Kriti Mehrotra
As a Cecilia Peck-directed documentary series living up to its title in every way imaginable, Netflix’s ‘Escaping Twin Flames’ can only be described as equal parts baffling, intriguing, and haunting. That’s because it comprises not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon why Shaleia and Jeff Divine’s “spiritual” titular organization has been deemed a cult. Amongst those to thus extensively feature in this original to help navigate the same was actually Elle (aka Elle Chemist) — so now, if you simply wish to learn more about her, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Elle?
It was back in January 2017 when Elle’s entire world turned upside down as she found herself facing a spinal injury from a car crash, three major surgeries, as well as heartbreak at the same time. But alas, the latter impacted her the most considering how it’s what led her down the path of Twin Flames Universe despite her being a woman of science with a background in chemistry/bio-chemistry. The truth is this music enthusiast had been working at Stanford’s bioengineering lab at the time to figure out possible ways for cancer detection through DNA, yet she ended up losing this too.
“I was always into music,” Elle candidly expressed in the production. “I started DJing about six years ago, and I’ve always known I wanted to produce my own songs. I’ve been going to Burning Man since 2009; that’s where I met him. For me, it was sort of magical — you know, really insane chemistry. We decided we would give it a shot, and I would move to the Bay Area [to Stanford]… I was very busy, but we would spend a lot of time together. I thought the relationship was amazing,” that is, until this supposed love broke up with her during the toughest physical ordeal of her life following the car accident.
Elle added, “I couldn’t figure out what was going on with my body, my mind, my heart. Everything was broken. Despite being a scientist, I turned to spirituality as my last chance. That’s when the Twin Flames Universe Facebook page popped up into my feed. It was the only thing with any sort of assurance of positive things out there for me.” She hence joined this community, unaware it would lead her to spiral in one of the worst ways imaginable by taking away her confidence, her independence, as well as her entire sense of self, all the while convincing her that the ex was her Twin Flame — her ultimate lover.
According to the docuseries, leaders Shaleia and Jeff Divine actually pushed Elle to continue contacting this ex no matter what in the hopes of reconnecting, driving him to file a restraining order. Yet even then, they allegedly indicated she shouldn’t back down while also twisting everything to be her fault alone — they told her she was scared, lacked sheer courage, plus no boundary was real. It thus comes as no surprise he eventually called the cops, resulting in her spending a month behind bars for violating the court order despite it apparently being pure chance they ended up at the same place at the same time on this particular day.
As per Elle’s narrative, her coaches/gurus within this organization even went as far as to tell her she would never make it as a musician and essentially forced to completely cut off her family too. Thankfully, though, she was able to reconnect with the latter once she gave them a call from her jail cell for bail, inadvertently making her realize the truth of this “spiritual institution” she was a part of. Therefore, in 2019, this Twin Flames Universe Member/Media & Branding Leader left the organization for good, just to then publicly speak up against them to help others like her escape as well.
Where is Elle Now?
Apart from continuing to raise awareness about the cult-like practices Shaleia and Jeff Divine have employed within their structure, Elle is now living her dream as a full-time DJ/Music Producer. “I was told that I could never do music and that my life purpose was to work for them for free,” she stated in the show. “But I finally was able to pursue it, so I’m going to keep at it ’cause it feels right.” In fact, from what we can tell, Elle Chemist has since played Love Burn 2023 in Miami, Florida, performed at Where the Wilder Things Are in Denver, Colorado, plus opened for YokoO in Denver too. This activist’s original music, in her own words, is actually a mix of techno, soulful vocals, as well as ethereal melodies, so we can’t wait to see what she does next.
Read More: Where is the Twin Flames Universe’s Stephanie Now?
