If you are a child of the 90s, you probably have watched "Foster's House of Imaginary Friends". In Cartoon Network's childhood imaginary friends live in the real world of 8-year-old boy Mack and together they have gone through a number of trials. The series perfectly illustrates how the little boy finds support in them because they give him security and make the perception of the world easier. It is not only children that have developed fantasy to the level, but it is quite common among adults. Let's look at who and why there are imaginary friends.

What is a Tulpa?

It is known that Tibetan mystics have long tried to create independent tulpa's- a creature or other object that appears through thoughts and experiences its own life. To the west, this tradition was brought by the traveler Alexandra David-Neel. In her book "Tibet: Magic and Secret," she describes an attempt to create a tulpa. For years, this practice has not gone beyond esoteric enthusiasts, while in 2009 suddenly anonymous users began to share about their experiments about creating an imaginary friend. And soon the crowd became popular in Reddit, there were countless counselors and guides, www.tulpa.info and a number of other groups all over the world.

How is a tulpa created?

According to the guides, the scheme is the following: first look at the appearance (best to be painted on a sheet), then character traits to be used to visualize scenes in which the tulpa will do any action. Some take a few days, other weeks, active concentration, until they feel or hear the voice of their tulpa. For example, the tulpa (the host) feels strong emotions for no reason whatsoever. Either he feels a dull headache. Then one can start "communication" by asking questions - one signal pain means "yes", two consecutive - "no". It is important during this period to listen to the pulp and its unique replicas and signals. Otherwise a dull will occur without the will - it will obey the host, but it will not have its own personality. Some advise working to create an imaginary place where the host will find his dude. Also, the guides are repeatedly mentions not to think of a creature with the appearance of a particular person or of a fictional hero of the cinema or childhood. First, because each image carries specific features of the character that the dulce accepts. Secondly, to invent the dully in the image and likeness of a living (or deceased) in society is considered unethical and dangerous to the psyche.

Tulpa and sex

Like everything, and in this movement, extremes are reached. The majority of the community condemns those who use their imaginary friends for that because they think it compulsive - the tulpa has no organs and hormones that are responsible for the appearance of that desire. But there are other opinions - once the act has been "done", the devil can remember the pleasant experience of the orgasm and the next time ask for it alone. Obviously, sex with the devil is happening in the "imaginary world," but in fact the host simply ... manufactures.

Who creates tulpas?

A survey shows that 75% of the tulpas are men and 25% are women. The latter most often create tulpas of the opposite sex, but not with romantic intentions, but rather to explore their identity. The majority of hosts live in Canada, USA, Australia, Eastern Europe and Russia. The average age is 19-25. There are two schools - psychological (most) and metaphysical. The first think that the creation of the pulp is possible thanks to the specificity of the work of the human brain - its versatility and versatility allow for consistent results to be achieved. The second school believes that this is a paranormal phenomenon - the tulpas are emerging from another world.

How do you have to treat the devil?

The reason people create tulpa is dictated by loneliness. In most cases, he is perceived as a good friend who does not have a human face, but rather a giant pony, a bird, a dragon, and so on. The community keeps an eye on whether the host treats his tulpa properly. It is believed that the tulpa can be offended if you do not pay enough attention to it, or treat it in a mediocre way. In all the bagpipes they warn that the creation of the pulp is not just an experiment but a huge responsibility. Because if a dwarf is dropped, the consequences can be unpredictable - it begins to model its own character and is able to mess up its host.

Voices and schizophrenia

In this endeavor, it is important to distinguish pathology from normal. The host must be adaptable and continue to lead a normal life - to communicate with people, to take care of himself, to go to work. But not everyone succeeds - they start to hear voices, they get dissociated personality disorder (the person has multiple personalities), or they start to see the tulpa walking in the real life of the street. Tukpa'sis a regular phenomenon for one generation of hermits. They prefer to follow tutorials to create a friend rather than a real friend in real life - someone they can share, argue, seek advice, or have similar interests. No matter how demanding the hosts are gentle crowds, they really want a friend to get into one. And unfortunately, observing the number of people in 4chan, Reddit, etc., it turns out that this feeling is giant.

Image source: 1, 2, 3