The rulers of Sri Lanka have always turned to seers for guidance and the ruling Rajapaksa clan is no exception, even if an oracle now dares to predict that they “are finished”.
Politicians see their homes besieged by angry mobs after months of shortages of basic necessities, fuel and power cuts.
Their spiritual advisers themselves feel the pressure mounting.
Soothsayers for senior administration officials have been called upon to use their influence on the Rajapaksa to get them to leave, according to footage circulating on social media.
This week, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s personal astrologer even dared to say that the economic crisis signaled the downfall of the clan that has driven Sri Lanka’s affairs for two decades.
“It’s the end of the whole Rajapaksa family,” astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena told AFP. And to add, “even a child of primary school knows today that the Rajapaksa are finished”.
In 2015, the seer’s reputation was damaged after he suggested Mahinda Rajapaksa call a snap election which he lost by following his advice.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda’s younger brother, and Shavendra Silva, the army chief of staff, have long consulted a clairvoyant in the historic Buddhist center of Anuradhapura.
The president makes frequent pilgrimages there to consult with Gnana Akka who is said to have played a huge role in the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
This month, activists trying to break into a shrine belonging to the clairvoyant, clashed with law enforcement.
– Magic power –
Gnana Akka had had time to flee, having been warned by the authorities of the imminent arrival of the group.
The seer’s influence extends to other high-profile politicians, claims Kusal Perera, a columnist who once quipped that the seer’s powers failed to report attackers to her.
“How can Gnana Akka protect the president, when she is unable to protect herself?” he asked.
Astrology is widely practiced in Sri Lanka. The population turns to sighted people during important stages in their lives, before carrying out projects, concluding contracts, planning a wedding.
Political addresses to the nation and new parliamentary sessions are organized on auspicious dates.
According to former army commanders, the timing of battles during the 37-year-long Civil War was decided by astrologers, who were also consulted to choose the code names for operations.
The Rajapaksa brothers, like so many other leaders of the country before them, have a habit of balancing advice from the beyond with that of technocrats and civil servants.
Ex-president Ranasinghe Premadasa had resorted to magic in hopes of avoiding impeachment proceedings in 1991, according to the account of Vijaya Palliyaguruge, Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament at the time.
A sorcerer had squeezed limes to spread the juice on the seats of the deputies in order to ensure their support for the leader.
– “redemption” –
If Mr. Premadasa escaped dismissal, the recourse to the occult sciences did not, on the other hand, protect him against his assassination two years later, in a suicide attack perpetrated by the Tamil Tigers.
The consultation of astrologers and other clairvoyants by political elites is not a phenomenon specific to Sri Lanka.
The Burmese clairvoyant Swe Swe Win nicknamed “ET”, because of her resemblance to the famous extraterrestrial of Steven Spielberg, was consulted by the junta in Burma which would have moved the capital of the country in 2005 on her astrological advice.
The former First Lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan, consulted an astrologer in order to plan the schedule of her husband, then tenant of the White House, Ronald Reagan.
For the Sri Lankan Victor Ivan, human rights activist and former journalist, the Rajapaksa will not turn away from the oracles.
“The leaders know they have done a lot of harm. Shamans and sorcerers are paving the way to their redemption”, he believes, “that explains why these people inspire such reverence in our politicians”.