All peoples have narratives important to their culture. Myths and legends are a way to keep that culture alive, without losing it over the years. We invite you to read this article about myths and legends of Mexico, so you can learn a little about Mexican culture.
Myths and legends
All societies agree on one thing: they have myths and legends. Regardless of where you were born, if there is one thing that all human beings have in common, it is that they have all heard a myth or legend.
These narratives are traditional, no matter if they are mystery, horror or simply educational. Myths and legends form an important part of the culture of each nation. The most curious thing about this whole world is that societies have managed to transmit these stories throughout the generations.
While in modern times the stories are described as fanciful, when they were created they really represented a reality for that population of the moment. These stories were created to give logic to the events that happened around them.
Even long before the Hispanic language arrived in Latin America, the cultures had already developed their own ancient histories. Mexico is a country that stands out a lot for its wide cultural repertoire, full of quite famous stories. Therefore, in this article, you will discover the most popular myths and legends for this region.
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Myths and legends of Mexico
Both myths and legends are important stories that manage to be passed down from generation to generation. Although most of them have been passed on orally, a good part of them have been printed on paper so that knowledge of them is not lost over the years.
There are various types of myths and legends. These narratives can vary greatly from each other, even if they share the same genre. From solved mysteries to heroic people, mythological creatures, supernatural animals, powerful gods and historical figures, there is a wide range of characters that star in these stories.
From a fantasy world, it is intended to explain everyday situations, natural events and even teach some moral basis. There is no specific author, the stories are so old that it is impossible to designate an author for them. They are ghost stories, which adapt and evolve over time, even though their main essence remains.
The narrations of a society, is a key element to give a sighting to its culture. Next, we will present 12 myths and short legends of Mexico, so you can learn about the culture of this nation and its beliefs.
The Llorona
From one of the darkest corners of the world, legend has it that there was a woman a long time ago who tried to take revenge on the man she had married. This man had broken her heart, so to hurt him, she murdered her three children in the river. However, the moment she saw what she had done to her, she was very remorseful and killed herself before she was consumed by her guilt.
Since then, the woman was condemned to wander in the mortal world, walking the streets of different cities when the clock strikes midnight. People can distinguish her from other specters, since she used to cry constantly, screaming hysterically for her children, that's how she got her nickname "la llorona".
While it is true that this woman's motives change depending on the version, the narrative always ends the same: the woman repents, but she had already committed the crime. Those who speak of this story specify that normally, La Llorona only appears to bad people and does so to punish them for what they have committed.
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihualt
In the center of Mexico it can be seen that there are two volcanoes named after Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Both volcanoes were named for two important people, a famous Aztec warrior and the daughter of one of the chiefs. Popocatépetl (the warrior) had promised Iztaccíhuatl (the chief's daughter) that she would return when the war was over.
Although they loved each other very much, there was someone who wanted to prevent them from being together. Another warrior had heard their conversation, because he was also in love with Iztaccihuatl, he told him that he had died in combat, even though it was not true.
The young woman decides to take her own life, because a terrible sadness flooded her. When Popocatépetl returned to town, he found that his beloved had taken her own life, so he decided to do the same. The gods, because they had observed the love between these young people, gave them the opportunity to meet again, only instead of mortals, they would be volcanoes, so they could be together for eternity.
The alley of the kiss
This story is a typical legend of a city in Mexico called Guanajuato and explains how a jealous father had prevented the relationship between his daughter Carmen and her lover. He hated that love so much that he promised Carmen with an older and rich man, who would take her away from the country.
Before his daughter and the other man got married, he locked the young woman in one of the rooms of the house, at that time, the houses were very similar to each other, since they had a very narrow alley between them. Carmen and her lover took advantage of the window in her room to see each other and kiss, that man she loved so much, bought the house next door and saw how both windows coincided.
Unfortunately this story does not have a happy ending. The father found the two lovers and with great fury, stuck a knife in his daughter's chest, the man only managed to give his beloved a goodbye kiss. Since then, that alley was baptized as the alley of the kiss and by tradition, when a couple passes through there, they must kiss in front of the window of the house.
the mayan hummingbird
Within the great repertoire of myths and legends of Mexico, you will find the myth of the birth of the hummingbird. The narrative says that during the creation of the world, the Mayan gods gave a specific task to each animal that inhabited the earth. Once the list was finished, they noticed that someone was missing who manages to convey ideas, thoughts and even desires between them.
