Inside Twin Flames Universe, ‘love cult’ rocked by bombshell claims

“We are not going to comment on whether this is right, wrong, or immoral,” said Jeff King with Farmington Hills police. “We are looking at a criminal aspect only, and at this time, there is no crime that occurred in the state of Michigan.”

What lengths would you take in order to find the love of your life?

A new Netflix documentary has exposed an online dating community in the US filled with hopefuls willing to part with thousands of dollars, and in extreme cases even change their gender, in their quest for love.

The Twin Flame Universe, founded by Jeff and Shaleia Ayan in 2017, boldly claims it can lead members to their “twin flame”, a single person you’re “destined to feel connected to”.

Some believers think twin flames are two people who share the same soul, tying them together on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual level and ultimately creating your perfect other half.

When these two people meet, the result is an intense, magnetic attraction, often known as “the spark”.

While matchmaking is nothing new, the Twin Flame Universe has been rocked by claims its founders demonstrate cult-like behaviours, with several family members of those who have joined alleging their loved ones have “disappeared” after joining.

Jeff and Shaleia, from Michigan, have denied all wrongdoing.

Yet, two different documentaries have aired this year, delving into strange goings on inside the supposed “love cult”, which sees members attend on-on-one therapies and gain access to a dedicated Facebook group, the US Sun reported in October.

These classes cost thousands of dollars to attend, with “The Everything Package” costing $US8,888 ($A13,552), People reported.

The couple also “match” members with their twin flame, a move shrouded in controversy.

Both Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe, a three-part series on Amazon Prime and Netflix’s Escaping Twin Flames allege Jeff and Shaleia would often pair same sex couples together despite not identifying as gay.

The couple is also accused of encouraging them to “aggressively” pursue their twin flame at all costs and coercing people into changing their gender to make their assigned partnerships work.

At least two cult members are known to have undergone “top surgery” as part of their transformation.

“Missing kids”

Some parents have also claimed their kids have been prevented from contacting them since joining the “cult”.

Louise Cole, who appeared in the recent Netflix doco, recalled the moment her daughter Stephanie first mentioned the group.

“Out of nowhere [Stephanie] said that these people that she found online told her that she could find fame and fortune and love all from this one group,” Louise told cameras.

“That’s when she effectively disappeared.”

Within a matter of weeks, Stephanie was on a plane to Switzerland to marry her twin flame, a person that she had never met before: a trans male named Kiran.

Stephanie’s mother and twin sister found out about the marriage via Facebook – and she believes it’s all because Jeff and Shaleia “twisted her memories, her mind”.

“Aggressive” pursuit of love

Louise isn’t the only parent who claims their child has changed since following the teachings of Jeff, a “new age lifestyle guru” and his wife, who’s real name is Megan Plante.

The couple claimed to have a special connection with God, and amassed a group of dedicated followers who have to partake in expensive private sessions known as “Mind Alignment Process” (MAP), Mail Online reported recently.

Former member Marlee, who moved across the country to enter a “harmonious union” with a man she’d never met named Josh, claimed during a MAP session that Jeff and Shaleia encouraged Marlee to stay in the relationship despite the fact it was abusive.

“It was the most traumatic time in my life. It was just survival, survival, survival,” she explained on the Netflix documentary.

Similarly, another member known as Katie cut off contact with her family in 2018 as she engaged in aggressive tactics to pursue her twin flame, also known as a “mirror soul”, some of which resulted in criminal charges of stalking, a 2020 investigation by Vanity Fair reported.

While other members, such as Keely – the sister of Marlee – claim she was coerced into working for free for the business after becoming an early “success” story when she had a “harmonious union”.

Keely said her role saw her operating a multi-level marketing scheme in which she had to “coach” new members, and in turn, recruit them as new coaches.

Jeff and Shaleia ordained the twin flame matches through directives that they said they received from God, Time reported.

If one of the flames didn’t accept the pairing, people were encouraged to cross boundaries.

“The energy was there to be more of the aggressor,” Arcelia, a former member, said in the Netflix show.

“Because one of the things you see a lot in twin flames is a push-pull dynamic where the twin flame is a ‘runner’ and the other one would be a ‘chaser.’”

Accusations of gender coercion

The Twin Flames Universe also pushed the idea of a “divine masculine” and “divine feminine”, telling members that within a pairing, one partner must fill each role.

It’s this belief, Keely alleged, that saw Jeff and Shaleia pressure members into changing genders – forcing Keely to push “divine matches” on members she was coaching.

Keely is among a large group of people who have since left the organisation, though she is now coming to terms with the harm she caused to the members she coached.

While Angie, one of the members most followed in the doco, is still recovering from her time in the group and claims Jeff and Shaleia reel in vulnerable people through the promise of true love.

“What Jeff and Shaleia do has nothing to do with love. It’s control,” she said in the series.

“When someone tries to control you, it’s not love. When someone abuses you, when someone calls you names, it’s not love.”

She was also coached by Keely, who told her she was a “divine masculine” and needed to partner with a female member, encouraging Angie to cut her hair short and change her name.

The Twin Flames Universe is growing

Jeff and Shaleia Ayan have denied all allegations made against them, including accusations that they wielded “inappropriate control” over their members in a lengthy statement on the Twin Flame Universe website.

They continue to run the Twin Flames Universe from their Michigan home and are still accepting new members.

The Facebook group currently has 72,000 members, up from 40,000 reported during the Netflix doco, which first aired last month.

The documentaries have left viewers “shocked”, with many stating it’s a “wild” and “infuriating” show to watch.

“This is harrowing,” one wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, as another described the show as “sinister”.