My name is Legion; because we are many

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said. My name is Legion ; because we are many. (many devils were entered into him.)

‘And he cured many that were sick of various diseases: and cast out many demons; and suffered not the demons to say that they knew him.” – Mark i. 34

Many bible interpreters and modern priests would say that the people Jesus had cured, were most likely crazy and/or mad lunatics. People who today, would be given medications or placed in mental hospitals.

The Father of medicine and a Koan from Kos, Hippocrates wrote a treatise on epilepsy and said, that these mental disorders, normally attributed to demons, was not more divine, or more sacred than other disorders; and that like other disorders, it was to be cured, not by charms, but by medicine.

However, for many centuries it was said that many of these people were possessed by a legion of demons who would cause disorder and insanity. Demons who are said to have the power of entering into the bodies of any living man, and of tormenting them at will.

A legion is an army of men numbering in the thousands. Outside of Christianity, these demons are not all considered evil or bad.

Many ancient and current cultures from all around the world believe in both good and evil demons. Pagan priests had often attributed their divine inspiration to good demons. The ancient Jews had called them divine beings, and that they were the divine spirits of departed men who became demons. According to Plato, they hold a place in order between God and mortals.

“These causes of our wickedness are derived from our parents, and from our constitutions, rather than from ourselves; for while we recoil from the works of our ancestors they are not idle.” – Plato

The 1st century Roman-Jewish historian and Roman advocate, Josephus had said, ”demons are the spirits of wicked men, who enter the living, and kill those who receive no help;” and again, “demoniacs are they, who are possessed by the spirits of wicked men.” The Jews believed that all demons, and Beelzebub, their prince, were in subjection of  Samuel, the prince of the devils, or who is simply known today as Satan.

I had written about Beelzebub in a previous article:

In the cult of Serapis, Beelzebul (Beelzeboul, Beelzebub, Beelsebab, Baalzebub or Ba’al) is prince of the Seraphim, just below Lucifer. The cult of Serapis had originated from the Greco-Egyptian priesthood under the Ptolemies. The testimony of Pausanias, says the temples of Serapis were the most famous at Alexandria, and the most ancient at Memphis. Tacitus, the Roman senator and historian had said that Serapis was worshipped as a type of universal deity that represented Jupiter, Osiris, Pluto, and sometimes Jupiter Ammon.

The Seraphim are six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying “holy, holy, holy.” The seraphs hold 5th rank often in the Jewish angelic hierarchy and the highest rank in the Christian angelic hierarchy of angels that govern this current world. The various spellings of the Hebrew name Seraphs are the Greek Hellenized version of the Egyptian Osiris-Apis which is spelled Serapis, Sarapis (Σάραπις, Dorian Greek), Sor-apis (Σέραπις, Attic/Ionian Greek), Serapin (Greek Ὄφις), and the name ‘Seraphim’ being the plural form.

Francis of Assisi, also known as St. Francis, was considered by many people to be equal to Christ and to have possessed a great power of working miracles. He was the founder of the Cordeliers and Franciscans. He was also known as the Seraphic Father and Seraphic Saint because of a vision he saw on Mount Alverna where he witnessed a crucified seraph who perforated his feet, hands, and right side.

“If Satan Cast Out Satan, he his divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand?” (Matt. xii. 24. and seq)

“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” – Revelation 12:9

Just last year, Pope Francis had given a sermon in which he had reminded Catholics, “That Jesus fought the devil and you must too. All of these (people) were not possessed; they were mentally ill’. No! The presence of the devil is on the first page of the Bible, and the Bible ends as well with the presence of the devil, with the victory of God over the devil.”

There are some priests who, when they read this Gospel passage, this and others say: ‘But, Jesus healed a person with a mental illness’. They do not read this, no? It is true that at that time, they could confuse epilepsy with demonic possession; but it is also true that there was the devil! And we do not have the right to simplify the matter, as if to say: ‘All of these (people) were not possessed; they were mentally ill’. No! The presence of the devil is on the first page of the Bible, and the Bible ends as well with the presence of the devil, with the victory of God over the devil.

Do not confuse the truth. Jesus fights the devil: first criterion. Second criterion: he who is not with Jesus, is against Jesus. There are no attitudes in the middle. Third criterion: vigilance over our hearts because the devil is astute. He is never cast out forever. It will only be so on the last day.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” – Revelation 20:1-3