Twin Flame the new buzzword of a lot in spiritual circles. The concept is so strong that it is nearly a movement of its own. Its advocates are numerous from all ages and walks of life.

I heard the word Twin Flame four years ago and it intrigued me so much. The first thing that came to mind was back then was “Are Twin Flames real?” So I decided to investigate where the concept originated from.

In this blog, we’ll have a look at the modern definition of twin flames and its intrinsic link to Plato’s Symposium.

Furthermore, we’ll explore another association of twin flame through Aridhanashvara.

The Modern Twin Flame

The Internet crawls with articles about Twin Flame and they all seem to unanimously agree with a common theme and progression.

The First thing to keep in mind is that we all have a twin flame but not everyone’s twin is walking this earth.

When Twin Flames meet

There are signs when you meet your twin flame:

Magnetic Pull - there is an instant recognition when you meet your twin as if your soul was nudging you to wake up. You feel a magnetic pull towards the person.

Enhanced Psychic Abilities - you share a telepathic connection together or if you are not already into extrasensory perception then your twin awakens those abilities. You are able to tap into their energetic body at any given time and vice versa.

Synchronicity - you have a lot of synchronicity episodes such as the same dreams, same hobbies, heck you even finish each other’s sentences.

Twin Flames Stages

Now that we know the signs we are ready to discover the stages that twin flames go through:

Before meeting you have this deep yearning for the perfect one, you know deep down something is missing.

You finally meet THE ONE and you undoubtedly know he/she is the one. You have even met them in astral or in your dreams before the physical meeting. Discovering your twin on earth is the most blissful experience ever.

After a while, you enter a crisis period with your twin. This is because your shadows and/or theirs begin to surface, for example, if you have self-esteem issues this starts to surface causing problems to the relationship. This stage is very important as you can either work through your shadows or separate.

If you are not able to deal with your shadow you enter a runner and chaser dynamic. At this stage, you can either recognize that this is a part of growth and surrender to the intensity of the relationship. Or this ends and you go your separate ways, here the chaser will always wait for the runner.

The guarantee is a happy ending for those who made it work through their crisis period. Not only can you take a breather but you are also ready to give the gift of this twin flame reunion on earth.

Plato’s Symposium and Twin Flames Description

Plato’s symposium can be considered an influential piece centered on love in its various forms. It raises a lot of interesting questions for both ancient and modern concerns.

The Symposium is a praise to the Greek god Eros, one of his functions is linked to “passionate sexual desire” however, throughout the Symposium Eros is used as a broad range of meaning for “love.”

So you might be wondering what does this have to do with Twin Flames? Well, it has everything to do as it is the one source often mentioned as a reference to the concept.

Aristophanes Speech and twin flame

Out of the whole symposium speeches, Aristophanes’ speech is one of the most interesting. His speech not only stands out but is also the most appealing to modern readers.

Aristophanes begins his speech by telling us that a long time ago the nature of humans was not the same.

There were three genders on earth male, female, and androgynous. The reason for this was males were children of the sun, females were children of earth and androgynous were children of the moon.

Back then humans were described as rounded (back and side forming a circle). They had four arms and four legs with two identical faces on a circular neck.

One day they tried to climb to the heavens to attack the gods. The gods couldn’t find a solution on how to calm them and killing them as they did with the giants would remove a lot of honor and sacrifices the gods received from humans.

Zeus came up with the solution to not kill the humans but weaken them instead by cutting them in half with the help of Apollo. This tactic did stop humans from attacking however, this also resulted in them dying from hunger and inactivity since they each longed for their other half.

After seeing this Zeus took pity on them and devised another tactic. Since their genitals were at the back of their body, Zeus placed them in front so that they would reproduce and the human race would continue.

This according to the Symposium is how we ended up with the concept of twin flames. Humans were punished for their misbehavior towards the gods. What was once a powerful unifying force now became two halves dis-empowered.

Male and Female Dynamics as Twin Flames

Aside from Plato, I believe it is also important to take into account the dynamics of gods and goddesses in ancient cultures.

In almost any ancient culture the dynamics of male and female are represented by the gods and goddesses, they act as complementary energies to each other. Some of them are:

Isis & Osiris - Egyptian Mythology, Frejya & Thor - Norse Mythology, Zeus & Hera - Greek Mythology, and Shiva & Shakti - Hindu Mythology.

Ardhanarishvara

One of the imagery often used to describe the Twin Flames is Ardhanarishva. The perfect synthesis of man and woman. However, does the symbolism really signify the union of two individuals?

Some Hindu mythology stretches back BCE and so does the symbolism of Aridhanarishvara however, the symbolism seems to have gained its name during the Kushan period in parallel with the Greeks.

There are various stories as to how Aridhanashvara was introduced. One that I find very interesting is the Shiva Purana.

After the creator god Brahma creates the world he notices that there is no further progress to it. The problem was Brahma had only created males and therefore there was no population increase. This upset Brahma so much that he went to seek the help of the god Shiva.

Shiva revealed himself in the form of Aridhanashvara. Upon seeing this Brahma instantly asked the female half of Shiva to provide him with a female half so that his creation could evolve. The goddess agreed and created several females’ power from herself.

According to tantric philosophy, Ardhanarishvara is the deity presiding the Ajna chakra or Third Eye. At this chakra there is no duality this is reflected further by the two petals of this chakra, one representing Ida and the other Pingala. This is a fusion of two energies in one body.

Ida represents Shakti or female in this case while Pingala represents Shiva or male. This also reflects operating from a balanced left and right brain perspective.

Ardhanarishvara in this case doesn’t come close to the earth aspect of twin flames. In this case, it represents the duality found within each of us and that needs to be in balance.

Conclusion (Tldr)

In this post, we’ve explored twin flames from a modern perspective and also explored Aristophanes’ speech. This speech seems to be the main link to ancient cultures in relation to twin flames. Further, we have explored the dynamics of male and female aspects in ancient cultures through the symbolism of Ardhanarishvara.

Are twin flames solely an external phenomenon? I don’t think so, although Arisphanes’ speech seems to alludes to this. I think it is more important to remember that a spiritual journey is first forging our own selves into unity.

If external circumstances or people trigger changes within us and we are willing to change then this is an additional benefit to our spiritual progress. However, doesn’t everything in life mirrors us in order for us to change?

I believe whether your perspective is more external or internal concerning twin flames the main goal is always to keep growing.

Let me know how you guys define twin flames? And do you believe it to be an internal or external concept?