was still going,
vibrating against my leg, almost apart from me, as if it had
a motive and direction of its own.
My hand froze. It was as though I had been caught in some
act of indecency. But Aline's voice reacted with renewed
desperation, "Akiii, akiii, akiii," and so I let the
tambourine have its own way, now louder and faster, until it
almost burst into a song, and then softer and more slowly,
until it resembled the buzzing of a rattlesnake in a serpent
box. It anticipated every move that Aline's voice made, and
vice versa. The intimacy was unnerving: her voice and the
tambourine, perfectly attuned to one another and moving
toward the same end.
I was unreasonably afraid that Charles would be angry with
me. I didn't yet know the full dimensions of passion. It was
much later that I would come to understand what had gone on
in that moment. The tambourine was simply accompanying Aline
while she felt for and found God. And I mean "accompany" in
its truest sense: "to occur with." And nobody could predict
when something like that might happen. Through the
tambourine, I was occurring with her in the Spirit, and it
was not of my own will.
I cannot say how long the episode lasted. It seemed to go
on for a very long time. J.L. turned the lights on at the
end. The men hugged the men. The women hugged the women.
Aline and I shook hands. If the snake handlers found
anything unusual about our curious duet afterward, they
never spoke directly to me about it. But I do know one
thing: It was after that brush-arbor meeting on Sand
Mountain that they started to call me Brother Dennis.
***
A powerful and gorgeous book...
>>Dale in Ala.
=============== Reply 1 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/08
From: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Time: 9:52 PM
Dale: Fascinating stuff. I have a question, which I hope
is not insulting to your southern soul. (or to Covington's
book) Is the spirit of this book anything like the Carlos
Castaneda stuff of yore? In my earlier, more mystical days,
I remember being fascinated by CC for a brief time, and
reading your excerpt stirred some old memories.
On another topic, I finished Lake of the Woods, and
found it an excellent book. Rich and subtle; wonderfully
ambiguous. And I marvelled at his use of "Evidence" to
deepen our understanding of the character of Sorcerer. But
I found myself just a little curious as to what precisely >
stirred you to praise which, even for you (an unduly
generous soul--is this a southern characteristic?) seems,
perhaps not quite overgenerous, but at least ample. I
suspect that there are technical devices that you admired
and I was too naive to appreciate. If you can spare the
time and energy, I'd love to hear what, specifically, you
most admired about this (admittedly admirable) book.
Tom.
=============== Reply 2 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/08
From: NCSH82B BARBARA MOORS Time: 11:38 PM
Dale--Thanks for posting these. I want to read this book.
Am trying to decide if I can wait until it comes out in
paperback. As I mentioned before, going to a Pentacostal
Church when I was a teen-ager with some Southern friends
was an experience that I've never totally forgotten. They
also took me to a week of prayer meetings with a faith
healer that play around in my memory banks at intervals.
I've layed all of the experiences down to rational
explanations and the capabilities of the human brain that
we've never fully tapped. However, that must not fully
satisfy because the mysticism of that experience still
fascinates me.
The excerpt that Covington read on Fresh Air was equally
arresting. Maybe I can compromise and see if the library
can get it for me before it's out in paperback.... Barb
=============== Reply 3 of Note 18 =================
To: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Date: 02/09
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 9:21 AM
greetings THOMAS...
most interested in your interpretation of the
ending...and did you actually think JOHN WADE was mad...i
didn't at all...this book still crops up into my mind at odd
hours of the day....i hope TIM O'BRIEN is on-line and
brimming from cheek to cheek....and i understand your
feeling about the praise the CERTIFIED BOOK JUNKIE
attributed to this book...unduly in your estimation...i
couldn't put the book down..and always anticipating the next
chapter... gail..a passionate reader who is praying for sun
in SAN FRANCISCO....it is now down to good ole praying for
decent weather...
=============== Reply 4 of Note 18 =================
To: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Date: 02/09
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 10:11 AM
Tom: Though both books are broadly about mysticism of
different sorts, there's no other real parallel I can see
between SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN and the Castaneda series.
In my memory, Castaneda's mentor Don Juan comes across as a
shrewd, calculating practitioner of his arts who approaches
what he does on a very conscious and discriminating level.
