Abstract
M NMARCH, 1997, during a visit to Pagan, the capital site of Myanmar's J medieval Golden Age, I happened upon a strange scene.' At the Gubyaukgyi and Myazedi Zeidis (pagodas), two so-called Victory Spots (aungmyay or winning ground) had been recently identified. The pagodas were appropriately out of bounds, but curiously one of the victory spots was accessible to the public for a few hours prior to the visit of the wife and daughter of the head of state, General Than Shwe. It was a mere patch of ground behind the pagodas, scraped clean and decorated with a ribbonned perimeter. Even observed from a distance, the proceedings were both fascinating and poignant important figures performing the ageless Aung Myay Ning ritual on a site deemed auspicious by a fortune teller (sesagan). Burmese kings of old traditionally performed this ceremony before they faced an enemy or a parlous situation. In the context of what I witnessed, the family of the ruler were the ones involved, supplicating a force deemed so great it could challenge even accumulated unwholesome karma and alter fatality. It was a good example of yadayah chay or outwitting fate by prompt action. It was also a reminder that Myanmar's military regime (not withstanding its later change of nomenclature to the State Peace and Development Council) urgently pursues quasi-religious or arcane spiritual practices as part of their strategy to hold on to power.2 This was, of course, a
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