Fearsome Folklores : The Legend of La Llorona

  Imagine going on a trek inside a forest in Mexico. You stroll along the banks of a river after a filling dinner only to hear the weeping sound of a woman. What would you do in this scenario? Most of us would look out for the weeping woman, right? But the locals would advise you otherwise. They would ask you to leave that place at once as it could be the vengeful spirit of La Llorona.

 Generations of Mexican kids have grown up afraid of La Llorona, a wailing woman whose misdeeds during her time alive left her spirit trapped on earth, wherein she torments human beings. The legend of La Llorona translates to “the weeping woman,” and is famous throughout the southwest of the U.S.A. And Mexico. The story has various retellings and origins, however, La Llorona is continually described as a willowy white spirit who wails near the water for her children. In Mexico, it's frequently told that to summon La Llorona, one has to light red candles, enclose themselves in a room whose walls are embellished with mirrors, and repeat her name.

  Tales of weeping lady phantoms are not unusual within the folklore of both Iberian and Amerindian cultures. Experts have pointed out similarities between La Llorona and the Cihuacōātl of Aztec folklore, in addition to the Hebrew demon Lilith. La Llorona also resembles the story of the Greek demigoddess Lamia, in which Hera, Zeus's wife, found his affair with Lamia and killed all the kids Lamia had with Zeus. Out of envy over the loss of her children, Lamia kills other children.

Appearance

 La Llorona appears as a tall and slender spirit clothed in a wet white gown and a white shawl with which, she covers her head. Legends say that she used to be an embodiment of feminine beauty while she was a human. She has a blank face with no features, lacking a mouth, nose, and eyes, and long flowing hair that’s jet black and reaches down to her waist.

Origins

 Legend says that La Llorona used to be a caring lady who, filled with love, married a rich man who showered her with presents. However, after she birthed him two sons, he changed, going back to a life of womanizing and boozing, frequently leaving her alone for months at once. He seemingly stopped caring for Maria, he even thought about leaving her to marry a woman of his own status. He returned home only to visit his children and the traumatized Maria started to experience resentment towards the boys.

 One dawn, as Maria strolled with her kids on a dark pathway near the river, her husband got there in a carriage with a beautiful girl along with him. He stopped and spoke to his kids but paid no attention to Maria, and then drove the carriage down the road without looking back.

 After seeing this, Maria's sanity was overcome by a horrible rage. Enraged, she turned against her kids, seized them, and threw them into the river. As they disappeared downstream, she understood the consequences of her actions and ran down the bank to help them, but it was overdue. Maria broke down into grief, running down the streets screaming and wailing.

 The beautiful La Llorona mourned them day and night. Throughout this time, she did not eat and walked alongside the river in her white gown attempting to find her boys hoping they would return to her. She cried profusely as she raided the riverbanks and her gown became soiled and torn. She grew thinner and appeared like a walking skeleton because of not eating. Still young, she ultimately died at the banks of the river.

 Soon after her death, her stressed spirit commenced appearing, raiding the banks of the Santa Fe River when the night began. Her weeping and wailing became a curse of the night, and people were petrified to leave their houses during the night. She was said to drift through the trees along the coastline or float on the river with her long white gown crying for her kids.

 According to another legend, Maria was born to a poor family. Her splendour captured the attention of the rich as well as the poor men of the village. She spent her days in her humble peasant environment, but she would rock her white robe in the evenings and tease the guys who admired her.

 The younger guys anxiously waited for her arrival, and she roistered in the attention that she acquired. However, La Llorona had two small sons who made it tough for her to spend her evenings out, and frequently left them all alone when she slept with other men during the evenings. One day her boys were seen drowning in the river. A few say they drowned because of her neglect, but others say that they were thrown into the river by her own hands.

 Even though the legends vary, the phantom is said to kill without hesitation or mercy. A few say that she kills anyone foolish enough to get close to her, taking the lives of men, ladies, and children indiscriminately.  Others say she is very barbaric and kills only children, pulling them into a watery grave.