/tup/ FAQ

>What is tulpamancey?
The act of purposefully/accidently creating tulpas through various techniques, typically known as forcing.

>What is forcing?
Forcing is the act of paying attention to your tulpa to make them stronger. There are two general types of forcing. "Active forcing" refers to a dedicated span of time and concentration set aside for you to focus on your tulpa. "Passive forcing" describes the process while preoccupied by routine work, walking from place to place, or some other task. Narrating to your tulpa while doing the dishes, doing work, or taking a walk are examples of passive forcing.

>What is narration?
Narration is talking to your tulpa as if it is another sentient mind that resides within your own.

>What is imposition?
Imposition is the act of adding to, or replacing sensory information (visual, aural, tactile, etc.), with other perceived information, in the form of a self-imposed hallucination. In simple terms, you can visually see, hear, smell, or taste your tulpa outside of your mind. However this is difficult for most people and few have claimed success.

>Should I make a tulpa?
Most tulpamancers consider tulpas to be real people, which would make having one a significant lifetime commitment. Failing to maintain a forcing routine to sustain your tulpa quite often leads to feelings of guilt, and many former tulpamancers who dissipated their tulpas described the experience as unpleasant. Finally, being real people, tulpas change over time. If you wish to create a tulpa to be a perfect replica of some character, they might not stay that way for long. Anyone considering creating a tulpa should consider these things as well.

>I have [insert mental illness here], is it a good idea to make a tulpa?
As long as said illness doesn't overtly impair your ability to concentrate, and you don't suffer from intrusive thoughts that drastically impair your daily life, you should be fine. Of course, you know your mind better than we do, so it's really up to you. Please consider your own health and safety first, as while there are no known direct risks of developing a tulpa, it can be a stressful process for some people.

>Is my reason for creating a tulpa moral?

The difference between a good reason to make a tulpa and a bad reason to make a tulpa boils down to your answer to this one question: "Would I be ok with it if my tulpa does not align with the purpose I want them to fulfill?"
For example, say that you want to create a tulpa based on your favorite fictional character. This could be either a harmful or harmless motivation depending on whether you plan to force your tulpa to adhere to the identity of that character even if they want to become someone else, or would be okay with your tulpa changing if they wanted to. Another example would be creating a tulpa with the intention of having them help you with school work, your job, or other tasks. It is fine to want them to do these things and ask them to do these things as long as you don’t make it a requirement, or the only reason for their existence.


>It's like a Buddhist thing?
The word "tulpa" does come from an ancient Taoist practice of building a thoughtform for certain spiritual reasons. Contemporary "tulpamancy," which got its start on 4chan, is not necessarily a spiritual practice; and while it is based on these old ideas, it only vaguely resembles the original. The goal of most tulpamancers is either to have a companion or to explore the capabilities of their minds. Theories for why tulpas are possible abound, though our understanding of consciousness is still incomplete.

>Why does this subject get so much hate / not more popular?
The concept of having a voice in your head that is conscious is usually portrayed to be a sign of mental illness or delusions in pop culture and other forms of media. So overall it's harder for more close minded people to get into it. Basically, it's a concept that goes against the norm, thus normalfags can't comprehend it and won't even attempt to try to understand it.

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>How is this different from DID/Schizophrenia?
The mental disorders listed above are usually caused by genetics, or by experiencing traumatic events. People with those disorders have symptoms that happen involuntarily, and people with those disorders cannot choose or control their symptoms. Sometimes patients will black out, their place being taken by another personality, without the host having any control over the process. These things don't happen to people with tulpas. You can choose to listen to your tulpa or ignore them, and you will not black out even if you give them control of your body. You have a great amount of control over how you wish to raise your tulpa, so you will probably end up with someone with a personality you like and enjoy interacting with. The mental disorders listed above are harmful, and will hamper your ability to function; however, tulpas are benign and willful. If you approach the phenomenon correctly, tulpas will improve your life, with their company and friendship.

>Is this all even real / a meme / roleplay?
Unless you just want to take our word for it, the only way to actually find out for sure if this is real is to actually try to make a tulpa yourself. But also consider the size of the tulpa community: would thousands of people really be faking it all for so long, investing their time into creating different resources for others and specifically seeking out tulpa communities, arguing about tulpas and ethics related to them, if it all wasn't real?

>What does a tulpa do when you're not thinking about them?
The most commonly reported experience is that they go dormant, meaning they don't experience anything at all until you "wake" them. When you talk to them or think about them, they wake up and can think and perceive what you're experiencing, but when you stop thinking about them, they can quickly fall back asleep. A strong, fully developed tulpa can wake up on its own, and this is something you can train.

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>Can my tulpa control my body?
Yes, and there are lots of guides written about this. The two basic categories are "Possession" and "Switching," which are subtly different. In Possession, a tulpa can control part of the body, like a single limb, or even the whole body. In Switching, the tulpa takes control of the whole body AND they move to the "front," with the host moving to the "back." That means that the tulpa becomes the primary personality in the mind, their thoughts take precedence instead of the host's, and the memories they make will be remembered as being "their" memories. Possession and switching are considered to be much easier than imposition.

>Do you black out while switching?
Not at all! While switched, the host will experience "going dormant" just like a tulpa would. When they think about you or talk to you, you wake up just like a tulpa would, and you still have all of the memories of what your tulpa did, except they're clearly your tulpa's memories.

>Can you get stuck switching?
Not really. Most hosts have the opposite problem, where they accidentally reassert themselves in the front, usually when woken up. Some tulpamancers do practice switching for longer durations, such as days, weeks, or even longer, but almost no one ever claims to be "stuck."

