In pop culture, hearing voices is generally not perceived as a good thing. I am Jack's smirking revenge.
But there are people who find the voices in their heads to be therapeutic. They intentionally create these voices.
They're called Tulpamancers. A Tulpamancer creates a Tulpa, similar to an imaginary friend but with a twist.
These imaginary friends possess their own thoughts and emotions. They can act independently of their creator.
Meet Jacob, he's a Tulpamancer. We met on Reddit and I reached out to learn what it's really like to hear voices.
About four and a half years ago decided to. . . you could say, no longer be alone. Jacob is a 20-year-old psychology student.
He grew up in a military family and four and a half years ago he created a Tulpa, Ari. We interviewed Jacob, the Tulpamancer and his Tulpa, Ari.
To keep track of who's talking look in the top right corner. If you see a purple pony, that's Ari.
Jacob and Ari are two people that live in the body that you're looking at right now. I am Ari. And I am a Tulpa.
I see myself as a bat pony, as a pony with bat wings and glowing golden eyes and a grey coat and a midnight pluming. So, Jacob sees Ari as a pony.
