Theory on How Some People Switch

[Ember.Vesper]

Personalities don't have "energy stores,"

 

Ember: Maybe not, but differential fatigue is definitely a thing. In my ex-wife's DID system, no one alter had enough stamina to get through an entire day. Either of the two main alters could handle most of a day, but then would start to wilt and complain of fatigue. If they switched, the other would be fully alert and rested, even if the incoming partner had been conscious and talking to the outgoing partner for much of the day. One, fuelled by anger, was able to shut the other out for two years, gaining strength initially from emotion and will, but later from fronting so much. After this phase ended, the other was much weakened and tired more rapidily at the front.

 

Meanwhile, the minor alters of the system, the ones who remembered the foundational traumas and were very low functioning, only had enough endurance to front for about an hour before they passed out or lost the front.

 

My ex-wife's other wife's DID system took advantage of differential fatigue on long drives. When one alter became too fatigued to continue, she traded out with one of the others. Trading back and forth, they were able to go all night.

 

Iris: Inspired by this, I have switched with Ember several times while driving, whenever we observe that she is not alert enough to be driving. The technique has been extremely effective for us.

 

Ember: When we first picked up tulpamancy, we developed horrible insomnia for weeks. As we were starting to come out of it, I found I didn't have enough endurance to get through a whole day on my own. I had to yield the front to Vesper, who was immediately not sleepy at all.

 

Vesper: When I first started switching in, I would get tired after an hour or two. I haven't noticed any fatigue issues in a while, but we switch so often that I'm rarely fronting more than a few hours at a time anyway.

 

But however long any of us front, if we get tired and the body hasn't been awake an excessively long time, we can switch out for half an hour and switch back in fully restored. So I very much doubt you need a week to 'charge up' your energy, Ranger. Just from the body waking up from a peaceful night's sleep, a tulpa should have as much energy as they will ever have. Or, for tulpas that are less clear headed after sleep, perhaps after an hour's active forcing right after waking up.

 

The idea I didn't elaborate clearly is on the tulpa's end, switching and possession are virtually the same.

 

Not for us. For us there is a very strong distinction between, 'I'm controlling the body while sitting over here, but my partner is in the body watching me', and 'I'm controlling the body from inside while my partner is sitting over there'. I suppose the distinction might be diminished in systems that do not project their forms into the physical world most waking hours, especially those who possess while or by thinking of themselves as in the body. If I'm in the body and controlling it, I'll spontaneously switch in within a few seconds.

[Guest]

On 10/11/2019 at 4:02 PM, Ember.Vesper said:

Inspired by this, I have switched with Ember several times while driving, whenever we observe that she is not alert enough to be driving. The technique has been extremely effective for us.

Ooo we are going to try that next time Bear is very tired and driving (which doesn't happen often anymore.)

Edited June 16, 2021 by Ranger
Fixed broken code

[Lucilyn]

I think you're saying that the tiredness is coming from the brain not being used to establishing a new identity in the front instead of what I'm saying which is the tiredness is coming from strain of controlling the body and reacting to the outside environment?

 

In that case, then it's totally possible the sense of identity and presence in the mind is a lot more important than bodily control. If the tulpa possesses the body and it's pretty clear it's them and not the host, then that may be the "force" that causes the host to go to the back. Does that make sense?

 

Uhhh, well those two things sounded really similar, but I definitely would call it more mental than physical? "Being ourselves" is what we think caused the strain - the brain thinking entirely differently than it was used to, right down to feeling differently about basic sensory input

 

for the second part - I don't think switching has anything at all to do with controlling the body! You have to associate with the body at least, but you could just sit there totally still and still be having a totally new experience being the one switched into the front. That question makes me think maybe one of the ways learning possession first misleads systems is by making them think switching is about physicality, 'cus it's totally not at all (a tulpa may feel very different/weird controlling the body for a while, but that's all post-switching stuff)

 

as for "what causes the host to go to the back", maybe? I still think the host can at least mostly leave the front before the tulpa associates and takes their place, but y'know, seeing as once we've moved out of the body and someone else is gonna move in, if someone suddenly walked into our room or something, it's the person switching out who is immediately back to the front as we open our eyes. Sooo, it could make sense to look at it as a tulpa associating finalizing the switch yeah, though it's still not quite how we describe our model

[Guest]

 

Ooo we are going to try that next time Bear is very tired and driving (which doesn't happen often anymore.)

