Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

La Llorona The Weaping Woman


MirrorImage

Recommended Posts

Since its my favorite urban legend, and likely one of the oldest urban legends on the North American continent, I thought Id post this today. Growing up in Northern New Mexico I heard many variations of the legend, the website Im posting has quite a few variations. If anyone has any variations not listed, Id love to hear them.

"The legend of La Llorona (pronounced "LAH yoh ROH nah"), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of Hispanic culture in the Southwest since the days of the conquistadores. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair. Wearing a white gown, she roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave."

La Llarona, The Weaping Woman

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Since its my favorite urban legend, and likely one of the oldest urban legends on the North American continent, I thought Id post this today. Growing up in Northern New Mexico I heard many variations of the legend, the website Im posting has quite a few variations. If anyone has any variations not listed, Id love to hear them.

"The legend of La Llorona (pronounced "LAH yoh ROH nah"), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of Hispanic culture in the Southwest since the days of the conquistadores. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair. Wearing a white gown, she roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave."

La Llarona, The Weaping Woman

Interesting legend. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't ever heard of her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting legend. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't ever heard of her.

I think she is almost exclusively south west US, Mexico and South America. I was actually shocked when I got to South Dakota and no one here knew about her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

La Llorona is mostly in that area, but other regions often have their own version too. Sometimes they refer to her simply as "The Weeping Woman" or "The Woman in White". It's a pretty neat legend, in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice story. In almost every country there is always a story of a ghost woman in white clothes with long black hair who haunts people and is related to children.....

It's like an international legend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice story. In almost every country there is always a story of a ghost woman in white clothes with long black hair who haunts people and is related to children.....

It's like an international legend.

bleh I tried to post and it wouldnt let me post this long thing I typed about the version I learned as a kid. will try later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok here is the version I remember from when I was a kid.

Maria was beautiful, spiteful and jealous. She liked to dance and party. One day she met and fell in love with the most handsome man in the area. The had two children, whom the husband loved more than he loved the wife. Rather than go out to a fiesta with her, he chose to stay and spend time with the kids. This made Maria insanely jealous and when he fell asleep she drown them. When he learned what she had done he told her that with out their children, they had no life together and he left her. She was heartbroken and threw herself in to the river hoping to find here children and she drown, Now she haunts the waters trying to get the children back in order to win him back, but if she sees children near the water she remembers how he loved the children more than her and drags them in to the water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've even heard a variation where it is a man known as El Lloron, but don't believe it to be common.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not sure how the legend of La Llorona became confused with The White Lady but the stories I have never heard her clothes mention in any of the variants. MirrorImage has provided all the basic elements. In the stories I have heard she was a woman scorned whose husband cheated. She drowned her children because she was so sad then committed suicide when she realized what she had done. Upon reaching heaven Saint Peter denied her entry until she could find the lost souls of her children so now she walks up and down the river and can be heard crying at night.

Other less common variants are along a lake. The original La Llorona legend actually began in the ancient Aztec capital along Lake Texcoco. It was one of the omens for the Aztecs that their empire was going to fall, their end of the world per se, another was a three-headed comet.

We used to scare ourselves with these stories as children. In South Texas there is a legend of a wife of a noble who was killed because he thought she was cheating. She swore she was not and would prove it. She can now be seen by hitchhikers then she vanishes along a stretch of highway. This is more closer to the Lady in White legends.

Edited by Rosewin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice story. In almost every country there is always a story of a ghost woman in white clothes with long black hair who haunts people and is related to children.....

It's like an international legend.

The one key point that makes me think it is a different legend all together is that I dont think Ive ever seen a version of the Grey or White Lady where her spirit was said to kill people, and in many versions of La Llorona she drowns children.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone else have legends like this one? I think this one started as a way to explain the dangers of water to children so they wouldnt drown themselves by accident.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Does anyone else have legends like this one? I think this one started as a way to explain the dangers of water to children so they wouldnt drown themselves by accident.

actually yes,i do.my best friends mom loves this story,its almost the same,but with small differences.ill tell yall about it.

the way she tells us about it is like this:

