#Tulpa.Info

[eeveecraft]

The Fracturing and Decline of the Tulpamancy Community

Why am I back? Well, I've been thinking about this for a while and a friend of mine just discovered the Tulpamancy stuff. If you're reading this, you know who you are. Still not happy that you found out, but it got me thinking about some stuff I want to write down.

So, some of you may know, #RedditTulpas, the official r/Tulpas Discord server shut down like, a few months ago. The Tulpa.info server got shut down back in 2023, and there's also the debacle that happened with Tulpa Chat several years ago. Basically, all of the largest Tulpamancy Discord servers get shut down for whatever reason once they hit a certain point. The main reason why tends to be drama driving the staff to their wits end, which eventually leads to the server being shut down for the well-being of the staff's mental health.

I mean, I guess there's Tulpa Central with its 1,300+ members, but even though Kopase (eugh) isn't the owner anymore, it's still a server that deliberately excludes other forms of Plurality, and I don't think communities like that should be encouraged to exist. Because let's be honest, that's just thinly-veiled ableism and ignores how Tulpamancy techniques can help disordered systems function better. Oh, that and the fact that other plurals can have tulpas, too.

I also want to bring up how r/Tulpas has drastically declined in quality; we are especially cognizant of it because we moderate that subreddit. There's a lot of low-effort, redundant, and sometimes low-key unhinged posts on the Subreddit, and there is very little actual productive discussion. Most posts there nowadays are just questions, many of which have to be removed because they're already questions that are answered in the FAQ or so basic that they should be asked in the pinned post.

With Reddit specifically, I think a factor in this decline is the direction Reddit has been going with trying to become a publicly traded company, especially with their API changes essentially killing third-party apps. That, and Reddit gleefully giving away all of its user posts to OpenAI with no ability to opt out. We ourselves only check Reddit to moderate the subreddit nowadays because of these changes, and we wouldn't be surprised if others followed suit.

However, this doesn't discredit the general trend we've seen with the larger Tulpamancy communities just declining or outright dying.

The Tulpamancy side of Tumblr has been pretty quiet for several years now with the only major Tulpamancy-specific blog besides ourselves really being Sophie's and maybe Caflec's, and we're hardly active in terms of making posts (we just don't have much to talk about anymore).

There was also the Tulpa.info Mastodon instance, Tulpas.social, but that died pretty damn fast. Plural Café closed invites the moment we tried recommending it to others and has been gradually falling apart, too.

My point is: there's hardly any actual large gatherings of Tulpamancy systems anymore. I remember in one of my Tulpamancy Help videos, I explained how the community became fractured, but I think it's gotten even worse. Like, don't get me wrong, I don't think the community should be a monolith; niches exist for a reason. However, there's something just... disheartening about seeing gatherings of 1,000+ Tulpamancy systems just getting dissolved; thousands of people conversing, exchanging ideas, and helping each other just... separated.

You're probably wondering, "Well, if you're complaining about it, you surely have some kind of solution, right?" Well, not really. it seems to be a cycle tied with the general makeup of the community; enough people in the community just seem to be drawn to petty arguments and drama that takes a toll on the people who manage these communities. So for larger gathering to exist, the people need to be palatable. Otherwise, as new communities form and people flock to them, the same people that caused the downfall of the others before will follow suit. And to be frank, I don't quite have a solution in regards to getting people to stop gravitating towards and starting mentally-taxing drama. That's up for the individuals inside the community to figure out, let alone want to change.

So, what's the conclusion? I guess it's just that I believe the community is heading towards some kind of recession, a dark age of some kind. And that makes me sad to extent because the more Tulpamancy spreads, the more its techniques can be used to help people. There's a reason anthropologists and psychologists are studying Tulpamancy, especially with the interest in its possible therapeutic applications. Despite that, I want to be optimistic and hope that eventually, the community finds its stride again instead of fading into further obscurity.

7-15-2024

[protectingtulpas]

Endogenic system with 5 Ninja Turtles here! (See blog for details) Basically our question is, how do we let them front?

