In the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, there’s a massive blue mural painted in shades of blue, depicting figures of women among waves and cascading water. In the foreground, a woman stands to the side, a giant tear falling from her eye. She holds a child in her arms in a way that looks nurturing. “La Llorona’s Sacred Waters” was painted by Bay Area artist Juana Alicia back in 2004. If you’ve grown up with the legend of La Llorona, you might be surprised to see her looking like this in this mural. The way people tell her story – both in Mexico and here in California – La Llorona is a ghost, the spirit of a woman who haunts watery places, wailing for her lost children, not protecting them. Reporter Sebastian Miño-Bucheli with the KQED podcast Bay Curious.
What do we do when we’re presented with something we can’t explain? Do we just chalk it up to the supernatural…or superstition? In this story that first aired in 2018, reporter Cat Schuknecht explores the mystery of a bizarre 60-foot deep hole that once appeared on Mt. Shasta, and why a guy who works at an old school video store might have some answers.