La Llorona: Ghost or Protector? You Decide

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the popular telling, La Llorona is a ghost. She’s the spirit of a woman who haunts watery places, wailing for her lost children. But as with all stories, the meaning of the myth has changed over time and many people now see La Llorona as a protector. For spooky October, we explore the ghostly myth that frightens children and the more empowering version of the legend. Additional Resources: La Llorona, Legend and Protector, In the Streets of San Francisco Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Sebastian Miño-Bucheli. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From KQED.
0:03.1	In the heart of the Mission District in San Francisco, at the intersection of 24th Street and York,
0:09.2	there's a massive blue mural, one that will stop you in your tracks.
0:17.8	Standing two stories high and 60 feet long, the intricate mural draws your eyes in with its depth and scale.
0:25.6	It's a world of blue tones, like standing in front of a waterfall, and it's packed with figures, female figures.
0:34.6	In the center, there's Chaltutiquae,
0:40.3	Aztec goddess of lakes and streams.
0:43.0	In the background, there are women from Bolivia,
0:45.6	women from India, women from the Mexico-U.S. border,
0:49.1	all standing together.
0:51.2	And in the foreground, there's a woman standing apart, stretching out her hand like she's
0:56.7	reaching out to you. A tear falls from her eye, and she's holding a child in her arms as if to
1:02.5	protect them. This mural is called La Yorona's Sacred Waters, painted by the Bay Area artist
1:10.4	Juana Alicia, and it's been a fixture on this San Francisco wall for the L' Yorona's sacred waters, painted by the Bay Area artist Juanna Alicia.
1:12.0	And it's been a fixture on this San Francisco wall for the last 21 years.
1:18.3	If you've grown up with the legend of Laiorona, you might be surprised to see her like
1:22.2	this in this mural.
1:24.2	Because in the popular telling, the one that's most common in Mexico and here in California,
1:29.3	La Yorona is a ghost, the spirit of a woman who haunts watery places, wailing for her lost children,
1:36.4	not protecting them.
1:38.4	To understand how a traditional legend has come this far and taken so many forms, we're going to delve deep into the story
1:45.7	of La Yorona. This story first aired in 2021, but we're bringing it back in honor of Latino
	...

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