La Llorona (folklore)

La Llorona (Spanish for "The Weeping Woman") is a bogeyman-type spirit found in Spanish folklore. According to legend La Llorona was a beautiful woman by the name of Maria who killed her children by drowning them in order to be with the man that she loved, but was subsequently rejected by him. (He might have been the children's father who had left their mother for another woman.) Then, after being rejected by her lover, she killed herself. When Maria reached the gates of heaven, she was asked, "Where are your children?" and she replied, "I don't know, my Lord." She was not permitted to enter heaven until she found her children. She now wanders the Earth for all eternity, searching in vain for her drowned offspring. Her constant weeping is the reason for her name, La Llorona. In some cases, according to the tale, she will kidnap wandering children or children who disobey their parents.