A SURVIVOR of a dating "cult" has told how she forced her sister into an abusive relationship after being brainwashed.
Keely Griffin escaped Twin Flames Universe (TFU) - an organisation that claims to help people find their "harmonious union" but led her to lose her career, savings and relationships.
Selling the dream to match people with their ultimate soulmate, TFU has been run by founders Jeff and Shaleia Divine since 2017.
The married pair claim to have a direct connection to God and use it to match their 40,000 members with their "eternal partner".
But survivors like Keely have accused the organisation of cult-like behaviour - with claims the couple have even encouraged members to change their gender in their quest to find love.
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Jeff - who has referred to himself as "Father Christ" and Shaleia as "Mother Christ" - works with a team of coaches to help guide their members towards their so-called Twin Flame.
The duo vehemently deny any allegations of wrongdoing and deny they coerce people into changing gender, claiming the "attacks" are part of a conspiracy theory to “destroy” the "Twin Flames Universe".
Keely joined Twin Flames Universe in a bid to improve her life - and find her eternal soulmate.
She became one of the group's most senior coaches and a poster girl after marrying her "Twin Flame" and fellow member Kiran.
But after three years, Keely left after losing everything - her career, her savings, and her beloved sister, who she had encouraged to join Twin Flames Universe.
Keely is one of many survivors who left TFU - and featured on the hit Netflix documentary "Escaping Twin Flames".
The documentary chronicled what happened when two people claiming to be in a "twin flame union" converted the concept into a business.
In a heartbreaking clip, Keely can be seen speaking with cult expert Dr Janja Lalich shortly after escaping TFU.
"When I left, things were really escalating," she told Dr Lalich.
"There have been two people who actually went through top surgery. And there's a lot of others who are still being coerced to transition.
I want my girlfriend to try dirty talk but she won't do it
"There are plans for everyone to move to Michigan and to live near Jeff and Shaleia, which really concerns me because then they will have even more access to these people.
"And I would just really want to make sure that this stops before it gets to a point where something really, really violent could happen."
Keely and Dr Lalich later attended an event in Traverse City, Michigan, where Keely spoke about her chilling years as a Twin Flames Universe member.
I didn't know who I was anymore. It was a very disorienting time
Keely Griffin
When asked to describe TFU, she was quick to call the group a "cult" and a "very dangerous organisation, despite what they have said in their responses to all of the media attention they've gotten".
The survivor says she is still adapting to "normal life" and talks about attending law school.
A University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate, Keely now wants to advocate for fellow survivors and improve education and legislation around coercive control.
"It took me a while to escape," she revealed at the National Writers Series event.
"It took probably about six months of me seeing all these red flags, seeing the suffering that everyone was going through, experiencing just horrible symptoms of abuse.
"I didn't realise that's what I was experiencing at the time, but I became very paranoid, very depressed and very anxious.
"I didn't know who I was anymore. It was a very disorienting time.
"But I think, eventually, there was just so much that I couldn't un-see that I had to leave.
I didn't realise that's what I was experiencing at the time, but I became very paranoid, very depressed and very anxious
Keely Griffin
She continued: "It's a long road to recovery for some, me included. I'm definitely still in my recovery process.
"I was really paranoid and I didn't trust pretty much anyone including myself. I didn't trust my intuition, my decision-making abilities.
"So there was almost no chance I was going to trust anyone, even Janja, at that stage. So it's really isolating for some."
Dr Lalich is also a cult survivor after escaping a cult in the 1970s and now works to help others pave the way to recovery.
"I was very high level. I did a lot of really s****y things when I was in leadership," she said.
"I had women get abortions, I told people not to go home to see their parents, I expelled people, I created punishments for people, I was like Queen B**** if you don't mind the expression because I modelled myself after the two top leaders."
Back to 'normality'
Dr Lalich added that the hardest thing for people to understand is what it takes one to leave cults once they are indoctrinated.
She said: "This becomes your whole life. It's everything you know, everything you do. You've probably cut ties with your family.
"You're in an altered reality and your whole life depends on staying in that organisation because they've offered you this salvation, whatever salvation means in that particular group.
