Editing Twin Flames Universe (section)

==Teachings==
The group teaches that every individual has a "twin flame", an intense variation of a soulmate, which Jeff and Shaleia will assign, and the member is encouraged to pursue their "twin flame" romantically. The group initially allowed outsiders to be assigned as twin flames, leading to instances of members facing [[restraining order]]s and criminal charges for [[stalking]].<ref name="Berman 1">{{cite news |last1=Berman |first1=Sarah |title=This YouTube School Promised True Love. Students Say They Got Exploited Instead |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-youtube-school-promised-true-love-students-say-they-got-exploited-instead/ |access-date=November 12, 2023 |work=[[Vice News]] |date=February 5, 2020}}</ref> Members of the group are encouraged to engage in the "mirror exercise", which requires one to think of what is bothering them and then blame themselves for it. Sociologist [[Janja Lalich]] has described it as "this kind of introspective exercise, which they say is there to help you, but it's actually there to tear apart the self".<ref name="Zornosa">{{cite magazine |last1=Zornosa |first1=Laura |title=The Biggest Revelations from Netflix's Escaping Twin Flames Documentary |url=https://time.com/6333184/escaping-twin-flames-netflix-what-to-know/ |access-date=November 12, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=November 8, 2023}}</ref>

The group teaches the concepts of a "Divine Masculine" and "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.<ref name="Zornosa" /> 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".<ref name="Hines" /> Other members have mentioned 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 went so far as to medically transition to new genders, under the guidance of Jeff and Shaleia.<ref name="Hines" /> This has been hypothesised to be done to make matches easier among the majority-women membership of the group.<ref name="Romano" /> The group claims to be supportive of the [[LGBT]] community, but their rhetoric has been criticized by [[the New School]] professor Cassius Adair, who has 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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=McFarland |first1=Melanie |title=What "Escaping Twin Flames" teaches us about the anti-trans nature of a supposedly loving cult |work=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]] |url=https://www.salon.com/2023/11/11/twin-flames-universe-anti-transgender-panic/ |access-date=November 12, 2023 |date=November 11, 2023 |format=Commentary}}</ref>

Jeff Divine has been accused of behaving abusively, both towards members and towards Shaleia. It is alleged that he demands that followers cut off their families, that they treat people outside of the Twin Flames community as untrustworthy, and that he implements a strict regimen for their daily routine.<ref name="Romano" />

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".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Washburn |first1=Emily |title=Divine Deception — Anti-Biblical 'Twin Flames' Cult Draws Thousands of Followers |url=https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/divine-deception-anti-biblical-twin-flames-cult-draws-thousands-of-followers/ |access-date=November 17, 2023 |work=Daily Citizen |date=November 16, 2023}}</ref>

In response to criticism, 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."<ref name="Portée">{{cite news |last1=Portée |first1=Alex |title=Is a 'twin flame' a soulmate? The meaning of the term, and why it's controversial |url=https://www.today.com/life/twin-flames-meaning-rcna123046 |access-date=November 12, 2023 |work=[[Today (American TV program)]] |date=November 7, 2023}}</ref>