It’s always surprising how many people will fall for a cult’s messaging, especially when it’s so obviously a load of hot garbage. Still, it’s hard not to feel for the lonely followers of Jeff and Shaleia Divine, people who desperately wanted to find someone to love – even if it was only half as much as the Twin Flames founders loved one another.
Who are Jeff and Shaleia Divine?
After meeting and falling head over heels, the duo (then Megan Plante and Ender Ayanethos (formerly Jeffery Ayan) had a whirlwind long-distance relationship. Megan was sure they were “Twin Flames,” a spiritual and/or romantic soul mate capable of bringing on intense personal and spiritual growth and created by God to be the other’s only true counterpart.
The idea grew into a lifestyle brand for the duo, who launched on YouTube between 2016-2017. A cursory glance almost makes the brand look reasonable. It pushes its members to try new experiences and question their “true energy.” Cisgender and straight members are encouraged to seek out partners of the same gender, and one member even discovered that they were transgender. The group quickly turned into a community. People came together to share their concerns, all the while the Divines would push them to discover what it was that was holding them back.
We’re sure there are a few people the group has managed to help, but there is a seedy underbelly to the monetized religion. Basic “classes” can run anywhere from $11 to hundreds of dollars. rumors about cost are inconsistent, but it’s always a steep fee. Members have been encouraged to harass ex-partners and potential “twin flames,” to the point of restraining orders being filed. Its desperate, lonely, and unlucky-in-love people who end up throwing thousands of dollars at the Divines to help them find their one and only partner.
And yes, it is a religion. In 2019 the couple founded the Church of Union, which seeks to unify all religions into one. The Divine’s are, of course, positioned at the top of the spiritual pyramid, with Jeff the “Father Christ,” Shaleia “Mother Christ,” and their daughter, Grace, primed to be the “Princess of all Creation.” Jeff himself claims to be the Second Coming of Christ, he told Vanity Fair in 2020, “I’m what was prophesied. And I say that with humility, but there’s no other way to say it. Jesus got the same response when he was like, ‘Yo, I’m the son of God. I’m the Messiah—look!’… My purpose is to enlighten the world, not to be gentle with it.”
Sounding pretty cult-y, right?
Where are Jeff and Shaleia now?
Despite the ample evidence of mental tenuity, Pyramid scheme-like machinations, and upsettingly greedy sales prices (the whole course is more than $8,000) the Divines haven’t faced any repercussions. When an explosive Vanity Faire article, Inside the Always Online All-Consuming World of Twin Flame Universe came out in 2020, the site took a hit, but their following has since recovered and added thousands to the roster.
The Twin Flame website is still churning out new content every day. Their Facebook page has thousands of followers, and new teachers crop up regularly. Their net worth continues to skyrocket, with an estimated 5 million in the bank, there are few legal troubles they can’t pay their way out of. Amazon Prime released the documentary, Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe in October 2023, and Netflix’s Escaping Twin Flames, made by the same docu-team behind HBO’s documentary on the NXIVM sec cult. With both studios dropping new docuseries about the sordid hucksters, we can only hopefully see that delusional empire come tumbling down in the coming months.
Published: Nov 7, 2023 03:53 pm