What are Tulpamancers?

In Theosophy, there’s a concept called a thoughtform which attempts to bridge the gap between constructs and servitors. It is a thought which has been given form. It is believed that theosophy has taken its teaching from the Tibetan Buddhist Tulpa. The Tulpa comes from the concept of the mind-made body in Buddhist thought. This is a spiritual body that a Buddha makes, to which he can transfer his consciousness to travel to heavenly realms. The body is called the Nirmanakaya. In Tibetan Buddhism, a more diverse form of this spiritually created body is called “Sna Tshogs Sprul Pa” or a Tulpa. This can take the form of anything animate or inanimate. In modern New Age practice this “thought form” (called a Tulpa) is created to make something which can go and fulfil the request of the practitioner.

The term Tulpa reached many of us through the media. It even appeared in TV shows such as The X-files and Supernatural. An internet community grew of Psionics who called themselves Tulpamancers through Reddit and 4chan. They often created thought forms of popular TV characters such as My Little Ponies.

A 2016 study, by Dr Samuel Veissière, on 141 participants, indicated high rates of neurodiversity in the participants and a 2021 study by Eli Somer called “Reality Shifting: Psychological Features of an emergent online daydreaming culture” suggested people were drawn to the culture by loneliness and mental suffering. The practice seemed to Somer to offer a form of self-hypnosis which allowed participants to carve their own mental reality.

See also other types of Magical Practitioner.