La Llorona is a popular legend in Latin America, with many versions depending the region. The basic story, which originates in Mexico, is that of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria who was madly in love with her husband when she found out that the man she loved was going to leave her for another woman, so she killed her children by drowning them in order to make her husband pay for her betrayal. Then, after being rejected by her lover, she killed herself. When Maria reached the gates of heaven, she was asked, "Where are your children?" and she replied, "I don't know, my Lord." So she was not permitted to enter heaven until she found her children. Thus she wanders the Earth for all eternity, searching in vain for her drowned children, constantly weeping for them crying "Aaaay, mis hijos!" which translates to "O-h-h-h, my children!".Thus dubbed, La Llorona "The Weeping Woman". La Llorona. In some cases, will kidnap wandering children or children who disobey heir parents. The function of the story in society serves more of a cautionary tale on several levels. Parents will warn their children that bad behavior will cause her to steal them and being outside after dark will result in a visit from La Llorona. The tale also warns teenage girls not to be enticed by status, wealth, material goods, or by men making declarations of love or any promises too good to be true. It also cautions them not to express their sexual desires. Some also believe that those who hear the wails of La Llorona are marked for death, similar to the Gaelic banshee legend. Additionally, the tale is a Mexican, Central and South American cultural symbol that models negative and feminine sexuality. La Llorona is portrayed as an evil woman condemned to eternally suffer and weep for violating her role as a wife and a mother. She is a failed woman because she has failed at motherhood. The tale serves to shape Hispanic women's conduct by prescribing an idealized version of motherhood.
La Llorona also bears a resemblance to the ancient Greek tale of the demonic demigodess Lamia who had an affair with Zeus. Hera, Zeus' wife, after learning of the affair forced Zeus to give up the relationship and punished Lamia by forcing her to eat her own children. So out of jealousy over the loss of her own children, Lamia then preys upon human children and devours them if she catches them. Also in Greek mythology, Medea killed the two children fathered by Jason (one of the Argonauts) after he left her for another woman.
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| "La Llorona" Copyright By C.Wilkins |
Local Aztec folklore possibly influenced the legend; the goddess Cihuacoatl or Coatlicue was said to have appeared shortly prior to the invasion of Mexico by Hernán Cortés, weeping for her lost children, an omen of the fall of the Aztec empire.
La Llorona is also sometimes identified with La Malinche, the Native American woman who served as Cortés' interpreter and who some say betrayed Mexico to the Spanish conquistadors. In one folk story of La Malinche, she becomes Cortés' mistress and bore him a child, only to be abandoned so that he could marry a Spanish lady. Aztec pride drove La Malinche to acts of vengeance. In this context, the tale compares the Spanish invasion of Mexico and the demise of indigenous culture after the conquest with La Llorona's loss.
(This pilot episode of the TV series Supernatural features lady in white. These white lade phenomenons are linked to women who have been married to unfaithful husbands. The infidelity drives the women crazy and sometimes causes them to kill their children. The white Lady usually seeks out a man whom is unfaithful and harms them. In this episode's case the white lady wants to go home but is afraid of facing her children whom she drowned.)
