User:Julia2006M/Twin Flames Universe

Lead
Twin Flames Universe (TFU) is an organization run by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, who claim to have psychic powers. '''The two have written a book titled 'Twin Flames: Finding Your Ultimate Lover'. A mostly online organization, the Twin Flames Universe Youtube channel has 18.5K subscribers. Online sessions are held where people can seek counsel from Jeff and Shaleia. The group's practices, based on elements of New Age spiritualism regarding soulmates, where people thought to be eachothers 'twin flames' sole purpose is to challenge the other in their journey to self discovery and purpose. Popularized in the 2000s, the organization has''' been criticized as a "self-help and wellness cult" by cult experts such as Janja Lalich. In 2023, the group was the subject of the documentaries Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe and Escaping Twin Flames.

Concept of Twin Flames
The term "twin flames" was coined by English novelist Marie Corelli in her novel A Romance of Two Worlds. Related terms, such as "twin rays," came into use in the early 20th century through Guy and Edna Ballard, founders of the "I AM" activity. A follower of the Ballards, American spiritualist Elizabeth Clare Prophet, first popularized the contemporary concept of twin flames in 1999 in her book Soul Mates and Twin Flames: The Spiritual Dimension of Love and Relationships. In the book Prophet mixes Hindu, Buddhist, and evangelical Christian beliefs to argue that twin flames are two people with a permanent divine connection required for both to reach enlightenment or salvation. Prophet's daughter, a professor of religion at the University of Florida, has argued that earlier variations of the concept appear in the works of Charles Fourier and Emanuel Swedenborg.

Since Prophet's popularization of the term it has been used on some New Age spiritualism forums where even more esoteric versions of the concept began to develop.

'''More recently, the term has been used to describe two people who are equals and whose purpose is to push the other in their journey of self discovery. Much like the idea of soulmates, you have no control over who your twin flame is, and usually, your twin flame reflects your own personality. The infatuation with twin flames has recently lead to some unhealthy and problematic behaviors. Ryan Gosling, back in 2014, filed a restraining order against a fan who claimed to be his 'twin flame'.'''

Controversial Teachings
The organization teaches that every individual has a "twin flame," an intense variation of a soulmate, which Jeff and Shaleia will assign and then the member is encouraged to pursue their "twin flame" romantically. The group initially allowed people outside the group to be assigned as twin flames, leading to instances of members facing restraining orders and criminal charges for stalking. Members of the group are encouraged to engage in the "mirror exercise" which requires one to think of what is bothering them, '''and instead of blaming others, you take responsibility for it. People are taught to use personal pronouns in regards to what is bothering them'''; Janja Lalich described the exercise as "this kind of introspective exercise, which they say is there to help you, but it’s actually there to tear apart the self."

The group claims to be supportive of the LGBT community, but their rhetoric has been criticized by The New School professor Cassius Adair who said "What I'm hearing them say is, ‘I want to get closer to who I'm supposed to be.’ That raises a red flag for me... We don't want there to be a ‘supposed to be’ about gender. We want gender to be something that you are allowed to discern on your own." The group teaches the concepts of a “Divine Masculine” and a “Divine Feminine” and that every partnership has one masculine and one feminine partner. Former members have criticized the group for doing a form of conversion therapy by exerting social pressure on members to conform to their "divine" assigned gender identity. Former member Arcelia Francis compared the group's ideology to what might happen “if excessive liberal progressives got drunk and had a baby with conservative Christians." Other members have expressed being assigned a twin flame who wasn't the gender they were attracted to. Jeff and Shaleia claimed they had confirmed their genders through God. Many of these people have changed their pronouns, their hairstyles, wardrobes, names and more about their physical appearance. A few of these people went so far as to medically transition to new genders, under the guidance of Jeff and Shaleia.

The conservative, Christian organization Focus on the Family has criticized the Divines for operating a cult with "a New Age take on the Prosperity Gospel" that is "two deeply flawed human beings preaching a patchwork of New Age beliefs for their personal gain."

