This paper argues that Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World subverts US-centric discourses on border crossing by exposing them as artificial myths. Suspending said myths by superimposing an alternative mythical dimension rooted in Aztec cosmology and narratives about the descent into the underworld, the novel instead fosters a form of ‘alternative knowledge’ in which the liminal state of border-crossing bodies becomes detached from the negative stigma of hegemonic US-centric discourse. The ensuing study’s main analysis aims to detail how the novel’s narrative structure of descent reimagines the experiences of unauthorized border crossing as a mythical and transformative journey of self-discovery.