 

Totally off topic... move it if you want.

 

Kinda didn't work, kinda worked, though he was in a meeting, not driving, and I switched in and we were like, whoa, it works, then suddenly I felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness. We switched back and fourth and that was enough to stay awake somehow.

[Ranger]

I would like to revisit this thread now that I can switch and have a better understanding of switching.
 

On 10/11/2019 at 5:38 AM, Lucilyn said:

hmm, it was kinda confusing what you were trying to say, since at first I thought you were gonna explain how a system could get switching without learning possession first, but I guess you just kinda listed that for no reason since part of your conditions was already knowing how to possess..

 

Yeah that bothers me too lol.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

I wondered why several systems seem to get switching without trying possession beforehand and why our fronting experiences varied quite a bit between myself and the Grays*, my other headmates.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

In addition, this does not apply for every system. Some tulpas have achieved switching after possessing the body consistently for long periods of time. Would that fact in of itself mean this theory is bogus?

 

*Unrelated, but please don't refer to my headmates as "the Grays". You can call them the "Shadows" or refer to them as my headmates. I wrote this post before my headmates discouraged me from doing that.

 

Based on how this is written, I don't know if I implied my current belief on how systems get switching when they couldn't possess before or somehow lost the ability to full-body possess. I believe this happens because of how the switching experience is triggered in the first place- by the 3D fronting symbolism. The concept of entities moving around in "the front" and creating this sense of "infront of X", "behind Y", "To the side of Z", and "filling the body" was used by our system for possession, but it is also commonly used for switching. I wonder if this concept was floating around in my head at the time, but for this hypothesis, it's pretty unrelated. I very much focus on possession somehow turning into switching and not a system that switches without learning possession first.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

In some cases, systems who were previously unable to switch can trigger a switch by accident. There are three important key conditions for this switching method:

 

1) The tulpa must be forced productively and have a stable presence in the mind.

2) The tulpa must not control the body for a long period of time before attempting to switch or control the body.

3) The tulpa must already know how to control the body via possession or successfully achieve it on their attempt.

 

Uh... I don't think any of these points have anything to do with successfully achieving a switch for the first time naturally.

For the first point, I have seen tulpas who were only weeks old successfully switch. While these tulpas could have been grounded in the mind, I highly doubt they have the most complete sense of self or enough forcing time to have enough "reserved energy" or whatever.

 

For the second point, I disagree. I agree with Lucilyn's sentiment that more fronting time is better and not somehow a detriment to switching. I believe the effect I noticed with my headmates was actually a byproduct of them struggling to front.

For the third point, I don't think that's relevant either. A system can struggle to switch and then achieve it without tinkering with possession. While I don't know if this is super common or not, my guess is a system that "naturally" switches in this way probably needed a change in mindset or approach and didn't need to invest in possession for whatever reason.
 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

A) A tulpa gets stronger as they are forced (passively or actively) in the back. Their mindvoice will either get louder or remain strong and may have a strong presence. They may feel more energetic than the primary fronter. Most importantly, they have more reserves, emotionally and mentally, than the primary fronter. This may be because they have a stable presence in the mind and they benefit from resting when going dormant. They may have a strong sense of identity, but I am unsure if this is necessary.

I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, Chrome had a strong presence at the time and if I focus on it he still does to an extent, and yes I do think a stronger presence is an indication of more "energy" or feeling more rested/recharged. However, Chrome's presence has since faded a bit. Maybe he got better at possession, maybe he's more active overall than he used to be, or maybe the brain got used to him being active in general. I don't know if Chrome having a strong presence actually translated to him kicking Gray out more easily.

