LEGEND OF THE GIRL OF THE PANTHEON

The legend of the girl from the pantheon is a very popular story in Mexico that tells of a girl who usually appears in a cemetery and who, on occasions, interacts with those who see her. Other times it simply shows itself and scares with its spectral laughter those who get it during the night.

There are variations regarding the place and names of some characters, as well as the date on which the events that originated the legend occurred. Likewise, sometimes the girl is shown near a particular grave, and in other versions she may even appear in areas near the cemetery or cemetery, but outside of it.

It is very common to find horror stories and legends in which the protagonist is a girl. Her innocence and delicacy seem to be a factor that causes great interest among the listeners of this type of stories.

There are legends that become well known in certain regions and that end up being adapted to the characteristics of each site by those who tell them. The legend of the girl in the pantheon is one of these, having acquired great importance in Latin America, especially Mexico.

There are many versions of the legend of the girl from the pantheon, but the best known are the following:

Version 1: a disobedient girl

It is said that Miranda was a girl who lived with her parents, who sometimes went out and left her alone at times. One of those lonely days, boredom led Miranda to run away from home, disobeying instructions to behave well in the absence of her parents.

Between the excitement of going out to the street and the adrenaline for disobeying, Miranda decided to enter the cemetery that was near her house. At first she was a little scared, but that didn't stop her from continuing.

Miranda was playing jumping between the graves and suddenly she found one that was half open. As she approached it, she stumbled and lost her balance, falling into the pit. The girl received a severe blow to the head and died instantly.

Now the ghost of Miranda haunts the cemetery, sometimes playing, other times scaring the children who pass by the place and, like her, disobey their parents.

Version 2: between flowers and ghosts

In Monterrey is the Panteón del Carmen, near which lived a family whose business was to sell flowers. The children of the family were María, Gregorio and Viviana, who helped their parents on the days when there was more work; that is to say, the Day of the Dead and the Day of the Saints.

One day Viviana, the youngest girl, was playing with other children in the pantheon until she suddenly left the group. Her sister Maria saw this and decided to follow her. Viviana stopped at an old mausoleum and started talking to someone. María did not see who her little sister was with, but when she heard laughter and crying, she got scared and lost sight of Viviana.

Faced with this situation, all the adults began to search for the girl with flashlights at night. They arrived at the tomb and saw that Vivianita was inside. The big surprise was that the tomb had been closed for many years.

In order to enter, they broke a window of the mausoleum and rescued the girl. When they left, Viviana said that she had a friend named Carmina, who had invited her to live with her because she felt very lonely because she was not visited by anyone. It was the month of October.

A bad day to play

When the Day of the Dead arrived, there was a lot of work and the whole family went to help with the flower arrangements. Viviana had brought a doll to play with, but when she returned home she no longer had it. When asked about her doll, the girl said that Carmina asked her when she was in the pantheon.

Hearing this, the mother told her husband to accompany her to Carmina's grave. When they arrived they saw that the doll was there; at that moment the lady felt the brush of a small hand on hers.

Upon returning home, the couple found their daughter Maria. She was crying very scared saying that Vivianita did not wake up. They tried to revive her, they called the doctors, but they only confirmed that the girl had died of "natural causes."

After this event, the woman and her children were out of Mexico for a while until they decided to return to Monterrey. They were reunited with the father along with the cemetery watchman, who with a more serene countenance said that sometimes at night they could hear the laughter of two girls playing, coming from Carmina's tomb.

Version 3: calculation error

During the 1930s, in Jalisco it is said that a family was going to bury a relative and they decided to take one of the girls with them, who was barely seven years old. The adults thought that it was important for the little girl to learn early about the matter of death.

After finishing the ritual, they returned home and realized that the girl was not with them. They returned to the cemetery to look for her, but they did not find her. They did that for a long time, until they gave up and gave it up.

What had actually happened was that during the burial the girl was very close to the grave. Suddenly, she received a blow that made her fall unconscious into the tomb, without anyone noticing.

Years later, the family was going to bury another relative, finding the terrible surprise of the girl's corpse in the grave when they raised the tombstone. It is said that the girl appears in the cemetery and if toys are left for him, they end up near the grave where the little girl lies.

Pantheons famous for legend

Some of the most named pantheons when recounting this story of the ghost girl from the cemetery are the Panteón San Miguel de Apodaca, the Panteón San Isidro in Mexico City, the Panteón Hidalgo in Tepic Nayari and the Panteón del Carmen in Monterrey.

Cemeteries not only house graves and flowers; this is demonstrated by having so many accounts of spectral apparitions in folklore. The aforementioned pantheons have many years of history, which gives them an even greater touch of mystery.

When visiting the different towns and investigating their myths and legends, it is perceived that the ingredients of these stories are common to each other.

Illness, fear of the unknown and death itself have always caused unease in man. These elements are what give shape and background to horror stories, as old as humanity.

References

The universal. (2012). The 10 most famous legends of Mexico. Zócalo Newspaper: Extraordinary World. Recovered from zocalo.com.mx.
Herrera-Sobek, M. (2012). Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions. ABC-CLIO. Recovered from books.google.es.
Medrano, G. and Sepúlveda, R. (2007). Let's Tell Stories of Our Ancestors: Study on Legends of Guanajuato. University Act, 17 (2), 5-11. Recovered from redalyc.org.
Poncela, A. (2000). Female protagonism in stories and legends of Mexico and Central America. Narcea Editions: Mexico City. Recovered from books.google.es.
Rosan A. Jordan, R.; de Caro, F. (1986). Women and the Study of Folklore. Signs: Journal of women in Culture and Society, 11 (3). Recovered from journals.uchicago.edu

LEGEND OF THE GIRL OF THE PANTHEON - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025