"Ay, que bonito es volar"
You've probably heard those words before.
Maybe you've heard La Bruja played at Mexican celebrations. Maybe you've watched folkloric dancers move across a wooden tarima with candles balanced on their heads. Maybe you've heard the haunting melody without ever knowing what the lyrics actually said.
And if you grew up around Mexican culture, you may have simply known her as La Bruja "the witch."
But here's the thing...
What if I told you there isn't just one La Bruja.
Depending on the version, she can be a supernatural creature who flies through the night, a beautiful woman who seduces unsuspecting men, a terrifying figure who consumes her victims, or even a playful symbol of love, desire, and the unusual women who refuses to follow the rules.
The song itself has been passed through oral traditions, and it's verses have changed, expanded, and been reinterpreted over time. That means La Bruja doesn't necessarily have one single story or one definitive meaning.
And perhaps that's exactly why she has survived.
Because folklore doesn't stay alive by remaining frozen.
It changes as we change.
So today, were going to look beyond the witch.
We're going to explore the many faces of La Bruja - the seductress, the monster, the mysterious woman who flies, and eventually place her beside another famous woman from Mexican folklore.
La Llorona.
One woman is remembered for crying.
The other is remembered for flying.
And somewhere between the two is a question I can't stop thinking about:
After everything that can break a woman's heart... Why wouldn't she choose to fly?
Welcome to Mexican Culture Monday.
Let's talk about La Bruja.
Meet La Bruja
Before we get into the mystery, the seduction, the darker interpretations, and why La Bruja has become such a fascinating figure in Mexican folklore, let's actually meet her.
La Bruja is a traditional song associated today with the musical traditions of Veracruz and the broader Sotavento región. It's commonly performed as part of son jarocho and fandango, where music, poetry, singing, and dance come together as a community celebration.
But here's where things get complicated.
Nobody can point to one definitive version of La Bruja.
The song has passed through oral traditions, and like many traditional songs, its verse can change from one performer or community to another. Some versions emphasize the supernatural, others lean into flirtation and double meanings, and some take the story in a much darker direction.
Even the song's origins aren't completely settled.
Some accounts trace La Bruja to the Isthmus of Oaxaca before it became strongly associated with Veracruz. Its 1954 recording by a group Tierra Blanca helped cement its place within the jarocho musical tradition. Radio UNAM likewise describes its origins as traceable to Isthmus of Oaxaca while its strong association with jarocho music.
So when we talk about La Bruja, we're not necessarily talking about one song with one story that has remained exactly the same for generations.
We're talking about a living place of Mexican musical tradition.
And that's what makes her so interesting.
So Who Is La Bruja?
Well... that depends on which version you hear.
In some interpretations, she a supernatural woman who flies through the night.
In others, she's a mysterious and seductive woman who attracts men and make them her prey.
And then there are the darker interpretations, where the language of the song compares her to something almost vampiric, a creature who consumes the people she's lures in.
Even the famous imagery of flying at two in the morning
Is she a supernatural creature?
Is the song using witchcraft as a playful metaphor for seduction?
Or is the witch simply a way of describing a woman who was considered mysterious, unusal, or even dangerous because she didn't fit the expectations of her time?
There isn't one answer.
And honestly...
I think that's the point.
Because La Bruja has never really belonged to just one storyteller.
Every generation has been able to take her and see something different.
And perhaps that's why, after all these years, we're still talking about her.
Because the real question isn't simply
"Who is La Bruja?"
It's:
What does La Bruja represent to the person telling her story?
And that's where things start getting really interesting.
The Supernatural Bruja
Before La Bruja became a symbol that could mean different things to different people, there was the image that probably comes to mind when you hear the word bruja;
A woman who doesn't belong to the ordinary.
She comes out at night.
She moves through the darkness.
And most famously...
She flies.
In Mexican and broader Latin American folklore, stories of witches who can fly have existed for generations. The ability to leave the ground and travel through the night is often one of the characteristics associated with supernatural women in these traditions.
And La Bruja embraces that imagery.
The song paints a mysterious nighttime world where the boundary between the ordinary and the supernatural become blurred. A woman appears after dark, and suddenly, the familiar world doesn't feel quite so familiar anymore.
But what makes her frightening isn't simply that she can fly.
It's that you don't know what she wants.
Is she looking for someone?
Is she hunting?
Is she searching for a lover?
Or is she simply passing through the night, completely free from the world below.
Perhaps she's looking for someone to take with her.
And that's where we meet another version of La Bruja:
the seductress.
The Seductress
But what if La Bruja isn't simply a woman flying through the night?
In some interpretations, she's something much more dangerous: a beautiful woman who uses her charm to lure men in.
Her beauty becomes her magic.
She attracts them, draws them closer, and turn them into her prey. Some versions take the imagery even further, portraying her as a supernatural creature that consumes the men she seduces.
