After my first harrowing experience in a contract, I attempted to recuperate by spending time with a sect of worshippers of the Aesir and Vanir in the mountains near Los Angeles. After getting up early for a morning vigil and a bout of studying religious texts, I received a call from a voice that, while panicked, sounded familiar. It was Will - although he sounded more sober than the day before. He begged me to teach him my knowledge of the occult, saying he realized that his mastery over the sciences was actually only a small fraction of the knowledge of the world. 

I agreed to this, hoping that this seeker of wisdom could prove a useful disciple, if I could get him to sober up. After all, while he was unenlightened in spiritual ways and knowledge of the gods, he seemed to have the capacity for great intelligence. 

I drove out to Phoenix and met that poor, lost man. I told him that he must be initiated into the cult if I was to teach him the secrets of the runes. Out in the desert on a rocky outcrop, I performed the ritual of initiation by sacrificing a newly-bought goat to Odin and all the gods and goddesses, while reciting runic incantations and sprinkling the goat’s blood on Will. 

I returned with Will to the same neo-pagan group that I had been staying with. I introduced him to the basics of my knowledge of the occult, and of runic magic. I initiated a self-deprivation ritual for Will to perform, emulating the All-Father’s sacrifice of hanging on a tree for nine days. With my teaching and this ritual, Will learned much of runic magic.

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In the time I had to myself, I realized that I must be at the height of my physical ability in order to survive, gain power, and bring down the Church. I spent my time practicing physical disciplines - running in the mountains, climbing boulders, swimming in the nearby lake - trying to become more like Odin’s warrior Valkyries. I decided not to return to Gotland for the month - the acolytes could take care of the Swedish commune while I attended to Will in America.