It's been a while since I've told y'all about my latest podcast obsession du jour, and I'm excited to be back with yet another culty deep dive. Lately I've discovered two great podcasts thanks to guests on other podcasts I was already listening to (another post to come later on the second one!). It's all a big podcast rabbit hole over here, but it's the best way to discover more of the content I'm craving. 

A few weeks ago, I was listening to A Little Bit Culty, and the episode was about Twin Flames Universe (TFU), a high-pressure group I'd never heard of before. The guest was Keely Griffin, a former member of the group. I've heard of the concept of "twin flames," but I had no idea there was a whole culty organization centered on the idea. A few days later I heard an advertisement for a new Wondery show called Twin Flames that explores and exposes the group, and I immediately downloaded the first two episodes. 

The first episode of Twin Flames, hosted by Stephanie Beatriz, is about Angie, a woman looking for love who discovered a YouTube couple named Jeff and Shaleia who claimed to know the secret to perfect, lasting relationships. She bought what they were selling and started taking online workshops from them. But who the heck are these random people and why are they the authority on perfect unions? The next episode gives some background on this couple, who basically just seem like hopeless romantics who fell in love hard and fast in their twenties. But lots of people do that, right? What makes them special—according to them—is that they are one another's Twin Flame. 

A Twin Flame (I'm capitalizing it because the group does) is like a soul mate on steroids. It's the only person you were "divinely created" for, and only with this person can you achieve true Harmonious Twin Flame Union (HTFU), or the ultimate perfectly connected, loving relationship. Sounds lovely, right? Who doesn’t want to be in the perfect relationship? Jeff and Shaleia must have asked themselves the same question, and then realized that people would pay a pretty penny to find that union. Their YouTube videos and private social media groups led to them hosting “classes” on Google Hangouts four times a week. As of 2020, subscriptions to the full range of their classes cost more than $4400. Oh, and they’ve written a book about finding your Twin Flame that I’m tempted to read just so I can review it on the blog.  

So yes, it’s expensive, but it doesn’t sound too problematic yet. The first red flag in their coaching/teaching style is that they encourage their followers to go after the person they believe is their Twin Flame no matter what. That means no matter if that person has told you to leave them alone, no matter if they have blocked you, no matter if they’re married to someone else. The podcast and the 2020 Vanity Fair article “‘Everywhere I Went, They Went With Me, Because They Were on My Phone’: Inside the Always Online, All-Consuming World of Twin Flames Universe” by Alice Hines tells the story of a woman named Katie who was charged with stalking and violating a restraining order in pursuit of the man she believed to be her Twin Flame (an ex who had broken up with her) while encouraged by Jeff and Shaleia’s coaching. Angie, who we were introduced to in the first episode, was also encouraged to continue pursuing her Twin Flame, a coworker who explicitly told her not to contact him anymore because he was not romantically interested. 

Jeff and Shaleia deny that they endorse harassment, but recordings of their classes and their own words make that claim questionable. On the Twin Flames Universe website, Shaelia writes, “Even if you believe you know your Twin Flame and they appear happy without you I guarantee that they’re not. It’s just a facade because how could they possibly be happy? You can’t be happy with someone you’re not designed to be in love with. And this you must know deep in your heart because I know you feel it too.” It’s easy to see how the waters get muddy. 

Angie and other TFU members were also shocked to learn that Jeff and Shaleia were giving them a new Twin Flame (conveniently, another member of the group), claiming that their other Twin Flames were “false.” The one assigned by Jeff and Shaleia, however, was determined by God. To deny this Twin Flame pairing, according to Jeff and Shaleia, was to deny the Divine. “Behold, we are the prophesied second coming,” Jeff said in a Facebook post. Jeff and Shaleia started referring to themselves as “Father Christ” and “Mother Christ.” 

This religious turn gave some members pause, but others bought in even harder, even going so far as to change their gender presentation—at Jeff and Shaleia’s urging—to be more harmoniously connected to their divinely determined new Twin Flame. The Vanity Fair article I mentioned earlier featured heavily in episode five, as it exposed many of these negative member experiences. Jeff and Shaleia were expecting a laudatory piece, and when it turned out to be a very different story, they went on the defensive, saying their “haters” were trying to “suppress” them and the Divine. 

The sixth and final episode drops this week, and I’m expecting some things to come crashing down around Jeff and Shaleia. Twin Flames podcast does a great job handling former member interviews with empathy and giving listeners context for why they joined—and why they behaved in ways that seem bizarre to an outsider. It’s an insightful look into a cultish group that even-handedly exposes why Jeff and Shaleia are so nefarious: they’re preying on people who just want to find love. 

Have you been listening to Twin Flames? Drop your thoughts in the comments.