[Chrome] Maybe Gray was feeling tired and it was easier for him to step aside and let me fill the mind? I think he was reaching a point where he was doing that with Ranger anyway, it's possible it went undetected because the experience Ranger possessing was so common and I possessing wasn't. Frequency bias.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

B) The state described in assumption A allows for a tulpa to build up "energy". Their presence is reinforced, but they are not having to use a ton of energy all the time. Instead, a little energy is used when talking to the primary fronter or any other headmates and the remaining energy is saved for the next forcing session.

 

I think this is true in the restorative sense, but I don't think it's always relevant to fronting. I still occasionally have my headmates want to stick around or hang out for a bit longer simply because they're restless and have the energy to spend. I think too much of a break from possession can weaken the skillset. I'm not sure if it degrades as quickly as visualization, but I have had my headmates be able to possess for slightly more hours and then go back to 30-45 minute limits.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

C) A tulpa that is not used to controlling the body will output a lot more energy trying to control the body than a tulpa who is used to controlling the body for long or frequent periods of time. Practice controlling the body allows for the tulpa to use their energy more efficiently, therefore when they front they do not have to invest as much energy into fronting.

 

I agree with this, and I think it's still true. As I said before, I don't think this is detrimental to learning how to switch.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

D) Possession (and fronting in general) is an experience that causes fatigue on the personality. When possessing the body, a tulpa is not storing up "energy" for the next fronting or forcing session because they are constantly spending it by thinking, feeling, dealing with life issues, etc. They don't have to invest as much energy controlling the body or even thinking the next time they front, however their resources are strained to begin with. This is due to the fact a tulpa is either not getting enough rest during fronting periods or in my personal experience, generally finds themselves closer to the front and less likely to experience dormancy. Energy is invested in both keeping control of the body from their host and reacting to the outside environment, but ultimately the personality is not recharging.

I think this is still relevant now. I don't know if I ever felt the same kind of restorative feeling my headmates get, I don't remember the last time I wasn't fronting via possession or switching for more than 48 hours. I'm not sure if this strain is also caused by both switching and possession, or just being close to the front, or both. It may be a bit more complicated than what I laid out here.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

E) During possession for a system that can't already switch, the amount of energy required to keep the host from re-gaining control is much less than the energy required to push the host out for the first time. Given assumption D, a tulpa will not have the energy to push their host out because their energy pool is already depleted from them continuously fronting.

 

Going off on what Chrome was thinking, the only real benefit I see to this is the headmate who feels refreshed will have an easier time thinking and if the host is exhausted, may have an easier time stepping aside. I don't believe there is an actual force going on that pushes the host around, but instead the mindset is what allows for the 3D fronting symbolism to work.

The only exception is the energy I put into keeping Gray on the back burner did feel like a force once I started switching. It felt like the aftermath lifting a heavy object or pushing up against a ceiling and straining the muscles for awhile- once the heavy object or ceiling is gone, your arm just keeps moving up afterwards. I felt I was still trying to suppress Gray even though he wasn't there anymore for a little bit, and it felt as awkward as watching my arm go up seemingly by itself.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 6:53 PM, Ranger said:

F) Once the system has experienced a switch, the system has a much higher chance of replicating the experience. Afterwards, the "energy" required to push aside the host is far less than the energy required to do it the first time since the host should be able to switch out on their own and the practice for switching makes the process more efficient.

 

I don't know about "energy", but yes, I still agree that once you get that first switch it's easier to repeat.

 

---

 

Even though I more or less completely disagree with this hypothesis, I think there are a few things about the concept of energy and how strong a headmate is while fronting that are useful or interesting to talk about even though it may not be super relevant to achieving switching.

