Post-abyssal knowledge: the experience of water "seers" in the caatinga

The objective of this work is to investigate the contribution of water "seers", individuals with a sensitivity to the presence of "veins" of water in the subsoil, whose work has been fundamental to the identification and drilling of artesian wells in the Caatinga. Our universe of analysis was the Municipality of Campo Formoso, Bahia, Brazil. The transdisciplinary methodology crossed the documentary research of the City Hall collection to identify artesian wells defined by "seers" and a semi-structured interview with the municipal technicians and with the "seers" identified by them. The results indicate that the work of "seers" in the identification and drilling of tubular wells in the field of Campo Formoso-BA revealed that the practice/sensitivity of men and women of the backlands as agents for the identification of underground water has been fundamental to the permanence of peasants in the semiarid and specifically in the Campo Formose Caatinga.