Stories

Many of us have heard the tale of La Llorona throughout our childhood at least maybe once whether one may be of the Hispanic heritage or not. Although most know her as La Llorona, some refer to her as The Weeping Woman. The well-recognized folk tale of La Llorona seems to have its variation between different sources. Maria, as some speculate was her name, was a woman peasant woman but of high standards who, in time, meet a well-rounded nobleman who flowered her with gifts and surprises, this allowed him to represent his admiration and his love he held towards. Of course, Maria rejoiced the lavish gifts and attention she received from him. As time flew by, Maria bore two children with her beloved husband. All seemed to appear supremely excellent with two partners who loved each other unconditionally along with their three children until Maria noticed her partner starting to act unusually different. After Maria began to speculate, she was delivered fallacious news that oscillated her world upside down; Maria’s husband no longer wished to be with Maria any further. Although this nobleman no longer wanted to be with Maria, he indeed mentioned to Maria that he would like to continue being in their children’s’ lives and promoted to provided Maria with any necessity they would need. Not long after, Maria noticed her children’s father continue to focus unconditionally on his children and would always leave Maria out. Highly disturbed by her past husband’s actions, Maria went to great lengthens to remove the bond between her children and their father. One night, Maria took all three of her children to the river and drowned them all. Quickly after she drowned them, she realized the capacious crime she had committed and killed herself also. When Maria tried to enter God’s gates to heaven, he questioned her, asking, “ Where are your children?” (Ostrand) and she replied “ I don’t know my lord” (Ostrand), then the Lord commanded Maria to return to Earth and search for her missing children and return them to him or else she will be forbidden to enter his gates to heaven. From that day forward, Maria’s spirit floats up and down the rivers in search of her children. Legend says, if she hears children cry, disobey, or are out late at night, she will capture them and do as she did with her children. Patricio Lugan was just a boy when him and his family encountered La Llorona along the creeks of Mora and Guadalupita, New Mexico. Patricio and his family were lounging outside when “they saw a tall, thin woman walking along the creek” (Weiser). Stunned by this appearance along the creek, they set out to look for footprints leading up to the area where they had spotted her, but they found nothing and allowing them to believe they had spotted La Llorona.  Kathy Weiser wrote about the different locations La Llorona and they range from Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Southwest region, though not only does the South region report incidents of her, but as far as the Montana area as well.