Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Another Ghostly Encounter

Remember last time I mentioned the legend of 'The Crying Lady'? Sometimes is also called 'The Weeping Woman', but in most Latin-American cultures we know her as La Llorona and in every country you go to, you'll hear different versions of the story. The oldest one and, probably, its true origin is pre-colonial, Aztec to be more precise. In this ancient culture she was known as Chocacihuatl, which translates to 'the woman who cries'. She was supposed to be a goddess, mother of all the Aztecs. As their mother, when some imminent danger (like the conquistadors) was about to take the lives of her brood, she was heard at night crying for the death of her children through the streets. The lament was painful and scary because, if you confronted her, she might mistake you for the killer of her kids and take your soul. Clearly, she was bad news. Some ancient records of the times say that when the spaniards came to Mexico, she was heard not only by the Aztecs, but by the newcomers, inspiring fear in everyone.

The Aztecs own set of beliefs were so hard to eradicate that the old catholic friars just came up with new virgins, saints, or religious celebrations that incorporated in some way those believes. It worked like a marvel and very soon every indigenous person was a catholic. The Weeping Woman became now, the story of an indigenous woman who was abandoned by her spanish lover with two small kids and no money to raise them. In desperation she drowns them in the nearby river and then takes her life. As a punishment she's condemn to cry for her babies through the night and will kill every man in her path as a revenge for that other ungrateful man who caused her so much pain.

Ok, so, why am I telling you this? Well, this is were things get interesting. If you were to believe my paternal grandmother, her father was killed by The Weeping Lady.

This happened a long time ago, when my grandma was a young child, barely ten. She lived with her parents, brother, and two sisters in a small town something like two hours, in todays mode of transportation, from Mexico city. Back then it couldn't have been farther if it were another country. My grandfather was a member of the old Rosicrucian Order (what a figure!) but that's food for another post. In small towns like those, it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, you worked your ass and then finished the day with some drinks in the company of fellow men.

My great-grandfather was precisely going back home, late at night, after one of such evenings. He and a friend who was going the same way, were horseback ridding through the woods on their fifteen minute trip and kept chatting when a cry pierced the night. It was the voice of a woman; at first they couldn't understand what she was saying but a couple of minutes later it became clear, she was calling for her kids.

"Oh, my babies!" she was saying. The voice sounded close and they got scared.

The legend says that if she sounds close, it's time to run because she's still far from you, but if she sounds far, then hide 'cause she's real close. If a man looks at her, he becomes like enchanted and will follow her to his death without even knowing it. So they hit the horses and rode through the forest fast, with the crying sounds echoing behind them. The problem was that instead of getting closer, (remember, closer is farther) the voice sounded farther!

They got desperate and changed directions so many times, trying to get away from it, that they got lost. At that moment, from behind the closest trees, they saw a white dress floating in the air. It was a woman, she had her back to them and kept moving in the opposite direction. My grandma says that later her dad had told her he couldn't remember anything clearly after that, just thinking she was very beautiful and wanting to talk to her. They both kept going forward and a few minutes later, my great-grandad's friend fell through a precipice. They had been moving towards it without realizing it. The scream of his friend awoke my grandma's dad, and in that exact moment, the woman turned to face him.

The apparition was floating in the air and had a face like a horse. She screamed with fury and darted to him. The horse turned around and went as fast as it could for what seemed like an eternity, eventually reaching the train tracks. My grandma's house was very close, so my great-grandfather tried to push the horse to go faster but the poor animal was exhausted and fell. From that moment on, he ran home and got there crawling, out of breath, and almost dead. His whole head was white.

After that he got sick and spent a month in his bed, but he never recovered. He died looking a lot older that his real age and my grandmother never cut through the woods ever again.

24 comments:

Julie Jansen said...

Gina! What a creepy, creepy story! That is great! Happy Halloween! So great to read some of your work during the Coffin Hop!

Julie
julie.jansen(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

This is very macabre. Ooh I'll never cut through the woods either ever again. Great post. Great writing.

Craig said...

Totally creepy. When I lived in El Paso, this story was told to me multiple times, and it was always meant to take place in the city. La Llorona has definitely hit the mainstream though; she was a featured character at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights last year.

Lauri said...

I'd heard of La Llorona while in New Mexico, but I'm fascinated to learn of her earlier origins. Thanks!

jason said...

That is just freaky!

Chrissy Peebles said...

It’s so awesome to visit your lovely blog today on this Halloween blog hop hosted by Free Book Reviews. I think this is an awesome opportunity to meet other authors! I’m joining your blog and I hope you’ll join mine, too, so we can learn more about one another.
My favorite monster movie is Night of the Living Dead and I’m dressing up as a mime. Mime is one of the most ancient forms of theatre, appearing around the time of the Greek tragedies. I hope to perfect the art and technique of portraying a mood, idea, or narration by gestures and bodily movements. The only problem is…that I have a big mouth! LOL. It’s so nice to meet you!

Chrissy

P.S. I’d love to connect with you online! My blog link is http://chrissypeebles.blogspot.com/. My Facebook link is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/chrissy.peebles1 My twitter link is: http://twitter.com/#!/ChrissyPeebles1

Sangu Mandanna said...