The poor Holiness Church worshipers of Appalachia are
painted in Covington's book as just the opposite--childlike,
impulsive, naive, irritating but loveable, and in many ways
as puzzled about the mechanisms of their spiritual "gifts"
as Covington, the outsider, is.
It's a book I think you'd enjoy, and because of his candid
and highly original approach I can almost guarantee you it
turns out to be a very different animal than you think it
is, going in.
As for O'Brien's IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS, what I admire
most, besides the compelling storyline you mention, is how
many technical devices he brings into play--not only the
brilliantly-conceived scraps of "evidence," but the points
at which the narrator himself participates without intruding
(an incredibly hard trick to pull off), and the sections
labeled "Hypothesis" where the narrative becomes total
speculation.
Not that any of these devices are completely new, but in
practice they almost always seem choppy and distracting to
me. The fact that O'Brien can harness so many disparate
methods and keep the storyline so whole and organic is like
watching an impossible feat of magic--or at the very least,
like seeing the guy on the old Ed Sullivan Show who could
keep a dozen dinner plates spinning on a row of metal rods
without one falling. (Oops; am I showing my age, here?)
Hope you'll try SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN, and Pete
Dexter's THE PAPERBOY.
BTW, is your sailing territory icebound or do hardy souls
up there participate year-round?
>>Dale in sunny, 12-degree Ala. (where I'm taking a half
day off to help my mother get Prodigy installed on her new
computer; considering that her phone messages have been
known to fill up a 20-minute tape on our answering machine,
cyberspace may never be the same.)
=============== Reply 5 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/09
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 10:52 PM
Your description of the holiness people as seen by Dennis
Covington reminds me of what I've read of the aborigines in
Arthur Upfield's books. Upfield spent most of his adult
life in Australia and got to know these people very well; he
pretty much considered their strange telepathy and their
ability to kill by "boning" as real, if unexplanable, facts.
The aborigines themselves don't ever try to explain it in
his books; they just do it. I found "the mulga wire" (their
expression for telepathy) fascinating. All I can say is the
bit about there are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio.
Cathy
=============== Reply 6 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/09
From: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Time: 11:38 PM
Dale--Sailing during the winter is for hardier souls than
yours truly. There are some who take their sunfish out on
Sunday afternoons and race around the buoys. However, even
these hardy souls give up when the ice starts to form on the
sound, as it is now doing.
I see what you mean about the number of different
techniques O'Brien uses. I guess it's partly a tribute to
his skill that I never noticed some of them; the rest, I
suspect, is just my ignorance. Anyway, I have never been
able to read a book critically the first time I read it; I'm
too busy enjoying it.
Tom.
=============== Reply 8 of Note 18 =================
=============== Reply 9 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/10
From: MDNT52A JANNE SWEARENGEN Time: 5:49 PM
Dale--Mississippi here. Went by the local independent bookst
ore yesterday and got two more O'Brien's (The Things They Ca
rried and Searching for C) as well as THE PAPERBOY. After
your reviews, I couldn't resist. Almost got Snakehandling bo
ok, but ran out of money. Dennis Covington will be here to
sign in March. I will buy it for that. Will let you know
about TP--my husband will read it first. On my way to snowy
and cold Baltimore. Catch you guys in a week or so.
=============== Reply 10 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/10
From: NDKB53A THERESA SIMPSON Time: 9:33 PM
Hi Dale. Reading your posts on Sand Mountain has reminded
me of a movie/documentary I saw in a college class. It was
an ethnographical study of snake handling/talking in tongue
church - black/white film from the 1960s I believe. Parts
of the movie are still vivid in my mind. As a professional
film sort of person, you might be able to gain access
somehow - I think you would enjoy this movie. I can't
remember what it was called (I'll have to ask my former
boss, who is a former archeologist and former documentary
film maker. I'm sure he'll know.)
Theresa
=============== Reply 14 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/11
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 8:35 AM
greetings CERTIFIED BOOK JUNKIE...i finished SALVATION ON
SAND MOUNTAIN yesterday...
yes..i do concur that it is a thorough insight into the
SOUTHERN MIND...perhaps not so flattering....i devoured the
book....and last night was fearful i would be dreaming of
snakes...thank god i was saved...
this book is another that will be with me for awhile...
i still can't understand DENNIS COVINGTON's snakehandling
experience...it was too dangerous...and it was quite
coincidentally that he experienced snakes as a
child...perhaps most kids do...i wouldn't know..
gail..a passionate reader who has snakes on her mind...
