About
A tulpa could be described as an imaginary friend that has its own thoughts and emotions, and that you can interact with. You could think of them as hallucinations that can think and act on their own.
History
Before tulpas became popular on the internet, “Tulpamancing” was practiced in Tibetan and Indian Buddhism.
One early Buddhist text, the Samaññaphala Sutta lists the ability to create a “mind-made body” (mano-maya-kaya) as one of the ‘fruits of the contemplative life’.
In June 11, 2011, a creepypasta named “Tulpa” was written.
Full Pasta (Maybe NSFW)
Tulpas were a common subject in 4chan’s /x/ (Paranormal) board, before moving on to /mlp/ (Pony) board, claiming “you can make your favorite pony real”. Users in Pony-related sites such as mlpforums posted lots of tulpa threads.
In 2012, the website “tulpa.info” was registered, taking tulpas more seriously. The website has lots of guides, and a forum, with the motto “For Science!”
This eventually led to the creation of the /r/Tulpasreddit.