A History of Ghosts

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A History of Ghosts: 5. La Llorona

La Llorona

5. La Llorona

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Kirsty Logan explores the tale of an iconic ghost in Latin American culture - La Llorona.

Kirsty Logan explores the evolution of perhaps the most iconic ghost in Latin American culture - La Llorona, the weeping woman.

Illustration by Seonaid Mackay

'She was banished, condemned to wander the earth for all eternity, dressed in a long white veil, weeping and searching for her lost children. And if she can’t find them, perhaps she’ll take yours instead…'

The classic tale of La Llorona is the story of an irredeemable traitor, and monstrous mother. A woman who took a man into her bed, even though he had collonised her people's land, only to murder their children when he left her for a Spanish lady who was more useful to him in society. When she tried to enter heaven, she was turned away and condemned to forever search for the souls of her children.

Such a ghost is horrific, and yet La Llorona has evolved in a way that other ghosts simply cannot do. When a ghost story no longer serves a purpose in our culture, it dies off to be replaced with another, yet Kirsty Logan reveals how the Weeping Woman is fluid, and ever changeable, going from an ancient powerful goddess, to the arch traitor, to symbol of unity for a scattered people.

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Kirsty Logan explores the evolution of Ghost Lore.

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A History of Ghosts

5. La Llorona

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