Alice Hines on the Unique Dangers of Twin Flames Universe, an Online Cult That 'Could Never Have That Much Power' IRL

What are viewers to make of Twin Flames Universe, the controversial group at the center of Prime Video's new docuseries, Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe? It's been nearly four years since journalist Alice Hines first began looking into the group and its leaders, Jeff and Shaleia Divine (also known as Jeff and Shaleia Ayan), and even she admits the power dynamics within the organization remain "mysterious." But Hines, who met with Jeff and Shaleia while working on a Vanity Fair profile published in December 2020, is certain about one thing: Though Twin Flames Universe operates almost exclusively online, it functions as a cult that manipulates its members into taking extreme measures to find their divine soulmate.

Over the past few years, Jeff and Shaleia — who claim to be the "Master Christ" — have been accused of exerting undue influence over their followers, whether by requiring TFU participants to pay thousands of dollars per year for access to invasive "therapy" sessions, or by pressuring members to change their gender identities. Hines first investigated these allegations in her 2020 exposé, and now, she's going even deeper as an executive producer on Desperately Seeking Soulmate. Directed by Marina Zenovich (The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin), the three-part docuseries features extensive interviews with Hines, former members who corroborate the damning claims against the cult leaders, and parents and friends of those currently involved in the organization, including Shaleia's father.

While Desperately Seeking Soulmate takes a comprehensive look at Jeff and Shaleia's ascent, the belief system underpinning the organization, and their coercive practices, the story of Twin Flames Universe doesn't end here. (Perhaps that's why Netflix has announced its own three-part docuseries, Escaping Twin Flames, set to premiere in November.) Despite the brave ex-members who have publicly spoken out against TFU, the group continues to grow, and Jeff and Shaleia have yet to be held accountable for their actions. In an interview with Primetimer, Hines reflects on what comes next in the fight against the cult, why the online aspect of Twin Flames Universe makes it that much more sinister, and whether Jeff and Shaleia actually believe what they preach.

In the docuseries, you explain that you first stumbled upon Twin Flames Universe while looking for story ideas. At what point in your research did you realize this was not "a cool spiritual community," as you initially thought, but something far more dangerous?

There was evidence both ways from the get-go. I knew there were critics of the organization who said it was a cult, but I also was finding YouTube videos that seemed pretty innocent. Jeff and Shaleia have YouTube videos where they talk about how to find someone you really connect with, how to have great sex with your partner, reasons why my ex isn't calling me back — stuff that seemed pretty normal and I didn't think was a big red flag. What prompted me to do more reporting was the fact that there were so many discrepant narratives.

While you were researching your piece for Vanity Fair, did you have a hard time convincing former and current members to speak to you? It seems as if many members did not leave the group until after your story came out in December 2020, including a few featured in the docuseries.

There's a mix. People left before I wrote my article and I was able to get in touch with them — those were some of the people who had been posting on Reddit and on YouTube that they'd had negative experiences with Twin Flames Universe. So those stories were out there, and I was able to get in touch with former members. I would say that former members, for the most part, were very keen to tell their story. Not all of them wanted to go on the record because there were very traumatic things that happened to them, but in the end, I had a good combination of sources on background as well as sources on the record who could all validate the allegations against Twin Flames Universe.

In terms of getting the current members to talk to me — I think they did because Jeff and Shaleia asked them to. I had asked to interview Jeff and Shaleia; at the time they were doing a lot of social media. They had whole marketing teams that were spamming out Twin Flames memes on any spiritual Facebook group that they could find. So they were very keen on exposure, and I think that's why they agreed to interview me, and why they set me up with some of their members.

Speaking of your interview with Jeff and Shaleia, you describe being in their home as "really disturbing." Did that visit to Michigan change your perspective of Jeff and Shaleia and Twin Flames Universe?

I would describe my visit to them as "unsettling," I think that would be the word I would use. The thing that really stuck with me after meeting them in person was that they really buy this. This isn't just something that is their online persona that they're selling. They seemed fully into it. The way that they interacted with me — the second I walked into the door, they wanted to do a tarot card reading, and they were drawing cards and using that information to guide the interview. I think they really do believe that they have these spiritual gifts.

Are they manipulating people? Of course. And do they have a financial incentive to do so? Yes. Do they also believe a lot of what they're selling? I think they truly do. And that is what I came upon when I visited them in person.

It's interesting because you are one of just a few people familiar with Twin Flames Universe who has actually met them in person. In your mind, how do Jeff and Shaleia's physical distance and the remote aspect of the group factor into their hold over their members?

When I first heard about this organization and the allegations it was a cult, I was very surprised that that could even be possible because they are an online organization. It wasn't something I ever imagined that you could even have such control over– because that is really what a cult is. There's lots of definitions, but what people commonly agree on is that they have a coercive hold over people's will. And you're doing things that you say you consent to, but if you leave the organization, you go back and say, "Well I actually shouldn't have done that and I wasn't in my right mind." So it's kind of interesting, for that reason.

