“Be wary of the echoing cries of the woman in white.
Beware of the seductive veiled figure with the hypnotic voice and long, beckoning fingers.
Block out the whispering songs that tickle your ears as you stroll past muddy river banks.
You must resist and fight the icy grip that will eventually drag you down, deeper and deeper into the murky depths of…”
Of what, exactly?
Ah. Now, that would be telling.
Humans like to tell chilling tales of how I lure innocent children and cock-sure men to their seashell graves, crying scarlet rivers of blood all the while that leave ugly stains across the white veil that masks the monster in my veins.
The truth is far worse than you could ever imagine.
Although, I sincerely encourage you to try.
Feeding on your fear makes me stronger.
Your blood keeps me alive.
Avni Bhagwan
I know that some people feel that if they’ve heard one story about a vengeful female spirit, they’ve heard them all. But I’m yet to come across one that’s made me feel that way. I feel such an intense sadness whenever I come across one of these tales because it reiterates yet another instance where a mistreated woman has been pushed to unimaginable limits and is then immortalised as the unhinged party - or, at least it does in most cases. La Llorona resonated with me because of how safe her life was before her consort entered the picture; she may have been poor, but she was secure in her position and beauty. Her whole life was ahead of her, and I think a lot of women can relate to very similar circumstances. I wanted to capture some of her beauty in my illustration, and that’s why I tried to keep the sparkle in her eyes - I don’t want to believe that a man broke every part of her. That’s also why she’s holding a complete rose in her hands, and the faith and strength in her expression is solely for her determination to find her children’s souls. I made her outfit pink to break away from the traditional white or black she’s usually captured in, which also emphasises her youth.
I’m not condoning her horrific act of infanticide. Nor am I justifying the acts of murder she commits as a spirit - as the legends around her would have us believe. I am simply using my art to show that, at the heart of her sad story, is a naive girl with a heart that got shattered by her first love. A girl who sank into despair and allowed desperation to engulf her because she really couldn’t see any other options available to her.
There are always two sides to a coin, and part of the fun in my mind is uncovering the one that’s facing away from me. With that in mind, I hope you like my illustration and enjoy this post! Please go over to the Puddles of Ink Instagram to see more characters from folklore, as well as a speed paint of this very piece!
Sketched on paper, scanned and digitally painted with Autodesk Sketchbook software.
There are many variations of La Llorona’s harrowing tale which will hardly surprise you if you’re familiar with folkloric stories involving a scorned woman of some description. The names of the players, their individual stories, and the details of their bloody acts of revenge may differ, but being mistreated by a man has unified them across the world. I have already featured La Sayona in my work; you’ll find her illustration here and her blog post here. She is another miserably tortured spirit who kills her children, husband and, in some versions, her mother, when she finds out that her husband has been having an affair with her. Many of you will also undoubtedly be thinking of Medea; immortalised by Euripides, this Greek legend involves an extremely violent case of infanticide brought about by the neglect and disregard of Medea’s husband, Jason.
There are many accounts of people who claim to have heard La Llorona’s cries. She is said to lurk around rivers and lakes, or any expanse of water, as well as near crossroads. In more modern accounts, she is said to appear in the back of your car if you refuse to give her a ride when she asks you to. She lures children and men with loose morals to their deaths, often by drowning them. One interpretation of the twisted tale is that La Llorona is actually Cihuacoatl, the Aztec goddess of fertility and motherhood, and her cries aren’t for her lost children but for the loss of her nation at the hands of the invading Conquistadors. Alongside their invasion came European folklore and mythology, as well as Christianity, and this fusion is a huge part of how La Llorona became a cautionary warning. This video by Storied explains how the legend of La Llorona became what we now recognise it as today, and trace its roots back to the 16th century, so make sure you watch it to understand this interpretation properly because it’s fascinating!
The Legend:
In the most common version I’ve found, La Llorona is a simple but pretty country girl called Maria. A rich man passing by her village notices her and begins to court her until they eventually fall in love and get married. Together, they have two sons, and things seem perfect in Maria’s world until her husband starts to spend more and more time away. Eventually he only appears every now and again to see his sons, completely ignoring her, and this series of events culminates in Maria seeing him with another woman. She is so hurt and enraged that she drowns their children, knowing the loss of them would devastate him, but ends up hurting herself far more. In some versions she drowns herself too, but even in the ones where she lives, she eventually gets turned away from the gates of heaven. Her punishment is to spend purgatory on earth until she can find her children. It is in this desperation that she is said to drown innocent children, mistaking them for her own in her bubble of intense grief and pain.
I really enjoyed listening to the Five Minute Folklore podcast’s episode on this legend, and I’d highly recommend it if you want to hear a few hauntingly beautiful re-tellings of this tale with stunning music. In some versions, the rich man doesn’t marry Maria, and when she eventually catches him with another woman it ends up being his fiance, often a woman from far nobler blood. This plot line is immortalised in Francisco C. Neve’s 1917 play, where Maria is named Luisa and the rich man is called Ramiro. Because of its popularity and the many adaptations that have been inspired by it directly, you may be more familiar with these names instead. In other versions, the cheating husband threatens to take the children away from her, pushing Maria further into a world of anguish.
Extra Things to Check Out:
There are so many inspiring illustrations, photographs, books, plays and movies inspired by La Llorona’s story, and I certainly had fun exploring some of them in preparation for this post. I’ve linked some of my favourites here, but please let me know if there’s something I’ve missed that you think I should add!
La Llorona ‘Draw My Life’ Video - From the ‘Draw the Life Tik Tak’ Youtube Channel.
Fantasmagorias: La Llorona - with English subtitles! This channel has some amazing animations from HBO Latino America, and I recommended them before in my La Sayona post!
The Legend of La Llorona: Monstrum - The Storied Youtube channel also have a fascinating adaptation that covers the legend in its entirety so well! It breaks down the cultural context and keeps you entertained the whole way through.
The Wailing Woman - really interesting and comprehensive piece on History Today covering the legend in a lot of depth.
The Folkloric and Literary Roots of La Llorona - extremely useful article covering so many cultural and literary aspects of the context surrounding, and inspired by, the legend.
Vanity Fair article written as part of the buzz around the 2019 film.
‘The Legend of La Llorona’, Ray John De Aragon (2006, Sunstone Press).
My Post on La Sayona.
Thank you so much for reading! Leave me a comment telling me what your thoughts of La Llorona’s story are, as well as what your favourite wronged female ghost story is - I may feature it in my next folklore post!