What are Twin Flames exactly?
Plato said it best as he described,
"according to Greek Mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves" (The Symposium, Plato).
Twin Flames are what modern day individuals consider as "Soul Mates" today; soul mates are the souls who are considered to be "cut from the same cloth as your own soul," who are meant to help you grow and challenge you, they travel in the same "pack" as you through the lifetimes, constantly by your side. Soul mates are usually your family, closest friends, they help guide you to become your most genuine self, a step in the great staircase that will help you on the way to enlightenment.
One receives
many soul mates throughout their life time, because they are meant to teach important life lessons. Many believe that after you've learned the particular lesson from one soul mate, the relationship with them has run it's course - it isn't to say that you learn the lesson and just toss them aside, you just don't feel the same for them anymore, especially romantically. One can meet a soul mate as they would normally, and you may just have them through many life times.
A Twin Flame is that person who is the other half of your own soul who mirrors your own soul back to you, it is one soul energy in two physical bodies who perfectly compliment each other, you both will embody the aspects of Yin and Yang.
For one - usually considered "the chaser" - they feel as if they are finally home, sometimes this will be felt in both persons' souls, sometimes for the other soul - usually called "the runner" - like their world has been completely turned upside-down, but for both souls the relationship will be the most intense relationship one has ever felt in their entire life, it can be quite overwhelming at times and unique for every relationship. They are your ultimate teacher, friend, partner and lover. As the mirror to each other, you will reflect back to them all of their hidden fears and darkest parts while also echo their strength and beauty.
There are
several stages to the Twin Flame path to union:
1)
Yearning for "The One", 2)
Glimpsing "The One", 3)
Falling in Love, 4)
The Fairy-Tale Relationship, 5)
Outer Turmoil and Inner Purging, 6)
The Runner and Chaser, 7)
Surrender and Dissolution, 8)
Oneness.
Stage One: At this stage, you usually spend your entire life looking for "the one," the person who will perfectly complete you, and though you may never date or you go through soul mates you feel that they will appear in your life at some point. It is at this stage that you begin to prepare for the arrival of your Twin on an unconscious level. For some people they are taught to learn to love themselves, for others they develop an awareness, discovery, and understanding of themselves or the things around them in their lives.
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Stage Two: There will be a point in your life in which you will gain an insight of your Twin Flame; this usually occurs through meeting in real life or a vision by dream, but you will have a sense that it is them - at first you might not be sure, but the feeling probably won't leave you. You'll want to get to know this person much better, maybe get to know as much of them as possible or they may be strangely - strange for them - very open to you about certain things, especially difficult things that have happened to them throughout their lives, things they wouldn't normally tell a stranger. Despite this, you feel that they are an exception, that they are special.
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Stage Three: Like Icarus after flying too close to the Sun, when you fall for your person, you fall very hard; it may take you by surprise either because you had never felt so deeply for someone before or you always promised yourself that you would never do something so irresponsible with your heart, in your own eyes. As you get to know your Twin Flame, you fall even more in love with them, which will feel quite unlike who you are. You may try to resist the attraction, telling yourself that it isn't logical or that you were supposed to take things slow, but the pull to being home finally will probably be just too strong.
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Stage Four: The feelings for each other can no longer be held back, the cauldron has been boiling and the only way to turn down the heat is by accepting it. When you begin your relationship, the both of you are perfect for each other in every way! It will appear that your Twin Flame fulfills your every need and makes you feel as if you are floating on Cloud 9 or one step closer to Heaven/Valhalla/the Duat.