"there was a women who had three lovely children,a loving huspand,and a small property along a small river branching of from the missisipi.they has a wonderful life,the father leaving to tend his crops at daybreak and coming home just before sunset,the kids always laughing and playing.but one day the father grew dangerously ill,and soon after,died.after the father died,the women and her children were hard pressed to survive.they lived,day by day,scrounging what they could,until there was nothing left to scrounge.one night,while her children slept,the women stayed up late.she knew that there was not enough food for her and her children to survive.but what she didnt know was that a local family knew of there plight and had decided to take them enough food to get by for a while the following morning.in the middle of the night,she quietly carried the children from there beds to the edge of the river.there,she tied there hands and feet quitly,without waking them,and threw them into the river.going back to her home,she wept and wept all night,until morning,when the family came by.them bringing enough food for them to survive was what pushed her over the edge.unable to live with herself,knowing that if she hadnt taken gods place as the judge of whom deserved to live or die,she ran from the house,and threw herself into the river,swimming to the bottom were her children lay,and tried to hug them to her breat.but they shook there heads at her,and said this." you gave up on us mother,and for that,we have given up on you.for the rest of eternity,you will never see nor hold us again until you have corrected your ways.and with that,god lifted their spirits to heaven,and to this day,she wanders to bodies of water were children have drowned recently,hoping to find her children and ask for forgivness again.if you her her wailing into the night,you must put a bowl of milk on your porch and a clove of garlic.the milk to atract the tabby and the garlic to repel her,for both of which(the garlic and the cat) she is mortally afraid of.if you hear her wail loudly,as if she were less than a few yards away,know you have time.if her wail is distant,know she is right outside your house,and unless you quikly put the garlic and milk outside,she will drag you to the river and drown you,and you will take her place while she joyously flits to heaven for her children..."

its just an old ghost story she said her mom told her when she was bad,to keep her from sneaking out at night.but when she first told it to us,we were 10 and wanted to go camping outside on our own haha xD it worked,we were to afraid to go,and my friend erik suddenly had an addiction to grow some garlic in his dads small garden xD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not sure how the legend of La Llorona became confused with The White Lady but the stories I have never heard her clothes mention in any of the variants. MirrorImage has provided all the basic elements. In the stories I have heard she was a woman scorned whose husband cheated. She drowned her children because she was so sad then committed suicide when she realized what she had done. Upon reaching heaven Saint Peter denied her entry until she could find the lost souls of her children so now she walks up and down the river and can be heard crying at night.

Other less common variants are along a lake. The original La Llorona legend actually began in the ancient Aztec capital along Lake Texcoco. It was one of the omens for the Aztecs that their empire was going to fall, their end of the world per se, another was a three-headed comet.

We used to scare ourselves with these stories as children. In South Texas there is a legend of a wife of a noble who was killed because he thought she was cheating. She swore she was not and would prove it. She can now be seen by hitchhikers then she vanishes along a stretch of highway. This is more closer to the Lady in White legends.

This story was in a book on Texas ghosts.it's down towards the Rio Grand valley area, I think along a stretch of US Hwy 77 or US 281 where the woman is seen. Also, if you go to www.texasescapes.com i think they have something on La Llorona, plus, if you check out either the town of Sabinal or Utopia, there is mention of a Lady in White along the Frio River. However, this one was a real person and buried in the cemetery there.I'll get back to you with the town, but she was stabbed or shot by a jealous ex suitor.

Another version on LA Llorona is that she had a couple of children and was a widow.She met this man and they really seemed to connect. Well the man told her he loved her, but didn't like kids. So because she was she really wanted to marry him, she went and drown the kids. When he found out what she had done, he was horified because he thought she was going to give them to relatives, not kill them.When she found out he wouldn't marry her now, she threw herself in the river, in despair and regret.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The town at Texas Escapes that mentions the Woman in White is Rio Frio,Tx, which means in spanish,cold river, frio being cold. Her name was Maria Juarez and she was shot by her brother in law, who had fallen in love with her. However, Maria 's spirit doesnot harm children, she will sit on the edge of their bed, and cover them with a blanket if they are cold, and watches out for them, perhasp because she never got to marry her love, Anselmo,who was a ranch hand at the Patterson Ranch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Since its my favorite urban legend, and likely one of the oldest urban legends on the North American continent, I thought Id post this today. Growing up in Northern New Mexico I heard many variations of the legend, the website Im posting has quite a few variations. If anyone has any variations not listed, Id love to hear them.

"The legend of La Llorona (pronounced "LAH yoh ROH nah"), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of Hispanic culture in the Southwest since the days of the conquistadores. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair. Wearing a white gown, she roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave."

La Llarona, The Weaping Woman

amazing , this is what i've heard 16.000 kilometers away

i posted on this thread;

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=254144

Edited by qxcontinuum
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.