Glossary of Terms

This article is a Stub — many of these terms have changed or fallen out of use in the last 20 years and these definitions need extensive revision.

This is by no means an exhaustive glossary of terms.

Alter [p,mx]

It can be assumed that this term is shortened from alter-ego. Individual of a Split personality. Can be used to mean resident as well. Normally used for someone within a Split-Multiple. Can be synonymous with "headmate". See also Residents.

Analog [o]

A being which is from an alternate time stream. The time line diverges in a 'Y' intersection, and an anagolous relationship exists between the beings at the top two points of the 'Y', thus the being on the left is an Analog of the being on the right, and vice versa. This usually only comes into play with interdimensional parallel time streams, and is rather advanced in theory. See also Past Lives.

Back [p,m]

The state of being out of touch with the body's faculties. A temporary state of solitude or restful period for a resident. A resident or residents who are not interacting with the world. Also "the Back" which refers to a location in the headspace. See also Headspace.

Body-Name [ox]

see "System-Name".

body-spirit [o]

The spirit of the being who was born to the body. Sometimes considered the owner of the body, however when the term is used to talk about an unknown entity which left the body (such is the case in singleton walk-ins), the person has relinquished their claim to body-ownership. See also Body Spirit

body-split [o]

Splits derived from the body-spirit. See also Body Spirit.

channel [g]

The act of serving (verb) or person who serves (noun) as a conduit/medium for beings to interact with our reality. Usually refers to a temporary situation, but can also refer to the actual advent of a body-spirit or resident-spirit actively calling or inviting other spirits into the body, who then may remain on a more permanent basis. See also Channelers.

endogenic [&]

a plural system whose plurality predates any known trauma i.e. their plurality did not arise from trauma to their knowledge. Can be used for individual members of a plural system.

exile [o]

The act of being spiritually booted out of one's body (verb) or someone who got booted out of their last body (noun). See also Walk-Ins.

exotrauma [&]

Trauma not experienced within this body; trauma experienced by fictives in source materials, or in a "past life" such as by walk-ins, otherkin or fictionkin.

everymany [&]

(2020) The plural community equivalent of "everybody".

face-claims [&,m]

A photo, usually of a 3rd party, that looks like or something like a specific headmate.

factive [&,m]

A headmate that is copied (cf. introject) by the system (usually unconsciously) from an external reality person, past or present.

fictive [&,m]

A headmate that is copied (cf. introject) by the system (usually unconsciously) from what is generally recognized as a fiction story or storyworld.

fictionkin [&,m,o]

A singular person or headmate who has had a past life rooted in what is generally recognized as a fictional story or storyworld.

Front [p,m]

The individual entity who is interacting with the world (when used as a personal title or name: "Joe is Front." "Front is tired, we're going to sleep now.") . A position of being available to communicate and interact by direct use of the bodily senses and faculties ("Who is Fronting right now?"). A location in the headspace ("Who is in Front?"). See also Headspace.

gender dysphoria [p,t]

One may experience gender dysphoria when they are so anxious and uncomfortable with their body-sex or perceived gender that it interferes with their internal safety, comfort or ability to function. It is classified as a clinical disorder because of the distress and anxiety involved.

gender-fluid [t]

Someone whose gender identity is not static/fixed at any given time. Some plurals use "gender-fluid" to denote that their group-entity gender identity is not fixed.

gender-neutral [t]

Someone who feels they are in the middle of the gender spectrum or continuum.

Guest [o]

Used as the term for a specific individual who was not born to the body. There is an impermanence implied here, such as a "guest" who is channeled into the body. See also Residents and Hosts.

headspace [m]

The internal mental or nonordinary landscape within which the residents in a body may interact when not Front. See also Headspace.

house rules [o]

A system's internal regulations, whether spoken or unspoken, which determine what behaviors are acceptable for the residents in the system. This helps keep order and make shared responsibility possible. See also House Rules

Host [o]

The outdated term used for a multiple in which one or more separate distinct energetic entities have moved into the body from an outside source. 'Host' also could be seen as a host (as in host of angels) meaning gang, group, military unit, etc. Those whom are 'hosted' are also referred to as residents or sometimes guests. If speaking about an individual as the host, it would probably mean what the psychological term does: the so-called "main entity" or premier personality in the system. See also Hosts, Residents.