They no longer had any more mud or corn, which were the materials they had used to create the rest of the things. The only thing left in their repertoire was a small jade stone, which they decided to carve to create a date. When they had finished, they blew on it and it flew away very fast, that's how they created a new being, this one, they named it x't unu'um What does hummingbird mean?
The mulatto girl from Córdoba
The mulatto woman from Córdoba is a true legend. She was a woman who died at the stake when she was condemned by the Holy Office, near the eastern coast of Mexico.
Several things were attributed to this woman and the stories of her death vary. The first version says that she had eternal youth and the second, she was the lawyer for impossible cases, she served unemployed workers and single women. She always spent her time surrounded by men and they fell in love with her because of her gifts, making her lose themselves along the path of her carnal desires.
She was arrested because the people said that she had a pact with the devil and that she worshiped him in her own home. She was arrested by the Court of the Holy Inquisition and accused of witchcraft. Condemned to die, she asked the guards for a sheet of paper and a piece of coal, with which she escaped from her cell, leaving a smell of sulfur that is still reported today.
The reality of the woman from Córdoba is that she died at the stake, along with many women who were convicted of the same crime, in times of witch hunts.
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The alley of the dead
In the city of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, there is a legend that tells of a man whose job was to light all the oil lamps in the city and who was killed while doing his job. It is said that he had already finished, however, he mysteriously died without lighting the last one.
The man appears at 9 p.m., going through the alley of oil lamps to check that they are lit. Curiously, this Mexican legend is recent compared to others, despite this, it is still a great cultural symbol.
The nahual
Since pre-Hispanic times, it was believed that there were several gods that possessed the ability to transform their human form into that of an animal. This fact is an important part of Mexican culture, where most of the gods are represented in both forms. This ability was also attributed to sorcerers, shamans and other characters with mystical powers.
Thanks to this, the legend is created that the nahuales are mystical people who appear to people transformed into common animals, most of the appearances happen at midnight.
On the other hand, many of the Mexican traditions, including legends and myths, are influenced by pre-Hispanic folklore. These references are preserved through time and impact many of the beliefs of the people, even in modern times, the nahuales or the nagual is a clear example of this.
Devil's alley
Located in Mexico City, there is an alley where the devil is reported to appear. As many people were skeptical, one brave man decided to check out that story and decided that he should walk down that alley to see if it was true.
The site was very scary, as there were many trees that prevented the moonlight from illuminating the street. He didn't even make it halfway when he visualized a shadow behind a tree, looking closer, he could see the shadow take the form of a man laughing intensely.
Very scared, the man tried to run away, but he felt the ground sink and wanted to trap him there. With what little strength he had left, he fought until he was able to run out of that alley. Once safe, he told everyone about his encounter with the devil.
Many of the people of the place say that they leave offerings to the being that appears in that tree so that it does not hurt them. That place was baptized as the devil's alley and few are the brave ones who decide to cross there.
the island of dolls
Even if the story behind why the island of dolls exists is not real, the site itself does exist. In Xochimilco there is a large lake that is full of dolls. This creation was thanks to Julián Santana, a man who was dedicated to collecting abandoned dolls and placing them around the lake as an offering.
According to him, he did this to drive away the evil spirits that were in the lake. He offered the dolls as a symbol of peace, specifically for a girl who drowned in that lake. Don Julián died a few years ago, but the dolls are still standing and it is said that his soul is constantly taking care of the dolls and placing new ones.
Princess Donají
Some time ago, there was a legend that Princess Donají. This story tells of Cosijopi, the last governor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in southern Mexico. This man had as offspring a daughter whom he called Donají.
The Mixtecs and the Zapotecs were at war, during that conflict, Donají was captured as a hostage and died being murdered, the enemy side had decapitated her. Her body was buried but her head was never found, or at least not during that time.
