La Llorona (IPA: [la ʝoˈɾona], or approximately "lah yoh-ROH-nah", Spanish for "the crying woman"), sometimes called the Woman in White or the Weeping Woman is a figure in Hispanic folklore, the ghost of a woman crying for her dead children that she drowned. Her appearances are sometimes held to presage death and frequently are claimed to occur near bodies of water, particularly streams and rivers. There is much variation in tales of La Llorona, which are popular in Mexico and the United States (especially in Mexican American communities), and to an extent the rest of the Americas. Weeping Woman (Dora), (60 Ñ… 49 cm, 23 ⅝ Ñ… 19 ¼ inches) is an oil on canvas painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937. ... Hispanic (Spanish: ; Portuguese: ; Latin: , adjective from Hispānia, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula) is a term that historically denoted relation to the ancient Hispania and its peoples. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ... The ethnonym Mexican-American describes United States citizens of Mexican ancestry (14 million in 2003) and Mexican citizens who reside in the US (10 million in 2003). ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas in an equal-area projection The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ...

Story

Virginia Zurí as "La Malinche" in the 1933 Mexican film La Llorona

Many versions of La Llorona's origin exist. Here is a comparatively common version. Maria (La Llorona) thought she was very beautiful, so she wanted the handsomest man to marry. So she got what she wanted. Once they were married they had a boy and after that a girl. Last they had boy. Maria's husband started to work out of town for a month or so. He came to visit his children, but not his wife. He didn't pay attention to her. Once Maria's husband came to visit them, but he came with a woman. He talked to his children and told them he was going to marry another woman. Maria was so mad that she got mad at her own children for no reason. So that's when she took them to the river and drowned them. Then she realized what she had done and started to cry for her children and killed herself. Next morning a man from the village came with the story that he found Maria dead by the riverbank. So the villagers buried her. In the very middle of the night they heard a woman crying for her children and that's when they found out it was Maria's ghost. People then started calling her "La LLORONA". La Llorona: Virginia Zurí as La Malinche in a 1933 Mexican film. ... This article is about motion pictures. ...

United States

In South Texas, however, the story of La Llorona is that of a beautiful young woman who attracts the attentions of a wealthy man's son though she is very poor. The lovers secretly marry and set up a household; they have several children. Unfortunately, a day comes when the young man's father announces that he has arranged a marriage for his son to a young woman within their social class (in many tellings, La Llorona is a Native American peasant maiden and her man leaves her for a Spanish lady). The young man tells his secret wife that he must leave her and that he will never see her again. She is driven mad by anger and a broken heart, and takes their children to a river where she drowns them to spite her husband. When her husband finds out he and several townspeople go to find her, but she kills herself before they can apprehend her. She goes to Heaven and faces the judgement of God. God asks her, "Where are your children?" to which she replies, "I do not know." God asks her three times and she replies with the same answer. God then damns her to walk the earth to search for her children. According to this tale, it is wise to avoid La Llorona, as she is known for drowning passers-by in an attempt to replace her dead children. Alternatively, right after she drowns her children, La Llorona realizes what she has done and, overwhelmed by grief and by guilt, she runs alongside the river trying to find her children, but never does, and she dies or disappears in her search for them. South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas which lies roughly south of, or beginning at, San Antonio. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... For other uses, see Native Americans (disambiguation). ... A lady is a woman who is the counterpart of a lord; or, the counterpart of a gentleman. ... For other uses, see Heaven (disambiguation). ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... “Dammit” redirects here. ...

Another popular version of the legend takes place sometime in 19th century. A beautiful young woman with two small children was living in the poorest section of Juarez, Mexico, the town across the border from El Paso. She was madly in love with a very rich man. He felt the same way about her, but he, having no interest in children, refused to marry her. So, late one night, the woman took her children to a bridge over the Rio Grande. In the dead of the night, she heartlessly stabbed her children and threw them in the river to drown. Still wearing her bloody nightgown, she went to her lover's home to show him the great lengths she had gone to be with him. The man, seeing her blood-streaked nightgown, was horrified and rejected her. Then, finally realizing the horrible mistake she had made, she ran back to the river screaming, crying, and tearing at her hair, desperately trying to save her children. But it was too late. The woman stabbed and drowned herself in the same river. The legend has it that as punishment for her unspeakable sins she was given the head of a horse, and was to wander the banks of the Rio Grande for all of eternity looking for her lost children. Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Ciudad Juárez (2000 population 1,142,354) is a city in Chihuahua, Mexico, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, USA. It is the major port of entry and transportation center of north central Mexico and the fifth largest city... This article needs cleanup. ... “Río Bravo” redirects here. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... “Río Bravo” redirects here. ...

