The legend of the Weeping Lady (or La Llorona as how she is known ) has several variations all around Mexico, Southwest of the USA, Central and South American, and Puerto Rico.

It has been under popular belief that the origin of the legend originated from the story of the Aztec Goddess Cihuacoatll (or Coatlicue). She was believed to have appeared near the ocean shortly after Hernan Cortes had invaded Mexico. She was thought to be weeping for her children, because she knew that the Aztec empire was near the end.

Other historians believe that La Llorona is really a woman called La Malinche, who was Cortes’ mistress and translator. However, when she gave birth to her son, replaced her with a very rich Spaniard wife. In revenge, Malinche killed the baby.

The version that most people are most familiar, and was very common during the Colonial Era, say that there was a beautiful girl whose name was possibly Mary Wells. She lived in a humble village. One day she saw a handsome man riding a horse through the village and when they both looked into each others eyes, they fell in love. After some time, the couple decided to marry and they had 2 offspring, but sadly her happiness did not last all of her life.

Legend says that one day, Mary went to have a walk around the village with her children, and that was when she saw her husband with another woman. That night, as she was filled with an immense amount of rage, Mary went to the river and drowned her children and herself respectively.

When Mary appeared at Heaven’s Gate, she was questioned about the whereabouts of her children. Ashamed she replied that she didn’t know. For this, she was refused access to Heaven until she was able to return with her children. Mary was thus forced to be trapped between the living and spiritual worlds that is known as Purgatory. She would have to be damned for all eternity to look for her children, who were already in Heaven ironically enough. Even in these modern days, late at night, people can hear the weep and screams of a woman calling her children: “Ay, mis hijos!” (Woe, my children).

Of course, this is the most common version of the legend, but there are small variations, depending on the area and the person that tells it.

Another version claims that Mary had a lover who was a Spaniard and for this their love was forbidden, even by the Church, eventhough they both had 2 children. Thanks to the pressure of his family, the Spaniard was forced to marry a wealthy woman. That caused Mary to kill herself and her kids in the river. And the superstition that is linked with this version is that if a person hears her weeping, that person succumbs to her “Grim Reaper-ish” Qualities.

Another attribute of La Llorona is that she is known to kidnap children that look alike to her, that are usually the children and always stays late out at night out of her home.

The last version that is being told is that Mary was so jealous of her own children because her husband was paying more attention to the kids than her, and that’s why she murders them.

La LLorona is known to appear at night or late evenings, near rivers, lakes, or oceans.

Another strong characteristic that some people believed is that her beauty was taken from her by God and now she has to go on her journey with the face of a horse.