In other words there seems to be some blockage when trying to get the boys to switch and it can be quite physically draining to be honest. Thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

(Aiden- host He/him)

Yeaahh this was probably sent ages ago but I might as well still respond! We've gotta buncha guides for ya, basically

Felights' Fronting Fundamentals | Possession & Switching Guide

Ford's Double Ascended Switching Guide for Elite Class Tulpamancers (video series)

Ghost Switching [A Beginner-Friendly Switching Guide]

These are all hosted on Tulpa.info!! For some personal tips - it being draining is TOTALLY natural, and pretty much expected. switching and actually staying in front are both learned skills esp for tulpamancers & other systems that dont instinctively switch, and it takes a lotta energy. If you practice over time you'll get less exhausted. As for that blockage, have u considered that maybe it has to do with u? One of the first things we learned is that switching is a process on both ends- yeah, the tulpa/nonfronting headmate needs to learn to control the body and all, but the host also needs to learn to let go and allow the switch to happen. It's tricky and also somethin' you needa learn over time. Just an idea!

[granulesofsand]

in a recent post you& talked about how tulpamancy sites are helping you& build dissociative barriers back up, what are thes ones you& found most useful?

-🍊λ

I like the whole tulpanomicon website, which links to tulpa.info, a wealth of guides compared to one long one. This doc has a list of online resources focusing Tumblr and Reddit users in addition to traditional community-specific sites.

I really like parallel processing as a skill, which allows different headmates the ability to think and act concurrently. That and imposition make for smoother switching. The guides are very good, but I cannot reliably count to 100 and neither can most of the others; we do more with splitting senses (one of us listening to music while another reads, for example) or singing (can one of us reliably get through a song in the same time it takes to play in the external world).

That doc has some accounts that generally do talk about how to flesh out alters and encourage individual pursuits, and I recommend exploring any unfamiliar names that come up. I’ve seen people talk about getting your phone to have different apps available on different modes, which I have no idea how to do. We differentiate a lot by physical appearance (not clothing or accessories cause we’re cheap), like how we tie our hair back or what body language each of us is comfortable using. Handwriting is big for us because we have variance by time period instead of headmate (I can tell this person learned to write circa first grade, but there’s too many of us to pin it on one headmate).

Where you start depends on what you can already comfortably do. Peer groups are great for practice because you can get actual feedback and converse with others in similar situations. All of it is personal, and what works even for one headmate might not for another. It’s like walking separate paths but meeting at the same milestones.

[cambriancrew]

I can't get over it. "Tulpas are just voices in your head, they don't front. Do your research."

We're right here and have been for a decade. @sophieinwonderland is right here, has been for years. The tulpa subreddit is right there, has been for 15 years. Tulpa.info is right there, has been for 15 years. Research papers on tulpas are right there. We've talked about our experience with the tulpa FMRI study, including switching in it.

Like... How can you be so confidently so POWERFULLY incorrect.

[sophieinwonderland]

please tell me you know somewhere with a safe tulpamancy community please I can't take this anymore. tumblr is a minefield, reddit hates mixed origin systems, and discord is literally a messaging system not a social media. We just want somewhere safe we can exist and post, please where is the bulk of the modern tulpamancy community please we can't take this anymore. we can't do this anymore being constantly triggered isnt ok we need somewhere safe please where do tulpamancers go nowadays we can't do this anymore we're begging

Is r/tulpas no longer safe? I don't go on there very much anymore, but I remember there being a pretty decent amount of mixed origin systems there before.

It seemed fairly common that mixed origin systems discovered their plurality through that subreddit, or systems who already had a CDD would go on there for advice on how to create headmates.

Has this changed?

Besides that, I'm not really sure where to go. There is the tulpa.info forum, but I'm not really a fan of the community there. And I don't think it would be the most welcoming for mixed origin systems.

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. And I'm sorry I can't help. I'll put this out there in case anyone else has any ideas though.

Best of luck. 💖

[plural-culture-is]

Hello! I’m neurodivergent and just starting to learn about plurality. Do you have any advice on how/where to start learning about it? (Tumblr tags aren’t really an educational resource, I’ve learned) There are SO many different types of systems/alters and I want to understand

We've got some resources in this post!

