The Legend of La Llorona - RJA Ghost Tours
The Legend of La Llorona
The La Llorona legend is one of the most well-known legends in Mexican culture. La Llorona, also known as The Weeping Woman, The Wailer, or La Malinche, is a shade that haunts rivers and streams looking for children to take into the afterlife with her. She has been around since ancient times when she was said to be an Aztec goddess who helped women during childbirth by killing newborns who were not deemed strong enough. The La Llorona story is often used to scare young children into behaving themselves so they don't end up being taken away by La Llorona. It’s also frightened people swimming in rivers from Texas to Mexico for centuries.
Who Was La Llorona?
The real-life La Llorona was named Maria, who was the daughter of a Spanish official in Mexico. La Llorona fell in love with another man and after he left her for someone else she went crazy and drowned their children to be with him forever. Other stories say La Llorona was forced into marriage by her father so when La Llorona found out about an affair, La Llorona killed her children to get back at him. La Llorona is said to be the spirit of a woman who lost her children and drowns other people's in rivers, lakes, or even bathtubs while searching for them.
Woman Hollering Creek
La Llorona is also tied to the stories told in "Woman Hollering Creek", a collection of short stories by author Sandra Cisneros. In Cisnero's story, a young lady named Maria falls in love with and marries a handsome, rich young man, and their relationship is blessed with two boys and a girl. Soon afterward, the man loses interest in his wife. Knowing that her husband does not care for her any longer, Maria drowns their three children in the river before drowning herself. When she reaches heaven, she is told she cannot enter until she finds her drowned children. Returning to Earth, she searches for them, wailing sorrowfully all the while.
Encounters of La Llorona
There have been plenty of reports of encounters with La Llorona over the years. These reports range from La Llorona appearing as a wailing woman with no eyes or La Llorona drowning children in bathtubs. Many of the stories claim La Llorona will kidnap wandering children who have been disobedient to their parents and now she must carry them off for this misdeed, but those encounters are rarer. No matter the nature of the encounter, the sheer number of reports begs the question, is there something real to this folklore?
Learn About This and More With RJA Ghost Tours!
Learn more about La Llorona with RJA Ghost Tours. RJA Ghost Tours has been taking guests on La Llorona ghost tours for years. To learn more about La Llorona and other spooky, supernatural stories,
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