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Stage Five: It is at this stage that the Personal Ego begins to awaken and flare up like bad acne. Differences of opinion begin to emerge, personality changes - not everyone will always stay the same but this is definitely different than the person you have come to recently know - and old wounds from the heart of spirit begin to consistently develop. "While our Twin Flames share and mirror our deepest needs, desires, and dreams, they also tend to mirror our Shadow Selves" (Luna). If you tend to hold your emotions back, the dam will break. If you are arrogant and self-righteous, your Twin will be quiet and ambiguous. Where you once perfectly mirrored each other and brought balance, your opposites will now come to light and take over. "In this way our Twin Flames challenge us, riling up our insecurities. This can be infuriating, devastating, and very painful" (Luna). Although this seems like the end of the world, it is necessary for your personal growth, as well as the growth of your Twin Flame union! Without seeing each other for who you both truly are, you will continue to live in a place of illusion - in the honey-moon phase.
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Stage Six: This is the game of cat and mouse, a trial by fire, in which one Twin is the "runner" who runs from their emotions, the intensity of the Twin Flame relationship, and even from the painful things that they could potentially do to hurt their Twin. They withdraw back into themselves and their old bad habits, falling back on what they know rather than delving deeper into their awakening. The "chaser" is not meant to chase after the Twin that has run, despite their title. Instead, they are meant to chase after themselves and their own awakening, down the path that the Universe is leading them towards. Sometimes life takes them onto a completely different path than the one they themselves are on right now, since they tend to be more mentally and emotionally mature of the two at the moment, trying to seek to understand and make amends at times even. There are times that this isn't a physical separation in the Twin Flame relationship, sometimes it's just emotionally or the Twins take a break from each other, other times the Twins separate completely and may even result in the permanent termination of the union. As stated before, this is a trial by fire; this will test both of the Twins as well as the relationship. While apart, it is up to the Twins to mature their souls by themselves, which can be as long as months or even years.
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Stage Seven: "After so much anguish, distress, and provocation, you both begin to open up about your wounds and insecurities" (Luna). This is when the both of you have set your pride and ego aside, you have become more aware of your faults, where you went wrong, and how you can strengthen your relationship and work together through your difficulties.
Stage Eight: "In stage eight it is common for you to both find a shared meaning, passion, or cause that brings you a mutual sense of fulfillment" (Luna). You both will begin to be sensitive to forgiveness, empathy, and especially patience. This is the stage in which the ego will die as you reach a form of enlightenment by working together and see that it becomes easier to do - especially when it comes to communicating and enjoy miraculous work.
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There are many signs that will help you to distinguish if you have, indeed, found your twin flame. Somethings are not coincidence.
- You feel a strange and peculiar sense of "recognition" when you meet, as if you have finally come home, or you feel a sense of deja vu.
- You established an immediate and deeply intense connection with each other that shocks either just you or the both of you.
- Again, you feel like you have finally found a home or that you finally came home.
- You embody the aspects of Yin and Yang, your darkness is balanced by their light and their light is balanced by your dark - or vice versa.
- You have the feeling that they are extremely important to you without even knowing why, when, or how.
- They make you a better person, even in the smallest ways; they help you to be happier, optimistic, or more responsible.
- You both are attuned to each others' energy and can telepathically communicate or just tell if there's something wrong. What this means is you both are connected to each others' spiritual consciousness, and have a high level of empathy towards what they are feeling. This could be you know what the other is thinking before they say anything, or you know what each other is feeling. This can include knowing when they are talking or thinking about you, or when they push you away.
- You both have connected deeply and echo each others' aspirations and core values for life.
- Your childhoods were opposites or even polar opposites.
- One of you is more aware and spiritually mature than the other and will serve as the teacher, counselor, or confidant in the relationship to help them become more aware - just be careful not to turn into an enabler.
- You are taught important life lessons, as well as they are; this can include patience, empathy, forgiveness, open-mindedness, and gratitude.
- Your connection is multi-faceted. Meaning, your Twin is your best friend, teacher, lover, nurturer, and muse all in one.
- Your Twin Flame doesn't try to change, rather they accept who you are and encourage you to grow into the person you want to be or they see that you can be.
- You can tell each other the truth about anything, no matter how painful.
