There’s another craze going around: meet the internet’s newest subculture, Tulpas.

Tulpas are “sentient beings imagined into existence using meditation-style exercises”.

Let’s explain this. Nick, from England, has three tulpas, and they are in the form of one foot high anthropomorphic ponies. He has a very close friendship with Twi, Dash, and Scoots, who “live inside his head”.

“Tulpamancers” are the creators of tulpas. So, you could be a Tulpamancer if you wanted to have a colourful pet pony with glitter hair live in your head.

Until 2009, Tulpas remained the preserve of occultists, but 2012 saw the rise when when adult fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic caught on to the craze.

“Tulpas are believed to be conscious beings with their own preferences, and they’re not completely under their host’s control.”

There are over 6 000 members on the Reddit forum, with another estimated 6 000 members belonging to Russian social networking site Vkontakte.

Tulpas have the ability to “say unexpected things, recall forgotten memories and make them (the creators) laugh”.

Maybe it’s time to cut down on the “medical” marijuana…