Host-Multiple [o]

A Multiple who is a Host. Just yet another confusing term to add to the glossary. Used to clarify the difference between a Multiple who happens to be a Split and a Multiple who happens to be a Host. See Hosts.

introject [p]

A headmate created, usually unconsciously by the system overall, as a reflection of an external source person, regardless of the source of inspiration. (see also fictive, factive)

lens [g]

"Lenses" are different philosophical angles and allow people to view the same objective situation using models and language or philosophy from outside of a typical set explanation. In this community, the typical lens used is usually clinical psychology. So alternate lenses include philosophical, quantum psychology, transpersonal psychology, spiritual, shamanic, etc.

losing time [m]

A blackout, during which the residents-in-general don't know or recall exactly what occurred. See also Losing Time.

Multiple [g]

For the purposes of this manual, Multiple simply means "any physical entity which has more than one person inside of it." By person, it is not important whether they have their own spirit or soul or body: in this case the important part is that they have a separate psyche. This term is used as an umbrella term and includes Split-Multiples and Host-Multiples. Some people are now calling this "plurals", to avoid the negative publicity and connotations surrounding the term "multiple". See also Multiples.

non-binary [t]

Someone who does not feel they fall within the culturally defined binary of gender.

paragenic [&]

a plural system with spiritual origins/explanations for becoming plural. Can be used for individual members of a plural system.

quoigenic [&]

a plural system with confusing, unknown, or mixed origins/explanations for becoming plural. From the French "what?" as in "I don't know what [to call this]". Also just "it's complicated."

Resident [o]

Any specific being (alter &/or guest) inhabiting a body, whether it was born there or not. Generally denotes that the situation is probably a permanent living situation. Can be used for all types of Multiples. See also Hosts, Residents, Alters, Guests.

Singular (entity) [&,m], Singlet [&,m], Singleton [mx]

A physical entity with a single consciousness in their body: in other words, the commonly culturally-accepted allotment of people-per-body. See also Singular Entities New.

Split [g]

When a spirit, psyche, or soul subdivides into separte possibly complete spirits, psyches or souls. A resident or alter defined or caused by this occurance. See also Alters and Split Lines.

Split-Multiple [o]

A multiple entity comprised (partially or entirely) of splits. See also Alters.

splitting[p], depersonalized[p], "greyed" or "purpled"[o]

A confusing state where residents are not distinguishable from one another. Resident's thoughtstreams are not easily identified as their own. "Purpled" was coined by Dandelion (body-name for someone in the community) and seems to be sticking. See also Depersonalization.

spokesplural [&]

The plural community equivalent of spokesperson or verbal representative.

switchy [p,m]

A manic or confusing state where residents are swapping Front rapidly. See also Multiple Mania.

syscourse [d]

A shortening of "System Discourse" - a metaconversation, often adversarial, between different factions of the overall (broad) plural community/umbrella.

sysmed [d]

A term for plural medicalists, often DID/OSDD diagnosed systems.

system [p]

The entirety of the entity, it's body, all it's residents, guests, splits, constructs, memories, and how the entirety functions together as a unit. Often used to refer to the myriad internal aspects of the entities involved. Such as "interactions within the system"... Term first coined for plurals by the science/psychology community at least as far back as Morton Prince, 1906. Best used with an adjective ("plural system", "DID system", "multiple system") to not be confused with The System, or a repeatable method for organizing.

system name [&,m]

The term used to mean "all the entities in this specific body" or any portion thereof. Often the birth name is used with something to define that it is being used as a body-name, such as adding an '&' to the end of the name (shortened from "& company" and pronounced "name-and" eg. Bob& (Bob-and) or Criss& (Criss-and). Some folks take on a new name altogether (cf "Dandelion" and "Crisses") to delineate the difference between individuals as opposed to group-entity. Some Multiples do not use a different body-name at all. See also Naming Names.

traumagenic [&]

a plural system which attributes their plurality to trauma. Can be used for individual members of a plural system.

tulpa [tm]

a headmate created deliberately, usually through a mindful/deliberate process called "tulpamancy" (see below).

tulpamancy [tm]

the study and process of creating a headmate, called a "tulpa," (see above) deliberately, usually through a mindful/deliberate process.

& [o,m,&] (pre-2000)

Historically a letter of the English alphabet that came after z. It is a glyph created from the Latin "et" meaning "and". The term "ampersand" comes from reciting the end of the alphabet: "x, y, zed, and, per se, and." This became shortened to "ampersand." The ampersand glyph is used in many pockets of the plural community as a counter to the singular one-letter "I", since "and" is always additive, and thus many. Coined as a shortening of "and Company" tacked on the end of a host/body name to indicate the entire group entity, it's also used within plural systems to indicate subsystem gatekeepers or veil names. Pronounced out loud as "-and" as if you're about to say "and company" but you omit "company." Example: Harper& would indicate the group entity of Harper and company, and said aloud as "Harper-and". Also tacked onto pronouns such as "you&" or "your&" to indicate many-within-body/entity. The history of the & in plural culture is covered here. New

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