And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

Behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

 And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding.

 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters (Matthew 8:28-34).

When we have a family member with a mental illness where our loved one behaves in a manner that is far, far more extreme than what is acceptable, we look to negative outside forces to blame. My grandmother would sum up all trials and mishaps as “ain’t nothing but the devil.”

“I know you young people don’t believe in this, but I believe that someone worked hoodoo on   your mamma.”

“Why do you think that? I asked.

“Cause your mamma had a lot of people jealous of her. She was pretty and smart.”