After several years, a shepherd who was walking through the Oaxacan mountains set out to pluck a lily from the ground, in doing so, he found that under the lily he had buried a head that seemed to be human. The shepherd rescued her and took her to be buried with her body in the Cuilapam temple.
Once both extremities were together, Princess Donají's soul could finally rest in peace.
The Vampire Tree of Guadalajara
Vampire tales not only appear in Romania, but there is a Mexican version. This story, from many years ago, says that a foreigner from Europe arrived in a town in Guadalajara, Mexico. This gentleman was very strange, quiet and reserved, but since he was not really a problem, people left him alone.
After a while, they realized that some strange events had been happening since the arrival of that man. The animals of the town appeared lifeless overnight. After a while, bodies of small children also began to appear. All these corpses had a common focal point, none had blood on the body.
The villagers got fed up and decided to look abroad, at night, they armed themselves with courage and confronted the man, since they believed that he was the culprit. When they found this young man, they realized that he had tried to kill another man, so they stopped him and drove a wooden stake into his chest.
They decided to bury his body in the center of town, covering his grave with bricks. Over the years, a tree managed to grow between the bricks, the residents affirm, that if you try to cut a branch, you will see how the blood of the victims of the Guadalajara vampire is spilled.
The legend of Tepoztecatl
Tepoztécatl is a recurring character in the legends of the Mexican region, specifically of the Morelos people. It is said that he was the son of a princess who became pregnant by a spell from a bird that she had perched on her shoulder. Because the woman was not married, the girl's parents were enraged and forced her to separate from her baby when it was born.
This little boy begins his story when he is abandoned in the forest and some ants decide to help him and raise him. The ants became friends with the bees and asked them to give them some honey to feed the child. A few months later, the ants decided to leave the baby next to an agave, which decided to feed it with sap. Of course, the agave also left Tepoztécatl after a few months and placed it on some pieces of wood so that it could travel down the river.
Curiously, the little boy managed to navigate the river until he reached the place where an elderly couple lived. These people decided to welcome Tepoztécatl and adopt him as part of their family. A long time later, when he was already a strong and intelligent adult, a monster in the form of a snake appeared in the town to scare the villagers.
The old woman who had adopted Tepoztécatl was the one chosen to fight the creature. However, she was not in a position to do so, so her adopted son decided to go in her place and killed the beast using the edge of an obsidian crystal, thus becoming the hero of the people.
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Importance of the myths and legends of Mexico
Regardless of where you were born, it is impossible not to know some kind of legend or myth. All civilizations, both ancient and modern, have their own stories that tell about their origins and beliefs. The set of these cultural narratives is what we all know as a myth.
These stories, without an original author, are traditions of societies that have been maintained through the years. Myths, as we have said before, represent a narrative that tries to explain some natural or social event, in addition to the fact that many of them try to teach a moral attitude or a value.
Myths and legends are not only valued for the reality of their facts, but also for what they represent on a cultural level. Even though we know that it is a fantasy story, it is impossible not to appreciate its cultural impact. The main characters in these stories are not ordinary humans, which in fact, instead of alienating people, manages to entertain them even more.
Today they are fantasy stories, in the past they were reality for a people. Researchers of the ancient world have come to the conclusion that the myths lost their force when the human being began to take the first steps towards a more scientific world.
The myths and legends of Mexico and science
A common theme with the myths was the explanation of natural events, which in the reasoning of man, had to have an explanation. Due to the lack of study, the creation of myths made humanity of that time understand what was happening.
Modernly, logic tells us a scientific process to explain these natural phenomena, then we no longer need or believe in the invented explanation. Mythology was then recognized as an irrational discourse that had no place in the logic of a more modern time.
Despite this, the myth did not abandon humanity. Although it is true that it was no longer an absolute reality, it still allowed to see the vestiges of a society, which is of the utmost importance at a cultural level, this as a result made society cling to the narratives and continue telling them as part of their traditions.
The myth and legends are still alive in the present, literature, cinema and art use these ancient narratives as a reference to keep that memory alive. Appreciating the cultural value that these texts transmit to us is very important to continue functioning correctly in society.
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