Legion: According to Neville Goddard

In the story of Legion (Mark 5:1–20, Luke 8:26–39), Jesus encounters a man possessed by many demons. But according to Neville Goddard, this isn't a literal event—it’s a psychological parable, unfolding within each of us. Neville taught that the Bible describes spiritual truths through symbolic language, and this particular story speaks powerfully to something very common in our world today: the victim mindset.

When the man says, “My name is Legion, for we are many,” he’s not just talking about demons. Neville sees this as a representation of someone who has identified with countless negative beliefs and limiting assumptions—exactly what happens when we fall into the trap of thinking life is happening to us rather than through us.

The “Legion” state is one many people unknowingly live in. It’s the voice in the mind that says, “I can't because of what they did,” or “Life’s unfair, and there’s nothing I can do.” This is the modern language of victimhood, where identity becomes entangled with trauma, injustice, and failure. According to Neville, these are just states of consciousness—mental habits we’ve accepted as real.

Jesus, in the story, symbolises the awakened imagination—your own ability to choose a new state. The healing comes the moment the man (you) stops identifying with “many” and reclaims the “One” within—the I AM. This is the turning point where a person moves from feeling powerless to recognising they are the operant power, the creator of their reality.

The pigs, into which the demons are cast, symbolise the lower, reactive nature—those base thoughts that can’t survive when your consciousness changes. Once you stop feeding the victim narrative and start assuming your ideal, those limiting beliefs sink back into the subconscious and lose their hold.

Neville’s interpretation is a reminder that deliverance doesn’t come from blaming the world or waiting for rescue—it comes from a change in assumption. When you stop saying, “I am broken because of them,” and start saying, “I AM whole,” you’re no longer Legion. You’re clothed, in your right mind, and free.