Tulpa.io

by Tulpony

Note: Blueberry asked me to do this, I don't know if we're technically allowed to post guides yet since we just arrived, but here we go. Also, this was written about a year ago in protest to the attitudes and practices of .info. Just a warning in case the terminology seems off or something.

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This guide covers the basics of tulpa creation. It does not cover advanced abilities such as possession.

Please note that there is no specific method to tulpamancy, and thus no step-by-step process. As long as you think about your tulpa and avoid the “Do Nots,” you’re probably doing it right. Also note that everything except narration is optional, and it can be done in any order.

Creation Steps

1. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE you want a tulpa and can handle the responsibility. The only way to go back once they’ve developed sentience (which happens within a day or so) is to outright murder them. If you’re not willing to do that, you’d better be sure you can stay committed throughout the process of development because you cannot just put away your tulpa once you get bored of them. They are your companions for life, and they count on you to survive. Only proceed if you’re not only sure you want one now, but that you will want them forever.

2. Choose a form for your tulpa. Don't worry about them not liking it, they can change it however they want. If you notice their form keeps changing slightly, don’t fight it. It might be them altering their form deliberately. Practice imagining the form whenever you talk to the tulpa. I find it helps to carry a picture of them and reference it whenever you're having trouble. If you want to let them pick a form, just pick something temporary like a ball of light and ask them about it once they're capable of steady communication. Keep in mind that this is actually optional, and some tulpae are happy just being disembodied voices.

3. Pick a personality. You can either go trait-by-trait or just get a general feel of them. Then either tell them about their personality as a form of narration, or talk to them as though they already had that personality. Keep in mind that slight personality deviation is almost inevitable. Again, this is optional. If you don't pick a personality for them, they'll just get one at random.

4. Talk to them. A lot. This is called narration, and it's the most important part of tulpaforcing pre-vocality. It doesn't matter what you talk about, you can talk about them, yourself, your annoying classmates/co-workers, the latest video game, whatever. You can even read to them. Try talk to them as often as possible, at least sending a few thoughts every half hour or so when you’re not focusing on something important. Eventually they'll respond to what you say.

Forcing

There are two types of forcing, active and passive. Active means just sitting there and focusing only on your tulpa, passive means sending them a few thoughts throughout the day while you're doing something else. Active produces quicker results for more difficult tasks, passive can be done at any time without having to schedule forcing sessions. Choose whatever combination works for you. I found that active forcing is best for more intense things like imposition while narration (and visualization if you find you're good at it) is best done passively as it doesn’t take much effort and can thus be done more often. I spent most of my early days just doing non-stop monologues to Pix about whatever came to my mind. Note that you MUST do some amount of passive in order to be able to access your tulpa at all times, otherwise they’ll go dormant when you’re not focusing them. Remember, if you have time to THINK, you have time to FORCE.

Assuming Sentience from the Start

“Assuming sentience from the start” means don't dismiss anything. If you didn't do something, assume it's your tulpa. The worst that can happen is that it really was a random thought and now your tulpa is a bit annoyed. Obviously your tulpa won't really be sentient from the moment you decide to start, but it will become sentient very quickly. You'll know because you'll start feeling weird sensations such as head-pressure, tingliness, and hot/cold patches and hearing/seeing more random thoughts than usual. From what my tulpae have said, their first thoughts upon gaining self-awareness were “I'm here, and there's only one other person here. I must get their attention! LET'S TRY EVERYTHING!” This is followed by them pressing every mental “button” they can find. Keep in mind that sentience is not the same as sapience. Sentience just means self-aware, sapience means able to think like a human. They will gradually gain sapience over time similar to a small child. Your tulpa's responses might not make sense at first, or their logic might be very basic such as word associations. Remember that while they're trying to talk to you, they're also trying out their abilities. Just because something seems random doesn't mean it's not them, it might just be them experimenting.

Puppet/Parrot Paranoia

There's a lot of paranoia about “puppeting/parroting” when starting out. I assure you, when your tulpa becomes autonomous (able to move without you thinking about it), you will know. When a tulpa decides to do something, there's very little you can do to stop them without actively deciding to. You can “nudge” them towards doing something, and this may feel like parroting, but in truth they're free to choose whether or not to accept the “suggestion.” As they develop, this “nudging” will become harder and harder to do. Again, if you didn't directly think about them doing something, assume it's them. If it seems like you know what they're about to do before or as they're doing it, that's just because your minds are still largely connected, so you can sense their intentions. That will wear off over time. Also note that since they can read your mind, they will instinctively know what you want them to do, sometimes even before you do. Their movement may seem extremely “glitchy” at first, but they will outgrow this within a month or so.

