Methodologies used by Ceará rain prophets: a classification proposal

Abstract

This article, resulting from qualitative research, focuses on the methods of rain prediction used by rain prophets in the state of Ceará, in the Brazilian semiarid region, and proposes a classification for their methods. Rain prophets are individuals who, through traditional knowledge and observation of nature, aim to predict whether the year will be one of drought or rain. The research, of an exploratory and descriptive nature, uses bibliographic review and field research, and has the general objective of surveying the prediction methodologies used by the rain prophets of Ceará, proposing a classification for their methods. Through the analysis of nine scientific articles and direct observation of the prophets' meetings in the municipality of Quixadá - CE, it was possible to achieve the proposed objective. The results point to a variety of observation methods, which can be classified into four main categories: observation of nature (this being the most cited method in the articles), religious/mystical, mixed (observation of nature and religious/mystical) and scientific/empirical, the latter only observed in the field. The research concludes that rain prophets use a combination of traditional knowledge and observation of nature to predict rain.

Keywords: Rain Prophets. Traditional Knowledge. Rain Prediction. Ceará. Semiarid.