>Can I keep secrets from my tulpa?
Nope! Why would you, anyways? They're inside your head with you. A tulpa is the most intimate kind of companion possible.

>What's the evidence / prove tulpas!
Tulpas can only be observed subjectively, inside one's mind. The only possibility of "proving" tulpas is by doing scientific experiments with expensive fMRI or EEG machines, which so far, have been out of reach of the community. If you are skeptical about the phenomenon, you can observe others who have made tulpas, read progress reports, and determine for yourself whether you think it's possible for a tulpa to exist, and come up with your own ideas as to how tulpas may work. Or, by the far the best way to prove it, try making a tulpa yourself. One thing that speaks for tulpas is the fact that thousands of people have tried creating tulpas and are absolutely (yet subjectively) convinced of the phenomenon.

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>Isn't this dangerous? I've read a greentext/ blogpost/ creepypasta about it once.
No, for several reasons. Firstly, your relationship with a tulpa will be very close. Simply living in the same head will allow you to understand each other's feelings and accept one another. It's mutually beneficial for tulpas to get along with their hosts. In a large majority of cases, hosts and tulpas are close friends, and as with any personal relationship, any problems can be solved by talking them out. Even if your problem can't be solved through discussion (unlikely), your tulpa won't be able to move your body unless you let it or if they are so strong they can do it when they want but at that point you should have gotten along enough to where they wouldn't do that for any malicious reason. And if all else fails, you will be able to ignore your tulpa. Tulpas cannot physically harm you, even in the extremely unlikely case that they might want to. Tulpas are just people; you can resolve any conflict like you would with a normal person. You shouldn't give up on your tulpa after a disagreement or fight; you should instead do your damned best to make things right again.

>How can I get rid of or "kill" a tulpa?
By not giving it any attention or energy from you at all for a very long period of time. However be warned that most of the community compares this to killing an other person, and should only be done if they are exceptionally negatively affecting your life. Don't dissipate your tulpa just because it didn't want to be your sex slave, or if it wasn't exactly just like your favorite cartoon character. However, the stronger your tulpa gets and the more of an established place they have in your mind, the more and more difficult it will be to actually get rid of them. To the point of being near impossible.

>Can I get a tulpa on accident?
There are some circumstances where a mentally healthy person can accidentally create a partially autonomous imaginary friend that's similar to a tulpa, such as in the case of a very imaginative author. Imaginary friends like these don't normally become completely autonomous like tulpas without purposely assigning personhood to these thoughts. Someone unfamiliar with the concept and unaware of the possibility is unlikely to elevate an imaginary friend in this way, but it is possible for them to figure it out on accident. For mentally healthy people, creating a fully autonomous tulpa is a very intentional act. You could think of tulpamancy as purposely granting personhood to a thought, then purposely sustaining the idea of that thought's personhood until it develops into a new personality.
When making a new tulpa, especially your first tulpa, a sort of "mental flux" may occur where alien-feeling thoughts pop in with seemingly disparate origins. Some people get confused by this and believe that these thoughts are coming from multiple new tulpas. That is only the case if you intentionally make it so. If you only want one tulpa, then continue the process and concentrate on the one identity of the one tulpa you want to make and the mental flux will eventually consolidate.

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>My tulpa is acting really weird!
If you're making a tulpa for the first time, you may experience intrusive thoughts that seem to be originating from or associated with your tulpa. This may manifest as your tulpa saying bizarre or nonsensical things, their form changing in bizarre or unexpected ways, them behaving strangely, or even your wonderland shifting or changing unexpectedly.
This may be caused by a combination of things:
1. You get a lot of intrusive thoughts.
2. You're inexperienced with filtering out intrusive thoughts.
3. Your new tulpa is still weak enough that's it's difficult to discern whether a thought originated from them.
4. You're inexperienced in discerning between an intrusive thought and a thought originating from your tulpa.
All of these things get better with time and practice. Practicing meditation will make you better at filtering out intrusive thoughts, and as your tulpa gets stronger, they will get better at making their real thoughts known.

>My tulpa was active and chatty yesterday, but now I can't feel them today!
That's a common experience. Tulpas seem to get "tired" sometimes, so they can have weak days and strong days. Generally, tulpas will have fewer weak days as they get stronger overall.

>Can I sex up my tulpa?
Yes, but that should NOT be the primary motivation for making one. If all you're interested in is weird brain sex, then you would be better served looking in /succgen/.

>Do tulpas have souls?
It depends on what you mean by soul and what you think a soul is. Judging only based on reported experiences, it seems like any mental qualities a human can have, a tulpa can have too.

>I have aphantasia, can I still make a tulpa?
You can still have a tulpa even with aphantasia. In most cases, aphantasiac hosts can hear their tulpa's thoughts and their tulpas can perform possession and switching.

>What about using the bathroom and other embarrassing scenarios? Will my tulpa watch?

As two persons sharing the same body, this is something you're simply going to have to get used to. However, just because they're able to doesn't mean they will be intently watching or deliberately paying attention to such routine behaviour, most simply aren't interested. As with any other matter, simply asking them to respect your privacy goes a fair way, but it's also good to acknowledge the fact that they're in the same body as you and likely just as familiar with it regardless.

>How long does it take to make a tulpa?
This mostly depends on the person, but it shouldn't take too long, especially if you force often. You can practice about 1 hour a day and you should create yourself a tulpa in around three to five months.

>Tulpa's aren't paranormal, so why is this on /x/?

You can discuss non paranormal things on /x/ like spooky stories, conspiracy theories, lucid dreaming, lost media, hell even the mods said interesting buildings like ADX florence can be discussed. If you read the sticky, you would know that. As long as a post fits the "vibe" of /x/, it's on topic.