=============== Reply 16 of Note 18 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/11
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 11:15 AM
Sister Gail: Isn't SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN wonderful?
I agree, his insights into the Southern mind are not all
flattering--but then, the truth rarely is. To me, a big part
of the Southern experience is not so much the desire to
"look good"--considering our history, that's a bit hard to
pull off--but to be understood rather than stereotyped.
One simple sentence of Covington's that knocked me for a
loop is early on in the book when he says that the poor,
white, rural Southerner is the only ethnic group in America
who is not allowed to have a history. And, I would add, the
one safe target for comedians who need not fear shouts of
outrage about racism. End of sermon. >>Dale in Ala.
=============== Reply 17 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/11
From: NCSH82B BARBARA MOORS Time: 11:46 AM
Dale--Am still reading KILLER ANGELS (the book Turner's
Gettysburg was based on) and am struck by how often the
pre-Civil War South is compared to the aristocracy that
working class Northerners felt that they had left behind
when coming to the U.S. The depth of resentment toward
that is the reason expressed by a few for being in the war
in the first place. And, admiration for that is expressed
by the British observer with the Rebel forces. This is
probably something that I should have understood a long
time ago. But, I must say that I perceive that same
resentment toward perceived arrogance in middle and upper
class southerners from my northern friends sometimes. And,
I must agree that poor white southerners have no one
speaking out for them. I must count myself among the
ones who make disparaging comments at times..... Barbara
=============== Reply 20 of Note 18 =================
To: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Date: 02/12
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 2:32 AM
When I say you can decide to stay mad, I should note there
are always a few exceptions - illnesses that seem to have
physical dimensions like schizophrenia or autism. In other
cases, a patient can be reached only after a regimen of
tranquilizers or anti-depressants. But the trickiest thing
about mental health work is that a person with a grevious
problem has to want to change, and this involves letting go
of deeply ingrained attitudes and lifestyles.
A psychologist friend gave me a couple of examples from
his own case work (aside from my ex, whom I knew about
anyway). He had a woman patient who had had constant
migraines for years. It seemed to him she almost enjoyed
resisting every embroidery of hypnotherapy he could summon.
One day he finally achieved something that gave her relief.
He offered to give her a tape of the procedure, even a place
to listen to it since she didn't have access to a machine.
He never saw her again - she was getting some weird
psychological benefit out of constant migraines.
Another patient called in an apparently suicidal mood. He
offered to make space on his calendar the next day. "Oh,
no, I can't. I'm going on vacation."
Incidents like this are common enough to make a joke. How
many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, but the bulb has to want to change. Cathy
=============== Reply 21 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/12
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 1:12 PM
greetings BROTHER DALE...
question...HAVE YOU BEEN TO A SNAKEHANDLING CEREMONY...
i have not encountered any nightmares yet and am safe to
proceed to chat more about this thoughtprovoking book...
DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTIVE IN THE CHURCHES THAT
SNAKEHANDLING PREVAILS...
i have a feeling you have entered this world of
snakehandling....i am going to recommend this book to many
inquisitive people....mr. g is having a grand ole time
reading HOT ZONE...the current nonfiction bestseller..i am
becoming quite interested...SISTER gail..who willnever have
anything to do with snakehandling besides reading about
it...and thanks for the quotes...yes..i do understand the
south moreso ...through the literature....it is deeper than
just snakehandling...powerful stuff...
PAPERBOY is on his way...and do is KELMAN's
masterpiece........i am finishing SHIRLEE TAYLOR HAIZLIP's
THE SWEETER THE JUICE...for my group interview in MARCH...i
wish i were more articulate to share with you my thoughts on
many books...however i will be content with being alive here
on this planet and doing the best i can...SISTER gail...keep
throwing those morsels of wisdom my way...i devour them and
become nourished...
=============== Reply 22 of Note 18 =================
To: NDKB53A THERESA SIMPSON Date: 02/12
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 2:04 PM
Theresa: I'd love to see the documentary you mention. I've
got a source in Atlanta for rental of older films, and I'm
sure they could locate it with a title and approximate date.
