Leveling Up

*Notes:

• You can use this as a New Years thing also, instead of, or in conjunction with New Years Goals and/or Resolutions.
• This is something you need to give a lot of time and thought to; as this is something  that ideally will last for an entire year.
• Ensure you know and understand how the cards you choose are used.  Ensure you know all the symbols, special conditions, etc associated with them.
• I do give an example of one, at the end of this post.
• You can also use tarot and/or oracle cards for this, if the gaming cards aren't your thing.

So every year we get a year older.  And I've noticed that pretty much every most of us will take this look back over the years and see all the things we wished we had done.  All the things we wished we had not done.  All the things other people have that we want, etc etc etc.  It's too bad really. 

This year my boyfriend says to me "Babe, you're already old [now this is an inside joke between us because I'm older than him]  but this year you didn't age you leveled up!"  Now, at first I just laughed, and we just continued sitting in the hot tub.  But after a few minutes I had this idea.  Why don't we fucking level up!?  What is keeping us from leveling up!? 

Really, one's first thought there is probably that we aren't in a video game.  Well no, no we're not.  However, we still have lives and we can still learn things, experience things, gain insights, skills, knowledge, etc. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The base intent of this spell is for you to use the cards, (which for whatever reason I'm going to assume you choose because of the meaning they have for you,) to bring the characteristics and traits of that card/character into your life.  But in a more specified, specialized way.  It also will allow one to work with an inanimate object such as a ship (in the Star Trek TNG game there's a card for the Enterprise; in the Bleach game Uryuu's bow has a card) which will be amazing if you need to work with, say, self defense.

The majority of this spell will be based around your own personal system, which is as it should be.  But the first part will be to get a deck of gaming cards, think Magic the Gathering or any of the other hundreds of card games out there.  (Or if you're like me and hard up for money just find a good pic of the card, print it out and cover it with packing tape, or laminate it, to make it strong.)  Or more than one deck, get whatever you want.  And then choose up to 3 cards.  (There are also card templates out there, so if you're unable to find one that fits exactly what you want to do then just make your own!)  I would not do more than 3; we need to be realistic here!  A lot of the skills we could want to learn, qualities we could want to incorporate into our life, can be very complicated, maybe would need classes, things like this.  So don't over burden yourself.

And when you choose the cards look at all of the info on them.   What sorts of characteristics does it display.  Is it all defense?  All offense?  Does it have a lot of requirements?  Be aware of any special considerations or circumstances like it'll only work well if it's paired with another specific card.  But make sure to check that other card! Maybe the pair of them will be super epic awesome!  Also be aware if it's something with a time constraint; is that something you can work with, work around, completely ignore, or perhaps it's a skill that you would prefer to be able to take out at will and then put away again.  (I have a Ninja Water technique Prowl (from Transformer's Animated) taught me that I really should have a card for, to help remind me to do/activate the power, when my anxiety spikes. This would be  very good, acceptable use for a time constraint "only use once per round" type card.)

Now certainly there are cards that are more appropriate to use for this than others.  A card for example that's just a "you loose a turn" card, probably wouldn't work well LOL

So while you're assembling all of this you really need to be aware of what you're wanting to call into yourself and your life.  Be aware if you're doing three things which you need to take instruction classes for.  Be aware if you're wanting to start 3 hobbies which all have large start up costs.  Be aware of your time and energy.  Be aware of your psychological needs and wants, physical needs and wants, spiritual needs and wants.  And be aware of what you are like.  Me?  I'm going to need at least one that's just fun; like me wanting to learn to crochet this year.  While I'm sure there is not a crocheting card out there, I could use a card for a character who enjoys sewing (Uryuu, I'm lookin' at you babe) or crafting or who is good with their hands.  If you are too emotional maybe you need to call in some cold logic, so you could use a Spock or Tuvok card.

