It is known that stories about La Llorona dated back to the time of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Some say she is older than the Aztecs, old as despair itself. Legends are often a mix of history and imagination.
Real events combine with the ideas or points of view of people and ripen over time.
A legend like La Llorona entails the ideas, values, beliefs, and fears of many generations of people over many places and times. The word, Mexico, means 'navel of the moon'. Traditionally in cultures all over the world, the moon is a symbol closely associated with women. Mothers are symbolic with the giving of life. In the clash of cultures that engender Mexico's horrific problems also germinates a great flowering of humanity.