The Mystical, Mind-Sharing Lives of Tulpamancers

Drawing on ancient Tibetan practices and a very human need for companionship, these people believe they have figured out how to create sentient beings within their own bodies.

Illustrations by Jeffrey Kam | Edited by Abby Carney

A man walks into his den and sits down. He closes his eyes, letting his mind wander and his consciousness grow gauzy. Slowly, she comes forward in his mind. He feels his control over his own being start to slip and fade. Another pair of eyes blinks behind his own. A sloe-eyed woman shakes out her long mane of thick gray hair. His consciousness grows hazier; time grows strange.

The man feels himself drift into the recesses; his body is now entirely hers, if only for a short while. Her slender fingers reach for her violin. She settles into his body — their body — and swings the instrument to her chin, the bow poised. The melancholy notes of a Berg sonata swell around her as her elbow slices the air, eyes closed. Her tail swings, keeping time. The song is soaring now; her teeth flash in a satisfied smile — close to human, but closer still to a wolf.

Her name is Shinyuu. She’s a tulpa, and she lives inside her host, a man who goes by the n…