In response to criticisms, Twin Flames Universe has stated that "The allegations levied against Twin Flames Universe not only distort our true aims, methods, and curriculums but also misrepresent the autonomy of our community members, who are free to engage with our resources as they see fit. We are committed to confronting these allegations in an open and accountable manner."

Jeff and Shaleia Divine
Jeffrey "Jeff" Divine (born Jeffrey Ayan; formerly Ender Ayanethos) grew up in Lapeer, Michigan in a Catholic family. A childhood friend told Vice News his childhood focused on learning everything he could about Warren Buffett. In high school he was on the swim team and in the theatre club. He graduated from Western Michigan University's business school in 2010 and then sold all his belongings and moved to a subsistence farm in California. In 2012 he moved to Hawaii, changed his name on social media to Ender Ayanethos (in reference to Ender's Game), and started the blog EndersAdventures. He built a shack in Hilo, Hawaii, which he rented on Airbnb. In 2012 he met Megan Plante online and the pair started dating. In 2014, Jeff and Plante met for the first time in person and recorded their first video together. The couple married in 2016 and have one daughter born in April 2023.

Shaleia Divine ; born Megan Plante; formerly Shaleia Ayan) was born and raised in Canada in a Catholic family. Before meeting Jeff she was a photography student, reiki practitioner, and claimed psychic who worked at a Thai restaurant. In 2012, she met Jeff Ayan and the couple started dating. Shortly afterward Megan changed her name to Shaleia on the advice of her 'spiritual teacher' Altonah Lampe. The two welcomed their first child, Grace in 2023.

Founding and Organizations
Twin Flames Universe was founded by Jeff and Shaleia Divine. '''At the time of meeting Jeff, Shaleia was living in Arizona. Jeff moved to Arizona. The two then moved to Hawaii and started their blog called Awakened Intimacy' .'' The couple began making YouTube videos together in 2014. Today, their YouTube channel has amassed 18.5K subscribers, and their private FaceBook page has 14,000 members. The organization was officially founded in 2017 and offers the "Twin Flame Ascension Course," a paid online class for discussing the concept of "twin flames." Vanity Fair journalist Alice Hines described the series of classes as "a therapeutic-spiritual reality show"; in 2020 the classes cost $4,444 to view and purchase. These classes, via Google Hangouts, are held four times a week. In 2019 they founded the Church of Union to "unify all religion under one spiritual umbrella." '''In this church, Jeff is the 'Father Christ', Shaleia is the 'Mother Christ' and their daughter Grace is the 'Princess of all Creation'. Together they are, 'The Master Christ: Eternal Ruler of all Creation by Gods Living Hand' ''' They also run the "Mind Alignment Process," an online service that claims to be a treatment for PTSD. In addition to PTSD, the couple has claimed to have the ability to cure cancer and other medical conditions with a form of spiritual therapy. 'People can also order meals from Jeff and Shaleia through their Divine Dish'' program. Now the organization includes a sales team, a media team, a vice president, and an HR department. Most of these people are working for free, in service to Jeff and Shaleia.''' Since 2020, the organization has been headquartered south of Suttons Bay, Michigan.

Current
In June 2020, the Divines filed lawsuits against seven ex-members and one parent of a member. In 2021 the lawsuit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and with the judge noting the "apparent bad faith" behind the suit. '''Members who have since left the organization have come forward with stories detailing the bullying and threats they received from Jeff and Shaleia. Jeff threatened his former members with lawsuits, jail time, police investigations, and more. The police have also been recently involved. But the Leelanau County Police Department claims they have been aware of the organization and Jeff and Shaleia for a while. But because they are not seeing any law breaking, the department is not getting involved.'''

In Media
In 2020, Vanity Fair journalist Alice Hines became the first reporter to meet and interview the leaders of Twin Flames Universe in person. The cult is the focus of the documentaries Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe (2023) and Escaping Twin Flames (2023).