No other legend is as wide spread across the Americas as the legend of ‘La Llorona’ (or the Weeping Woman). Variations of the legend can be found from as far north as California and as south as Colombia. The origins of this story are as mysterious as the lady herself. She was often described as a women dressed in white lurking the lonely roads and streams at night in search of her lost children. Through the night her cries seem to have spread to various colonial towns and villages throughout Mexico. This legend would be passed down generation to generation to warn children of the dangers of being out at night by yourself. Historically, the significance of this story has its origins with the ancient world of Mexico, however, similar parallels can be found virtually everywhere around the world. It severs foremost as a cautionary tale for children wandering at night, and secondly, depending on the variation, it serves as a deeper symbolic meaning of love and the loss of one’s entire world. There’s not one Mexican child that hasn’t heard of this legend and as a result has taken cautionary steps not to wander around at night. From the lonely wind whispering a faint moan to a cat crying in the distance, images of La Llorona has sent many frightened children running back inside the house.

The most commonly spread legend of La Llorona starts off with a beautiful woman from a rural village who was known for her exquisite beauty. One day a rich nobleman was passing through the village and took notice of the woman. They fell in love and had two children. Because he was from a wealthy family and they looked down upon him for marrying a poor commoner. This eventually took a toll on his mind and he began spending more and more time away from his wife and two children. One day he left and never returned. This eventually drove her to madness and in a fit of rage drowned her two children in the river. Realizing what she had done she jumped into the river where she now spends eternity in search of her lost children. And since then she can be heard at night calling out for her dead lost children, “Ay mis hijos!” (‘Oh, my children’).

One indigenous variation of La Llorona legend comes from the indigenous Chumash of Southern California. In Chumash culture, they believe in the Nunašɨš, other worldly creatures that come out at nightfall. One specific representation of these other worldly creatures is that of ‘La Llorona’ known by the Chumash name of ‘maxulaw” or ‘mamismis‘. They claim to hear the cryings, similar to that of a newborn infant, far up within the trees. The physical appearance being similar to that of a cat with leathery or rawhide skin. Death is often associated with the apparition of this creature.

Many speculate as to the true origins of this legend, however, many scholars believe it may in fact date back to pre-hispanic times within the Mexica/Aztec Empire. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlán was built upon a man-made island situated on top of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. This was once a great civilization where the ancient gods were seen as living entities a part of every day life. After the conquest many aspects of these gods were later adapted and integrated within the Catholic belief system giving rise to a renewed belief.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of a weeping woman dates back to Diego Durán, a Dominican Friar fluent in Nahuatl, who documented a lot of the Aztec legends during the early period of colonization after the conquest of Mexico. According to Durán, there were several prophecies associated with the end of the reign of Moctezuma II. During this period he asked to know about these dreams and omens associated with the end of his reign to which was replied:

“The same is entrusted to all those who are in the habit of walking at night, that if they meet a woman who says that she walks at night crying and moaning, that they ask her why it is that she weeps and moans…” (Durán, 1951, I, p. 525).

This story can also be found within the writings of another priest at the time by the name of Bernardino de Sahagún gathered together by indigenous people of the region. These infamous omens brought forth to Moctezuma II were not only to signal the end of his reign but the end of the Mexica Empire of Tenochtitlan. The first of these omens was that of a flame that appeared at night 10 years prior to the conquest which at the time which left the people with fear. The second omen was that of the temple of Huitzilopochtli catching fire, and water only making the fire grow. The third omen was that of lightning striking the temple of Xiuhtecutli, making no thunder with it. Fourth, a large fire burning from the west which divided itself into three parts causing mass panic. Fifth, the lake started to boiling causing many flooded houses. And lastly the sixth omen, was that of the weeping woman being heard through the streets at night.

“…it was heard many times: a woman crying; wailing through the night; shouting loudly:

‘My children, we must leave far away!

And sometimes she would say:

My children, where shall I take you?”

(Sahagún, 1956, IV, p. 82):

In the Nahuatl language, La Llorona is referred to as Chokani or Cihuachocani (Choca meaning to cry or weep). As found within the Codic Florentino, written by Sahagún, another translation of the sixth omen of Moctezuma II we find another translated variation to this passage (in Nahuatl, Spanish and English):

Inic chicuacentlamantli tetzahuitl: miecpa cihuatl cacoya chocatiuh, tzatzitiuh, yohualtica cenca tzatzi; quitotinemi. Nonopilhuantzitzin, ye ic zan ye tonhui: in quenmanian quitoa. Nonopilhuantzitzin, campa namechnohuiquiliz.

El sexto agüero fue que en aquellos días oyeron voces en el aire, como de una mujer que andaba llorando, y decía de esta manera: ¡Oh hijos míos! Ya estamos a punto de perdernos. Otras veces decía: ¡Oh hijos míos!, ¿a dónde os llevaré?

