Plurality Through Imagination

Starting around 2009, online communities began practicing tulpamancy—imagining a sentient being, or tulpa, into existence through heightened imagination. Originating in Tibetan Buddhist mysticism and paranormal lore, users create tulpas as distinct personalities within their minds and bodies for companionship. Advocates emphasize healthful aspects and the plurality of identity in one body, promoting the practice to overcome depression and loneliness. Tulpa creation arrived because avatars, anonymity, and inward-focused creativity in online environments enabled radical identity experimentation. Tulpamancy shows how online communities act as participatory spaces where supernatural possibilities are evaluated and repurposed.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Starting around 2009, online communities envisioned and began practicing “tulpamancy”—the ability to imagine a sentient being, or “tulpa,” into existence through heightened states of imagination. Originating in Tibetan Buddhist mysticism and contemporary paranormal lore, online users create tulpas, which they sense as a distinct personality within their minds and bodies, for companionship. Advocates of the practice emphasize healthful and positive aspects, and the plurality of identity that can exist in one body. They promote their practice as a way to overcome depression, loneliness, and other issues of mental well-being. Tulpa creation and plurality arrived precisely because avatars, anonymity, and, perhaps most crucially, inward-focused creativity and collaboration in online environments enabled radical, free-form identity experimentation. Tulpamancy shows how online communities act as participatory spaces in which supernatural or trans-human possibilities are evaluated and repurposed.