And since that hasn't been updated in a while we'll add on: (note that not all of these are pro-endo)

Pluralpedia

Multiplicity and Plurality Wiki

System Sources

System Comfort's Plural Resources

Plurality Resources

Kinhost

Plurality Playbook

First Person Plural

Discussing Dissociation

dis-os

DID Self Help

Sarah K Reece

The Dissociative Initiative

Collective Phenomenon

Two Courts

Astraea's Web

Partielles (yes it's French)

Tulpanomicon

Tulpa.info

Tulpa.info Wiki

sophieinwonderland's list of endogenic and non-disorded studies

We're also open to answering any plural-related questions! What we have answered before can be found under our #not plural culture tag

[wildtulipfield]

The tulpa discourse is so weird?

Sorry but the vast amount of tulpamancers aren’t even on tumblr? It’s dumb to change a term that connects us to research, media, tv episodes, Ted talks, huge communities, resources, etc. There are different languages that use a derived version of ‘Tulpa’ such as ‘タルパ’ (Tarupa) for the Japanese community.

Just because because a handful of already anti endo people/systems said that it was cultural appropriation, even when there are Tibetan Buddhists that don’t think it’s cultural appropriation. It’s not even the original word, is a mashup of Tulku and Sprul-pa. It’s not a word that existed, and the practice of tulpamancy has almost nothing to do with Tulku or Sprul-pa.

So say if we banded together and tried to change the term like suggested. How many tulpa systems would actually change. Probably not too many, just the tulpa systems on tumblr. Can we really get the majority of systems who use other websites like Reddit, discord, forums, etc to change? What about websites like Tulpa.info and Tulpa.io? Do we have to abandon those too?

So let me get this straight, we lose websites, major parts of the community, representation, research and almost all resources, for what? To please the anti endos who already don’t like us? Sorry but I’d rather make anti endos mad. I usually prefer to be respectful even to people with different opinions but not when that means dividing a whole community.

I don’t usually post about syscourse but I think this is a really dumb argument.

(Also since this is a syscourse post, anti endos are allowed to interact)

[heraru]

I created a tulpa yesterday at 3 am after binge reading everything on tulpa.info and idk what to do??????

Like is it possible for them to start talking right away or am I just pretending???? I just imagined him in a bedroom in my head and introduced myself and he just responded? Also his name is Charlie and I don't like the name I tried to change it but he laughed and said that's just my name what's happening 😭😭

[endogenichaven]

I didn't really know where else to turn to, so I thought I'd come here? I hope that's okay! I'm a questioning endo sys. I know very little about the community but I'm fairly certain I have headmates. I don't know what's going on with me, where they came from, or how to handle myself now. I was hoping for some input and advice. I'll try to list my experiences as concisely as possible! Thank you so much

I created some ocs recently. The more time I wrote, drew, and thought about them, the more they started to develop minds of their own. Sometimes I can feel their presence, but not all the time. It's like they come and go. I can't tell if they're far away in the back of my head or if they like, phase in and out of reality??? I don't really know how to put it. I do still have headmates, though, as far as I can tell. Even if it isn't 100% of the time

Sometimes, they communicate a little bit with me, completely without my input. They communicate with ideas that I can intuitively understand, rather than clear cut words. Also, I've always remained in full control of my body. We don't switch. I can't tell if I'm in the early stages of developing thoughtforms, or if I unintentionally soulbonded. Or a secret third thing. I'm autistic and I already dissociate, so we have the potential to be multigenic?

But yeah I have absolutely no idea what's going on with me or where my headmates even came from, really. Sorry if this isn't your area of expertise either. It would be great to have an answer, but even if you could just give me some advice, or point me in the right direction on what to research, or something like that, I'd be so grateful.

Hello! Sorry for the delay in getting to your ask. It does indeed sound like you're plural, and that you may be a soulbonder. (Their coming and going sounds like something we've heard soulbonded headmates do in other systems.) We can't say for sure though, since we're not you or a part of your system.

We have some soulbonding and tulpamancy/thoughtform resources if you'd like to look deeper into it:

Fictive Kin- Resource on soulbonding and fictionkin

Soulbonding Info- carrd on soulbonding

Tulpa.io- Resource on tulpamancy and plurality

Tulpa.info- Information on tulpamancy (may be a bit dated)

Kinhost: Multiplicity: The Missing Manual- A resource on how to get along with headmates (useful for all systems really)

Hopefully this helps! Again, sorry for the long wait!

