opinions from a basket of eggheads
#collective – #tulpamancy #guides #howto
This is a repost of a guide we wrote long ago for Tulpa.io. We feel much more mixed these days about the topic of personality and creation, but established systems and singlets have told us that they find it helpful beyond just creation, so we've decided to preserve it. It probably won't receive many updates, though.
(tba)
To put it most simply, plurality is an umbrella term for the experience of multiple [people, selves, beings—and other descriptive terms] sharing one head.
It includes everything from the diagnoses of DID and OSDD to various spiritual experiences, and countless other variations.
There are a variety of ways that plurality can come about, a variety of ways in which plural collectives experience and relate to their manyness, and a variety of communities and subcommunities based around those experiences.
It is a tremendous spectrum and though there may be common experiences shared between plurals, no two plurals are the same.
These is a list of some common plural terms as they are used on this blog. It is subject to change as more articles are added.
Please note that this list is neither complete nor absolute—it is not a reflection of the one true way these words are used by all people, nor does it include every word that has been coined, nor does it dictate what the “correct” words are. It is merely a reference to assist in understanding what has been written here. (Relevant reading: Julia Serrano's “There Is No Perfect Word.”)
Blending: An experience in which system members’ consciousnesses, perceptions, and/or identities become temporarily mixed together.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID): A diagnostic label for a type of disordered plurality resulting from severe childhood trauma. While the mechanisms are not fully understood, it is believed that dissociation occurs as a defense against trauma, splitting an “original child” into many, or preventing one “original child” from forming in the first place and thus forming several “original children”. Various individuals in the resulting system take up different roles related to the system's survival—for example, one member may come out to endure abuse so that others will not have to. While this does indeed enable the system's survival in childhood in many cases, unprocessed trauma, strife between system members, memory loss, and involuntary dissociation result in disorder later in life. (OSDD (other specified dissociative disorder) is a related disorder, with the primary differences being that DID involves relatively differentiated system members, while OSDD-1a does not, and that DID involves amnesia, while OSDD-1b does not.)
Endogenic: Originating neither from trauma, nor from focused creation as in tulpamancy. (Some have expanded this term to include all non-trauma origins including tulpamancy, but for the sake of differentiation we use the old definition.)
Fronting: When someone in a system controls and/or is connected to the physical body they share with everyone else. (When multiple system members front together, they are co-fronting. Someone who fronts, either regularly or just for the time being, is a fronter. The “outside position” where one is able to sense and/or interact with the outer world is called the front.)
Headspace: A mental (or metaphysical, depending on the system) landscape in which system members can interact with each other or reside away from the front. Headspaces vary widely in size, functioning, and complexity. They may be anything from a static landscape where external laws of physics don't apply, to an elaborate inner world with its own cultures that follows external physical laws.
Singlet: One mind, self, person, etc in one brain. Someone who is not plural.
Soulbond: A fictional character—either from one's own stories or from others'—who has “come to life.” Often seen as metaphysical in nature, viewing soulbonds as people from other worlds that one has connected to. Something that soulbonds typically have in common is a pervasive feeling of having come from somewhere else—of having had a life before this one. (The individual who connects to a soulbond is called a soulbonder. The experience of having a soulbond is called soulbonding.)
System: The collective of people, selves, minds, etc existing within one physical head.
Traumagenic: Originating from trauma. Many traumagenic systems also match or identify with the clinical diagnoses of DID and OSDD. (The word alter is typically used in reference to traumagenic system members, although there are some who dislike the term and prefer to be called something else.)
Tulpa: A system member created by focused effort. Tulpas may be created by those who are already plural, or by singlets to become plural. (Someone who creates a tulpa is called a tulpamancer. The practice of creating tulpas is called tulpamancy.)
#collective – #general #introductory #infoposts
Last updated: 6/7/18
This is a continuation of our 101 + Glossary, breaking down some plural labels and communities a little further along with a few that we hadn't included in the glossary. If you're unfamiliar with the concept of plurality itself, we recommend you start there.
Just like with the 101, this primer is neither complete nor absolute. It does not capture every facet of every community or subcommunity. It is not a reflection of the one true way these labels are used by all people, nor does it include every labels that has been coined, nor does it dictate what the “correct” labels are. It is our attempt at sharing what we've personally gathered and understood over our years in the community, and is thus subject to change as we gain new understandings and the community itself changes. Labels shift in meaning, usage, and connotations; communities merge, split, and bicker; there will always be edge cases, overlaps, and those for whom categories simply do not apply. We strongly encourage anyone deeply interested in the subject of plurality to not stop their learning here.
(Content notes: some brief discussion of integration, drama over labels.)
tl;dr: we complain about the community and sometimes give practical advice.
(tba)
#byArchitect – #tulpamancy #opinions
A time back, a prospective tulpamancer asked us what we thought of the community. I wrote her a long answer explaining my personal cynicisms. More recently, some people within the community asked us to explain what specific toxic attitudes we've seen there. In answer to them and any future askers, I'm reposting a slightly modified copy of the answer I gave the prospective tulpamancer. This is far from complete in my view, but it should at least answer the basic question and then some.
And I feel the need to elaborate that these problems are not limited to the tulpamancy community. I've seen variations of them everywhere in the wider plural community. I've seen them in mixed communities, in DID communities, and in endogenic communities. I do think that the particular nature of the tulpamancy community “institutionalizes” these issues more, but honestly, considering that the bigger plural community is also a mess of cults, toxic codependencies, persecutory paranoia, and pointless bickering, I'd say we're even. I also don't think these issues are a symptom specific to plural community, but specialized ways that issues found in general society manifest. Humans are just inept at treating each other well in general and this is simply another way that it happens.
In any case, warnings for the following: abuse (especially in-system abuse), forced integration, dehumanization (including the context of having to do pointless “tests” to prove you're a person), and a brief mention of sex with dubious circumstances.