I said that the word "legion" symbolizes the plural unity of sociality, and this is true, but in the deservedly famous phrase "my name is legion, because we are many" it symbolizes a unity already on the verge of disintegration, since the order opposite to the order of social genesis prevails here. The singular number that is irresistibly converted to plural within a single phrase is the descent of unity into mimetic multiplicity, the first effect of Jesus' destructive presence. Before us is almost contemporary art: "I am different," says Matthew; "I am everyone else," says Mark.

Do I have the right to identify a herd of pigs with a mob of vigilantes? Will I not be reproached for distorting the Gospels for the sake of my intolerable obsessions? But how can I be reproached if the identity I assert is explicitly mentioned in at least one Gospel, Matthew? I am referring to the significant aphorism in his text very close to the story of Gadar: "Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces" (Mt 7:6).

But in the story of Gadar, as I said, the vigilantes themselves are treated "normally" for the victim. They do not stone themselves, but throw themselves down a steep slope, which means the same thing. In order to understand the revolutionary nature of this inversion, it is necessary to transfer it to the universe that our anti-biblical humanism respects more than the Jewish one, to classical antiquity, Greek or Roman. You need to imagine that Farmak is pushing the residents of a Greek city, including philosophers and mathematicians, off the cliff. That from the height of the Tarpeian Rock it is not an outcast who steps into the void, but the majestic consuls, the virtuous Cato, the ceremonial legal advisers, the procurators of Judea, and the rest of the senatus populusque Romanus. All this disappears into the abyss, while above, the former victim, "dressed and sane", calmly watches the descent of this amazing avalanche.

The finale of the miracle quenches some thirst for revenge, but is such an ending justified within the framework of the thinking I am talking about? Does it not contain a tinge of vindictiveness that contradicts my thesis about the absence of a vengeful spirit in the Gospels?

What kind of force is throwing pigs into the Sea of Galilee if not our desire to see them fall there, and if not the violence of Jesus himself? What can move the whole herd to self-destruction without any coercion? The answer is obvious. It is called the herd feeling, that is, the irresistible tendency to mimeticism, that makes a herd exactly what a herd is. As soon as the first pig fell into the sea, accidentally from a fit of stupid panic or from convulsions caused by the demonic inhabitation of them, all her companions followed her. Frantic thoughtless following is perfectly combined with the notorious disobedience of these animals. Beyond a certain mimetic threshold characteristic of possession, the entire herd instantly reproduces any behavior that seems to it to go beyond the ordinary. This is similar to the fashion phenomenon in so-called "advanced" societies – and in this respect, the Gadara society is already very advanced.

As soon as one animal suddenly finds itself in emptiness, here is a new fashion for you - the fashion of immersion in the abyss, which will take with it everyone down to the last piglet. The slightest mimetic incident can shake the densest crowd. The weaker, more empty, or, even better, the more disastrous the goal is, the more mysterious it will be, and the stronger will awaken desire. All these pigs are scandalized, and therefore have already lost their balance, and therefore they are interested in and even electrified by an even more radical loss of equilibrium; This is the beautiful gesture they have all been unconsciously seeking, a gesture that cannot be taken back. They rush down after the "daring innovator".

Jesus, when he speaks, almost always puts the mimeticism of scandal in the place of all kinds of devilry. It is worth doing the same here, and the mystery will dissipate. These pigs are truly obsessed as they are mimicked up to their ears. If we are not to rely on Gospel references, we must look for them not in the textbooks of demonology, and still less in the modern pseudoscience of instinct, which sees our future in the gloomy stories of lemmings; I prefer to turn to more cheerful and profound literature. The suicidal imps of Gadara are the super-sheep of Panurge, who don't even need Dendeno[61] to throw themselves into the sea. There will always be a mimetic answer to the questions posed by our text, and it will always be the most accurate.

Chapter XIV: Satan Separated from Himself

Textual analysis can say nothing about the miraculous healings themselves[62]. It refers only to the language of their description. The Gospels speak the language of their world. So it seems to us that they portray Jesus as just one of many healers, even though they claim that the Messiah is something unique. But the text about the Gadarene demons confirms their assurances, since it describes the destruction of all demons and their universe, the universe that provides the evangelists with the language of describing demons, the language of demons and their exorcism. Thus, it is a question of exile... the very expulsion, that is, the mainspring of this world, is about putting an end to demons and demonism forever.

In several rare passages of the Gospels, Jesus himself resorts to the language of exile and demonology. The main of these passages depicts an argument with hostile interlocutors. This is an important text, and it is found in all three synoptics.

Here it is in the most complete version, the Matthew version. Jesus had just healed a possessed man. The crowd is delighted, but members of the religious elite (the Pharisees in Matthew, the scribes in Mark) find this healing suspicious.

And all the people were amazed, and said, Is this not Christ, the son of David? And the Pharisees, when they heard this, said, He cast out demons only by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate; and no city, no house, divided against itself, will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided from himself: how then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then surely the Kingdom of God has come to you (Mt 12:23-28*).