To me it almost seems as if their physical distance reinforces the idea that they are separate from their members, that they are somehow supreme, that they are the "Master Christ," as they claim to be.

They say that. The first [Facebook] post that I could find where he claims to be the "Master Christ" — I think [Jeff] is the Master Christ, and Shaleia is also a Christ, something like that — they actually say to their followers, "Think about it. If Christ were to come today, where would it happen? Wouldn't it be online?" And they actually make that argument that this is the place of community, of connection, of love. This is where people turn for spirituality, increasingly. They say that the fact that they are able to run this organization online is actually proof of their power. And they also claim to be able to just, based on their intuitions they get about seeing people on Zoom and on Google Meets, that they can divine things about them and about their futures, about their pasts, through that digital medium, which is really interesting.

Do you think that if more members were to meet them in person, their hold over them would be diminished at all?

I don't think so. A select few members have met them in person, and when I visited them at their house, there were four people living there — they were participants in what Jeff and Shaleia called a "spiritual boot camp." One of those followers told me that when he met Jeff and Shaleia in person, it was like meeting a celebrity. Because you've watched so much of their content, you have almost a parasocial relationship with them; you feel like you know them. So when you finally see them in person, it's almost like you're starstruck. And I saw that — I saw how people behaved around them, and they encouraged that power dynamic in person as well.

I think the difference between the IRL and the digital is that the power dynamic that you can have over someone in real life — being an online community, an online spiritual community, allows them to scale that to a degree that would never be possible in person. You could never have that much power over as many people if you had to have an IRL, one-on-one interaction with them. But if it's just online, all of the sudden, you can reach way more people — and you can manipulate way more people.

The docuseries is pretty clear that Shaleia is the spiritual force behind TFU. In the final episode, her father insists she's "complicit" in the group's abuse, and though you agree, you admit that you don't know if "she's driving it and how much she is driving." Since wrapping production, have you uncovered any additional information that has clarified her role in the organization, or heard from members who have shed more light on Jeff and Shaleia's predatory practices?

Shaleia's role in the organization remains mysterious to me. People have different perspectives on it. As the docuseries shows, some people see her as a victim, and other people see her as just as abusive and definitely a driving force in the abuse that's happening, and it's actually her own dad that says that. So, I think it's pretty difficult to know. I don't think there's a clear answer.

I actually find her much more interesting than Jeff, if we're being honest.

Okay, yeah, why?

I just think that what the docuseries reveals about Jeff is your run-of-the-mill, opportunistic businessman who met someone who is really spiritual and was like, "Sure, I believe this enough because I want to get my business off the ground." But I think there's a lot more going on and a lot more layers to Shaleia's persona.

Yeah, for sure. She's definitely very involved, and I don't think you can write her off, even though she is not the one who is as loud or as obvious about the manipulation that's going on.

While some members left after your exposé was published, the Twin Flames Universe Facebook group has actually grown from 14,000 to 40,000 members in recent years. What do you think it will take for members to realize what Jeff and Shaleia are doing?

Right now, there are still core, inner members who have been in it for a while and who are affirming what Jeff and Shaleia are saying. So I think if some of those people left, it might actually make a difference.

But it is just so tough to leave. Because even if part of those people want to leave, so much of their life is wrapped up in Twin Flames Universe. It's not just their love life, it's their job, all of their friends and family, what they do for fun, what they do on the weekends, even their religion, right? Jeff and Shaleia say they're God. How are you going to exit something like that that's so all-consuming? I think that's really tough.

Is there anything to be done about Twin Flames Universe? As you say, running a cult is not illegal — which is a loophole Jeff and Shaleia seem to have used to their advantage — but families of current members continue to seek justice. What might that look like in this case?

There have been some high-profile cases of organizations that a lot of people think are cults being held accountable not for being a cult, but for things like labor trafficking or sex trafficking. I'm not saying that Twin Flames Universe is necessarily culpable of those things, but I think it would have to be for some specific offense — or racketeering, these are the kinds of offenses that coercive organizations are sometimes able to be held to account for.

But in the meantime, I would say that from the stories I've heard from friends and family and from people who were able to successfully leave, the most important thing is to just keep that relationship. Just continue to be kind and present in that person's life. You can't force someone to leave — they will have to make that decision for themselves. But what you want to do is just make sure that when someone does decide to leave, that they're going to feel comfortable calling you, that they're not ashamed, that they don't feel like you think they're stupid or dumb for having joined this organization. The organization itself is very manipulative and of course doesn't immediately present as a cult, so people don't know what they're getting into. So it's important that friends and family be understanding and kind of open to people's unique journeys in leaving an organization like this.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe is now streaming on Prime Video.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.