Eeeek that's so creepy and such an amazing story too! Thanks for sharing it!

Stopping by from the Halloween blog hop :-)

Free Book Reviews said...

Halloween Hop

I want to thank Jeremy Bates for the chance to participate in this blog hop.

My Favorite monster movie - Hellraiser
My Costume - Dragon (well the wings of a dragon and the rest is my sexy self)
And I am now following this Blog (yay)

I have read quite a few of the posts on this blog and I do believe I shall
be reading more as I have found them interesting to say the least. I hope that my participation brings this blog more visitors and that those turn into more readers for this blog's future. Thanks for being a participant and for those visiting this blog for the first time. Please comment, that is what we bloggers live for. :)

****Promoting my own Blog****

Free Book Reviews is a blog that reviews indie books, interviews indie authors and generally talks about whatever amuses them in the literary world. If you are an author please feel free to submit your book for review and/or an author interview. If you are a reader feel free to check out any book listed on our blog. In any case please share this blog with as many people as you can!

E. Arroyo said...

Nice pic...Ya I've heard of her. Just making my rounds through the Halloween Hop.

Heidi Ruby Miller said...

Hi Gina! That story gave me chills. :)

I'm visiting from Jeremy Bates' Halloween Hop and plan to stalk you everywhere—well, at least here and maybe Book Blogs, Facebook, Goodreads, Networked Blogs, and Shelfari. Hope you'll be one of my stalkers. ;)

I'm also running a contest on my blog, so be sure to check it out: http://heidirubymiller.blogspot.com

Happy Halloween,
Heidi

Twitter - http://twitter.com/heidirubymiller
FB - http://www.facebook.com/heidirubymillerauthor

P.S. - If you'd like to do an author interview on my blog, email me at heidirubymiller AT gmail!

Abby Fowers said...

Oh my gosh! I think I will have nightmares from this. Freaky!

So glad I came over. I am new follower.

James Garcia Jr said...

Hi, Gina. I actually had never heard of this legend before. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Just coffin hopping through.
Have a great weekend!

-Jimmy

Shelley Workinger said...

So what happened to the horse???
That's one of the best lines I've ever read:
The legend says that if she sounds close, it's time to run because she's still far from you, but if she sounds far, then hide 'cause she's real close.
Happy Halloween ;)

Anonymous said...

Halloween Hopping! My favorite scary movie is Pumpkinhead and my favorite scary book is The Haunging of Hill House. I enjoyed your retelling of La Llorona.

-aniko

RL.Treadway said...

Wow! Now that's a scary tale. Going to tweet this one! Have a great Halloween!

Fellow Coffin Hopper,

Rebecca

Sarah said...

Wow! What a story!!! I'd never heard of the weeping woman before.

Found you on the coffin hop!

Penelope Crowe said...

Hello fellow hopper!

Glad I could visit your site. :) I'm looking forward to a night in front of the fire and

shivery tales of spirits and the dark. Come visit me if you like--www.penelopecrowe.blogspot.com and get

one of my books and enter to win a NOOK!

Thanks and happy hopping!

Penelope
P.S. Love your story!

Erin O'Riordan said...

Very creepy! There's probably a kernel of truth to it, too.

Anonymous said...

Real ghost stories like this truly terrify me...excellent post, although my heart breaks for your grandmother, who carried this story her whole life.

Love your blog!
Cheers,
Ash

Kraftmatic Adjustable Blog
#8 on the Coffin Hop
http://ash-krafton.livejournal.com

ashkrafton@gmail.com

A. F. Stewart said...

I've heard of The Crying Lady legend. Scary thing.

Anonymous said...

Hey, this is pretty awesome. I tried a similar thing on my blog with an Oneida short story.

Stopping by from the Halloween Hop:

My favorite Halloween movie is probably Rocky Horror Picture Show, but my favorite Scary movie is Nightmare On

Come check out all kinds of Writing, Movie and other Miscellany over on WRITE READ WATCH. I’m also looking for authors and nanowrimo failures and winners to write guest blogs for November! Any takers! Lolsz. Enjoy.

Amberr Meadows said...

I’m here visiting from Jeremy Bates' blog hop, and I love your blog!

My favorite scary book is IT (scared the crap out of me as a kid), movie that horrified me most was Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween, and I did not dress up this year, because I suck. One of my favorite costumes in the past was "Dead Baby Roller Blades."

Happy Halloween!

Georgina Morales said...

Thank you all hopping brothers and sisters! It was such a great experience that I'm kinda sad it has ended. I haven't been to all of your blogs (my schedule went up in flames with my family vacations) but rest assured, I will go by and like, follow, and read all of your interesting stories.

Hope you had a great Halloween!

LD Ferris said...

Hi! I recently received the Liebster Blog Award and when prompted to find 5 other blogs/bloggers that I would like to share it with (naturally) I thought of you! I really do like your blog – from the design and graphics, to the writing and other content that you use.

To get your award go to http://myinner-i.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and you’ll find all the information about the Liebster Blog Award and what you’ve got to do with it there.

Congrats!
Lacey
http://myinner-i.blogspot.com/
http://becomingdawn.blog.com/
http://updownin-n-out.blogspot.com/