The Myanmar junta’s mystical warfare

The footage shows a senior officer in plain clothes delivering instructions to several ranks of troops, assigning coordinated duties to each subunit. However, he does not stop short at giving orders, adding a few words to his speech that seem intended to boost the listening troops’ morale. “The bullets are destined for specific people, not you,” he tells them. “They can shoot whenever they want, but you will not die. Whoever is destined to die will die, even if he’s just sitting in a tea shop.” Having given them a routine reminder of how to respond when they hear gunfire—first take cover, then seek shelter, then counterattack, and never panic—he orders a soldier standing nearby to hand out protective amulets. The recording, which appeared and spread quickly on social media at the end of last year, was reportedly filmed at a battalion base in Mandalay Region. The range of advantages the Myanmar military has gained over its opponents since seizing control of the country’s administration in 2021 is broad. The junta forces not only have superior weaponry at their disposal but are also supplied and supported by major foreign powers and can spend public funds as they choose. Nonetheless, as a growing collection of examples indicates, some high-ranking members of the regime are not satisfied with these advantages and remain superstitiously preoccupied with enhancing their advantage by way of the spiritual or mystical, using amulets, talismans, spells, and rituals. This superstition pervades virtually every step of the military’s important decision-making processes, from battlefield tactics to plans for the elections the regime plans to hold at the end of this year, according to former soldiers who have defected to the resistance side, as well as other sources in the resistance. These practices have roots going back decades. A series of authoritarian military regimes in Myanmar have shown an affinity for astrology, numerology, and other forms of superstition. Before 1988, banknotes issued under the Ne Win dictatorship in denominations of 45 and 90 kyat—numbers thought to be auspicious or lucky—caused immeasurable inconvenience to Myanmar’s citizens. The currently ruling generals have organised recitations of Buddhist scripture over loudspeakers in public places, especially when they suffered losses on the front. Under current military rule, as the number of battles has increased and base losses have become more frequent, they organize recitation of religious scriptures using loudspeakers. Junta-controlled media outlets covered an unusual number of these recitations of the Paṭṭhāna at pagodas and dhamma halls throughout the country in 2023 and 2024, when the military was lost wide swaths of territory to anti-regime forces. Those inclined to the give the benefit of the doubt to soldiers whose lives are at risk on the battle lines may point out that belief in astrology and mystical signs are commonplace in Myanmar, not to mention sincere religious devotion to Buddhism. After all, ordinary people such as civilians and government employees hoping for luck in their careers regularly look to astrology, recite mantras, and engage in other such mystic practices every day. What makes the military’s use of these success rituals is their pervasiveness and scale, which constitutes systemic, top-down coordination involving all ranks. Amulets from the battleground Before going to the battle lines, commanders in the Myanmar military commonly consult with astrologers, mediums, or monks claiming to know the art of divination, according to Major Swe Taw, an officer who joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement when he defected from the army. They also use one of seven types of traditional amulet to ward off bad luck in battle, he said. These include the inn (numerical magic squares), eyne (letter-based talismans), hkar hlae (worn inscribed strips on the waist), lek hpwea (bundled charm cords), mantra (spoken incantations beginning with ‘aunm’), mandan (mantras starting with ‘oum’), and Gahta (protective recitations without ‘aunm’ or ‘oum’). Maj. Swe Taw explained that the officers go to the diviners with their questions, such as, “when they will be deployed to the front lines; which operational theatre they are going to; how to achieve mystical harmony between that destination and their current station; what rituals they need to perform for good fortune.” These preoccupations only intensified when the junta was seemingly at its weakest point, seemingly reaching a peak last year when they had lost vast swaths of territory to resistance and anti-junta armed groups on multiple fronts throughout the country. The practice of reciting protective mantras and a scripture called the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta spread rapidly through the rear battalions, according to Maj. Swe Taw. “While taking them through these recitations, which are rooted in the Theravada tradition, they would also give them orders based on unrelated astrology and superstitions that were not related to Buddhism,” he added, before offering examples: “What day and time to recite what, how to conduct rites, what flowers to put on the altar, how many candles to light.” When orders go out for a military operation, the regional and military operations headquarters are known to issue detailed, written instructions to the battalion officers regarding which