La Llorona (part II)

The tale of La Llorona is told and retold not just in Mexico, but also in parts of the USA where there is a large Hispanic population and even in parts of Latin America. In my last post I related to you the story of La Llorona as documented by the early residents of Mexico City. Her wailings terrified many a brave soul in those days. But the question that remains is who was she in life? There are several versions that attempt to explain this.

For our first tale we turn to my ancestors and original conquerors of central Mexico: The Mexica (aka The Aztecs). Within the Mexica mythology we find entities similar to La Llorona. One these is the goddess Cihuacoatl who was associated with childbirth and was said to haunt crossroads in order to steal children. It was said that she would appear as a woman dressed in palace robes, completely white, and wailing in the night air. In fact, it was said that shortly before the arrival of the Spanish, her wailings were seen as a premonition of the conquest that was to come. Cries of “¡Oh, hijos mios, que ya ha llegado vuestra destrucción!”  (Oh, my children, the time of your downfall has arrived!) were heard by the natives that witnessed her apparitions.

The second story is that La Llorona was the troubled spirit of La Malinche. She was a native woman from the Gulf Coast who was given as a slave to Hernan Cortes. She served as his guide, interpreter and even lover. (She gave birth to his first son, Martin.) She played a key role in helping the Spanish conquer the native peoples and as such has been labeled as the ultimate traitor, much like Benedict Arnold in the US. In fact, the term malinche means traitor. It is said that such was the regret she felt for betraying her fellow natives that her spirit never knew rest. It wandered the streets of the newly built Mexico City crying and wailing over the deaths of her fellow people.

The third, and perhaps most popular tale, is that of a scorned woman who throws her children into the river in the ultimate act of revenge. It is told that she was a native woman who fell in love with a prominent young Spaniard. They shared a secret love affair together, the whole time he promised that he would marry her one day. She bore him children and she was happy thinking he would be hers one day. But instead, he married another Spaniard that was of equal class. Upon hearing this she became enraged, and took her young children and threw them into the river to die. The next day she returned, feeling sorry for what she had done, and threw herself in to drown. Her spirit now roams the rivers and streams in constant search for her children.

In one variation of this story, she is a widow who was left to raise her children alone until she finds another man to love. However, he refuses to marry her because he cannot raise the children of another man. She throws the children in the river in order to free herself of them and marry her new love. She realizes too late what she has done and decides to join them.

So there you have it, the tale of La Llorona. Whether or not any of these tales is true, no one knows for sure. What is true is that to this day children are told to stay away from water at night and are scared into behaving by threats that she will come at night to take them away. It is a tale that is as much as part of Mexican culture as anything else.