The sixth omen was that in those days they heard voices in the air, like a woman who was crying, who would say: Oh, my children! We are becoming lost. Other times she would say: Oh, my children, where will I take you?

Códice Florentino , libro XII, capítulo 1

Father Sahagún associated her appearance with that of the goddess Cihuacoatl, who is associated as the goddess of motherhood often associated with haunting crossroads late at night and stealing children. Likewise, he speculated that it could have also been associated with the goddess Tonantzin, the Aztec mother often associated with earth and sustenance. He continues that within the story a mysterious woman would carry a crib to the market and there she would abandon it. When the nearby women at the market would walk up to see what was inside the crib, they would only find a sacrificial flint knife in place of where a baby would be.

The legend of this weeping woman would later make its way into colonial times within Mexico City. Legends of La Llorona would continue to be passed down where many people claimed to have heard her cries as early as the 16th century. Chronicler Luis González Obregón wrote in his book, Las calles de México, that throughout the 16th century they would hear her screams and groans at night throughout the streets of the city. Some claim to have seen a woman dressed in white and wearing a veil making her way through the streets until eventually reaching the Plaza Mayor (once the center of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán) where she would kneel towards the east making one last cry. She would then continue towards the shores of Lake Texcoco where she would disappear into the night.

Obregón also quotes author José María Marroquí in regards to this apparition:

…and not a few of the brave and courageous conquerors, who had been frightened of the same death, remained in the presence of that woman, mute, pale and cold, like marble. The most courageous dared to follow it at a long distance, taking advantage of the moon’s clarity, without achieving anything other than to see it disappear when arriving at the lake, as if submerged among the waters, and not being able to find out more about it, and ignoring who it was, where it came from and where it was going, it was given the name “La Llorona”.

Another commonly accepted origin story of La Llorona is attributed to Hernán Cortés and Doña Marina (aka La Malinche). As Cortés began his invasion of Mexico he had been introduced to a Nahua interpreter who helped translate between the different languages (mainly Nahuatl and Mayan). With her help Cortés managed to topple down the Aztec Empire and afterwards bore him a child. According to popular folklore, she later killed her children after realizing Cortés had abandoned her to marry a woman of Spanish-origin. There is little to no evidence to support this folk story, however, it still plays a critical part in understanding the consciousness of the people at the time and since. It was widely believed she was the first to mother the first Mestizo children, being born of both indigenous and European ancestry, though this popular theory has been widely disputed. To this day, she is seen as a traitor to all the indigenous people of Mexico, and her name is still commonly used to refer to someone as a traitor or backstabber (e.g., Malinchism). Some of the key elements from the common La Llorona story are still present though not historically accurate, it does play key in understanding the depth of colonialism and how it is still interpreted by Latin Americans.

Another commonly accepted origin story of La Llorona is attributed to Hernán Cortés and Doña Marina (aka La Malinche). As Cortés began his invasion of Mexico he had been introduced to a Nahua interpreter who helped translate between the different languages (mainly Nahuatl and Mayan). With her help Cortés managed to topple down the Aztec Empire and afterwards bore him a child. According to popular folklore, she later killed her children after realizing Cortés had abandoned her to marry a woman of Spanish-origin. There is little to no evidence to support this folk story, however, it still plays a critical part in understanding the consciousness of the people at the time and since. It was widely believed she

was the first to mother the first Mestizo children, being born of both indigenous and European ancestry, though this popular theory has been widely disputed. To this day, she is seen as a traitor to all the indigenous people of Mexico, and her name is still commonly used to refer to someone as a traitor or backstabber (e.g., Malinchism). Some of the key elements from the common La Llorona story are still present though not historically accurate, it does play key in understanding the depth of colonialism and how it is still interpreted by Latin Americans.

Many still claim to have encounters with La Llorona or have heard her cries walking home late at night. Likewise, many claim the legend of La Llorona originates from their local place of origin, from a small stream in Aguascalientes to the Rio Grande along the border of Mexico and Texas…many attest to the belief in her existence and swear up and down that she once existed in their village. Maybe that adds to the depth of this story and the theme of love and mistrust and how it sends people to do the unspeakable. Whether or not one chooses to believe in the children’s story is besides the point, there’s a remnant piece of culture deeply embedded in our subconscious that guides us to not fall into the same mistakes our ancestors made.

Traditional La Llorona by me (Fernando Gallegos) and Jazmin Lopez

Bibliography:

December’s Child: A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives by Thomas C. Blackburn

Historia de Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo

Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, Editorial Porrúa, tomos I y IV, México, (1956) by Bernardino Sahagún