The 5 most macabre Mexican myths and legends

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Do you know the five most macabre Mexican legends? Mexico is a country full of cultural wealth, including scary stories that have been passed down from generation to generation to explain historical events and mysterious phenomena.

Some of these legends have variants in other countries and are universal to our global heritage. We’ve got five of the most macabre Mexican legends and the dark meaning behind each of them.

5. Macabre Mexican legends: La llorona

The legend of La Llorona, or ‘The Crying Woman’, is not exclusive to Mexico, but that is where it originated. It is the story of a woman who wears a white dress and is crying for her children. Also known as ‘La Malinche’, La Llorona is a story of infidelity and heartbreak.

La Llorona is about a woman whose husband abandoned her. In her depression, she drowns her children. Immediately regretting this, she wanders in an eternal search for them. It’s said those who see her are about to experience their own tragedy.

4. The cempasuchil flower

Have you ever heard of the legend of the cempasúchil flower (or marigold in the US)? This macabre Mexican legend is related to the Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition in which souls that have transcended to another dimension are honored. The legend of the cempasúchil flower involves a young woman named Xóchitl, who one day decided to buy flowers to set up an altar. Along the way, she met a young man with whom she fell in love.

Xóchitl and Huitzilin were victims of an ambush and the young man was killed. In his honor, Xóchitl planted the heart of her beloved in the earth (a request that he made to her as he died). From it grew flowers with a sweet aroma and a color that resembled the sun, which she named Cempasúchil.

3. The legend of Popocatepetl

In Mexico, there are at least 40 active volcanoes and one of them is the Popocatépetl volcano, which has caused alarm lately. This brings to mind one of the countries most enduring legends. The story of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl is about two young warriors in love who had to separate. Due to a misunderstanding, Iztaccíhuatl believed that her beloved had died in combat and was plunged into despair.

Iztaccíhuatl died of grief. Upon his return, Popocatépetl took his beloved to the mountains, where he also died. The gods transformed them into volcanoes, symbolizing an eternal love, which survives adversity with its strength and will remain united forever.

2. Alley of the Kiss

The Ally of the Kiss is another tragic Mexican legend that features two young lovers. If you have ever visited Guanajuato, you have probably heard of it. There, legend has it that Carmen and Luis, two lovers who belonged to different social classes, would regularly meet in this alley until her father found out about her affair.

Without anyone knowing, Luis had devised a plan. He would buy the house that was right next to where Carmen lived, so that they could meet in secret. Upon learning that the couple was together, Carmen’s father stabbed Luis, who gave his beloved one last kiss in the alley where they met. This is how one of the saddest legends in Mexico was born, and one that is revived every day by locals and tourists.

1. Macabre Mexican Legends: The Island of the Dolls

This is one of the eeriest Mexican legends. It originates from the Xochimilco channel, a busy area near Mexico City. There, it is believed that a man who lived alone in that island found the body of a girl who had drowned. The girl’s spirit caused him to hallucinate and led him to collect old and worn dolls, which he hung from nearby trees.

The man dedicated himself to this task for many years and some came to think that the dolls had powers or negative energy, although he always thought that they served to protect him from evil spirits. The most macabre part of the story is that the man died in the same place where he had found the girl’s drowned body.