[multiplicity-positivity]

Could we get some help for contacting headmates and trying to leave front? i have been frontstuck for ages and i dont know how to leave

Hiya! So we have a whole post on establishing contact with headmates - it’s got all our best advice in it so I’ll go ahead and link it! :3

As for help leaving the front, that’s a bit more challenging for us to answer or help with! >_< You see, our system doesn’t have much control over switches and we also don’t quite know how to let our frontstuck host regularly leave the front! We’ve been able to pull him a few times though, and that’s been with help from our system’s gatekeeper!

Does your system have a gatekeeper, manager, or another headmate who helps keep track of the system and facilitate switches? If so, do you think you could ask them to help you pull this off? Our gatekeeper, Kiki, has her own ways of facilitating switches, and she’s not opposed to hearing us out and helping us switch if we really need to organize a switch for some reason! >w<

Um, as far as we know, some systems do just have a member who always remains frontstuck. This is how these systems function, and for systems like this, it’s not possible for that member to ever switch out! The term for systems like this is specutien - unfortunately we don’t have an easy answer for getting a frontstuck member unstuck, especially if their system is specutien and works by having one member always at the front! >_<”

The last think we’d like to say is… maybe some switching and fronting guides for paromancy or other forms of created plurality might help!! Even if you have a dissociative disorder, it may be worth a shot to test out some strategies outlined by other systems in paromancy guides. We have a ton of resources listed in our resource post - we’d recommend checking out tulpa.io, tulpanomicon, and tulpa.info for some paromancy guides on switching that might help your system switch successfully! >w<

Good luck with everything! I’m sorry we couldn’t offer any better or more reassuring advice! >_<

💚 Ralsei and 💫 Parker

[yaya-imposition]

The Nobody

About 8 months ago my connection to the unconscious mind started to grow really strong. I had finally sorted out everything-- spirits, tulpas, imagination, everything. I finally grasped how to use it like a black box. Input goes in, output comes out. It was a useful tool that I began channeling constantly for answers.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere it was like a switch flicked on. Where I previously perceived a flowing ethereal fabric of space, suddenly I could feel I was controlling things and getting returns. My dream likens it to being able to see paranormal things with the eyes of a child. There were some important philosophical stepping stones that I can't really do justice, but basically I had bypassed all mental inhibitions.

Previously, I had terrible problems with demons. They would throw me into convulsions. It was like they were trying to stop something, but I didn't know what.

Out of nowhere, after nearly a decade of their schizo inducing bullshit the demons went from being in a crazed manic murderous state to being basically subservient. It all stopped cold turkey. This was around the time the switch flicked on. I'm not sure how I got them, but all my problems were resolved.

I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I had beaten God and everything was now under my control. My mental sensitivity increased 100 fold. It felt like I had a miniature mirror of the universe inside my mind. I felt like my body and soul were a medium of universal expression. My unconscious mind validated much of this through symbolism and visions which I had control over. It felt like I had stolen the throne of the universe. More than anything else, it started driving me to suicide.

I'm not sure why suicide, but I think it was something about overwhelming power. Like all of that wasn't really meant to fit in a human body.

With the feeling of overwhelming power, I started posting really crazy things as if I had the entire universe under my control. I didn't really understand the limit of my authority but I was on the right track. I felt that anything was possible for the first time.

I move off tulpa.info and start looking for greener pastures. I took a visit to /x/ after many years. They had been tracking an entity they know as The Nobody for a number of months starting about when the switch flicked on for me. They said The Nobody has had all these psychic interactions with them and he's an awakened individual who can control the universe with his conscious and unconscious mind. They described him in great detail. It shocked me how much they got perfectly right.

[eeveecraft]

Can I just be the one to say that there's a reason most Tulpamancy blogs left the platform? Like, do you see the harassment, demonizing, and recent campaigns against Tulpamancy systems in the #tulpa tag? Do you see why most Tulpamancy systems avoid Tumblr? Most of them got driven off by the many brigading scumbags out to demonize the community.

Yes, I'm calling them scumbags, even though I know there are certainly well-meaning people who just want to do the right thing, but then there are the scumbags who will not hesitate to witch-hunt and harass people, our time on Tumblr has made that abundantly clear. People who make Plurality spaces unsafe for people like my systemmates and I who don't have the thick hide to deal with being demonized and harassed. People literally trying to divide a community because they don't like a word.