BTW, there's also an interesting documentary that was in
theaters for a while in the 1970s: MARJOE, the story of
Marjoe Gortner, a faith-healing evangelist. He approached a
film crew to accompany him on what was to be his last
revival tour, at the end of which he would confess from the
pulpit that he'd only been doing it for a buck all these
years and that the people who fell for it should get a life.
At the end, though, he couldn't bring himself to do this,
and the film ends on a moving and bittersweet note. >>Dale
=============== Reply 23 of Note 18 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/12
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 2:06 PM
Gail: I've never attended a snake-handling service but have
been at many, many Holiness and Pentecostal ones where
people spoke in tongues, leapt over benches, ran laps
screaming in the churchyard, lost consciousness, etc., along
with the milder pleasures of foot-washing and "laying on of
hands."
The more violent stuff is unsettling, to say the least.
The first time I saw a man fall into the aisle with his hand
on his chest, I thought he was having a heart attack. I
began racing off to call an ambulance but someone more
familiar with the worship service restrained me and filled
me in on the procedures.
The really amazing aspect is when you've known many of
these people personally for years, outside of their church,
and have seen them only as mild-mannered barbers,
hardware-store owners, florists, etc.--very normal and
common-sense folks. A phenomenal transformation takes place,
which I don't begin to understand. But their sincerity (most
of them, anyway) is beyond question.
BTW, did I really hear the High Priestess of the Bay
apologizing for her lack of articulateness in BB postings?
Nonsense. Your spirited and enjoyable notes are among the
most sublime pleasures of CR for me. (And the updates on
weather and horticulture are an added bonus.)
>>Dale (fan of Gail) in Ala.
=============== Reply 24 of Note 18 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 02/13
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 11:38 AM
greetings BROTHER DALE and the notorious CERTIFIED BOOK
JUNKIE...i am relieved that you have not submitted to the
life of SNAKEHANDLING ..otherwise in NEW ORLEANS i would be
inclined to look at you in a different light...perhaps
envisioning snakes all around you....yes..books do take over
my life...
your experiences were fascinating to say the least...since
i am not a church goer...only when i travel to parts unknown
around the world ..then i am enthralled with the stained
glass...and the architecture of churches...i thrive on
stories and books when people are taken over by the
spirit...
i will be thinking about SALVATION for quite awhile...
i would like to recommend a book that is also INTERRUPTING
MY LIFE..last night i read 75 pages of THE HOT ZONE by
richard preston...A NONFICTION piece that is riveting and
written well...mr. g devoured this book and i instructed him
..please do not divulge the story..therefore i can be
surprised....are you aware of this book...what a question..i
would bet a million dollars that you are cognizant of this
piece...do let me know...
gail..a passionate reader with a small g but a big
heart..awaiting rain here in cold and windy SAN FRANCISCO...
=============== Reply 25 of Note 18 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/14
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 1:00 PM
gail,
My stepmother read this book in about three hours. She
said it was horrifying, not the least because it was
non-fiction. I just recommended it to my non-fiction
partner, as I think he would be interested; however, since
you are also riveted, perhaps I will buy it for both of
us...
Sarah 2/14/95 10:49AM MT
=============== Reply 26 of Note 18 =================
To: DNBW03A T CANAVAN, JR. Date: 02/14
From: NPVX84A MARIA BUSTILLOS Time: 1:41 PM
Dear Tom and Cathy, very stimulating discussion re: the road
to madness. I read RD Laing as a teenager and was blown
away by the ease with which one might venture down that path
(a strangely seductive one as Tom points out--like taking
the most frightening dare.) The solipsism of it is a bit
offputting though. And the uncertainty of getting back.
The Divided Self is a really excellent book. I bet Cathy
knows all about it.
I've missed you all. Coming in for a landing, I think, very
soon; bruised but in one piece. Much love. M.
=============== Reply 31 of Note 18 =================
To: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Date: 02/15
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 11:19 AM
greetings PRINCESS SARAH...
i only read it because it was nonfiction...the
descriptions are quite graphic...it is a departure from our
regular readings....it will cause you to think...
gail..a passionate reader in cold and sunny SAN FRANCISCO
where my english primose bring me great joy and beauty...