rituals to perform. These include putting the right flowers at their bases’ entrances; lighting incense and candles at dates or times determined by the astrological calendar; and making visits to pagodas, shrines, and other sites. A ceremony marking the arrival of new helicopters at the 74th Anniversary of the Air Force Day on December 15, 2022 The officers’ compliance with these directives is usually a mix of following orders and sincere belief, the defecting major explained, as they fear that neglecting to go through with the protective charms could precede—if not cause—some loss or adversity for which the blame would fall on them. Paṭṭhāna stickers and airdropped candles While the military’s standard cargo of supplies for an airdrop usually includes only essential rations, medicines, and weapons, the junta’s preoccupation with the mystical likely explains why they have begun to include incense and scented ritual candles in their supply loads. Zwe, a member of the Justice Soldier People’s Defence Force (PDF) group operating in Karen State, posted on social media that he had found these items in intercepted supply packages—destined for the military’s Waw Lay tactical base in Myawaddy Township—which the air force had accidentally dropped in resistance-held territory. Evidence and examples of the military’s superstition abound, whether the junta was winning or losing. In Rakhine State, where the military has been able to maintain control of only three townships and lost the remaining 14 to the Arakan Army (AA), the local Niranjara news agency reported that soldiers were drawing magic squares, lighting votive candles, and affixing protective symbols to their weapons, vehicles, and uniforms to bring luck in battle. Overrunning army bases, AA fighters said they found protective charms and Paṭṭhāna Buddhist texts stuck on every available surface, according to the news agencies’ reporting. Resistance fighters almost always find amulets and talismans in outposts they have recently captured from the military in southern Myanmar, an officer of the PDF Tactical Unit 33 confirmed to Myanmar Now. “Along with the weapons we seized, we found statues, religious magic squares, Buddha images, and amulet chains, all complete sets,” said Comrade Saw Dah Ko, Operations Commander from the Dawna Battalion active in Tanintharyi Region and adjacent areas. The military may be peddling a kind of distorted dogma to excuse its soldiers' atrocities preemptively, reassuring its troops that they can escape divine punishment even if they torch villages and murder unarmed civilians. The motto Be brave and you won't die - and if you do die, you won't go to hell is repeated often in the army, passed down from veterans and officers to new recruits. According to another defector from the military, Colonel Lin Htet Aung, some of the generals sincerely believe wars can be won through religious practice. “There are beliefs that you can win by reciting religious scriptures and then killing people,” he said. “In the army, there are superstitious beliefs in amulets, astrology, and mantra chants. When we were in the army ourselves, famous monks would give us protective amulets when we were deployed to the front lines.” "Then there are the ‘bulletproof’ mantras, this mantra and that mantra that they gave us,” he added. “These things are very widely believed in the army.” In early June this year, a military helicopter crashed after being dispatched to support ground forces during a battle in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township. A helmet belonging to the pilot, who had been killed and dismembered in the incident, was found at the crash site, decorated with a symbol of the protective “24 conditional relations” or Paṭṭhāna. Some soldiers believe reciting and wearing images symbolic of the 24 conditional relations into battle will ward off danger and death. A pilot’s helmet found at the site where a military helicopter crashed while flying to the front lines in June. The Buddhist “24 conditional relations” or Paṭṭhāna emblem affixed to it. Some in the army wear this symbol as a talisman or amulet to ward off adversity and danger (Photo: People’s Liberation Army) Fear even in victory The military’s superstitious habits have only increased as they have reinforced their strategic advantage relative to the armed groups and armed resistance fighting them. Their dominance has grown starkly since last year, due in part to a recent counteroffensive to recapture lost territory. China, one of the junta’s top foreign arms suppliers, has intervened on the Myanmar military’s side repeatedly, pressuring the ethnic armed groups beholden to them in northern Shan State to negotiate ceasefires, lay down arms, and return control of territory to the military regime. The junta has also relied on its control of domestic arms factories and its supremacy in the air, allowing the military to conduct devastating, indiscriminate airstrikes to overwhelm their enemies and terrorise civilians. The regime has also bought high-tech unmanned drones from abroad, strengthening its advantage in a form of warfare where resistance forces were approaching parity. However, even as they gained these formidable advantages, the junta forces’ engagement with the mystical has continued to increase. The junta released a photo of junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and his wife being sprayed with a mist of perfume on a