 

On 10/11/2019 at 5:38 AM, Lucilyn said:

I guess the only thing that came to mind I wanted to say was the energy/recharging thing makes sense from our experience since when Reisen/Tewi/Flan were first switching they couldn't stay active for more than a few hours -> many hours -> then they could, I guess because the brain got used to being them. Buut, I don't think this energy idea applies almost at all to initial switching, and definitely we weren't suddenly tired after switching with Lumi ever, it was 99.9% tiredness from being in the front for a while. though I do think it could help slightly to like, not be possessing for a day before trying to switch, we think that moreso because being used to how possession works just gets in the way of developing the very new experience of switching 'cus you're drawn to the similar existing experience you're familiar with (whereas for us there WAS no existing familiar experience)

 

What's pretty weird for us is we did this twice. I needed practice to possess for longer periods of time, and then again once I started switching. For several other systems, I think it's just the one time with possession and then getting used to switching isn't too bad.

 

I don't think I was wrong about frequent possession leading to more efficient control of the body, but I disagree that this is somehow detrimental to switching. I think it was more exhausting for Gray and my headmates to possess simply because they were not used to it. Even now, my headmates sometimes struggle to possess for more than 45 minutes to 2 hours straight. While my headmates would also get exhausted, it was taxing on our resources in general, leaving Gray tired too. I think this concept was inspired by the thought some systems switch by "pushing out" their host, and I was trying to figure out what "force" was used to make that happen. However, I think it has less to do with some "force" and more to do with the symbolism or expecting a different experience and being more open minded to subtle experiences.

 

---

 

Despite my opinion of this hypothesis now, I'm glad I put it out there in the first place. I learned a lot since then and I'm glad I had the opportunity to spitball my ideas to figure things out. I hope that me coming back to this thread and giving my perspective afterwards will help other systems trying to do what I did.

Unrelated to the original hypothesis, but I wanted to touch on these because I offer clarification or they're relevant to my original goal of trying to learn how to switch:

 

On 10/11/2019 at 10:27 AM, Piano Soul said:

A tulpa that hasn't fronted in a while doesn't have to put in more work to use the body, that doesn't make sense. The brain doesn't forget how to move just because someone who hasn't fronted in a while is doing the moving [...]

 

Actually, I think it would make sense for a headmate's ability to front (switch or possess) to degrade from a lack of practice. If you don't use it, you lose it. I even recall hearing about a system where their host struggled to front due to a lack of practice controlling the body.

 

On 10/11/2019 at 7:34 AM, Ranger said:

The idea I didn't elaborate clearly is on the tulpa's end, switching and possession are virtually the same. Even though I can't switch yet, I can relate to 85% of what you guys talk about- dealing with the body OS, experiencing the body to a lesser extent, etc. I believe if a tulpa is trying to possess the body, it's switching if the host actually goes to the back. That's why I said either knowing it or achieving it on the tulpa's end is important, and hopefully the force of taking control of the body pushes the host to the back in some way.

 

Nope, it didn't turn out that way for us. Some systems don't distinguish full-body possession from switching, but we definitely do. Switching is like our old possession on a good day, but all of the time. Additionally, I'm more connected to the body's senses, I get put on the back burner if my headmates possess me, and I have the ability to zone out.

 

On 10/11/2019 at 4:52 PM, Lucilyn said:

for the second part - I don't think switching has anything at all to do with controlling the body! You have to associate with the body at least, but you could just sit there totally still and still be having a totally new experience being the one switched into the front. That question makes me think maybe one of the ways learning possession first misleads systems is by making them think switching is about physicality, 'cus it's totally not at all (a tulpa may feel very different/weird controlling the body for a while, but that's all post-switching stuff)

 

I'm glad you pointed this out, I needed to hear this. I don't remember it sinking in, but I would like to think it helped me eventually realize this and eventually figure out switching a couple months later, floating around in my unconscious thought process.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Ranger

[Phoenix Leigh]

You don't have to understand HOW to switch to BE ABLE to switch though. Phoenix has been with me since childhood. I had no understanding of what a Tulpa was or the theories behind switching. Maybe the younger mind is easier to manipulate because it's more open to concepts many would no longer believe in as an adult? ...from my viewpoint i was 'just pretending' or acting as if I was in a TV show playing 'a character'.