Overview

La Llorona is a vengeful ghost from Mexican folklore. She is known to be a malevolent spirit who haunts bodies of water. She is said to mourn over her children, who dies by a jealousy rage. Her wails warn the children to go home before she finds them. The story of La Llorona is known across Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. and Latin America.

Origin

Today, the lore behind La Llorona is well known in Mexico and the southwestern United States. La Llorona is traced back to 1550 in Mexico City. There are theories about her being connected to specific Aztec mythology stories. “The Hungry Woman” includes a wailing woman constantly crying for food, which has been compared to La Llorona’s tragedy about her kids. The story that everyone says and the one my parents tell me is a beautiful woman named María marries a rich farmer to whom she bears two children. One day, María sees her husband with another woman and in a fit of rage, she drowns their children in a river, which she immediately regrets. Unable to save them and consumed with all her guilt, she drowns herself as well but is unable to enter the afterlife, forced to roam the earth until she finds her children. The legend of La Llorona is deeply rooted in Mexican popular culture. Her story is told to children to encourage them not to wander off in the dark and near bodies of water such as river 0r lakes alone.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona

https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2021/10/la-llorona-an-introduction-to-the-weeping-woman/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/La-Llorona