In yet another Texas version of the story, La Llorona had several children from her first marriage. Her husband died and she was left lonely. Soon she met a suitor who swept her off her feet. He promised her a wonderful life together, but only if she agreed to get rid of her children. After much soul searching the woman decides to follow the man in a new life together and drowns her children in the Rio Grande. After a few months the suitor grows tired of La Llorona and leaves her for another woman. Realizing that her selfish actions brought about the end of those who truly loved her, she dies in grief with her soul eternally looking for her long lost children.

In another variant, La Llorona is a naive but innocent woman forced into a shotgun wedding with the father of her child; in this case, it is La Llorona's father or her husband who kills the children. La Llorona attempts to stop the murders, and dies in the attempt. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into forced marriage. ...

Mexico

Another version of the story of La Llorona is told in Mexico. she lived in Tequila, Jalisco. She went to get her fortune told, and was told that she was going to die, and so were her children. That same night, while they were sleeping, a big storm hit their village, causing the river to overflow its banks. The house was swept away by the flood, and all of her children died. La Llorona went on a journey to find her children, following the river, but died without ever seeing them again. Tequila is a municipality in the central part of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. ... Fortune teller redirects here. ...

In southern Mexico specifically the state of Guerrero, La Llorona was a prostitute. She would abort some children and throw them in the nearby river of Tecpan. After having done this for many years, she died and legend has it that God told her she would never enter Heaven until she brought him all the children she had killed. So God ordered his angels to dress her in a white dress and send her to find her children. So she wanders the rivers of the Earth looking for her drowned children. Location within Central America Country Mexico Capital Municipalities 76 Largest City Acapulco Government  - Governor Carlos Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo (PRD)  - Federal Deputies PRD: 9  - Federal Senators PRD: 2 PRI: 1 Area Ranked 14th  - Total 64,281 km² (24,819 sq mi) Population (2005)  - Total 3,115,202(Ranked 11th) Time zone... | Tecpán Guatemala (locally referred to as just Tecpán) is a municipality in the department of Chimaltenango, in Guatemala, on the Inter-American Highway CA-1. ...

Generally, La Llorona becomes a sort of banshee. Her restless spirit walks abroad at night, crying "¡O hijos mios!" or "¡Ay mis hijos!" (O my children!) if not "¿Donde estan mis hijos?" (Where are my children?) or "Has visto a mis hijos?" (Have you seen my children?), the later options and variants being used before it reveals its ghostly nature to the victim leading to the victims death. Those unlucky enough to see or hear her are marked for death themselves. Sometimes she is dressed all in white; other times, in black. She is weeping, and in some tellings her eyes are empty sockets or in death she has been reduced to only a skeleton. In some accounts she tricks her victims by appearing in the guise of a familiar person. Accounts of sightings in Texas tell of an eerie figure with a woman's body but the head of a horse. The New Mexican La Llorona hunts after children; some say that she drowns them in the river. This article is about the banshee of Irish folklore. ... For other uses, see New Mexico (disambiguation). ...

Guatemala

In Guatemala, La Llorona's legend doesn't change much. It adds the scary trait that her wail, when heard as if from far off, announces the proximity of the ghost, when heard as if it's nearby, then the ghost is far away. This bears superficial resemblance to the sounds made by the kikik from Filipino folklore. Title: Aswang Description: Philippine ghoul Gender: Male/female Region: Western Visayas Equivalent: Tik-tik, Wak-wak An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a ghoul in Filipino folklore. ... The Republic of the Philippines is an island nation consisting of an archipelago of 7,107 islands, lying in the tropical western Pacific Ocean about 100 kilometers southeast of mainland Asia. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Some stories say that la Llorona was a criolla (one of unmixed Spanish descent) that was the wife of a wealthy Spaniard. In one of his trips, she falls in love with a poor mix-raced man and she becomes pregnant. She drowned her baby to hide the affair, and was damned for it.

Among the other attributes in these traditions are that she only materializes near a source of water, which may be any such as a pond, lake, or even pila (laundry tank). It is mostly men who witness or encounter her ghostly figure; some have said that a man who encounters her goes insane or develops a critical mental trauma. Entire towns have supposedly heard her horrendous cry.

"La Llorona appears mostly in the mountains or in una posa (a place were people go wash their clothes). They say that you hear her cry at night. One day my friend told me that she was sitting with her family in the kitchen eating supper and all of a sudden she heard a lady cry. Her family thought it was the neighbor Juan that had beat his wife again and she was crying. But all of a sudden they heard it closer and it didn't sound like Juan's wife. The weeping was so horrible they covered their ears they started to pray and moments later it stopped. Then they figured out that it was La Llorona," says Marcella Rodriguez ==

Honduras

The Weeping Woman has also been said to roam around rivers in Honduras. Although usually its the same story of a woman crying for her drown children, her reasons and intentions tend to vary. The alternate Honduran version is the story of a beautiful married woman, that was abandoned by her husband. Now she roams near rivers, seducing men walking by. When the man gets too close, La Llorona changes into a horrible old lady, who drives him insane.