Suddenly, the witch isn't just frightening because she can fly.
She's frightening because she has the power to make you follow her willingly.
And perhaps that's what makes this version of La Bruja so fascinating.
She not waiting to be chosen.
She the one doing the choosing.
But ther's an even darker interpretations of the song, and it brings us from seduction into something much more sinister.
The witch who doesn't just lure her vicitms... She feeds on them.
The Woman Who Preys on Men
Now we get to one of the darkest interpretations of La Bruja.
In some readings of the song, the witch isn't simply a beautiful woman who attracts men, she hunts them.
Her beauty becomes the bait, and the men who follow her become her prey. The imagery can take on an almost vampiric or monstrous quality, with the witch consuming those she lures into her trap.
It's fascinating reversal of the traditional idea of the woman being pursued.
Here, she is the predator.
She chooses.
She lures.
And the man who follows her may not live to regret it.
Whether we interpret this literally as a supernatural creature or symbolically as a dangerous seductress, this version gives La Bruja an entirely different kind of power.
She's no longer the woman being chased.
She's the one doing the chasing.
Why is She Called a Bruja?
So why bruja?
Why not simply call her a mysterious woman, a seductress, or even a monster?
Because in folklore, a bruja can represent much more than someone who practices magic.
The word itself carries ideas of mystery, danger, transformation, and supernatural power. A woman who possesses abilities that others don't understand can become frightening, and folklore often gives that fear a name.
Bruja.
In La Bruja, that name fits because she doesn't follow the rules of the ordinary world.
She flies.
She transforms.
She seduces.
And depending on the version, she can even make those who follow her disappear.
But there's another reason the word feels so powerful.
For generations, stories have often portrayed women who stepped outside social expectations as dangerous, mysterious, or even monstrous.
A woman who knows too much.
A woman who lives independently.
A woman who refused to be controlled.
A woman who knows her own power.
Sometimes, the easiest way to explain a woman like that was to call her a bruja.
And perhaps that's why the word can feel both frightening and empowering.
Because depending on who tells the story, "bruja" can be an insult, a warning, or a badge of power.
And that brings us to another legendary woman who carries an entirely different kind of power.
La Llorona.
Enter La Llorona
Now let's bring back a woman who we've discussed already about... But she plays an important part in this story.
If La Bruja represents mystery, seduction, and the power to disappear into the night, La Llorona represents something much more heartbreaking.
Loss.
She's remembered as the woman who wanders near the water, searching and crying for the children she lost. Her story has many versions, and her origins are deeply rooted in the layers of Mexican folklore that developed over generations.
But regardless of the version, one thing remains.
She cannot escape her grief.
And that's what makes her such an interesting contrast to La Bruja.
La Llorona cries.
La Bruja flies.
One is haunted by what happened to her.
The other disappears into the night.
And when you place these two women side by side, you start to see something much bigger than two scary figures from Mexican folklore.
You start too see two very different ways of responding to pain.
And that's where where this story gets personal.
Maybe We Don't Want to Be La Llorona
Let's be honest.
Most women know what heartbreak feels like.
Maybe you've loved someone who didn't love you the way you deserved. Maybe you've been disappointed, abandoned, betrayed, or simply left wondering why someone you gave your heart to couldn't give you the same in return.
And that's what makes La Llorona so heartbreaking.
She's forever defined by what she lost.
But maybe that's also why La Bruja feels so different.
At some point, you get tired of crying.
You get tired of waiting.
You get tired of letting someone else's actions define your story.
Maybe you don't want to spend forever standing beside the water, mourning what you can't change.
Maybe you want fly.
Not because you don't feel anymore.
Not because you've stopped loving.
But because you've finally decided that your heartbreak doesn't get to keep you trapped.
Maybe we'd rather be La Bruja.
The woman who stops crying... And she starts flying.
And that idea became the inspiration behind something behind something I've been creating for Casa Del Sol:
Ya No Lloro.
An original song about female empowerment, inspired by the many interpretations of La Bruja and the La Llorona.
Because sometimes the most powerful thing a woman can say is simply:
"Ya No Lloro."
I don't cry anymore.
What's Coming Next?
This is only the beginning of our La Bruja journey.
We've explored the song, the different faces of La Bruja, and why her story can mean something very different when we look at it through the lens of female empowerment.
But now...
We're bringing the story to life,
Friday: Ya No Lloro - an original song and animated music video inspired by La Bruja, La Llorona, and the choice to stop crying and start flying.
Next Monday: An original short animation inspired by the legend of La Bruja and the many interpretations we've explored.
Next Wednesday: The Story of La Bruja - Our original written tale, where we take everything we've explored and create our own version of her story.
Because folklore isn't meant to stay Frozen in the past.
We inherit these stories. We interpret them. And sometimes, we create something new from them.
So this isn't the end of La Bruja's story.
It's only the beginning.
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