Not only have these kinds of people made Tumblr unsafe for Tulpamancy systems, but it's fucking pointless. Seeing people legitimately think that harassing just a few blogs on Tumblr is going to change the mind of the broader community is just absurd. One, like I said, most Tulpamancy blogs dipped because of the harassment (not just this recent drama, but just by sysmeds in general), and two, the vast majority of the community never congregated on Tumblr to begin with.

God, it just makes me miss when there were all these tulpa development blogs and you just see cool moments like, "My tulpa talked for the first time!" or, "My tulpa changed their form, here's some cute art of it!" Maybe when we have more time, I'll make posts about these blogs. Oh my god, I actually thought of content for this blog for once. Thanks, brain.

Anyway, I apologize for any Tulpamancy system who want to make a blog on here, but are scared of harassment. You're (regrettably) better off just keeping to sites like Tulpa.info for documenting progress.

7-25-2023

[protectingtulpas]

were an endo system, but we were wondering what a tulpa is! So we found a tulpa blog to ask! Currently cal and rose fronting!

Heyo, nice to meet ya Cal and Rose! You've come to the right place, cuz I'm what you're looking for! Thanks for choosing me to get info from!

A tulpa is a type of headmate under the created system umbrella, and we're also generally considered a type of thoughtform, which is any entity manifested by practice of consistent thought and focus on them. That's a broad category that includes everything from tulpas to some deities!! A tulpa is a thoughtform created in a singular body via a person's consistent focusing on their presence, talking to them, and treating them like a person, until they start to respond back and act on their own! Tulpas are individuals and we can learn to drop back into our headspace (the tulpa community calls 'em Wonderlands!), front with the host/creator's trust, and even more! It all takes practice and dedication. I've personally been here for almost 4 years now- my birthday is comin up the 23rd!

Some tulpas are more metaphysical, some are psychological, but it's the same mental processes either way! Psychologically, someone might say you're training the mental processes in your head to act independently, building up a habit until that psychological process begins to act separately and develop on its own, forming their own identity and personhood. Metaphysically, it's a very similar concept, but you're instead working with, coalescing, and forming mental energy into a new being. Either way, "tulpamancy" is still the term used for the process, and a "tulpamancer" is the person performing it. (It's also worth noting that tulpamancy is NOT the same process as the Tibetan Buddhist practice it has etymological roots in, and even the word itself and the "-mancy" suffix are entirely different than the term for the related practice. There are some that combine practices, though! We've seen a couple Buddhist Tulpamancers.)

I've always felt different than the other system members of other origins here, and the other new tulpa around I was just helping out working on gets it too. My identity, who I am at my core? That's my choice. I get to decide who I am - when I wanted to be a demon? I decided to be one. I focused on my own mindform until I was able to change it. I'm also way better at communication than some of our other members, like our soulbond with an exotraumagenic subsystem or host's median members. I can transfer info when others can't! It's pretty cool.

Hope this answers your questions! I've actually got further readings I can link to, so go ahead and give a look at these!

Tulpa.info - What is a tulpa?

Tulpa's Guide to Tulpamancy v4 - a guide and study into tulpas written by a tulpa like me!

The Tulpanomicon is the biggest collection of guides available - click the lefthand list to see it all organized by category! We've even been able to use a lot of these fronting/possession & imposition methods for non-tulpa headmates too!

Things tulpas can and can't do, by me!

[discourse-by-candlelight]

We've chosen to stay out of the current tulpa discourse since we don't need extra stress and won't change our language until the current tulpamancy community changes as a majority anyways so wouldn't make for good discourse partners. There is one thing we'd like to contribute as some food for thought though.

While the discussions are good and we see the reason and potential for a new term, tumblr is not the place you have to convince. The tulpamancy community here is tiny, but the wider tulpamancy community is massive, perhaps even larger than the entire endogenic community by a longshot if what we've observed on various forms of social media is accurate. To give one example the r/tulpas subreddit has 45.5k members, the plural subreddit only has 11k. Another example is that if you type plural into disboard, a tulpa only discord server is in the top three.

