Dr. Ralph Hood is a professor of psychology at UTC, specializing in religion. He has studied and documented Appalachian serpent-handling sects for 25 years.SERPENTS IN SCRIPTUREPractitioners of serpent handling point to the following Biblical verse as the origin of their form of worship:”And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”– Mark 16: 17-18 (New International Version)WATCH IT”Snake Man of Appalachia” airs on Animal Planet (Comcast 21/Direct TV 282/Dish Network 184/EPB 62) Thursday nights at 9 through Feb. 16.
For most of his 40-year academic career, Ralph Hood, 69, has documented the beliefs of those at the religious margins, but he’s always been particularly fascinated with serpent handlers.
Hood is a professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who specializes in the psychology of religions. Decades of work documenting Appalachian serpent handlers have made Hood one of the foremost experts on the practice and a well-known figure in the serpent-handling community.
He recently was tapped as a contributor to “Snake Man of Appalachia,” an ongoing six-part Animal Planet documentary about Verlin Short, an East Kentucky serpent handler.
Hood appears on-screen only during the first episode, but he said he helped facilitate interactions between the serpent handlers and Dan Sexton Media, a Corte Madera, Calif.-based film company.