Lisa A.

La Llorona

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Happy Sunday everyone! I hope your day is going well! Since Halloween is less than a week away, I wanted to tell you about La Llorona (The Crying Woman). As a child, La Llorona was sometimes used to scare me if I didn’t go to bed at a certain hour. If I didn’t fall asleep, she was supposedly coming to kidnap me as one of her children! La Llorona is a big part of Latino folklore. The story is said to have originated in Mexico as far back as the 1500’s when Spain conquered the Aztecs.

Legend says Maria drowned her children in a Mexican river after her husband left her for a younger woman. She cries late at night as she looks for them screaming “Ay! Mis hijos!” (Oh my children!) Since she’s unable to find them, she drowns herself. The legend says she was unable to go to heaven until she finds her children. According to my childhood neighborhood friends, La Llorona was hiding in and around the nearby Rio Grande River. My neighborhood friends claimed to have seen her reflection in the Rio Grande. They said they also saw her running around the Rio Grande. I don’t know if my friends were confusing Maria with Bloody Mary but it was also said she would also appear in one’s mirror if you called her name three times. Maria was a beautiful woman. She was said to have long and flowing black hair. I never saw La Llorona because I was an obedient little girl…well most of the time anyway!

How about you? Did your parents or grandparents tell you any ghost stories to make you go to bed? What are some of your favorite ghost stories? Do you have any plans for Halloween? Stay tuned for more ghost stories here on Life of an El Paso Woman!

Photo from Cheryl Wallace

Published by Lisa A.

Hello everyone! My name is Lisa Amaya. I'm a 30 some year old mom to one son. My blog is about my life, entertainment, current events, people and events in my hometown, El Paso, Texas, etc. My blog will also feature pieces about Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and surrounding areas in New Mexico. I also hope to include more travel blog posts. Guest bloggers will also contribute from time to time! I've been a writer since I was 6 years old. I graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in journalism. I've written for various newspapers and magazines. I plan on focusing more of my time on blogging and freelance writing. I took a five-year break from writing but I'm back at it! Thank you for stopping by and welcome!

35 comments

  3. I loved the way the movie maker people (sorry, I don’t get out much) based each scene on a painting, giving the illusion that the painting was coming to life. Plus, Salma Hayyek is so rivetingly beautiful that I had to watch the movie three times before I could take my eyes off her to see the rest! Think I’ll watch it again tonight, now that you’ve reminded me😉

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Wow, cool! My only reference to La Llorona before was from Frida Kalho, the Mexican artist who found La Llorona inside herself, which came out in her paintings as a recurring theme. The movie Frida has a stunning scene of a traditional Llorona song with nightmarish choreography…No spoilers from me, heh heh…thank you for the cool post…love the graphic!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I have heard of La Llorona, but unfortunately she was not a part of my own childhood. Fascinating that so many different cultures have similar legends like this one, and who knows, there may be truth at the root of it!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Oh my goodness!!! That was a great spook fest, please write more of such folklores. I love reading them ❤️❤️

    Why does she cry if she drowned them on her own, did her children drown because of an accident?

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Oh lol. I guess here it’s translated as ‘el coco’, the monster. He has his own song:
    “Duermete niño, duermete ya, que si no el coco te comerá” lol

    Liked by 1 person

  26. I was too terrified of ghosts and goblins and witches for them to do that – I was always having nightmares about them and waking my parents up with my screams! Great story.

    Liked by 1 person

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