One of her popular cries is: "Toma mi teta, que soy tu nana" (Take my tits, I'm your Mom).

In Honduras she is known as La Sucia (The dirty woman) or Ciguanabana. This name is made up of Xihuatl (woman) and Nahuatl (Spirit): Spirit of a woman.

El Salvador

Stories of La Llorona from El Salvador are quite similair to those of Mexico, except that she was a young Pipil Indian who fell in love with a nobleman. He also loved her, but unfortunately he did not love her children and refused to marry her unless she got rid of them. Driven mad by her lust for the nobleman, she brought her children to a river and drowned them in a fit of hysteria. Upon realizing what she had done, she fled and stumbled, bashing her head against a rock. Hours passed and darkness fell and she regained consciousness. She attempted to make her way back to the town but she became lost and died in the woods. Some say that she haunts nearby rivers wailing "Donde estan mis hijos?" (Where are my children?). Other legends say that she enters homes quietly seeking crying children and stealing their souls in replacement for the ones she killed.

Panama

In Panama La Llorona is the most popular folktale of the country. The Panamanian version is called "La Tulivieja". According to the Panamanian legend, La Tulivieja was a beautiful young woman married to an important businessman. The couple had one little child. The husband prohibited his wife to go to parties and ordered her to stay home to care for their son. One weekend in a neighboring village there was to be a big party. The woman took advantage of the fact that her husband was away on business and decided to go to the party. She took the baby with her, but left him under a tree near a river. She thought that it was a safe place to leave the baby while she was dancing. That night a terrible storm hit the village. When she returned for her child the baby was not under the tree. She began crying and looking for him, following the river. God was angry with the woman for her irresponsibility and turned her into an ugly woman with holes in her face, chicken feet and a long hair that covered the front of her body. According to the legend she appears in the towns or cities that are near rivers. In the Panamanian countryside, many people who live near rivers insist they have heard the cry of "La Tulivieja". Also, in the capital there are also stories of people who claim to have seen the horrible woman, especially in the west.

Chile

Her legend is also important in Chile where the tale is as significant as those of the La Calchona, La Vuida and La Condena. The legend is well-known throughout Chile.

The different legends about La Llorona varies from from being very similar to the Mexican versions to being very particular to Chilean folklore. Chilean version define the ghost as the spirit of a woman looking for her son, characterised as being a spirit with a special relation with the dead. In the most Chilean version La Llorona is called La Pucullén and is said to cry constantly for the son who died in her arms at an early age. she dresses in white and can only be seen by people about to die, those with special abilities (like the Machis or the kalkus) and animals with sharp senses such as dogs who howl pitifully in her presence. Machi Machi (sometimes 麻吉) is a popular Taiwanese hip hop group. ... Kalku or Calcu, in Chilean folklore and the Mapuche mythology, is a witch or shaman, usually an evil one, but not necessarily. ...

She is the guide of the dead, who she guides with her footprints and cries along the path that takes the dead from the their earthly dwelling to the Beyond. It is said that she cries like a hired mourner for the relatives of the deceased so that they can promptly recover from the loss. By this she prevents the spirit of the dead from appearing to torment them for their lack of tears and for not showing enough sorrow.

With her abundant tears, which form a crystal-clear pool, she indicates the spot in a cemetery where the grave should be dug and the coffin deposited. It is said that if they have put the grave in the right place they need to completely fill the grave with soil or one of the relatives of the deceased will die.

Other versions say that la llorona makes the hearts of those who listen to her laments shudder and that she hypnotizes men who wander around before dawn and spends the night with them to comfort her of the loss of her child.

In some tales it says that if you rub your eyes with the tears of a dog you can see her though you must have a firm heart or the image will be a horrific one.

Function of the story in society

Typically, the legend serves as a cautionary tale on several levels. Parents will warn their children that both bad behavior and being outside after dark will result in a visit from the spirit. The tale also warns teenage girls not to be enticed by status, wealth, material goods, or by men making declarations of love or any promises too good to be true. Some also believe that those who hear the screams of La Llorona are marked for death. A cautionary tale is a traditional story told in folklore, to warn its hearer of a danger. ...

Comparisons to figures in other cultures and with historical persons

The most direct analogue with the La Llorona story is that of the Greek Medea, who likewise murdered her children after being abandoned by Jason, although Medea showed little remorse. Local Aztec folklore possibly influenced the legend; goddess Cihuacoatl or Coatlicue was said to have appeared shortly prior to the invasion of Mexico by Hernán Cortés, weeping for her lost children, an omen of the fall of the Aztec empire. This article is about the Greek mythological figure. ... This article is about the hero from Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Aztec (disambiguation). ... For the 1934 film, see The Goddess (1934 film). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Statue of Coatlicue displayed in National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City Coatlicue, also known as Teteoinan (also transcribed Teteo Inan) (The Mother of Gods), is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war. ... Hernán(do) Cortés Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca (1485–December 2, 1547) was the conquistador who became famous for leading the military expedition that initiated the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. ...