religious magic square at a pagoda consecration ceremony at Thettharpantaung village, Pwintbyu Township, Magway Region in February 2022 According to Col. Kaung Thu Win, another defector from the military, soldiers invoke astrology and superstition not just in battle, but even in inter-base sport tournaments. “In football matches, chinlone, and boxing matches, if the highest-ranking officer in the battalion is enthusiastic about astrology and superstitions, has zealous beliefs, he does it in a zealous way,” he explained. “The highest-ranking officer in the battalion tends to do such things even during normal, calm times.” The superstitious practices are a combination of traditional belief and grasping at any means available to assuage their own fear, Col. Kaung Thu Win argued. Defectors from the military have confirmed that after the coup, the junta-controlled Office of the Defence Services Chief of Staff (Army) issued instructions to battalions throughout Myanmar to perform certain rituals including the washing of “purifying” herbs in nearby streams, which symbolises the washing away of blood and the survival of mortal danger. In the early months after the coup, protesters also alleged that the top brass were expressly telling soldiers they could purify themselves of sin even after cracking down violently. If you want to change the times, ‘shoot’ for the head was another motto the anti-coup activists attributed to the military’s top brass. Whether or not these were their exact words, protesters were in fact dying in the streets from bullets to the head. Whatever spiritual justification the high-ranking officers hoped to impart to their subordinates through rituals and mottos, the coup regime’s brutality over the next few years—from shooting unarmed demonstrators to torching and bombing villages, forcing millions to flee their homes—failed to suppress the countrywide resistance to military rule. A letter sent from headquarters to all battalion bases under the Southern Command on November 7, 2023. It contained no orders on military matters but only instructions on conducting Buddhist recitations and rituals ‘Rituals can't save them’ In November of 2023, a cable went out to all field battalions with instructions for reciting the Mahāsamaya Sutta and the 11 great protective suttas in the battalion bases’ dhamma halls. At the time, the anti-junta offensive campaign Operation 1027, led by ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State, had led an unprecedented number of battalions in the area to surrender to anti-junta armed groups. The message directed the wives of soldiers and officers living at battalion bases to don yogic robes, take the Nine Uposatha Precepts, and—before the recitation—to arrange 108 plates of nine traditional Burmese foods at the altars in the halls. This “programme of nine” should continue for nine days, starting at 9am each day, the message said. Some of the soldiers’ families also visited the Tonhsint spirit shrine in Hsipaw Township, northern Shan State in early November of that year to perform rites and pray for the safety of troops deployed to the front line. Nevertheless, outposts and towns in northern Shan State continued to fall to the anti-junta alliance for more than a year as Operation 1027 proceeded. Defectors from the military, who have found patterns and repetitions in junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s schedule, have also expressed the belief that his attendance at certain events and visits to various sites did not occur coincidentally but according to a timed plan based on astrology and divination. Junta troops and officers who surrendered to Kokang forces in 2024 (Photo - MNDAA/Youtube The military’s constant efforts to ward off threats with amulets, mantras, chants, and symbols will not be enough to save them, Comrade Saw Dah Ko of the Dawna Battalion said, as long as they continue to break their oath to serve and defend the people of Myanmar. “If they continue these violations and abuses, they will have only one path open to them,” the resistance commander said. “This brutality, this perpetuation of such practices as summarily killing people, invading villages to loot and steal, raping the young, killing the elderly. No superstitious spell can absolve such things or help anyone guilty of them." He compared this to the ethic of loyalty among resistance units, noting that even in a setting where loyalty is of the utmost value, people are unmoved by oaths or performative gestures of obedience. On the contrary, people on the resistance side value the expression of loyalty through actions, not words or symbols. Similarly, Maj. Swe Taw said, the rites and ceremonies intended as performances of devotion, morality, and righteousness only have force for those devoted to truly moral and righteous causes. "No matter how often you pledge loyalty or how firmly you make verbal commitments, what really matters are your actions,” the defecting major said. “Those who do bad things will experience the consequences accordingly. Astrology and superstitious rituals can’t save them.”

The Myanmar junta’s mystical warfare

Not content to depend on advantages such as its control of armaments factories, air supremacy, and backing from major powers, the Myanmar junta is using charms, astrology, and self-serving invocations of religious text to legitimise and fortify its rule

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