La Llorona.
| “ | I pity her. Her beauty caught the eye of a noble, but it didn't help her with the death of her sons. Now she has to deal with the consequences of her actions. The day when she'll find her children might never come. At least not in your lifespan, mortal. | „ |
| ~ Azrael when asked about La Llorona's children. |
La Llorona, known as The Weeping Woman or The Cryer, is a Latin American (specifically Mexican) oral legend and folklore about the ghost of a woman who steals children to drown them. There are multiple variations of this, as is common among oral traditions.
Description[]
It says that she drowns the children she kidnaps. Hoping she finds her kids. People who claim to have seen her say she appears at night or in the late evening by rivers or lakes, wearing a white gown with a veil. Some believe those who hear the wails of La Llorona are marked for death or misfortune, similar to the Gaelic banshee legend. She scrapes the bottom of the rivers and lakes, searching for her sons. It is said that when her wails sound near she is actually far and when she sounds distant, she is actually very near.
History[]
Background[]
In a rural village in Mexico, there lived a beautiful young woman named María. She came from a poor family but was known around her village for her beauty and grace. One day, an extremely wealthy nobleman was riding through her village and stopped in his tracks. He had traveled all over the world and has never seen anyone as beautiful as María. He was mesmerized by her. He knew that he had to win her heart.
María was easily charmed by him and he was charmed by her beauty, so when he proposed to her, she immediately accepted. Eventually, the two married, and María gave birth to two sons. Her husband was always traveling and he stopped spending time with his family. When he came home, he only paid attention to the children and as time passed María could tell that her husband was falling out of love with her because she was getting old. One day he returned to the village with a younger woman, and bid his children farewell, ignoring María.
Cursed to Wander[]
María, angry and hurt, took her children to a river and drowned them in a blind rage. She realized what she had done and searched for them, but the river had already carried them away. Days later, her husband came back and asked about the children, but María started weeping and said that she had drowned them. Her husband was furious and said that she could not be with him unless she found their children.
She was refused entry to Heaven and sent to Hell where she was tricked by Mephistopheles that told her her son's souls were lost, but she would be granted entry to Heaven if she found their lost souls and brought them to Heaven where they belonged. Mephistopheles knew that her son's souls were in Heaven, so the woman would be stuck in the land of the living trying to find her sons forever, crying constantly for the sins she committed. After having spent a long time without finding her sons, her grief, and her desperation to just be able to die and be at peace caused her to start taking other children's souls by drowning them.
La Llorona[]
Now she spends eternity looking for her lost children. She is always heard weeping for her children, earning her the name "La Llorona", which means "The Weeping Woman". It is said that if you hear her crying, you are to run the opposite way. If you hear her cries, they could bring misfortune or even death. Many parents in Latin America use this story to scare their children from staying out too late. La Llorona kidnaps wandering children at night, mistaking them for her own. Among her wails, she is noted as crying "¡Ay, mis hijos!" which translates to "Oh, my children!" or "Oh, my sons!" It is also said she cries out "¿Dónde están mis hijos?" which translates into "Where are my sons?"