In the 1930s, a boy named Patricio Lujan lived in New Mexico.
A typical day for a family living in Santa Fe was unexpectedly disturbed by a strange woman who appeared outside their house. They watched in amazement as a tall, thin woman in white robes silently crossed the road near the house and headed for the nearest stream. It was only when she got to the water that it became clear that something strange was happening.
As Luzhan said, the woman did not walk, but slid, as if she had no legs. She suddenly disappeared, then appeared at a great distance and disappeared again. Patricio was thrilled, because he knew exactly who this woman was and knew that he had met La Llorona.
The legend of La Llorona, the "Weeping Woman", is spread throughout the Southwest United States and Mexico. It has various variations that describe La Llorona's origins in different ways. But she herself always looks the same: a female ghost in white, appearing near the water and wailing about her children.
The first mention of La Llorona appears four centuries ago, although it is believed that the legend existed long before that. During the time of the Aztecs, she was known as the Zihuacoatl or "Snake Woman", her appearance was considered a bad omen and she was described as wearing a white crying woman.
According to another version, La Llorona is the Aztec water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. They were afraid of her, because they believed that she could drown.
The third story tells that La Llorona was Malinche, a local woman who was the translator, guide and mistress of Hernán Cortez when he conquered Mexico. Cortez left her after she had children with him and married a Spanish woman.
Malinche was despised by her own people, and in despair she decided to kill her children. Stories of mothers killing their own children exist in many cultures. Suffice it to recall Medea, who killed her sons after her husband Jason betrayed her.
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More recent La Llorona origin stories tell of a beautiful peasant woman named Maria who married a wealthy man. She bore him two children, but her husband was no longer interested in his wife. One day, while walking near the river, Maria saw her husband riding in his carriage with another woman.
Having lost her mind, Maria drowned her children. When the anger passed, she realized what had happened and spent the rest of her days beside the river beside herself with grief. According to another version, she threw herself into the water after they killed her children. There are versions of the legend that say that Mary was a woman who cared more about pleasures than about children, and allegedly she found them drowned when she returned one day after a wild evening. For her inability to care for her offspring, she was cursed and doomed to seek them forever.
Lost children and a crying woman are unchanged in all stories. La Llorona always appears by the water, dressed in white, wailing about her children. Sometimes she turns out to be vengeful and tries to make other children drown.
GUSAKOVA IRINA YURIEVNA