Legends of the city of Mexico / collected by Thomas A. Janvier ; illustrated by Walter Appleton Clark.
- Thomas Allibone Janvier
- Date:
- 1910
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Legends of the city of Mexico / collected by Thomas A. Janvier ; illustrated by Walter Appleton Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Cihuacohuatl, ‘the woman snake,’ ‘the female snake’; Tititl, ‘our mother,’ or ‘the womb whence we were born’; Teoyaominqui, ‘the goddess who gathers the souls of the dead ’; and Quilaztli, implying that she bears twins. She appears dressed in white, bearing on her shoulder a little cradle, as though she were carrying a child; and she can be heard sobbing and shrieking. This apparition was considered a bad omen.” Referring to the same goddess, Fray Ber¬ nardino de Sahagun thus admonished (circa 1585) the Mexican converts to Christianity: “Your ancestors also erred in the adoration of a demon whom they represented as a woman, and to whom they gave the name of Cioacoatl. She appeared clad as a lady of the palace [clad in white ?]. She terrified (espantada), she frightened (asombraba), and cried aloud at night.” It is evident from these citations that La Llorona is a stray from Aztec mythology; an ancient powerful goddess living on—her power for evil lessened, but still potent—into modern times. She does not belong especially to the City of Mexico. The belief in her—once confined to, and still strongest in, the region primitively under Aztec domination—now has become localized in many other places throughout the country. This diffusion is in conformity with the recognized characteristic of folk-myths to migrate with those who believe in them; and in the case of La Llorona reasonably may be traced to the custom adopted by the Conquistadores of strengthening their frontier settle¬ ments by planting beside them settlements of loyal Aztecs: who, under their Christian veneering,would hold to—as to this day the so-called Christian Indians of Mex¬ ico hold to—their old-time faith in their old-time gods. [ i63 1](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31349043_0219.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