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 05/07
From: SEZG73A STEVE WARBASSE Time: 1:33 PM
I am not quite sure whether to thank you or not for
SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN, Dale. I finished it three
nights ago, late, but it remains a haunting book for me. A
very troubling book for me. And a real page turner toward
the end. I have decided to post a little note to you about
it in the hopes of thereby purging myself of it.
It is entirely too easy to just write off the people
portrayed in this book as simply emotional cripples with
two or three screws loose. Then again, maybe they are,
but if so then there is a perverse logic to their insanity.
By that I mean that if one is tortured by spiritual
travail, then redemption is something to be obtained at any
and all cost. And clearly, redemption is what this book is
all about. In fact the book sent me back to the
dictionaries to study the meanings of "redeem." These
people are obviously not just showing off in some sort of
macabre fit of exhibitionism when they risk their lives
handling the snakes. That act does something for them, and
it seems clear to me, even though I am not a religious man,
that they are able to purchase back their souls, purchase
back freedom from the pain of this world. I must say that
I admire Dennis Covington's utter honesty in describing his
own spiritual travail and attempting to describe
straightforwardly his motives for and experience in
handling the snakes himself.
On the other hand this is clearly a cult--insular,
suspicious, and cruel--that endorses a near suicidal
practice by its members. The book has a lot to say about
cults and their appeal to the troubled, although the word
"cult" is never used. And that is an interesting aspect of
the story. This book sheds a good deal of light on Branch
Davidians, a good deal of light on Jim Jones, but Dennis
Covington himself does not seem to regard these snake
handlers that way, does not seem to appreciate the
nightmarishness of it all. Does God really demand that we
risk self-destruction, or in fact destroy ourselves, in
order to purchase back our souls? That is the most
frightening aspect of the book for me--that a man of
Covington's intelligence and sensitivity could find himself
enmeshed in this--could buy into this proposition.
And these pictures! My goodness! That last one by
Jim Neel of Aline McGlocklin, speaker of tongues, holding
up the rattler in an obvious state of religious and sexual
ecstasy (Aline, not the rattler) can hold me spellbound.
What torment this nice lady must be heir to that she is
driven to these acts! As for me I am now going to try to
put this book behind me.
Steve 5/7/95 12:33PM CT
=============== Reply 1 of Note 19 =================
To: SEZG73A STEVE WARBASSE Date: 05/07
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 3:23 PM
Steve: Glad to hear you've finished SALVATION ON SAND
MOUNTAIN. I hope you have more luck purging it from your
memory than I have. Pieces of the book--especially the image
of Aline's face, in her ecstasy--still strike me out of the
blue, at odd hours, and wring my heart.
A troubling, troubling book indeed.
I can assure you, though, that Dennis's sincerity through
it all is as authentic as it appears. I've known him nearly
half my life now, and I believe he's congenitally incapable
of pretense. Possibly the most honest person I know. And a
hell of a writer, as you can see.
The folks in SALVATION are definitely a "cult." But let me
play devil's advocate (no pun intended) for a second,
here...
Every day, all over the world, countless people are
seeking a "high" (that's essentially spiritual, I maintain)
from hang-gliding, stock car racing, and mercenary combat,
not to mention cocaine, hallucinogens, and overdoses of
alcohol--none of which are boons to longevity, you must
agree.
We might question their motives or their judgment, but not
their sanity. And THEIR pastimes don't even bear the
imprimatur of the Almighty.
So...if someone discovers they can transcend their earthly
existence, find a peace and ecstasy beyond anything daily
life contains--lose themselves in the perfect white light
that Dennis describes--is there anything QUALITATIVELY
different because the medium of escape (endorsed by God
himself, as they understand Him) is rattlesnakes and
strychnine instead?
This is definitely a book I needed to talk about. Mind if
I pull up a couch, here, and set the 50-minute timer?
>>Dale, CRFC, CBJ, C.D.A. (Certified Devil's Advocate) in
Ala.
=============== Reply 2 of Note 19 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 05/07
From: SEZG73A STEVE WARBASSE Time: 5:46 PM
Doggone it, Dale, you are a hell of an advocate!
(Catch that little pun there, did you? Devil--hell. Get
it?) Your thesis is legitimate, perhaps, but let us
discuss it some more.
Hallucinogens, cocaine, and alcohol abuse don't
frighten me. (I am not advocating these things, kids.
