La Llorona – Legend and Ghostly Sightings
Mexican Lore with Variations Possibly Based on True Incident
May 27, 2009
Tales of La Llorona can be traced back for centuries. Her legend has been handed down by oral tradition. While it’s unclear exactly who the real woman was, sightings of her ghost have been well documented.
La Llorona, Mexican Legends’ Basic Theme
In most legends, her name is Maria. She was a peasant who loved a nobleman who spurned her. She had two children whom she drowned in a moment of insanity. When she realized what she did, she cried out, “Mis niños!” Later, she drowned herself. Shortly thereafter, her wailing ghost began to appear by the river, often repeating, “Mis niños!” as she searched for her boys.
La Llorona – Possible Historical Basis for Legend
In 1550, Doña Luisa de Olveros fell in love with nobleman Don Nuño de Montesclaros. She had two children with him and prayed for the day they would marry. He began to ignore her.
One night, she went to Nuño’s home to confront him. There was a party to celebrate his wedding. He sneered at her when she fell to her knees to ask him why he forsook her.
Although she was an AmerIndian princess, she was beneath his status as a Mexican of Spanish ancestry. She was thrown out of the house. Luisa ran through the streets, insane because of her humiliation. She killed her children with a dagger Nuño gave her, then wandered through the streets, babbling. The authorities found her, charged her with killing her children, convicted her of sorcery and publicly hanged her. It’s been said her ghost wanders the streets of Mexico City, looking for her children.
Three Encounters with La Llorona
- Mexico: In 1957, a young Mexican boy was playing by the Rio Grande with two friends. The boy’s friends went home. After dark, the boy saw La Llorona rise out of the water. He heard, “Mis niños,” and froze. The figure approached him and boney fingers grabbed his wrist. The wraith dragged him toward the river. Church bells began to peal and the hand melted away. The boy ran home. He conveyed his ordeal to his mother who didn’t believe him until she saw the marks on his wrist.
- New Mexico: Patricio Luganwas a boy when he and his family saw La Llorona walk by a creek, then seemed to float over its water. She started up a hill and vanished. Moments later, she reappeared closer to them before disappearing again. They looked for footprints and found none.
- New Mexico: A wailing female spirit has been repeatedly sighted in the Public Employees Retirement Association, PERA, Building, which is built on land that was once an old Spanish-Indian graveyard, near the Santa Fe River. Many PERA employees have heard her weeping in corridors and felt unseen hands push them on stairways. They believe she is La Llorona.
La Llorona, Legend or Paranormal?
Many have heard her wailing at night by rivers. Some Mexicans believe she will forever be with them when they move by rivers. They fear her because they think she might lure children into the river after dark.
Luisa might have been the basis for La Llorona legends, although she stabbed her children. It could be that someone, in the past, thought it would be more interesting to say she drowned them. It’s possible that another woman existed who drowned her children. The fact is that people of various ethnic groups have seen what is believed to be La Llorona. Is it possible there are two La Lloronas?
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Readers who enjoyed this article might want to read Ringwood Manor's Controversial Ghosts, Williamsburg - Ghosts, Clocks & Legend and Rose Hall Witch Annie Palmer.
Sources:
- The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1992).
- Haunted Heartland, MichaelNorman & Beth Scott, (Tor, 1985).
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