Guest post written by Where The Dead Brides Gather author Nuzo Onoh
Nuzo Onoh is an award-winning Nigerian-British writer of speculative fiction. She is a pioneer of the African horror literary subgenre. Hailed as the “Queen of African Horror”, her writing showcases both the beautiful and horrific in the African culture within fictitious narratives. Nuzo is a Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Awardâ recipient. Her novel, WHERE THE DEAD BRIDES GATHER, is published on 22nd October 2024 by Titan Books.
Now available for pre-order from all good bookshops.
Twin flames! Oh this glorious state of loving oneness with that special person destined to be your eternal half! We’ve all heard this phrase at one point or another in our lives and, perhaps, even felt that we have found our own twin-flame amidst the zillions of humans inhabiting our earth. Twin-flamery comes with a deep connection and magnetic attraction between two people who supposedly share twin souls from a past life bond. Some people, if the tabloids are to be believed, have even found their twin-flames with extra-terrestrials and ghosts. But, thankfully, most of us tend to seek and, possibly, encounter our own soul mates amongst ordinary human kind. Even the evil ghost-brides in my latest book, WHERE THE DEAD BRIDES GATHER, languish with frustrated rage in their supernatural goal, The Wastelands, awaiting any opportunity to escape and reclaim their unwary twin-flames still living in the human world.
Whilst many of us are happy to be in any relationship without strings, labels or expectations of eternal entanglement, some amongst us will settle for nothing less that perfection. Think of the song, ‘Perfect’ by Fairground Attraction, and the lyrics, “Too many people take second best, but I won’t take anything less, It’s got to be, yeah, Perfect”. This is the state of mind of the quintessential twin-flame hunter. Perfect love! It doesn’t matter to them if their lover is an imperfect person or even if that person they see as their twin-flame equally loves them back or not. They KNOW! It’s just a matter of time before the other party cottons on and experiences loving illumination. Then everything will finally be in its right order of twin-flamery.
The doctrine of twin-flamery is a powerful one. This is a relationship that carries the weight of fate and, in many cases, despite being the ultimate symbol of eternal bliss, is also one mired in tragedy; basically, the definitive Romeo and Juliet story. For some inexplicable reasons, it seems that many twin-flame relationships inevitably fall foul to the mischievous whims of fate. It gives bliss with one hand and, then, takes it away with the other. In my teenage years, I had countless numbers of twin-flames that dispersed with the same ease as my raging libido. But I was a true believer and, eventually, I stumbled across one of my husbands, a guy who embodied everything a twin-flame should be. It was passionate, intense, all-consuming and we were married within months of meeting each other. Alas, like many twin-flames, he also flew out of the window of legal divorce and, now, I dream never to encounter him romantically in my next life. This particular soul-bond is dead and finished in this lifetime. The only dream I now have is to have Taemin and Bruno Mars locked inside a disco hall with me, dancing all my favourite songs non-stop while I stuff my face with cocktails, cakes and braised pork-belly, sobbing my heart out with bliss. But that’s another fantasy I’ll address in a different article!
Amongst my numerous qualifications, I hold a diploma in Runes Divination, with the high-falutin title of O.A. Dip. (Rune Divination). I’ve always been fascinated with everything to do with ancient Nordic Runestones, even before the advent of The Lord of the Rings franchise, and could spend hours just running my fingers over my various Runes in glazed bliss. In the course of several years, I have done hundreds of readings for friends, colleagues, acquaintances and their friends. Never for family; I’m superstitious like that. Most of my seekers request readings about… yes, you’ve guessed it… their twin-flames! The sheer number of absconded twin-flames never ceases to amaze me, just like my absconded fake twin-flame husband. They’re either stolen by other conniving lovers or deceived by their families and friends into checking out of their eternal relationships. Others leave to regain their space and freedom from this loving cocoon that’s smothering them in intimacy of unbearable intensity. Or worse, death, mankind’s eternal foe, snatches away a beloved twin-flame at the peak of their bliss. But this might actually be the best outcome for some die-hard believers of twin-flamery. It means they will get to meet their soul mates again in another life and space for a glorious and exquisitely loving reunion. What a comfort this must be to the bereaved with belief!