La Llorona is also sometimes identified with La Malinche, the Native American woman who served as Cortés' interpreter and who some say betrayed Mexico to the Spanish conquistadors. In one folk story of La Malinche, she becomes Cortés' mistress and bears him a child, only to be abandoned so that he could marry a Spanish lady (though no evidence exists that La Malinche killed her children). Aztec pride drove La Malinche to acts of vengeance. In this context, the tale compares the Spanish invasion of Mexico and the demise of indigenous culture after the conquest with La Llorona's loss. For the volcano in Tlaxcala, see Matlalcueitl (volcano). ... For other uses, see Native Americans (disambiguation). ... A Conquistador (Spanish: []) (English: Conqueror) was a Spanish soldier, explorer and adventurer who took part in the gradual invasion and conquering of much of the Americas and Asia Pacific, bringing them under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 19th centuries. ... A lady is a woman who is the counterpart of a lord; or, the counterpart of a gentleman. ...

Folklore from wider Europe has also added to the legend. Tales of banshees and other female spirits whose wails presage death have influenced the story, and La Llorona's association with pools and rivers links her with water-nymphs like the Nix, Lorelei, the Sirens and Melusine. European ghost lore is full of hauntings by women clad in white, they may be restless spirits seeking help for some wrong they have suffered or who are damned to a twilight existence reliving the tragedy of their lives. The European lore may have originated from ancient Teutonic myths of white-clad female elves and wise women ancestors (weisse frauen in Germany, witte wieven in Holland, dames blanches in France). There are also similarities with the Biblical Massacre of the Innocents, which the Gospel of Matthew likens to "Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted." This article is about the banshee of Irish folklore. ... For other uses of nymph see Nymph (disambiguation). ... Strömkarlen from 1884 by Ernst Josephson has formed many modern Swedes view of Näcken. ... The Rock of Lorelei by the Rhine Lorelei Lorelei Loreley sign on the bank of the Rhine View of the Rhine as seen by Lorelei The Lorelei (originally written as Loreley) is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. ... In Greek mythology, the Sirens or Seirenes (Greek Σειρῆνας) were sea nymphs who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli which was surrounded by cliffs and rocks. ... Melusines secret discovered, from One of sixteen paintings by Guillebert de Mets circa 1410. ... For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ... “Dammit” redirects here. ... For other uses, see White women (mythology). ... Witte Wieven or witte vrouwen (White women) are creatures from dutch folklore in ancient germanic times they where similar to druids of the celts and where herbalists and wise woman taking care of people ailments both physicaly mentaly and spiritualy it was said they had the talent to make prophecies... In French mythology or folklore, Dames Blanches (meaning white women and white ladies) were female spirits or supenatural beings, comparable to the White Women of both Dutch and Germanic mythology. ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... The Holy Innocents by Giotto di Bondone. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ... This article is about the Biblical character. ...

Modern women compared to La Llorona

Recently, convicted murderer Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons after being rejected by a male suitor, was compared to La Llorona in a cartoon which appeared in Time magazine^[1]. In her essay,"The Woman Who Loved Water," Kathleen Alcalá compares murderer Andrea Yates to the La Llorona story and tradition. The essay appeared in the Spring 2004 issue of Creative Nonfiction.^[2] for the Playboy playmate see Susan Smith Susan Smith (born September 26, 1971 as Susan Leigh Vaughan), of Union, South Carolina, and a student at the University of South Carolina Union, was convicted July 22, 1995, of murdering her two sons, 3-year-old Michael Daniel Smith, born October 10... TIME redirects here. ... Andrea Pia Yates (born July 2, 1964) of Houston, Texas, United States, committed the filicide of her five young children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. ...

La LLarona or the woman in white has recently been portrayed in THE CRY (2008) and Supernatural (TV,2006) This article is about the US TV series. ...

References

1. ^ [1] Susan Smith as La Llorona from TIME Magazine
2. ^ Creative Nonfiction Issue #23 Mexican Voices: Chrónica de Chrónicas

External links

• La Llorona: several versions of the legend
• The New Mexican La Llorona
• Myths Over Miami - La Llorona and related legends among street children in south Florida
• From Llorona to Gritona: Coatlicue In Feminist Tales by Viramontes and Cisneros
• Handbook of Texas Online A summary of the tale.
• Susan Smith as a modern incarnation of La Llorona

www.google.com/thecry Afghan street urchin smiles for the camera in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan (June 2003). ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ...