Has anyone heard of the story "La Llorona?" I found it in a book, though it
doesn't say which part of Mexico it originated from. Apparently, it is
about a woman who drowns her own children in a river to keep their father
from taking them from her, then cannot get into heaven until she recovers
their souls, crying and wailing as she searches the riverbanks in the night
with her bony fingers. One of those "Golden Arm" spooky stories you tell
children. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had heard of it and knew where
it originated. I had recently seen a movie on television where one man has
three girlfriends and they find out about it and become very angry. He
starts having frightening visions of La Llorona coming after him, which made
me think it was about a story from Mexico. I soon found the story, but it
does not say which part of Mexico it is from.
Corrine Ardoin
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
Did I see La Llorona or an angel? when I was about five years old I got lost from my ranch house in Ahualulco De Mercado, Jalisco. I went down a path to the river, merely a stream from the biger one, with my family unaware. My mother noticed my absence and all they went yelling looking for me. They found me crying in the shore, about 200 metros from the house. What I remember is I was determined to get into the water but a lady dressed in a white and long dress stop me, she told me not to do it. she was standing sort of floating above a bank in the middle of the stream and his arms were up open like she wanted to embrace me. I cried because at that moment I thougt she was La Llorona as I did remember my mother used to tell her story, lhat lady I saw had a long black hair, that was a the feature of her apearence I remember the most vividly.
Corrine Ardoin escribió:
Has anyone heard of the story "La Llorona?" I found it in a book, though it
doesn't say which part of Mexico it originated from. Apparently, it is
about a woman who drowns her own children in a river to keep their father
from taking them from her, then cannot get into heaven until she recovers
their souls, crying and wailing as she searches the riverbanks in the night
with her bony fingers. One of those "Golden Arm" spooky stories you tell
children. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had heard of it and knew where
it originated. I had recently seen a movie on television where one man has
three girlfriends and they find out about it and become very angry. He
starts having frightening visions of La Llorona coming after him, which made
me think it was about a story from Mexico. I soon found the story, but it
does not say which part of Mexico it is from.
Corrine Ardoin
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
I remember when I was 6 or 7 and my family and I lived in Zacatecas for a year so that we kids could get the "cultural experience." We had traveled to the nearby rancho of Los Ramos (See map I uploaded to the maps sections titled, "Los Sedanos.") to visit family friends (which I recently found out throught Family Search are distant relatives, also!) who killed a pig for us to make "tripas," "moronga," and, or course, TAMALES! Anywho, I remember I had fallen asleep on a woman's lap in the room adjoining the kitchen that had no door that faced a creek right across and a few feet down. I remember waking up to the most forlorn crying I had ever heard...It sounded like a sad wail and it was coming from the creek. I remember hearing the women that were making tamales in the kitchen crying out in shock. I either saw or heard the women saying they saw a ball of fire floating above the creek. What's certain is that I heard that sad, sad crying. It was the most distressed and
distressing cry...Now, you might say I dreamt all of this or it was my childish imagination, but how could a roomful of adult women have experienced the same things?...Strange, strange...Maybe the story of "La Llorona" is just so embedded in our folkore that it's always on our minds when in Mexico...Who knows, but it was so strange...
http://www.literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/llorona.html (This is the version I had heard.)
http://www.lallorona.com/La_index.html
Leticia Leon wrote:
Did I see La Llorona or an angel? when I was about five years old I got lost from my ranch house in Ahualulco De Mercado, Jalisco. I went down a path to the river, merely a stream from the biger one, with my family unaware. My mother noticed my absence and all they went yelling looking for me. They found me crying in the shore, about 200 metros from the house. What I remember is I was determined to get into the water but a lady dressed in a white and long dress stop me, she told me not to do it. she was standing sort of floating above a bank in the middle of the stream and his arms were up open like she wanted to embrace me. I cried because at that moment I thougt she was La Llorona as I did remember my mother used to tell her story, lhat lady I saw had a long black hair, that was a the feature of her apearence I remember the most vividly.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
I think what the women saw floating above the creek is what is called "balled lightening". Also, the wind does strange things around water and the vegetation around it. There are gases that escape such areas, such as methane. We named our place up here in the Northwest "Lira del Bosque" (my Spanish friend translated "Forest Lyre" for me). We often hear what sounds like soft music in the tall evergreens, but when the wind is blowing as hard as it was today when I went out to get the mail it sounded like freight trains or the roar of semis passing by; it was frightening, and I could hardly wait to get back in the house. The sound was like thundering growls from a monster, very hard to describe. Although our place is surrounded by water (you can't walk too far from the house without falling into a pond, lake or creek) we have never seen the "balled lightening" or methane flames.
In Santa Cruz, CA my Spanish friend had the balled lightening phenomenon in her house. Once a ball of lightening came in and settled itself in a cast iron frying pan. Fearing it would cause a fire, her son picked up the pan to extinguish the flame in the sink, and the flame jumped out of the frying pan onto the floor and disappeared into a crack in the tile floor! They were also frequently awakened by strange sounds in that house, too. I once slept in that house in their guest room, and all I heard was the sound of my hostess coughing all night, and the sound of her purring cat who had climbed in bed with me and settled herself in my long hair. Anyway, I hope those were the sounds I heard. Oooooh!
Emilie in Port Orchard, WA ---
----- Original Message -----
From: La Plus Belle
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
I remember when I was 6 or 7 and my family and I lived in Zacatecas for a year so that we kids could get the "cultural experience." We had traveled to the nearby rancho of Los Ramos (See map I uploaded to the maps sections titled, "Los Sedanos.") to visit family friends (which I recently found out throught Family Search are distant relatives, also!) who killed a pig for us to make "tripas," "moronga," and, or course, TAMALES! Anywho, I remember I had fallen asleep on a woman's lap in the room adjoining the kitchen that had no door that faced a creek right across and a few feet down. I remember waking up to the most forlorn crying I had ever heard...It sounded like a sad wail and it was coming from the creek. I remember hearing the women that were making tamales in the kitchen crying out in shock. I either saw or heard the women saying they saw a ball of fire floating above the creek. What's certain is that I heard that sad, sad crying. It was the most distressed and
distressing cry...Now, you might say I dreamt all of this or it was my childish imagination, but how could a roomful of adult women have experienced the same things?...Strange, strange...Maybe the story of "La Llorona" is just so embedded in our folkore that it's always on our minds when in Mexico...Who knows, but it was so strange...
http://www.literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/llorona.html (This is the version I had heard.)
http://www.lallorona.com/La_index.html
Leticia Leon> wrote:
Did I see La Llorona or an angel? when I was about five years old I got lost from my ranch house in Ahualulco De Mercado, Jalisco. I went down a path to the river, merely a stream from the biger one, with my family unaware. My mother noticed my absence and all they went yelling looking for me. They found me crying in the shore, about 200 metros from the house. What I remember is I was determined to get into the water but a lady dressed in a white and long dress stop me, she told me not to do it. she was standing sort of floating above a bank in the middle of the stream and his arms were up open like she wanted to embrace me. I cried because at that moment I thougt she was La Llorona as I did remember my mother used to tell her story, lhat lady I saw had a long black hair, that was a the feature of her apearence I remember the most vividly.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
OK, I am so glad you gave me an alternative explanation in case I ever see one of those fireballs. Eek! I just found out, however, after talking w/my g'ma who was there that night that we heard "la Llorona," that there was no fireball (I guess I got that from someone else's story!), but there was that horrible crying. She says that she and the other women were out in the "patio" smearing the corn husks for the tamales when they heard the wails. They all ran to the kitchen, leaving the food out, and someone yelled, "Close the doorl!" to which someone else replied, "WHAT door?!?!" There was no door. LOL! Anyway, whatever was making that lound wailing sound was real. I mean, it wasn't our imagination. I wonder what it could've been, though. I guess it makes for a good Llorona story...
La Llorona
Todos me dicen El Negro, Llorona, negro pero cariñoso.
Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona, picante pero sabroso.
Salías del templo un dia llorona cuando al pasar yo te ví.
Hermoso huipil llevabas, Llorona, que la Virgen te creí.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al río.
Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona, que ya me muero de frío.
Ay de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de ayer y hoy.
Ayer maravilla fui, Llorona, y ahora ni sombra soy.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de azul celeste.
Aunque la vida me cueste Llorona, no dejaré de quererte.
Ay, de mi llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al mar.
A ver a los buzeadores, Llorona, que perlas van a sacar.
Dicen que no tengo duelo, Llorona porque no me ven llorar.
Hay muertos que no hacen ruido, y es mas grande su penar.
Pregúntale al sacamuela, Llorona, cual es el mayor dolor.
Si al que le sacan la muela o al que le roban su amor.
