In 2012, the world experienced a spectacular media based hype about the reputed end of the world according to the end of the Maya calendar. The volume at hand combines studies of different disciplines which explore the question, what Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions really tell us about the "end of the world" and what of our apocalyptic visions are based on our own historic Jewish-Christian background. Further contributors in this volume discuss apocalyptic ideas of selected Amerindian societies from the colonial past up to the present. They also reflect how those apocalyptic visions are taken up again as metaphors in modern Mexican literature. The volume is closed by an interview on the effects of "2012" on Maya research with expert Nikolai Grube.