Vocality and Communication

Don't worry about vocality at first, they'll talk when they're ready. If you want to help them along, give them words to start with so they don't have to come up with their own. If you hear quotes from movies, songs, or TV shows in your head, treat them as the tulpa speaking. If you hear a whole song, try to think of what the song might mean. Eventually they'll learn to send their own words through that same “channel.” When asking your tulpa what it wants or likes, give it a list of options to pick from. Say “hello,” “goodbye,” “good morning,” “good night,” etc. and see if it says it back. Say something to them and have them repeat it, or parrot them saying something and see if they can repeat it on their own. I should warn you, tulpae speaking sounds and feels a LOT like parroting at first, especially if the tulpa is the same gender as you since they'll probably use your mindvoice. It also takes a lot longer for it to “split” enough that you can't always sense what they're going to say. You'll probably find at first that the way they say things is very similar to how you would. Again, this is just because they aren't separate enough, so your thoughts can still influence them. Don't worry about it, it will wear off.

Do-Nots

There is very little that can harm a tulpa, and most of it is extremely obvious. Still some things sadly need to be spelled out.

Doubt: It’s often said that doubt is the tulpa poison. Doubting your tulpa’s development and abilities (such as thinking they can’t possibly have X down yet) is a very good way to slow their growth down. This is why the “assume sentience” method is so vital. This is also why it’s very important not to doubt that your tulpa is real. Besides, how would you feel if you could read your parents’ mind and learn that they didn’t think you were real?

Excessive Parroting/Puppeting: Some minor parroting/puppeting is fine, to help them talk, make them pose to help visualize them, make them walk along side you when starting imposition, or hold them still if they start glitching out. However, excessive control to the point of preventing them from acting on their own will stifle their growth, not to mention it’s extremely uncomfortable.

Making them do things against their will/Doing things to them against their will: This really shouldn’t need to be said. If you wouldn’t like it done to you, don’t to it to your tupa. They’re people, not toys. You don’t own them, you don’t get to control them.

Thinking hostile things about them: Tulpae can read your mind. Thinking hostile things about them is essentially the same as walking up to someone and telling them in great detail how much you hate them and/or how you want to hurt them.

Deliberately giving them a hateful personality: Most tulpae are born instinctively, unconditionally loving towards their host, but this can be overridden by deliberately giving them a hateful personality. It really shouldn’t need to be said that creating something that hates you and has partial control of your body is a bad idea, but there are still people who create “tulpa nemeses/punching bags” for symbolic, sadistic, or experimental reasons. DO NOT DO THIS. If there is one single case in which a tulpa can be dangerous, it’s this. There have been many cases where such tulpae have attacked their hosts, and they can be very difficult if not impossible to permanently get rid of. Always remember that when you create a tulpa, you’re creating someone to spend the rest of your life with. Do you want to spend the rest of your life with someone who hates you?

Starving them: If you miss a few days of forcing, don’t worry too much. If you start missing weeks or months, however, you should start being concerned. Once a tulpa has reached a certain level of development, they can support themselves without their host for a very long period of time and need only occasional acknowledgement to stay strong. Prior to that point, though, a forgotten tulpa will grow weak from starvation and fade until they fall into a coma-like state known as “going dormant.” Dormant tulpae can be re-awoken and recovered to full strength with enough attention, but depending on how long it has been this can be VERY difficult, and after a certain point there may be nothing left to awaken. Note that there has been a case reported where a tulpa was able to survive abandonment for over a month in a Memory House, but it’s really best to just avoid abandoning them for that long to begin with. Remember, you’re responsible for them!

Being generally cruel to them/Deliberately trying to hurt them: Once again this shouldn’t need to be said. Just because tulpae have no physical bodies doesn’t mean they can’t feel pain, and an abused tulpa can become just as psychologically damaged as an abused human. As I said before, they’re people, not toys. If you’re only interested in creating a tulpa to have something to torture, consider just getting a copy of The Sims, along with some therapy.

Weird experiments with their mind/soul: Tulpae aren’t lab rats. While it is always a good thing to learn more about how they work, please avoid doing anything that could potentially harm or damage them, and certainly not without their permission.

Taking way too many drugs: Taking a safe amount of mind-altering substances with a sufficiently stable tulpa is fine. Taking a dangerous amount of drugs is… well, dangerous, for both you and your tulpa, particularly if they haven’t stabilized yet. Your tulpa lives in your brain, and so do you. Please don’t damage it.

Antipsychotics medicine: Antipsychotics medicine is specifically designed to suppress things very much like tulpae, and as a result it can suppress tulpae too, causing them to become very hard to see and hear and in extreme cases causing them to go dormant. If your doctor has prescribed you antipsychotics medicine, it’s probably for a good reason, so don’t skip taking them. However, you should discuss with your tulpa a plan to help them ride it out, and consider telling your doctor about your tulpa so that you can discuss lowering the dosage to a less damaging level or perhaps consider alternative treatments.

False Memories: Imagine finding out one day that your whole life is a lie. Don’t kid yourself, your tulpa WILL find out somehow that they’re not really insert-fictional-character-here, and they won’t take it any better than you would.