Which brings me to another aspect of twin-flamery. One cannot be a believer of the twin-flame doctrine without believing in the afterlife and the doctrine of reincarnation. They go hand-in-hand; after all, what’s the use of having a twin-flame if that love ends in just one pathetic life cycle? The joy of twin-flamery lies in the knowledge that even if you don’t catch your target in this lifetime, they will definitely be yours in the next, and by the law of karmic fate, you will both meet and recognise yourselves in the next existence. We humans have always had an unhealthy obsession with the supernatural and our mortality. With our ability to feel an exquisite intensity of emotions, it’s unthinkable to accept that the Humanists might be right, that all this cauldron of broiling emotions might really spill everything into the gravesoil with no chance of us ever experiencing them again. The doctrine of twin-flamery therefore gives some comfort to its believers, just like the doctrine of resurrection does for Christians and the philosophy of ancestors, for traditionalists. Life continues; our twin-flames never die; there will be a glorious unification one fine day, in this life cycle or the next. The grieving ghost-brides in the supernatural realm of Ibaja-La in WHERE THE DEAD BRIDES GATHER, definitely know that their agonising wait will eventually end, allowing them to re-join their twin-flames left behind for one final time. Which is why many forlorn lovers are ready to wait in patient forbearance and unwavering faith for their fickle twin-flames to wake up from their reincarnation fog and remember them and their loving bonds in their previous lives.
One of the ladies I did a Runes reading for, told me that her bus driver who plied the bus ** route in her city, was definitely her twin-flame and was still in the fog of this latest incarnation. She had been getting on that bus every single day since she first found him over two years ago, in the hope of igniting his forgotten memory. All to no avail, despite the loving Christmas card she gave him. She wanted my Runestones to tell her how long she would have to wait for the bus driver to awaken from his reincarnation-fog and remember her as his former twin-flame. Alas, the Runestone she picked, ISA, informed her that everything was frozen in this lifetime for her and for the bus driver. Instead, she would have to prepare herself for a new life and new hope. Or, she would likely have to wait for another lifetime for her bus driver to awaken from his fog and remember their twin-bond. Another lady was convinced the Italian-looking man she had met and exchanged smiles with at the Tesco check-out till was her elusive twin-flame she’d been searching for all her life whilst going through a myriad of “crap relationships with useless frogs” as she colourfully put it. She had been visiting Tesco at exactly 12pm every Wednesday, the same day and time she saw the guy, hoping to find him again and wanted the Runestones to tell her when and where they would meet up again.
From these, one can guess that the majority of believers in twin-flamery are women and you wouldn’t be wrong, at least, from my experience of readings. I can count on one hand the number of men who have used the phrase “twin-flame” when asking for relationship/love readings; and I’ve done hundreds of readings. My guess is that either the men are too embarrassed to use such a phrase they might consider “sissy”, or they’re just not connected to their deeper selves, or too busy with their Men are from Mars mentality to recognise their mirror-souls even when they’re smiling tenderly at them at the Tesco checkout till.
That being said, I’ve been blessed to witness true twin-flamery in a beautiful Irish couple who lived in my street before death tragically separated them in their sixty-third year of marriage. Incredibly, they were born on the same day and at the exact same time in different counties in Ireland. Yet, they ended up finding each other and sharing a beautiful togetherness where each one finished the other’s sentences and shared open affection right into their advanced ages. For the first time in my cynical life, their love made me wish I could find my own true twin-flame. But in the end, death took him away and left his wife a shell of her old chirpy self. I truly pray they find each other in their next life cycle. But one thing I discovered from my interaction with this beautiful couple is that twin-flamery isn’t all about sex or passion. It can exist without the demands of a physical sexual engagement. All it requires is an emotional, intellectual, and value-code bonding to bring an environment of total oneness between matching couples. Good luck to the blessed few in this our brave new world!
From all these, one can see that twin-flamery isn’t an easy or even happy state of romantic affairs as many people assume. It comes with great challenges that demand equally great amounts of steely strength, unwavering faith, dogged determination and a fierce dedication to the quest. Your love must be unshakeable in the midst of infidelity, domestic violence, alcoholism, gambling, emotional indifference and even in the face of death. Nothing, certainly no manipulating floozy or womanising clown in his sick Ferrari California T can kill your faith in your twin-flame and their ultimate redemption from temptation. You have to be both a lover and a fighter, using every arsenal in your power, including psychics and psychology, to retrieve your twin-flame from the amorous jaws of the shameless tempter and return things to their right order. But if all else fails and it doesn’t work out this time, have faith that all hope is not lost. As the ghost-bride, Madison-from-Texas, says in WHERE THE DEAD BRIDES GATHER, “I know my Cedric well, honey. He’s one sizzling hot dude, and the ladies just won’t leave him alone. I know one of them Texas hoes has got her greedy claws on him now. But no worries. Come their wedding day, bam! I get my wedding after all!”
In conclusion, we can all agree that a true twin-flamer is truly invincible, undaunted by mankind or fate. In the immortal words of Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day”. To the die-hard twin-flamer, here’s a loving message from your fellow believer— “May the Faith be with you!” Take a deep breath, get centred in meditation, call up your kundalini and listen to your recording of The Secret. Positive thinking never fails. Tomorrow is another life.