- The both of you - or even just the aware one - feels driven towards a higher purpose.
- You may be able to remember past life memories with this person, and recall vivid details from your previous experiences together.
- Despite sharing the same soul, your Twin and you could share significant differences that balance each other out; this could be in personality, demeanor, likes and dislikes, and even dreams
- When you first came together, you were probably in a relationship already or was healing from a relationship that had just ended, and either one of you or both just didn't feel prepared to come together quite yet.
- Despite the hardships of life, you both continue to evolve together and make each other better.
- Your Twin takes you to new depths of your souls that you never knew existed before meeting them. They may even show you a light to your darkness that you never thought you would deserve, and it will be scary, but also thrilling.
- No matter what annoys you or your Twin about each other, there are certain things - bad habits or personality traits - that you overlook, because of your unconditional love for them.
- Due to your instant connection, your relationship may move pretty fast or be rushed - this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it could just be that you both are ready to make up for lost time, don't fight the flow, but do try to not move too fast.
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There is just so much to this wonderful Union, so much information, so much intensity. When I discovered that I was in my own Twin Flame union, I thought I was crazy; I looked to my sister for advice and she thought I was crazy too, since neither one of us had ever had a relationship similar to this at all. Many people told me, when my Twin and I had reached the Separation Stage, that I should let him go and give up on him, but in my heart of hearts it felt wrong. Instead of taking my anger, frustrations, and stress on him and blaming him for everything, I sought to understand, to learn as much as I could about this Twin Flame union, to see where we both potentially went wrong and where we got it right.
I will be making a series of posts committed to the Twin Flame relationship so that others who are in a position such as myself to seek to understand. You didn't do wrong; you loved deeply and completely, but if you are the Chaser, such as myself, you just felt too deeply and your Twin Flame Runner wasn't ready to experience it all as fully as you were. This doesn't mean you were in the wrong or that they were in the wrong, it just means you both weren't ready for the full experience of this beautiful and spiritual union. That is why you are going through the stages of separation, to focus on yourself and to raise your own spiritual vibrations.
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10 Signs You’ve Found Your Twin Flame
"10 Signs You’Ve Found Your Twin Flame". 2015. Power Of Positivity: Positive Thinking & Attitude. Accessed May 30 2019. https://www.powerofpositivity.com/10-signs-youve-found-your-twin-flame/.
Anon
2019. Lonerwolf.Com. Accessed May 30 2019. https://lonerwolf.com/twin-flame/.
Hurst, K.
Hurst, Katherine. 2018. "Mirror Soul Meaning: Twin Flames Stages And Signs". The Law Of Attraction. Accessed May 30 2019. http://www.thelawofattraction.com/twin-flames/.
The Internet Classics Archive | Symposium by Plato
"The Internet Classics Archive | Symposium By Plato". 2019. Classics.Mit.Edu. Accessed May 30 2019. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium
Luna, A.
Luna, Aletheia. 2015. "8 Twin Flame Stages – Are You Experiencing This? ⋆ Lonerwolf". Lonerwolf. Accessed May 30 2019. https://lonerwolf.com/twin-flame-stages/.
The Twin Flame - Forever Conscious
"The Twin Flame - Forever Conscious". 2015. Forever Conscious. Accessed May 30 2019. https://foreverconscious.com/the-twin-flame.
V., A. and V., A.
V., Andreea, and Andreea V. 2018. "7 Twin Flame Stages You Need To Go Through To Reunite With Your Soulmate". Learning Mind. Accessed May 30 2019. https://www.learning-mind.com/twin-flame-stages/.
Your Twin Flame Is Your Energetic Equal, Here's How To Tell If You've Found Them
"Your Twin Flame Is Your Energetic Equal, Here's How To Tell If You've Found Them". 2017. Elite Daily. Accessed May 30 2019. https://www.elitedaily.com/life/twin-flame-energetic-equal-heres-tell-youve-found/1899291.