Who was La Llorona, Mexico’s Day of the Dead?

Mexico is a land of myths and legends, and each region has its own, based on its history. But the best known and most popular throughout the country is the legend of La Llorona, the Weeping Woman. La Llorona is a ghostly apparition who walks the streets at night, crying inconsolably – grieving and looking for her children – shouting, “Oh, my children, where are my children?”

Although the story has many variations, some details remain the same for everyone who tells the story. She is described as an attractive woman wearing a long white dress that hides her feet or has no feet. She has a veil covering her face. ​​If she sounds close, she is far away. If she sounds far away, she is very bad. , very close and you should start running. It is said that no one has seen her “up close” because this means certain death. Seeing La Llorona is known to be an omen of bad luck and death for you, your family or your community.

Different versions of the Legend

There are three basic versions of the legend. La Llorona first appeared in Mexican culture in the 16th centurye century and depicts Cihuacóatl – the deity associated with pregnant women, water and life. Missionary Fray Bernardino de Sahagún wrote about eight omens that the Mexica experienced before the conquest.

One omen tells of a female entity that walks from Lake Texcoco and wanders the streets of Tenochtitlan in the dark of night. According to Sahagún, Moctezuma witnessed Cihuacóatl just before the conquistadors arrived to conquer his empire. She sobbed uncontrollably and said, “O my children, where shall I take you? My little children, we must go far away.’

Miguel León Portilla, author of The vision of the conquered, indigenous relations of the conquest, writes that there is an account of the predictions that the priests interpreted for Moctezuma. One of these predictions says that strange men will come from the East. Your people will suffer many tears and great sorrow, and your race will disappear. They say that this is why the goddess Cihuacoatl wandered the streets weeping and warning that misfortunes would soon befall the empire.

Another version of the 16e century characterizes the Nahua woman Malincheone of twenty enslaved women given to the Spanish. Hernán Cortés chose her as his consort, but she also became his interpreter, advisor and liaison with the Mexica and a linchpin in their eventual conquest. Malinche has a mixed reputation today, seen as the symbolic mother of the new Mexican nation that emerged from the union of the Spanish and Mexica – she had a son, Martín, with Cortés – but also as a traitor to her people.

It was said that she wandered the streets of Tenochtitlan, distraught over her betrayal and grieving over the loss of her son whom Cortés took with him to Spain.

The most famous Llorona is called María

However, the best known and best known version of the legend is the story of María. María was a native woman of incomparable beauty who caught the attention of a rich and handsome Spanish nobleman. She fell madly in love with him and together they had three children. She was devoted to the man and her children and he often mentioned that they would get married someday, but he avoided her in public, afraid of what people would say about their relationship.

One day he abruptly left her to marry a prestigious upper-class Spanish lady. María completely lost her mind, overcome with anger and despair at being betrayed. She decided to take revenge in an unimaginable way. She gathered her children and took them to Lake Texcoco, hugged them tightly and told them she loved them, and then drowned them in the lake. She realized almost immediately what she had done and was so distraught that she committed suicide.

It is said that the woman’s soul has no rest, and that she was cursed, condemned to wander the streets forever in search of her children. She walks the streets every evening in a long white dress – presumably the dress she has prepared for her wedding – in deep remorse and despair, lamenting what she has done with cries and cries of ‘Oh my children.’

The Floating Gardens of Xochimilco in Mexico City are one of the locations where people report hearing and occasionally sighting La Llorona’s cries.

The crypt of La Llorona is said to be located in Dolores Hidalgo

However, ghostly apparitions are regularly seen and heard not only in Mexico City. The legend is most popular in Guanajuato and Puebla. La Llorona is said to be buried in a crypt in the town of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato – four hours outside Mexico City.

According to some accounts, the authorities sent brothers to investigate the situation and spend the night there to verify the events. The brothers were surprised and frightened when they too heard the cries and sobs. They informed the Vatican that they would place a plaque identifying it as the grave of ‘La Llorona’, hoping to give her a resting place and bring some peace to her wandering soul.

But she continued to appear so often in Dolores Hidalgo that the people again begged the Vatican for help. Representatives were sent to exorcise the ghostly presence in a desperate attempt to stop the torment of the area’s residents, but the apparitions and wailing continued.

In a further attempt to dispel her presence, the landowner where the crypt is located placed a large cross over her grave. Perhaps as a sign, during a violent storm, lightning struck the cross with a clap of thunder, splitting it in two and damaging the crypt.

The legend of La Llorona is deeply rooted in Mexican culture. The story is often told to children to discourage them from wandering around in the dark near bodies of water such as rivers or lakes.

On the Day of the Dead there is always at least one lonely woman singing the poignant and sad song of La Llorona. The song originated in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. There are more than 500 different versions and it is internationally known. La Llorona has been recorded by a large number of singers, musicians and music groups, too many to mention. You may remember it if you’ve seen the animated film Coco. Books have been written; produced films and theatrical presentations about the legend of La Llorona.

Every year to coincide with the Day of the Dead since 1993, there is a waterfront performance of La Llorona in the canals of Mexico City’s Xochimilco neighborhood.