This wider tulpamancy community has it's own complete set of terminology seperate from other plurals, limited interaction with the endo or CDD communities, and mixed opinions on them. While places like the subreddit are more mixed with other plural types and highly accepting of them, multiple discord servers actually reject both disordered and endogenic systems entirely. There are many places in the tulpamancy community that look down on other types of plurals, and definitely don't care about the concept of cultural appropriation. The other major servers that do accept non tulpa plurals still are highly disconnected to them, and barely understand endogenic terminology let alone CDDs. We remember very well how all but about two people were completely confused when we mentioned endogenic language in the tulpa.info server, which has over two thousand members.

Places like those above, even the highly accepting ones, will never swap to parogenic let alone a misleading term like willogenic. Not even thoughtform has a real chance of sticking. They will either find it confusing as part of an internet subculture they are only loosely affiliated with, or hold it in outright contempt and even laugh at those who try to use it.

We think these discussions are important to have, but people like Sophie and the few tulpamancers on Tumblr are not who you have to convince if you want real change. Quite frankly the tulpamancy community is expanding far faster than anyone here probably grasps, and the system community's voice in it is weak at best. If you want to change things bringing these concerns to those places is most important, and finding a term that works for their subculture will be needed, as endo terminology won't cut it. You all need to convince tulpamancers, not the tumblr plural community. The tulpa community can and will continue to grow outside of here and the endogenic community all together, bringing back the term to each place it expands to.

We genuinely hope that maybe a new term that actually fits can be developed and adopted, but we highly doubt it, and none of the discourse happening here is going to do that.

[neiviele]

The fight to keep tulpa as a community term is so strange to me, because I've seen tulpamancers complain about how the terms don't fit them and what they're doing ("Why are we using possession, we're not demons!" "Why is there a '-mancy" ending, we're not a magical community") so a terminology switch seems like something that would benefit both Western and Eastern tulpamancers. You're not married to the word tulpa, if it changes you're not going to disappear off the face of the earth.

And this idea that research is going to be impacted by a terminology switch is nonsense. Scientists are not going to look at the tulpamancy community changing their terminology and go "whoops, guess we can't study them because they aren't tulpamancers,"most will be smart enough to follow along. The tulpamancy community isn't going to be divided from the endogenic community by this either (although right now since there is no collective term it might get divided internally just by consequence.)

(Also it literally wouldn't be that hard to select terms as a community. Hold a terminology changing contest throughout the community, on Reddit, Tulpa.info, etc. Have people submit the terms they think are best. Hold a poll to vote on the new terms. One with the most votes is what gets used. Winner gets a prize.)

But also? Tulpamancy will not be the face of the endogenic community, not like this. Tulpamancy doesn't represent all endogenic system experiences, and research into tulpamancy is not going to explain every endogenic system, even if extensive and thorough. For example, hallucinations (when not temporary and caused by external factors) are often neurobiolological or physiological. A hallucinogenic system may not be explained by tulpamancy research, no matter how in-depth or focused it is, because they're not experiencing what most tulpamancers do. Spiritual systems, parogenic systems, and others are also not going to automatically be explained by tulpamancy research. We're going to need unique studies to look into these systems, you can't always extrapolate tulpamancy data into endogenic system experiences.

Research is also not going to convince everyone, no matter how rigorous it is. We have people who don't believe the Earth is round or that the moon is real, you shouldn't be holding out for studies to convince everyone.

[sophieinwonderland]

We want to become more involved in tulpamancy but are hesitant of stepping outside our comfort zone. We were wondering what would be the best/safest sites and resources for tulpamancy (like what the scene is like on Reddit and other sites)

— n/a

I think the tulpas subreddit has a pretty supportive and positive community. Would highly recommend.

I don't care much for the community on tulpa.info. Seems like it can be too toxic sometimes. But they do have a huge wealth of guides and are useful for that reason.

You'd have to ask other systems about Discord servers. From what I understand, there are some serious problems with the Tulpa Central server, including ableist exclusionism (not allowing CDD systems into the server) and endorsement by the mods of waifumancy. (Creating tulpas specifically for romantic relationships.) But I can't confirm if these things are still true as it's been a year or two since I've heard from people in the server.