Don't do these yourselves at home--or anywhere else for
that matter.) I think that I have some understanding of
their appeal. Obviously, Dennis Covington does, too,
having endured his own struggle with substance abuse. I
also have some understanding of the appeal of induced
adrenalin. I can still wax poetic about the experience of
a parachute while others stare at me uncomprehendingly.
BUT I SIMPLY CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE DRIVE TO HANDLE THESE
SNAKES IN THE NAME OF GOD! It is frightening for me to
contemplate that which lurks in the human psyche that
drives these people to do this. Now why is that?
These folks have a mind set that is at the other end
of the spectrum from mine. Therefore, I am incapable of
fully understanding--don't have the mental equipment for
it. And here is my theory. Any thinking, nonpracticing
alcoholic can tell us that one thing that marks those who
are susceptible is an extreme self-centeredness, a kind of
selfishness, if you will. (In fact the whole theory
underlying A.A., another cult, is the attempt to slough
away this self-centeredness by helping others.) The
alcoholic, the user, the death defying thrill seeker all
desperately search for their identity as an individual
while doing these things. Searching for self. Wallowing
in self. But the allure of these things--and make no
mistake about it, adrenalin is every bit as much a
substance amenable to abuse as the others--draws them on
and on until they LOSE their identity as individuals to the
thing, whatever it is. No longer Harry, but a drunk. No
longer Judy, but a user. No longer Joe, but a mountain
climber. One of life's little ironies.
Now these people on Snake Mountain are doing something
quite different. It seems obvious to me that they
consciously seek to LOSE their identity in the religion.
From the get-go their objective is to cede their identity
to the thing. That is what Aline McGlocklin is doing in
that incredible picture. She has successfully shed her
identity as an individual. And I find the desire to do
that strange and frightening. Every foible that you have
listed, including the snakehandling, the hang gliding, and
the booze, is potentially physically fatal. But when the
conscious objective FROM THE OUTSET is psychic suicide, the
purposeful destruction of one's identity, I am at a loss.
I cannot understand that. Although, I must hand it to
Dennis with his beautiful writing. He brought me as close
as is possible to understanding. When he described the
white light while handling that huge rattler with its
shimmering scales, I was very close-------------------but
no kewpie doll.
And could the irony here be that in attempting
to lose her identity, Aline McGlocklin finds it--that
is, finds a different identity that she likes better?
An identity that speaks in tongues. (What an incredible
scene that was when the tamborine that Dennis is holding
begins of its own volition to accompany Aline's speech in
tongues!)
Steve 5/7/95 4:33PM CT
=============== Reply 3 of Note 19 =================
To: SEZG73A STEVE WARBASSE Date: 05/08
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 0:36 AM
I've often thought about the people who lose themselves as
followers of some religious extremism or another - there's
quite a lot of that hereabouts - and what I've concluded
from knowing them is that THEY HAVEN'T ANY SELF TO LOSE!
They honestly seem to be Eliott's "hollow men" (and women);
there's nothing IN them that's not Brother So-and-So's
ideas. A nicely patterned religious ideology (the drug of
choice around here) is a wonderful way to escape from having
to THINK, from having to decide who you are when you are
alone in a silent room. People like this are the fodder for
every maniac that comes down the road. Yes, they have real
experiences, if their religion allows it; I don't doubt the
sincerity of these people or the highs they get for a
minute. It's something that's always seemed peculiarly
horrible to me, who have the relentless drive to be ME - a
person, an individual, not somebody's wife, mother, or
daughter. I suppose knowledge of self may be a scary thing,
but I think it's a lot scarier not to HAVE a self.
Cathy
=============== Reply 4 of Note 19 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 05/19
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 5:31 PM
Steve and Dale,
To expand on what Cathy said...many people are unable or
unwilling to take on the scary task of living in this
uncertain world and discovering their own purpose.
Tolerance for ambiguity is not very high. It is much
easier to espouse a 'black and white' definition of
oneself; or, to put it differently, put on a costume of
identity, be it an alcoholic, mountain climber, or
Pentecostal 'called by God.' These costumes come with
rules of behavior and emotion; no questioning or
discovering required. Much easier, in the long run, than
being fully human and living in our ambiguity; however, I
find it much less satisfying and real.
