The Curse of La Llorona: The Story Behind the Weeping Woman

La Llorona premiere already appears in Mexican folklore and her translation from Spanish means the Weeping Woman. No one really knows the exact origin of  La Llorona but her story has existed since the 16th century during the times of conquistadors   Today she's definitely become what we would describe as an urban legend.  it goes to a thin woman dressed. who weeps as she roamed the lakes and creeks in search of children to drag to a watery grave. Whatever you don't go out past dark or La Llorona will take you, something that I'm sure many of my Hispanic followers and viewers would have heard growing up from parents or grandparents. Similar to tales of lamia Baba Yaga, or even just the boogeyman  La Llorona was a cautionary tale told mostly to children. Now of course she wasn't always this ghostly figure who drowned kids in the river, there is a backstory, or in this case, there are several explanations as to how she became the Weeping Woman and judging by the name I'm sure you've gathered that these aren't going to be happy stories in the most story she's referred to as a woman named Maria, who came from a very porn background. Some of the stories are 

1st Story 

The first story that we'll be discussing today involves Maria marrying a wealthy man, who had a rather shady past and being an alcoholic and a womanizer. Regardless, Maria still loved him of all of her heart and she had hoped that for her, he would change his ways, and he did in the beginning, he showered her with gifts and gave her all of his attention. But this, of course, wouldn't last for very long. When Maria had his two sons he began to change, returning to his womanizing ways and turn into alcohol to fill the void that she once filled, he would leave Maria and their boys alone for months on end, with no explanation or warning. And eventually, he became so disinterested, that he told Maria, he was leaving her for a woman of his own wealth and social standing. As you can imagine Maria didn't take this too well, especially as he would only return to visit his children, leading her to resent them more and more each day. Eventually, it all became too much, and during a walk by the river, she noticed her ex-husband in a carriage with a younger and far more beautiful woman. He stopped the carriage, but only to speak to his children before driving off completely ignoring Maria. 

 for Maria, this will be the last straw. And in a fit of rage threw her children into the river and watch as they drowned and disappeared down the stream. And by the time she came to her senses, it was too late. She tried to find her children along the riverbank, but they will no longer in sight. In her grief she ran down the streets of her town, screaming and wailing uncontrollably for her lost children. Soon after, grief-stricken and with no will left around Maria was found dead by the very same riverbank, that she had thrown her sons. Upon reaching the gates of heaven, she was asked about the whereabouts of her children, To which she had no answer, and so she was denied entry into the afterlife. She would instead spend eternity in between the land of the living and the Land of the Dead, searching for her lost children. It's believed she was then seen on the banks of the River Center fee, looking for children to drown,. Several other versions attempt to tell the origin story of  La Llorona 

2nd Story

 The two most popular beings that later was, or at least that La Llorona is linked to the Aztec goddess,  Cihuacoatl associated with motherhood and fertility, who dresses in white and walks the night, weeping and wailing. She was also considered an omen of war many believe the legend of  La Llorona came to exist because  Cihuacoatl roamed the rivers, moaning and weeping, to warn the people of the invading conquistadors. in some stories, Maria's husband was actually a Spanish conquistador, who abandons her and leaves her to care for her children alone. This can Keystore at times was even believed to be Hernan Cortez, who was famous for leading the Spanish expedition that lead to the fall of the Aztec empire in the stories Mary's described as his interpreter and concubine. Cortez then, of course, would leave her to marry a Spanish woman, Maria was disgraced and shunned by her own people out of vengeance then killed Cortez's children.

There are different variants of the story that are a little bit more vague, that simply describe Maria being jilted by a Spanish lover. Interestingly enough, Maria isn't always the victim of a terrible marriage. There are stories where she was a rather vain woman who spent all of her time partying and neglecting her children one day when she returned home both of her sons had drowned, and for this neglect, she was cursed in the afterlife. Now the stories of   La Llorona do vary drastically, and the rivers of Mexico aren't the only place in Latin America where people have claimed to have seen her or at least heard her wailing. Even her behavior can vary from region to region. Some believe that she only drowns children, whereas others also believe that she kills men because of her last lover. There are also tales where she is far more barbaric who kills anyone who crosses her path, man, woman, or child. Now there are some urban legends that we cannot prove, there are some quite wild stories involving the Weeping Woman.  

3rd story

the year is 1986 in Houston, Texas, and a woman by the name of Juana tried to kill her seven children by throwing them in the Buffalo bayou. When questioned by the authorities, she told them that she believed that she was   La Llorona  Upon further investigation, it turns out that she was a victim of domestic violence so bad that she wanted to end her suffering as well as that of children. Sadly, two of her children did in fact die, in what turned out to be an odd and truly disturbing story. There is also a story of a boy who would routinely argue with his mother one day after a particularly heated argument, the boy and his brothers left their ranch and made their way to Santa Fe, in a carriage. When they arrived at, bank, they saw a tall, thin woman dressed in white with a black veil covering her face leaving the brothers petrified and speechless. When the brothers decided to turn around and head her. She turned to face them and said If you argue with your mother. I will visit you again. The boys continued on their way home heeding the warning of later on to respect their mother as the next time they encountered the weeping woman, she may not have been so friendly. I've also come across stories of people that claim during their dreams and encounters of  La Llorona. She removes her veil which means she has chosen you to join her in a search for the children in the afterlife, which is also in itself quite a scary thought. If she doesn't kill you then you may be cursed for eternity.

I've never been to Mexico, and I'm also not Hispanic it means I can't really say what it's like growing up with these stories, but  La Llorona seems to be a lot of superstitions surrounding her in Latin America, and that's definitely something that's been passed down from generation to generation. Despite it being a story used to stop children from going on later night and seeing that you don't have to look particularly far to find someone who either know someone or who themselves had an encounter with  La Llorona It is definitely interesting to see so many similar stories in cultures around the world. In Greek mythology both Lamia and Medea, have similar stories being women who are scorned, ultimately end up killing children. If we take the more as the Aztec idea of her image is as a warning of danger in itself is quite similar to the Irish myth of the Banshee, who also has a fairly similar appearance these stories, leading to the theory  La Llorona might be similar to the European myths because the Europeans may have influenced the native stories during their expeditions, but I guess we'll never know for sure. A cautionary tale, or a terrifying  legend I will leave you to decide to make sure to comment down below