Imaginary friends, thought-forms and Tulpas

[Mentalgongfu]

I've had a few recent experiences which have led me to consider the possibility a malevolent spirit/creature is occupying the basement of my home. I'm not convinced its anything more than my mind playing tricks, but there are enough paranormal thoughts floating around in my head that, on the advice of comrades, I'm probably going to burn some sage and take a few other steps to rid myself of this entity, real or imagined. Better safe than sorry, as they say.<br><br>Without telling a long story, the situation with what may or not be in my basement ties in rather well with Jeff's recent post "The Planet of Lost Children." Suffice it to say, if some sort of entity is downstairs, I think I may have conjured or invited it myself. But that's not really my intended point with this thread.<br><br>That situation, along with Jeff's post, has got me thinking intensely about the idea of thought-forms and imaginary friends. <br><br>I don't have any clear memories of imaginary friends as a child, but I pulled out my Baby Book, which states when I was 3-and-a-half I liked to play with my brother and my (imaginary?) friends "Goag" and "my green boy." <br><br>(note: "goag" is spelled as written in the book. Not positive how it should be pronounced or spelled, except I think its one syllable rather than two)<br><br>I talked to my Mom, and she doesn't remember "goag" but does recall "my green boy." The origin of "Goag" is a complete mystery. We came up with a few possible inspirations for "my green boy," but none of them made any real sense. (And why should they?)<br><br>I'm hoping some of my own memories of these friends might come to light now that I'm thinking about this subject, but in the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to ask other RI readers about their imaginary friends or related experiences. <br><br>I realize some people responded in Jeff's blog comments, but none the less I thought it deserved a thread of its own. <br><br>Anyone feel like sharing a story of your own imaginary friends, thought-forms, etc.? <p></p><i></i>

[yathrib]

My SO thinks that our home is inhabited by some malevolent trickster spirit, because things are mysteriously moved around or disappear entirely. I choose to ignore it. <p></p><i></i>

[Gouda]

Looking forward to seeing Gilliam's new film, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Tideland</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.tidelandthemovie.com/intro.html">www.tidelandthemovie.com/intro.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>(Brilliant website by the way)<br><br>"As optimisitic as it is surreal...Tideland is a celebration of the power of a child's imagination." <br><br>...and more. <p></p><i></i>

[professorpan]

I've been meaning to write about my own experiences since I read Jeff's excellent post.<br><br>I had an imaginary friend who was a doctor. He went from being a friendly doctor to a scary entity that manifested as a ball of light. I have distinct memories of seeing him in my room, while standing in a hallway, and dropping to the floor and going to sleep. This occurred multiple times -- seeing the light, dropping to the floor, and losing consciousness. <br><br>When I first watched the film adaptation of "Communion" (the Whitley Strieber book), I got chills when the boy playing Strieber's son starts talking about "the little doctors."<br><br>I'll post more when I have the time to write in detail. <br><br>I also created what may have been a Tulpa as a prank. In grade school, I created a fictional ghost friend. One kid really bought into it, to the point where he started noticing the ghost around him, moving objects, and making things happen. It was very odd. I think to this day he probably still believes in the ghost. <p></p><i></i>

[anotherdrew]

<!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.uoregon.edu/~mtaylor/ic/Marjorie_Swing.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>[Dr. Marjorie Taylor, University of Oregon (Eugene)]<br><br>Percentage of children who by age seven have had at least one imaginary friend: 65<br>Percentage of these friends who are animals: 41<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.uoregon.edu/~mtaylor/ic/ImaginaryCompanions.html">her site about her book on the subject</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>http://www.lcmedia.com/mind232.htm<br>and another source:<br>http://www.harpercollins.com.au/drstephenjuan/0312news.htm<br><br>"Of course, if a person keeps their IC into adulthood, that's abnormal---and extremely rare. That would be more like the film "Harvey" (1950) where a man befriends an adult-sized imaginary rabbit than the film "Drop Dead Fred" (1991) where an imaginary prankster returns to haunt a young woman's life."<br><br>Anyone ever saw "Harvey" ? <br>aparently, "Harvey is actually a púca, a mischievous magical creature from Celtic mythology."<br>from wikipedia:<br>"In the final scene of the film, when Elwood (along with everybody else) arrive back at the hospital, the doctor convinces Elwood to come into his office where he'll receive a serum that will "stop [Elwood] seeing the rabbit". Once they go into the office, the taxi driver tells Elwood's sister about what's happened to the other people who received that medicine and warns her that once he does Elwood will become one of the "normal people. And we know what stinkers they are." Upset by this idea, Veta halts the procedure. At the tale's end Harvey is (indirectly) seen opening the gate to the hospital to follow the others out."<br><br>well, sounds like Donny Darko was riffing on Harvey. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=anotherdrew>anotherdrew</A> at: 7/12/06 5:11 pm<br></i>

[Mentalgongfu]

Harvey is a great movie. It's been a long time since I saw it though. Jimmy Stewart played the guy (Elwood, you say) who sees the giant rabbit. I always figured the Darko rabbit was related. Film makers love to give homage to other movies and film makers. <br><br>I suppose the Darko story is another way to approach the concept of imaginary? friends as well. Donnie sees and talks to a giant rabbit named Frank which no one else sees, only Frank the rabbit is actually a very real and very dead human in a rabbit suit who is traveling interdimensionally,apparently to help Donnie choose the proper path.<br><br>One of the best lines is when they're in the theater, and Donnie asks Frank :<br>"Why are you wearing that stupid rabbit suit?"<br><br>Frank replies:<br>"Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" <p></p><i></i>