"So you can't even entertain the thought of leaving because you so deeply believe and trust the leader that leaving means not only giving up "salvation" but it means giving up the whole world you've been living in, perhaps your family, your children.
"And throughout the indoctrination process, they terrify you."
When asked about some of the biggest myths surrounding cults, Keely and Dr Lalich revealed that anyone can be susceptible to being a victim.
Keely explained: "A lot of people think that cult members are stupid. I mean, let's be honest here - a lot of people don't understand how someone could join a cult.
"But that's a myth thankfully, and Janja has taught me and many others that cults actually do target and prey on those that are highly intelligent, highly empathetic, all around really great people.
"That's because they need those people to run their businesses because cult leaders are really lazy.
"They need people to be spokespersons for their organisation, to recruit other people.
"So a lot of the members that I met before I even talked to Jeff and Shaleia, I really liked.
"I thought they were amazing people and I still think they are. But unfortunately, they are being used as vessels for their recruitment.
"So that's a really big myth."
Dr Lalich added: "It's not stupid, weird, crazy, lazy people who get into cults. That's not who they want.
"They're not going to take care of you. You're there to take care of them.
"Everybody is vulnerable. So if you have someone who you think is getting involved in something that you're worried about, the most important thing is to not be confrontational.
"The most important thing is to do whatever you can do. To keep them communicating with you, and that can sometimes be hard because they may end up being sequestered and being cut off from their family."
Initially, Twins Flame Universe allowed outsiders to be assigned as twin flames, leading to some members facing restraining orders and criminal charges for stalking.
Some have been known to “aggressively pursue” their Twin Flames, even when they are already in relationships.
One member was jailed for a month after her Twin Flame filed a restraining order against her.
The group also encourages members to engage in "mirror exercise", which involves thinking about what is bothering them and then blaming themselves for it.
Dr Janja Lalich described it as a "kind of introspective exercise, which they say is there to help you, but it's actually there to tear apart the self".
The group claims to be supportive of the LGBT community, but their rhetoric has been criticised by some, including New School professor Cassius Adair.
He 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."
Former members have also criticised the group for doing a form of conversion therapy by allegedly putting pressure on people to conform to their "divine" assigned gender identity.
The group teaches the concepts of a "Divine Masculine" and "Divine Feminine" and claims every partnership has one masculine and one feminine partner.
Some former members have reported being assigned a twin flame - but they were not the gender they were attracted to.
Jeff and Shaleia claimed they had confirmed their genders through God.
Most of the time Jeff and Shaleia claim their members' twin flames are fellow members of the community - which is 95 per cent women.
These matches are always between one “divine masculine” and one “divine feminine”.
Jeff and Shaleia claim their close connection with God means they can confirm a person's true "divine gender" - even if it is not one they identify with.
The couple insist members who discover a new divine gender are not pressured to change their physical appearance, but Netfliz and Amazon documentaries suggest otherwise.
Married couple Ann and Catrina met in real life before discovering Twin Flames, and say they were encouraged to leave their husbands for each other by Jeff and Shaleia.
They were one of the first pairings to be a success for the group and became a poster couple, eventually training other members on how to find their own Twin Flame.
But in October 2018, Jeff and Shaleia allegedly urged Ann to change her name to Dan - due to the fact she was a "masculine flame".
In a video, Jeff asks Ann: "Why would you keep a name that’s so obviously feminine? What about Dan? What doesn’t feel good about the name Dan... Jesus Christ, you’re playing an avoidance game, and if the avoidance game stops you from moving forward here, just let the name be.”
Speaking in an Amazon Prime documentary, Catrina said: “He just kept on and on until the very end and I think we just broke and just agreed. Like, ‘fine, we’ll do it.’ I just wanted it to be over.
“He needed Ann to agree to that to say to what was a 95 per cent female community, ‘Ok, now you’re the guy and you’re the girl and that’s your Twin Flame and now you’re all pairs.’"
In response to the criticism, TFU released a lengthy statement.
It said: "The allegations levied against Twin Flames Universe not only distort our true aims, methods, and curriculum 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."
Twin Flames Universe did not reply to The Sun's request for comment by the time of publication.
The Sun has also reached out to Keely Griffin and Dr Janja Lalich for comment.