Creating a tulpa EXCLUSIVELY for sex: While it’s perfectly fine to enter a relationship with a consenting tulpa, it is NOT a good idea to create a tulpa exclusively as a sex toy. Such tulpae are known as succubi/incubi and they’re known to have one track minds and an insatiable libido. If you don’t like the idea of being literally mindraped, consider sticking to more… traditional methods.

Keep in mind, that you WILL just have bad days sometimes for no reason whatsoever. Remember that as long as you avoid the above, you’re not hurting your tulpa and you will not lose progress.

Things That WON’T Harm Your Tulpa

I’d like to take a moment to dispel some rumors or concerns about what else may harm your tulpa

Having a relationship with them: Within the tulpamancer community there is a lot of drama about how “taboo” it is to have a sexual and/or romantic relationship with your tulpa. This isn’t because it’s harmful to the tulpa. This stigma arises partially from concerns about people creating tulpa exclusively for sex (see previous) and partially from the risk of tulpamancers deciding that they don’t need other humans anymore when their tulpa can fulfill all their social needs. As long as the tulpa is fully consenting (and you have an agreement on what to do if you find yourself attracted to a human), there is no risk to them.

Accidents: Don’t worry about accidentally hurting your tulpa by intrusive thoughts or getting too carried away playing with them. Everything you or they do in the mindscape is symbolism (in fact, so is their form), it isn’t “real” and thus isn’t exactly what it looks like. What matters most is intention. If you didn’t mean to hurt them and they didn’t want to be hurt, then they simply won’t be. Some tulpae are capable of feeling pain, but they can learn to switch it off, and in either case it won’t do any damage.

Anything they ask you to do or do themselves: Your tulpa knows what they can handle better than you do. If your tulpa asks you to do something or deliberately does something themselves, there is a 95% chance they know what they’re doing, and you should trust them.

Glitches: Young tulpae (around 2-3 months or younger) can be very prone to “glitches,” such as twitchy movement, bursts of uncontrollable energy/movement (such as non-stop spinning), copying the host’s actions, distorted form, or repeating the same phrase or action over and over. This is annoying but harmless, and they’ll grow out of it once they’ve fully developed and stabilized.

FAQ

What are the common “side effects” of tulpamancy?

Short term effects (ones that fade within a few months of starting) are headaches, head-pressure, tingling, hypnogogia (hearing voices when tired, hypnotized, or meditating), and intrusive thoughts (random thoughts, quotes, memories, and images popping into your head). Long term effects (aside from the general happiness and benefits of having a permanent best friend) are earworms (songs getting caught in your head) and a tendency to start thinking “we” instead of “I” (as in “We need to meet our project team”).

Help, my tulpa is [insert glitch here]!

Twitchy movement: Puppet them to either hold still or ease them through whatever they're doing, or just ignore it until it stops.

Bursts of uncontrollable energy/movement: Create an object and transfer the movement to that object instead. This glitch often happens when your mind is fatigued, usually from doing a lot of reading, so perhaps take a break when this starts happening.

Copying the host’s actions: Simply make them aware of what they’re doing and have them do something else that transition to what you’re doing. For instance, if you’re brushing your hair have them brush their teeth. Make sure, though, that they’re actually copying you exactly and unwillingly. They may just be doing it to socialize.

Distorted form: Either puppet them back to their normal shape or ignore it until it stops. This usually happens very early in their development (when they’re just learning to control their form) and doesn’t last very long.

Repeating the same phrase over and over: Ask them to specify when they actually mean the phrase vs when they’re saying it impulsively. Aside from that, simply wait for them to outgrow it.

Repeating the same action over and over: Puppet them into stopping, and have them do something else instead.

Changing their form randomly: Ask them if they’re doing it on purpose. They may just be experimenting with a new appearance, like you might try a new outfit, or they might just feel like having a hat/scarf/whatever today. If they’re not doing it on purpose, just parrot them back to their normal form, and otherwise ignore it until they outgrow it. (Notice a pattern here?)

In a different visual style/form that they didn’t try to take: Did you just watch a cartoon/read a comic/something similar? Visual styles can get caught in your head just like songs, and this can temporarily rub off on your tulpa, especially if the cartoon/comic featured the character they’re based on. Either look at a reference image of them to reset their form or wait for it to wear off.

Something else not listed here: First ask your tulpa what the heck is going on. If they don’t know, ask an experienced tulpamancer.

Is it possible to create an accidental/insta-tulpa?

Yes, it’s both possible and common for people to create tulpae without even knowing such things exist. As for whether YOU may create an accidental tulpa, there is a period of time, a few weeks after the first tulpa is created but before they fully stabilize at about 2-3 months, where your brain’s “floodgate” is open but doesn’t yet know how to close. During this time, accidental tulpae are far more likely. If you want to avoid this, the best trick is to simply not think about it. At all. In fact, forget you read this.