So anyway, once you get your cards make a sort of small altar for them.  For me I will be decorating novena candles to go with each one, 'cuz that's just how I roll.  For you; maybe it'll be one candle and a bunch of stones and crystals.  Maybe it'll be drawing something or making a vision board.  Maybe no altar at all.  Whatever your personal practice is.  Keep in mind though that, if you do make an altar, this really is a long term big ritual thing, so if possible make it a semi-permanent altar; one you can use for the entirety of this process for you.

Once you have everything gathered and your altar set up, begin your personal ritual process.  Call quarters if you do, call deities or pc entities if you want.  Light candles and/or incense, sing, drum, dance, masturbate, do whatever it is you do to begin ritual and raise energy.  And as usual, I highly recommend a major cleansing beforehand of both yourself and the space.

Then it's the speaking part.  I would hold each card, maybe caress it, hold it to your third eye, over your heart, whatever works.  Call it's name (or the name of the character or whatever) and state what it is you're calling into yourself and what you will do to affect that change in your life.  If there are special conditions or whatever ensure that you clearly speak about those during this time.  Meditate on the card, decide if you will give offerings or something similar.  Ensure that you fully accept and understand the commitments you are making.  Also, ensure to give each card as equal time as possible as all aspects of you and your life are equally important. 

Now is a good time to put on any jewelry associated with these things that you've gotten.  If it's a character card that has other merchandise maybe introducing those items into your living space now is a good thing (ex - plushies, posters, display figurines, etc.  Surrounding yourself with these items will help encourage you and remind you and keep that entity's energy with you). 

After this it's back to your own personal practices.  Do meditation or whatever you do and then end the ritual.  I think this would be a good thing to keep a journal about, so you can help ensure you stay on track with things.  Maybe you can get a journal specific to each card (many character's have their own notebooks and journals out there now; gotta love merchandising!) or just keep an online blog, or don't do it at all!  Whatever works for you. 

Theoretically this is actually something you can do over and over again.  You can even keep up with the same skills and such; many cards have power ups and next level ups and such so you can build on those skills!  Hell, you can break this down into months and looking at how it works in gaming you can have those mini level ups and such throughout the year; it just depends on how micro-management you like things. 

THINGS YOU CAN BRING INTO YOUR LIFE USING THIS:

Skills:

• self defense
• magic
• breaking a bad habit
• exercising
• health
• any individual physical skill
• studying
• reading
• writing

Psychological Stuff:

• confidence
• leadership
• teamwork
• healing
• overcoming __________
• faith (not necessarily spiritual faith, just faith in others and/or yourself in general)
• being a friend
• having friends
• coping in general

SO HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY DO THIS:

Well... a lot of it depends on what you're doing.  But look at a video game... you level up by doing the same thing over and over in various ways, right?  It's that experience and practice which teaches you to do the thing better.  

So let's say you want to learn archery.  You could find some sort of arrow card and enroll in archery classes.

Let's say you struggle with defending yourself.  You could work with a defensive spell card, or an armor card and learn self defense techniques in whatever area you need to learn defense (physical, mental, astral, etc.)

EXAMPLE:

All right.  Here we have the Borg Queen.  Let's look at what's on her card.  She has powers of diplomacy and leadership but with treachery.  That's actually something you can work with!!  This is a card that I would use in this spell if I were in a situation (that I for whatever reason could not get out of) where I have to work with people as a unit.  This would be a situation where you would learn about diplomacy (perhaps reading a book or two on it), leadership (perhaps taking a class on leading *or* admitting that you are in no way a leader and thus doing what you can to ensure that your team/group has a good leader) and also learning about ways in which people can deceive others (you can read history books, talk to people, etc).  

This is something you can apply to many situations such as working within a team of equals at a job, being an effective family member (if for whatever reason you must stay in contact with your family), be a part of a group of friends and even on a sports team.  

So this one focuses on you interacting with other people.  This is one which will force you to go out and deal with people, but also allow you to learn some book-ish things by reading and so forth.  

You can also use her influence to help you become a better leader by ensuring that your subordinates are all working on equal footing.  Ensuring that all of those who are on the same level are equal and no one gets above themselves.