Si porque te quiero quieres, Llorona, quieres que te quieres más
Si ya te he dado la vida, Llorona, ¿Qué más quieres? ¿Quieres más?
Emilie Garcia wrote:
I think what the women saw floating above the creek is what is called "balled lightening". Also, the wind does strange things around water and the vegetation around it. There are gases that escape such areas, such as methane. We named our place up here in the Northwest "Lira del Bosque" (my Spanish friend translated "Forest Lyre" for me). We often hear what sounds like soft music in the tall evergreens, but when the wind is blowing as hard as it was today when I went out to get the mail it sounded like freight trains or the roar of semis passing by; it was frightening, and I could hardly wait to get back in the house. The sound was like thundering growls from a monster, very hard to describe. Although our place is surrounded by water (you can't walk too far from the house without falling into a pond, lake or creek) we have never seen the "balled lightening" or methane flames.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
La Plus (what is your name?),
I think that nature creates its own musical instruments, don't you think? People hear strange sounds always near water. Remember that sounds are just vibrations, like wind skidding over water, pushing through vegetation like reeds in rivers and through the branches of my hundred foot tall evergreens. This is how lyres and flutes work through vibrations. What makes us frightened when we hear these sounds out in nature is that we must have a built-in primeval reaction to screeching or sounds that sound like wailing because that was to warn other people of danger from a predator, etc. Even though I understand these phenomenons, I never fail to have that reaction that I must flee from such sounds.
That is a nice poem you included. I will show it to my husband, who is more familiar with the story in Spanish.
Emilie Garcia in Port Orchard, WA ---
----- Original Message -----
From: La Plus Belle
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 11:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
OK, I am so glad you gave me an alternative explanation in case I ever see one of those fireballs. Eek! I just found out, however, after talking w/my g'ma who was there that night that we heard "la Llorona," that there was no fireball (I guess I got that from someone else's story!), but there was that horrible crying. She says that she and the other women were out in the "patio" smearing the corn husks for the tamales when they heard the wails. They all ran to the kitchen, leaving the food out, and someone yelled, "Close the doorl!" to which someone else replied, "WHAT door?!?!" There was no door. LOL! Anyway, whatever was making that lound wailing sound was real. I mean, it wasn't our imagination. I wonder what it could've been, though. I guess it makes for a good Llorona story...
La Llorona
Todos me dicen El Negro, Llorona, negro pero cariñoso.
Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona, picante pero sabroso.
Salías del templo un dia llorona cuando al pasar yo te ví.
Hermoso huipil llevabas, Llorona, que la Virgen te creí.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al río.
Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona, que ya me muero de frío.
Ay de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de ayer y hoy.
Ayer maravilla fui, Llorona, y ahora ni sombra soy.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de azul celeste.
Aunque la vida me cueste Llorona, no dejaré de quererte.
Ay, de mi llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al mar.
A ver a los buzeadores, Llorona, que perlas van a sacar.
Dicen que no tengo duelo, Llorona porque no me ven llorar.
Hay muertos que no hacen ruido, y es mas grande su penar.
Pregúntale al sacamuela, Llorona, cual es el mayor dolor.
Si al que le sacan la muela o al que le roban su amor.
Si porque te quiero quieres, Llorona, quieres que te quieres más
Si ya te he dado la vida, Llorona, ¿Qué más quieres? ¿Quieres más?
Emilie Garcia> wrote:
I think what the women saw floating above the creek is what is called "balled lightening". Also, the wind does strange things around water and the vegetation around it. There are gases that escape such areas, such as methane. We named our place up here in the Northwest "Lira del Bosque" (my Spanish friend translated "Forest Lyre" for me). We often hear what sounds like soft music in the tall evergreens, but when the wind is blowing as hard as it was today when I went out to get the mail it sounded like freight trains or the roar of semis passing by; it was frightening, and I could hardly wait to get back in the house. The sound was like thundering growls from a monster, very hard to describe. Although our place is surrounded by water (you can't walk too far from the house without falling into a pond, lake or creek) we have never seen the "balled lightening" or methane flames.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
I guess it's like when you hear a cat yowl and sometimes it sounds like a crying baby. It's a CREEPY sound when you hear it in the middle of the night! BTW, the "poem" is actually a mexican folk song and is kind of sad to hear it. They sing a version of it in the movie "Frida" with Salma Hayek.
