Wizards and Witchcraft

By Rajitha Ratwatte

We have always believed in the occult, here in the what used to be the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, haven’t we? My earliest memories include ceremonies involving cutting limes and chanting of “manthras” that had absolutely nothing to do with the almsgiving and pirith chanting ceremonies that happened on a regular basis, in the household of my grandmother. Wearing “charmed” amulets was “normal” and even has a part in our folklore and legend. It is said that Saradiel, the highway robber who was based in Kadugannawa on the Kandy Colombo road could never be shot by the British as he had a charmed amulet. He was only killed after this amulet was removed! The belief also extends to a story that Saradiel was a good friend of my great grandmother who used to be “held up” by him and made many donations to this “Robin Hood” of Sinhala folklore, during her journeys from Kandy to Mawenella by horse and trap!

Politicians of today have been accused of defiling ancient sacred sites, in search of an oil that allows one to live forever. The sacrifice of virgins and even elephants have been alleged to have been part of election campaigns. Why is it a problem and above all else why are we SURPRISED when a magic portion that is supposed to cure the Covid-19 scourge is hitting the headlines? There are purported to be huge crowds defying all behavioural protocols and virtually creating riots to obtain some of this juice. It doesn’t seem like anyone has been lucky enough to have been dropped in a vat of the stuff when they were babies, but a few fresh babies are around in the ruing clan and that possibility may exist! Bring on Obelix of Goscinny and Uderzo fame.

Playing on the psyche of the followers of a Philosophy, rather than a religion that has a God who one can pray to and beg favours from, is relatively easy isn’t it? All humans’ need miracles in their lives and the occult is a way of providing miracles and also keeping them hoping for miracles. As long as the herd can hope that the grass is greener on the other side, they will follow the leaders and stay within the framework of the herd. The FRAMEWORK is the key. If the herd breaks up, starts ignoring the social norms, in the case of those in the Pearl, starts disregarding law and order, even more, the consequences could be catastrophic. Will an army that has fought for Sinhala people, actually open fire on the Sinhala people when they riot on the streets? That, dear readers, is the vital question!

Distracting a populace that deems itself highly literate but in reality, is only one disaster away from resorting to the beliefs of their ancestors, is mere child’s play. Charlatans and snake oil salesmen have practiced their skills with generous patronage from Kings and politicians, over the ages of our two-thousand-year documented history. What is happening today, in golf parlance is “par for the course”, nothing to get excited about but plenty to get depressed and saddened about! You wonder why we have not been able, in over seven decades of self-rule, come even close to achieving our potential? Cease to wonder O citizens of the pearl, cease to wonder and simply look at yourselves.

Ever since (in relatively recent times) the magical otion called Wada Kaha Sudiya was sold to gullible females as guaranteed to make them incredibly beautiful if taken in conjunction with a solar eclipse, the people of our land have been led up the proverbial “garden path” by miraculous happenings. Fairly regular appearances of Cobras, often guarding golden pots containing unspecified treasures, almost always in Temple compounds, to various herbal and supposedly ayurvedic decoctions with miraculous powers, Godmen of various descriptions who take on the persona of deities and proceed to instruct devotees on how to achieve their dreams, to sacred sites with miraculous powers, have been part of our culture, there is no denying that.

The fact that the incredibly hard times that are foreseen (by mere economists and even those with common sense and logical thinking), not Wizards has resulted in the start of another spate of distracting activities is not strange. It is probably an admission that there is no plan to counter this pandemic and the economic carnage that has and will result. It is time for a sense of responsibility from politicians who are definitely out of their depth. Not something to be ashamed of, the fact that the politicians of the pearl are out of their depth, for few have any qualifications to fall back on and NO ONE has experience of situations such as these. It is time to admit that things are out of control and form a national government as that seems to be the only alternative, declare a state of emergency and go cap in hand to the countries that have offered us help in the past. Maybe even call for a general election and see if some real leaders with a workable plan will emerge from the woodwork!

One may argue that we have a national government at present, for the vast majority of the people have voted for this government. Unfortunately, the people have voted for a miracle and seem to have decided now that the miracle has not been delivered and as such, it is the governments and the leaderships fault. One may also say that forming a national government will only mean that any lone voices in the opposition that now may even raise a point of order or two, will be silenced by the perks both official and unofficial that go with governance in a country such as ours. A general election will, of course, entail another huge expense and will probably end up giving us more of the same.

There are no two words about the fact that we have to “gird our loins” and battle through the incredibly hard times ahead. Hard times like those probably never experienced by the human race before. We need leadership to take us through. Leadership that we can trust and believe in. Leadership that we are confident has our best interests at heart. The inability to find this is what is allowing the advent of wizards and witchcraft … again.