thoughts on tulpas
i think i read about tulpas/tulpamancy already a few years ago but ended up forgetting this existed up until now lol. i had to look it up one more time. so, first things first: i'm definitely no expert, in fact, i'm apologising for anything i phrase incorrectly ...
for all my other clueless followers who stumble upon this post, i will start with some summerized explanations based on what i found with my time-limited research - so you won't feel completely lost like me when i first read some tumblr posts on here. and then i will state my opinion as a reality shifter/tarot reader. so you can skip the explanation if you already know what it is :)
tulpamancy - mr google calls it "the practice of creating a tulpa—a distinct, autonomous thought-form or sentient companion—within one's own mind through intense visualization, meditation, and dialogue. unlike imaginary friends, tulpas are experienced as having their own free will, personality, and opinions, behaving independently of the creator's conscious control." it seems like it's often times wrongly labelled as tibetan buddhist practise (that's a myth!) and therefore closed practice (also a myth, it's not against any cultural appropriation!).
i noticed that if you look up tulpamancy here on tumblr, you will also find a lot of 'otherkin' and 'plurality' content.... it seems that all of this can be unofficially put under the umbrella term "alter-human/alternative humanity personal identity 'AHPI'" depending on personal discretion ofc.
plural people/plurality (identity-related) - "refers to the experience of having more than one distinct consciousness, personality, or self-state sharing a single body. often called a "system" or "multiplicity," this identity involves co-conscious, distinct parts (sometimes called "headmates" or "alters") who may feel in control of their actions and often do not experience the distress or amnesia associated with clinical dissociative identity disorder (DID)"- via google search.
further interesting information... "plurality is sometimes considered a form of neurodiversity OR a chosen, lived experience that influences a person's self-concept and social presentation. while DID is a clinical form of plurality, many in the plural community do not see their experience as inherently disordered, but rather as a, sometimes positive, variation in human experience." and "plurality can be caused by early childhood trauma, but it can also exist without trauma, such as in the case of intentionally formed, often through methods like tulpamancy." [some useful termini for understanding: people with trauma originated plurality = traumagenic systems; people with non-trauma originated plurality = endogenic systems; people with intentially formed plurality = parogenic (willogenic) systems - it's a sub category of the endogenic/non-trauma form]
this user even puts tulpamancy in comparison to a 'willogenic (parogenic) systems' and says that main difference is that while tulpas are created from "the ground-up by specific methods of focusing on their essence, working on a mental form and a wonderland (headspace) to support it, and introducing them to different stimuli/things to do until they begin responding independently. (...)" willogenic practice is apearantly 'more a freeform' and 'is more catered toward plurals already significantly experienced in their systemhood'. 'the willogenic headmates forming takes less time than a tulpa creation', 'it can be created from scratch, but it's often formed from an initial "base" that the headmate then develops from after latching onto'. [read op's full post for better understanding].
also interesting to note is that, that while tulpas are active/during tulpa possession, neurological studies show that there is (among other things) a noticeable "reduced brain activity in the the pre-supplementary motor area of the brain", (...) "suggesting that the brain is shifting the way it's processing who is in control" (by reddit user michael_lifshitz, one of the psychiatrists researching tulpas in an fMRI study for stanford university, reference from his comment shown below, link available here).
+ also, more medical information on endogenic systems here if you're curious !
+ there is even a "tulpanomicon", a massive collection of resources of different aspects of tulpamancy written by several different people, which you can check out as well!
now, as for my opinion... i find it truly fascinating what our brain/mind is all capable of and what people end up doing or what new abilities they develop. personally though, i don't think i would ever try tulpamancy. i'm 100% not the type to do that. i'm high key a control freak, i would never want to let someone take over my body/share my body with some else...?? like i can't deal with not being in control...that would be a little bit too freaky for me !! i'm also pretty glad my psychic senses are not all developed... being able to perceive spirits/beings or hearing them would make me so paranoid. when i was a child, before getting into spirituality, i feared darkness, and i had the constant feeling of being observed (or just not alone), especially when it was dark... i really hated it. it made me tense and anxious. now that i'm older, more experienced, and knowledgeable, i know how to protect my space and how to keep it clear from other entities energy-wise. now, my head space is even more important to me. so, i really do not wanna share that. i have trust issues✌🏻. basically, that's also the reason i decided against ever being a jinchuriken in my naruto dr ... i need my healthy dose of privacy, solitude, and self-control to be a functioning human being 🫡
but back to the topic, while going through tumblr, i also noticed that the tulpamancy community on here is pretty small, and most of them also share interest in therian content ... which is also not my cup of tea (though i'm pro shifting to a dr where you're an animal/non-human creature) but trying to live as an animal in this reality as a human being will probably never not be slidly cringy (as an observer)...i'm sorry i just can't watch such content🫠 but don't let that stop you. i respect it but i'd just like to avoid consumming such content.
on a final note, i'm curious about you anon... why did you ask me this? do you have a tulpa? if so, i don't mind hearing about your experience/opinion :)