Cristina (La Plus Belle means "The Most Beautiful" in French. What a joke! Ha, ha!) :-)
Emilie Garcia wrote:
La Plus (what is your name?),
I think that nature creates its own musical instruments, don't you think? People hear strange sounds always near water. Remember that sounds are just vibrations, like wind skidding over water, pushing through vegetation like reeds in rivers and through the branches of my hundred foot tall evergreens. This is how lyres and flutes work through vibrations. What makes us frightened when we hear these sounds out in nature is that we must have a built-in primeval reaction to screeching or sounds that sound like wailing because that was to warn other people of danger from a predator, etc. Even though I understand these phenomenons, I never fail to have that reaction that I must flee from such sounds.
That is a nice poem you included. I will show it to my husband, who is more familiar with the story in Spanish.
Emilie Garcia in Port Orchard, WA ---
----- Original Message -----
From: La Plus Belle
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 11:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
OK, I am so glad you gave me an alternative explanation in case I ever see one of those fireballs. Eek! I just found out, however, after talking w/my g'ma who was there that night that we heard "la Llorona," that there was no fireball (I guess I got that from someone else's story!), but there was that horrible crying. She says that she and the other women were out in the "patio" smearing the corn husks for the tamales when they heard the wails. They all ran to the kitchen, leaving the food out, and someone yelled, "Close the doorl!" to which someone else replied, "WHAT door?!?!" There was no door. LOL! Anyway, whatever was making that lound wailing sound was real. I mean, it wasn't our imagination. I wonder what it could've been, though. I guess it makes for a good Llorona story...
La Llorona
Todos me dicen El Negro, Llorona, negro pero cariñoso.
Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona, picante pero sabroso.
Salías del templo un dia llorona cuando al pasar yo te ví.
Hermoso huipil llevabas, Llorona, que la Virgen te creí.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al río.
Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona, que ya me muero de frío.
Ay de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de ayer y hoy.
Ayer maravilla fui, Llorona, y ahora ni sombra soy.
Ay, de mi Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de azul celeste.
Aunque la vida me cueste Llorona, no dejaré de quererte.
Ay, de mi llorona, Llorona, Llorona llevame al mar.
A ver a los buzeadores, Llorona, que perlas van a sacar.
Dicen que no tengo duelo, Llorona porque no me ven llorar.
Hay muertos que no hacen ruido, y es mas grande su penar.
Pregúntale al sacamuela, Llorona, cual es el mayor dolor.
Si al que le sacan la muela o al que le roban su amor.
Si porque te quiero quieres, Llorona, quieres que te quieres más
Si ya te he dado la vida, Llorona, ¿Qué más quieres? ¿Quieres más?
Emilie Garcia > wrote:
I think what the women saw floating above the creek is what is called "balled lightening". Also, the wind does strange things around water and the vegetation around it. There are gases that escape such areas, such as methane. We named our place up here in the Northwest "Lira del Bosque" (my Spanish friend translated "Forest Lyre" for me). We often hear what sounds like soft music in the tall evergreens, but when the wind is blowing as hard as it was today when I went out to get the mail it sounded like freight trains or the roar of semis passing by; it was frightening, and I could hardly wait to get back in the house. The sound was like thundering growls from a monster, very hard to describe. Although our place is surrounded by water (you can't walk too far from the house without falling into a pond, lake or creek) we have never seen the "balled lightening" or methane flames.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
Okay Beautiful, Like Emilie, I'd like to know your "other" name too! Wish I had a neat
nick name..
Linda in Everett
La Plus Belle wrote:
I guess it's like when you hear a cat yowl and sometimes it sounds like a crying baby. It's a CREEPY sound when you hear it in the middle of the night! BTW, the "poem" is actually a mexican folk song and is kind of sad to hear it. They sing a version of it in the movie "Frida" with Salma Hayek.
Cristina (La Plus Belle means "The Most Beautiful" in French. What a joke! Ha, ha!) :-)
Emilie Garcia wrote:
La Plus (what is your name?),
---------------------------------
No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go
with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
Opps! just noticed you did say Cristina, thank you ..
Erlinda Castanon-Long wrote: Okay Beautiful, Like Emilie, I'd like to know your "other" name too! Wish I had a neat
nick name..
Linda in Everett
La Plus Belle wrote:
I guess it's like when you hear a cat yowl and sometimes it sounds like a crying baby. It's a CREEPY sound when you hear it in the middle of the night! BTW, the "poem" is actually a mexican folk song and is kind of sad to hear it. They sing a version of it in the movie "Frida" with Salma Hayek.
