Reading the local newspapers in Yangon on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Yangon: Than Shwe, the 82-year-old former army general believed to be still enormously influential behind the scenes in Myanmar's powerful army, ordered the construction of a new capital in malarial jungle on a precise date and time in 2005.

The decision was based on the advice of his astrologer, who warned of impending disaster that could only be averted by moving the seat of government.

Former Myanmar ruler Senior General Than Shwe in Yangon in 2005. Photo: AP

Complete with six lane highways and secluded compounds with secret bunkers and tunnels, Than Shwe named the place Naypyidaw, or "Abode of the King".

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Myanmar's army generals have a long history of heavily relying on astrologers and numerologists for policy advice, which is likely to influence how they respond to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's stunning victory in last Sunday's elections. 

They have acknowledged the win and congratulated the 70-year-old Nobel laureate. But analysts say the military remains Myanmar's most powerful institution and the accommodations the generals are prepared to make for Ms Suu Kyi's in-coming administration will shape the country's future.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this month. Photo: AP

Myanmar's 52 million people are among the world's most superstitious, and the country's military rulers are more superstitious than most, analysts say.

They changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989 on the advice of soothsayers. Jail sentences have for years reflected Mr Than Shwe's lucky number 11. 

Critics describe Than Shwe as a paranoid despotic figure who engaged in occult practices to consolidate his two-decade rule of Myanmar.

Graffiti congratulating Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Mandalay on Wednesday. Photo: AP

In the secretive world of Myanmar's army the claims cannot be verified but he was often accused of making decisions that were not based on rational calculations.

Than Shwe's personal dislike for Aung San Suu Kyi was said to be so intense he walked out of a meeting with a foreign ambassador, simply because the envoy uttered her name.

All of Myanmar's modern rulers have consulted soothsayers and propitiated supernatural forces.

Police officers read a copy of the newspaper "Democracy Today" in Yangon on Wednesday. Photo: AP

The country's independence was formally declared at 4.20am on January 4, 1948, a time considered most favourable by astrologers.

When mysticism-obsessed dictator Ne Win seized power in 1962 he based many of his bizarre decisions on the advice of astrologers and numerologists.

In 1970, Ne Win's astrologer felt that Burma had moved too far to the left so the general ordered motorists to change from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right-hand side.

In 1987 Ne Win introduced 45 and 90 kyat currency notes, as the face values add up to nine, his lucky number.

It was said that he walked backwards over bridges to ward off evil spirits and bathed in dolphin's blood to extend his life beyond 90 (he died aged 92).

Many of Myanmar's military officers have personal astrologers and like most Burmese believe that personal names and dates of birth carry special significance and, being equated with particular planets, can influence events on earth.

These beliefs are believed to have influenced many military appointments and decisions.

President Thein Sein, a former general, has revealed he consults soothsayers.

"Sometimes they give me advice on how the situation of the country could be affected from the astrological point of view," he told French documentary-makers in 2013.

"I willingly take this advice into account."

The date of Sunday's election is said to have been decided on the basis of numerology.

A straw poll of fortune tellers in Yangon, the country's main city ahead of Sunday's election, predicted victory for Suu Kyi, who many Burmese see a cult figure imbued with divinity.