Tulpagenic

A tulpagenic system is a non-pathological system that is comprised of the tulpas and their host. Tulpamancy is the westernized adaptation of a spiritual practice within Tibetan and Indian Buddhism. It was introduced by western culture through occult and paranormal circles, entering pop culture through horror stories, and becoming popularized by the *My Little Pony* community.  Tulpas, according to western interpretation, are entities intentionally created in the mind parallel to your own consciousness. Despite the origin of the community, the majority of tulpagenic systems believe their experience to be a purely psychological phenomenon.

## Multiplicity

Tulpas are intentionally created through using purposeful dissociation, visualization, and meditative techniques. There are three types of tulpas: natural, semi-natural, and summoned. Summoned tulpas are created from scratch by the host, while natural tulpas already have a basis which was unconsciously created through powerful emotions (not connected to trauma). Semi-natural tulpas lay somewhere in between these two types.

Developing a tulpa can take an indeterminable amount of time and requires a lot of dedication. By imagining a person into the mind and treating them as a real entity, the thought is that the tulpa will eventually grow into an independent person. Although, it's unproven whether Tulpas are truly independent or not.

The host can communicate with, interact with, and raise their Tulpa in their mind. Initially, the host has a great amount of control over the Tulpa, with the ability to consciously enable or restrict them.  A more developed tulpa may be able to switch with the host, but this requires effort from both the tulpa and host.

## Distinguishing From Other Experiences

**Mental disorders:** Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD-1) are post-traumatic mental disorders that cause pathological multiplicity. However, it's not uncommon for DID and OSDD-1 systems to mistake themselves to be experiencing something non-pathological, such as imaginary friends, spiritual possession, tulpas, or other forms of non-pathological multiplicity.  This is because amnesia of childhood trauma is very common. Furthermore, many pathological systems are not distressed or even aware of their dissociative symptoms until later in life.  This is why it's very important to talk to a professional if you believe you are experiencing multiplicity in order to rule out pathological causes!

One thing that separates alters from tulpas is that tulpas are created through practice and intention while alters are usually not. However, any DID/OSDD-1 system can be under the impression that they intentionally created a system member without knowing that said system member had already existed. Pre-existing alters can come in and out of awareness, or even be pulled into awareness by the upfront alter. An alter revealing themself for the first time, or being intentionally pulled into awareness, can be mistaken for intentionally creating a tulpa.

According to Tulpa.info [1], tulpas are intentionally made and controllable (the host can consciously change them, restrict them, limit them--although this ability may diminish as the tulpa becomes more independent).  A tulpa should not take control of the body unless the system has worked to achieve this ability; it takes effort from both the host and the tulpas. On the other hand, alters usually switch involuntarily, especially from triggers. Alters can also switch voluntarily if they want to, but tulpas should not be able to take control without the host's consent.  Most importantly, tulpas should not cause any distress, impairment, or severe dissociation.

## Controversy

The concept of western tulpamancy has gained a somewhat controversial reputation primarily on Tumblr due to how its modern understanding was derived from Tibetan and Indian Buddhism. Some circles believe that it's culturally appropriative to be using the term "tulpas" or "tulpamancy" outside of their religious context, and opt to use different terms instead such as "thoughtforms" and "parogens."

Tulpa.info Symbolr/Tulpas symbol
## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa
2. ↑ Paranormalizing the Popular through the Tibetan Tulpa: Or what the next Dalai Lama, the X Files and Affect Theory (might) have in common | Savage Minds
3. ↑ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultures/tulpamancy
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tulpamancy: Guide Into the Strange and Wonderful - Google Docs
5. ↑ Tulpa Community Census 2018 Results
6. ↑ **How long does it take to make a tulpa?** • Tulpa.info
7. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/what-is-a-tulpa/
8. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/faq/#limits
9. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/further-development/
10. ↑ https://www.isst-d.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/childguidelines-ISSTD-2003.pdf
11. ↑ http://did-research.org/did/basics/presentation.html
12. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/faq/#limits
13. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/further-development/
14. ↑ https://www.tulpa.info/faq/#did-mpd-schizophrenia
15. ↑ https://amanitasys.carrd.co/#tulpas
16. ↑ https://twitter.com/ColgateTshirt/status/1308994959509422081