Snakes have been an important symbol in human mythology in almost all cultures since the beginnings of religion. The meanings of the symbol of the serpent have remained relatively similar the world over as well, usually determined in part by their physical characteristics. Snakes shed their skin, they live on the ground and occasionally in trees, and their shape is similar to the male phallus. Thus they often symbolize Time, Rebirth, transcendence, the element Earth and sometimes Water, male power and male deities. They are often treated with respect born of a healthy fear. In the Christian mythos the serpent has taken on the additional meaning of pure Evil, or the Devil because of the Genesis story in which the Devil takes the form of a serpent to tempt Eve, which results in the Fall of Mankind.

However, Joseph Campbell explains that in most cultures the snake is a positive symbol, not one of evil. According to Campbell, the Biblical story is even older than the Judeo-Christian tradition, going back to 3500 BC, in Sumerian culture. The Canaanites of ancient Mesopotamia worshipped a Goddess who was depicted with a tree and a serpent, giving fruit to a male visitor. The Israelites, when they conquered Canaan they adopted the story, but gave it a twist so that now "there is a historical rejection of the Mother Goddess implied in the story of the Garden of Eden." In the Judeo-Christian version of the myth, Campbell says, the Garden of Eden is the "dreamtime," where there is "no time, no birth, no death--no life." Then, "[t]he serpent, who dies and is resurrected, shedding its skin and renewing its life" comes in and brings death, and with it rebirth through the fruit of the tree, by provoking Eve into action.

With this understanding of the Christian symbol of the snake, it more understandable that the Snake Handling Holiness people of Appalachia have chosen the serpent as their primary symbol of power and of the proof of God's power over life and death. Although the snake handlers themselves are only consciously aware of the Biblical symbolism of the snake as the Devil, their other practices and the ritual context of snake handling are relevant to many of the other symbolic interpretations of the snake.

In addition to snake handling, when the people of these Churches are "anointed" or "filled with the Holy Ghost," they are capable of performing all sorts of feats of faith, most of which are death-defying. They can "heal the sick, perform exorcisms, speak in new tongues, drink poisons like strychnine, battery acid or lye and handle deadly serpents." They can also raise the dead, handle fire, give prophecy of the future, and interpret others speaking in tongues. To the worshippers, these are all examples of God's power, whether it's over evil or just for demonstration of the faith and state of grace the worshipper is in. However, another way to look at this is as a symbol of initiation and of rebirth. Indeed, when one is blessed with the gift of snake handling or speaking in tongues, one is thought to be "born again" by the Holiness Church members.

The "true believers" of the Holiness Churches are known to other members because they have handled snakes or demonstrated other signs of their anointing by the Holy Ghost. Because of this, it seems that the act of snake handling itself is a transformational, initiatory rite (or Sacrament, according to Daugherty) that indicates their second birth, their salvation. In many small tribal-style religions, we see symbolic death and rebirth as elements of initiation into a higher spiritual realm, and often snakes are part of this initiation in a variety of ways. In this case, the "higher spiritual realm" is the state of being anointed by God.

What is this higher state and how is it brought about? In his book, Taking up Serpents, David Kinbrough asks one of his interviewees if it is the music that gets worshippers "excited enough to get anointed," but the person replies, "No, you cannot pump up for anointment. The Spirit moves on you." Kimbrough describes the anointing as when "the Holy Ghost at that point takes control of their faculties and allows them to carry out God's works." However, in most of the examples given by both Kimbrough and Daugherty, music is a key element in the preparation and time leading up to the moment when the snakes are brought out. In other cultures where snakes are handled in a ritual context, for example in the Hopi snake dance, music is also a part of the ritual.

The other ways worshippers can aquire the ability to handle snakes and fire and perform other death-defying feats are through "innocence" and "faith," though some claimed that faith alone is not enough to handle snakes, one must be anointed. The evidence that one is truly anointed is very physical and concrete, not theoretical or psychological. If a person is anointed, he or she will not get bitten or will not die when bitten by a snake, or will a sick person or cast out a devil, all with physical signs of doing so. If they die, or the healing doesn't work, it is believed that they were not truly anointed, but just thought they were, or were showing off. It has been demonstrated time and time again that the miraculous acts performed by the snake handlers are not being faked. The snakes they handle are actually poisonous, there is really strychnine in the drinks, they really put their body parts into flame. Much like people from other cultures can walk across coals and handle other wild animals, people who are not spiritually prepared will get bitten by the same snake and die, will be poisoned or burned, while the true believers go unharmed. They appear to either be immune to the pain or perhaps there really is a magic or holy protection around them.

As Biblical Fundamentalists, the worshipppers believe that the Bible has literally instructed them to do these things, and they cite various passages in the New Testament, especially Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs shall follow them taht believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tounges; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."

The question that remains is why are snakes used as the primary evidence and focus of anointing, faith, and innocence, as their ultimate symbol of rebirth? Why not the strychnine or fire? While strychnine could easily be faked, fire is an equally visible symbol as a snake, and also has a great deal of significance in the Judeo-Christian tradition. I believe there are several reasons for this. One is the belief that God directly commanded them to take up the snakes, as seen in the Bible. Though consciously aware that the snake is just an animal from the field, on another level, the serpent is the Devil, fully conscious and evil.

The other reasons I believe have more to do with a more subconscious, universal human mythology, based on the fact "The symbolism of the serpent is found in almost all cultures and religions, everywhere, and in all ages." In many of the cultures in which the snake has a significant symbolic role, it represents a wide set of dichotomies. Daugherty mentions a few: "good and evil, sickness and health, life and death, mortality and immortality, chaos and wisdom."

On another level, the Scots-Irish heritage of many of the Appalachian snake-handlers may play some role in their choice of the Snake as the symbol of evil. For over 1500 years the Irish (and by extension the Scots) have had a powerful relationship with snakes. The very existence of the legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland indicates the people's animosity towards snakes and their appreciation of those who have God-granted power over snakes. The folklore of their ancestors, in addition to their religion and music could very well have played a large part in the formation of their archetypal symbols of good and evil.

Regardless of the immediate source, this universality of the serpent symbol, and the similar meanings across many cultures suggests that on some fundamental level, the snake represents certain very basic concepts in human experience, most of which are centered around the concepts of death and rebirth. The snake sheds its skin, casts off the old life, defies death and is reborn. When the snake handlers take up the serpent, they are casting off their old life as non-believers and sinners and are born again by trusting God enough to risk death at the whim of their ultimate cultural symbol of evil. Thus they have achieved salvation through their faith and their anointing, and by removing themselves from the culture of the outside world which does not have a place for these entranced snake handlers.