Sarah 5/19/95 2:09PM MT
=============== Reply 5 of Note 19 =================
To: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Date: 05/19
From: ETJY35A A KENDRICK Time: 9:39 PM
Sarah, your post reminds me of something Alan Watts (I've
found myself thinking tonight of some books I read about 25
years ago) said in THE BOOK -- "Irrevocable commitment to
any one religion is not only intellectual suicide; it is
positive unfaith because it closes the mind to any new
vision of the world."
I always enjoy reading what you have to say.
Ann
=============== Reply 6 of Note 19 =================
To: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Date: 05/20
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 2:15 AM
I THOUGHT there was some reason the idea of fear of thinking
really resonated with me right now; I had forgotten this
group of postings. I came across the thing again in the
biography of Judge Learned Hand I'm about to finish. Here
is a fragment of one of his letters from around 1950:
****
The relief of finding something which will take the place of
the "intolerable labor of thought" - with all its attendant
sense of futility - makes us the prey of the most obscene
and monstrous faiths, from which, if thinking were not
itself such a perversion of our nature, thinking would
protect us. I believe that your intellectual friends, just
because of their habit of "intellectualizing", are the
easiest victims of Marx. They have today only two escapes
from that world of Trial and Error in which all that we have
hitherto relied upon, has come into just suspicion. For we
have burrowed so deep, and are so G****d smart in our
burrowings, that nobody who is inflexibly reasonable, can be
confident of much, if anything. The juster he is
rationally, the more unbearable becomes the outlook. One
escape is into the bosom of the Holy Mother, and it is
curious that over here [many] have chosen that....The other
escape is into the hairier embraces of that strangest of all
strange deities, the enraged egoist - Karl Marx.....It all
comes down, I believe, to whether we have the guts to face
the Universe with a consciousness that it is a perpetual
question-mark.
********
Cathy
=============== Reply 7 of Note 19 =================
To: ETJY35A A KENDRICK Date: 05/20
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 2:22 PM
Ann,
Thanks for your kind comment--can you tell me about Alan
Watts and 'The Book,' about whom I am completely ignorant?
I liked the quote you offered, and agree with it. I am
always impatient with those who refuse to discuss religion,
politics, and other controversial topics because they are
so stolidly placed in their own position on the spectrum
that they are unable to listen to anyone else. A healthy
view would be one of openness and tolerance, a willingness
to listen and debate in a nonjudgmental way. This is one
of the reasons why I thoroughly enjoy my time on CR. Hope
you stick around! Sarah
=============== Reply 8 of Note 19 =================
To: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Date: 05/21
From: ETJY35A A KENDRICK Time: 10:10 AM
Dear Sarah,
The complete title is The Book on the Taboo Against
Knowing Who You Are, and I'm sure it's still in print as I
run across it now and again in either the philosophy or
religion sections of bookstores. It seems to me Watts was a
professor at one of the Calif. universities, but that may
not be so. Watts wrote several books, attempting to make
Eastern thought comprehensible to the quite different
Western mind.
As I mentioned, I read the book about 25 years ago, but
parts of it have stayed with me, including the quote. He
used a Mobius strip to represent the way seemingly
paradoxical beliefs could form a whole.
I think Watts used to visit the old Dick Cavett show
(which I miss) about the time Truman Capote was pretty much
a regular. I miss those talking head conversations!
You might enjoy reading a recent book possibly titled
Religion in America (a rather Tocquevillian title). I can't
remember who wrote it, but it presents an analysis of strong
trends in what the author calls postChristian America.
Another book which interested me a couple of years ago
was one by Garry Wills (and the title of this one escapes
me, though perhaps it's Religion and Politics). Wills spoke
from his own Catholicism and offered many elucidating
comments on misunderstandings between those holding
differing religious beliefs.
Ann
PS: The Book's topic was Zen Buddhism.
=============== Reply 9 of Note 19 =================
To: ETJY35A A KENDRICK Date: 05/21
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 5:54 PM
Ann,
Thanks for the complete reference. As my background
(some of it, at least) is in psychology, I'm very
interested in Eastern thought as it differs from Western;
we are just beginning to stretch our understanding of human
issues to include explanations that the 'Easterners' have
accepted for years.
Sarah 5/21/95 2:37PM MT
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Dennis Covington
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