Cristina (La Plus Belle means "The Most Beautiful" in French. What a joke! Ha, ha!) :-)
Emilie Garcia wrote:
La Plus (what is your name?),
---------------------------------
No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go
with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.
Surnames research
I'm assuming you're Cristina Haro Avila de Pedroza?
I was looking at your surname list and find it amazing we have so many in common and yet not one single line related even though they are from Zacatecas and Jalisco.. I guess if we get back far enough there will be someone in common.
By the way, I did just update my genealogy on ancestry.com but don't like there new format...
Linda in Everett
Erlinda Castanon-Long wrote:
Opps! just noticed you did say Cristina, thank you ..
---------------------------------
It's here! Your new message!
Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.
Story of La Llorona/I think I saw her
Well, Linda, you have a beautiful name.:) Marge:)
On Feb 20, 2007, at 12:58 PM, Erlinda Castanon-Long wrote:
> Okay Beautiful, Like Emilie, I'd like to know your "other" name too!
> Wish I had a neat
> nick name..
>
> Linda in Everett
>
Did I See La Llorona?
You have reminded me that, when I was a little girl, there was a creek that ran at the edge of town and the people who lived there would often have La Llorona sightings. They said they heard her wailing and doing all sorts of things. Now, I finally know what they were referring to!
Story of La Llorona
Lots of variations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona
joseph
===================
Joseph Puentes
http://H2Opodcast.com (Environment Podcast)
http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com (Latin American History)
Corrine Ardoin wrote:
> Has anyone heard of the story "La Llorona?" I found it in a book, though it
> doesn't say which part of Mexico it originated from. Apparently, it is
> about a woman who drowns her own children in a river to keep their father
> from taking them from her, then cannot get into heaven until she recovers
> their souls, crying and wailing as she searches the riverbanks in the night
> with her bony fingers. One of those "Golden Arm" spooky stories you tell
> children. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had heard of it and knew where
> it originated. I had recently seen a movie on television where one man has
> three girlfriends and they find out about it and become very angry. He
> starts having frightening visions of La Llorona coming after him, which made
> me think it was about a story from Mexico. I soon found the story, but it
> does not say which part of Mexico it is from.
>
> Corrine Ardoin
>
Story of La Llorona
I've read that La Llorona would roam downtown Mexico City at night, during the Mexican Colonial era. However i think the legend is pre-Hispanic. According to tradition, there were several omens in México-Tenochtitlan regarding the coming of the Spaniards. One of them was the ghost of an Aztec goddess crying for her children, and where could she hide them (how could she protect the Aztecs from the Spaniards?).
Right now they are showing in Mexico a horror movie kind of based in La Llorona. The film is "Km 31" or "Kilómetro 31".
Story of La Llorona
The story of a woman who kills her children for the love of a man seems to originate with Greek mythology, something the Colonial Spaniards, priests and soldiers and the educated class would have been familiar with, and perhaps told or read such stories to the indigenous people. In the "Odyssey", Medea kills the children she had with Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts) because he was leaving for his homeland in the ship the "Argo", going back to his wife. My husband tells me that his grandfather, who was born in Mexico in 1853 still had a copy of the tales of "1001 Arabian Nights" in Spanish, and that one of the stories he used to read to his grandchildren was "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". He also would tell stories of the Llorona, and of the specter of the creature with the horse's head. I bet kids had lots of nightmares then. I knew nothing of these stories until I started school.
Emilie in Port Orchard, WA ---
----- Original Message -----
From: victorianonavarro
To: general@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Story of La Llorona
I've read that La Llorona would roam downtown Mexico City at night, during the Mexican Colonial era. However i think the legend is pre-Hispanic. According to tradition, there were several omens in México-Tenochtitlan regarding the coming of the Spaniards. One of them was the ghost of an Aztec goddess crying for her children, and where could she hide them (how could she protect the Aztecs from the Spaniards?).
Right now they are showing in Mexico a horror movie kind of based in La Llorona. The film is "Km 31" or "Kilómetro 31".
La Llorona Origins
I think this could be true, that the Spanish brought the story to Mexico way back when, because it seems that the story was told in various places, but another version I found originated with the Aztecs and their empire eventually covered quite a large portion of Mexico, so descendants and immigrants alike would have carried on this tradition of telling such a frightening story to keep children away from riverbanks, etc. so they would stay safe, like a boogey man story.