Many twin flames will go through the experience of having a catalyst twin before they meet and go into union with their real twin. It is hard to say how many twins will go through this or how common having a catalyst twin is. It is a great mystery.

Before Jim and I went into union, I had a catalyst twin for about a year. Due to that experience, I believe the purpose of the catalyst twin relationship is to help one move through layers of mental and emotional darkness by triggering those stagnant layers of bondage out of you.

A catalyst twin will mirror back to you what you need to see through mentally and, subsequently, digest emotionally so you can move closer to union with Truth and your real twin.

When you are triggered by certain things your catalyst brings up for you, you can then become more aware of the stories that underlie that emotional reaction.

It is best to view triggering as an opportunity to find the story or stories that are hidden underneath. All stories are false when propped up against the full Light of Truth of what you are, which is completely free and devoid of any story.

If you see a story there, this is a beautiful thing. Because seeing the story or belief you hold about yourself is the first step to freeing yourself from it.

When you have a catalyst twin, an event has likely occurred in your past that has left an emotional stain on you. This energetic stain is what causes the triggering or negative emotional reaction. That stain or emotional blockage can affect many aspects of your life without you even being aware of it. Emotional stains act like bondage, and they keep us from living in freedom. If we are willing to look at what is causing us to be triggered, emotions will rise related to the trigger.  When those emotions are allowed to surface fully and are not suppressed, they have a chance to help the blockage(s) clear out. But if we never look at the stories behind the trigger close enough, the emotions tied to it do not have a chance to release and clear out naturally. These emotions are stuck energy that needs to clear for us to be able to move into union with Truth and then our twin.  I wrote a guide to help with this process:  https://zeropointshamanism.com/product/guide-to-clearing-stuck-energy/

Our awareness acts as the cleanser to move these dark things out of us. As these things are cleansed through deeper awareness, we move closer to union with the true Self/Truth and subsequently with our twin flame as well. 

It is a very natural process that takes place to move us into union. It is much like a gravitational pull that is moving us back into our birthright and origin, which is pure freedom and happiness, without the heavy overlays of stuck conditioned dark mental or emotional energy.  We are going from what is impermanent back into what is permanent again.

Truth is permanent. Transient energy flow is not. It is impermanent. How could Truth be anything but permanent? It can’t. That is what makes it Truth. Find what is permanent and you find Truth and Home. This is where Union occurs.

Eventually, as these blockages/transient energies are moved through, they will emotionally discharge and become neutralized. Then a real twin union has a chance to occur. This is how catalyst twins prepare us for our true twin.

If you have certain emotional and mental blockages acting in the background of your subconscious, those dark aspects will not allow for a harmonious union. Darkness will not allow light to merge with itself. Dark blocks Light.

Twin flame unions must be harmonious. Twins will not go into union until both twins have cleared enough mental and emotional baggage (darkness) so that the light of the true Self/Truth can emerge.

Twins must be mentally and emotionally clear enough for a harmonious union to take place. And when I say clear, I do not mean “all clear” as in you are a perfect person that no longer gets triggered by anything. But you have cleared enough of that emotional baggage that keeps you from experiencing a deep sense of personal freedom and happiness. And before union, you have also found self-love and self-honor. You know what you like and don’t like. And you honor those things in yourself. You don’t consent to things you don’t like or act like a doormat to someone else, even your twin. You don’t devalue yourself and put your twin on a pedestal or vice versa. This is living in honesty.

There must be a sense of balance and equilibrium. Twins must honor each other equally to go into union. You honor yourself and your desires. This is honesty. You honor them and their desires.  When you do this, honor and honesty flow back and forth between you and there is harmony.  This is how you live in Truth.

So self-honor and twin-honor must be there for union as well. Because when you are going into union with your true twin, you are also going into union with your true Self. This is why honesty is so crucial. You cannot get to union without it. You must be honest with yourself about what you can handle and what you don’t want to deal with. No matter what it is, it is okay. Just be honest with yourself about everything, and the road to union will be much faster. Don’t judge yourself for how you truly feel. That is only the ego judging itself and that can go. Drop it. Feel your way through this with your heart. There is no judgment there. Only Truth.

You could say union comes when all these things (honesty, self-honor, seeing through conditioned triggers, etc.) come into your awareness at a profound level. You have seen through your deepest emotional wounds, and you honor yourself, your heart, and inner truth in the process.

What is an example of how a catalyst twin might trigger something out of you to prepare you for your real twin union?

There are countless examples of emotional baggage that can cause one to be triggered. Here is one I see as a common theme among many twins:

One twin might have been abused, neglected, or just ignored by a parent when they were a child. This abuse, neglect, or just disinterest in the child caused the child to suffer in some way. This treatment by the parent caused the child to create a story to make sense of what was occurring. Generally, the story is something like I am a terrible person, ugly, or I am not loveable, or I am not interesting, smart, or worth anything. It could be all those stories or some other related story. But you get the gist. It is a negative story that causes a strong emotional response that sticks in the memory. That child will have internalized that story, and they will live their life through that story or stories. It will affect choices they make, and it can affect all their relationships and their success in life or lack thereof.

These stories can be a significant burden because they can prevent the person from living to their fullest happiness and potential due to the perceived (false) loss of freedom those stories create. They block freedom and happiness on a subconscious level. This is not living in Truth as it is not in line with how the true Self or God views you. It is living within a lie or series of lies that were created long ago by the ego/mind (devil).

So for one to go into union for a full spiritual awakening into happiness and freedom, in comes the catalyst twin by natural design. The catalyst twin will most likely do or say something or cause a memory to emerge that will trigger the other twin. It could even be that their presence on a very deep subconscious level causes the triggering to occur. Or it could be more overt. Maybe the catalyst acts aloof/disinterested, or they are abusive. Maybe they reflect behavior that the parent exhibited long ago. There is a natural desperate need to gain the attention of the twin flame because the energetic connection is so intense. Still, nothing is working well to create harmony. So they may suffer significantly over these triggers and not be able to find a solution or balance. The twin that is feeling abused or neglected might even repeat patterns in the past to try to gain more attention without much success.

For instance, they might even lie, manipulate or act out in desperation to try and get the attention they want. Or they may even become abusive themselves to try and settle the score or prove to themselves that their internal story is not a lie but the truth.  So, they may lash out and push the other twin away to further solidify the stories they carry. Strange things can manifest, and much misery might occur before the suffering twin takes a closer look at what is going on. As long as they are unwilling to look at their motivations and why they are there, they remain blind to them.

If they can look more deeply into their motivations behind their reactions to this catalyst or real twin, they will see what stories are there and where they originated.

As they see this, they go into a deeper awareness state about it all. This deeper awareness state will allow those stories to be seen through eventually, and the unconscious emotional baggage will now lift and naturally clear out.

Detachment will arise. Equilibrium and balance returns to that zero point state of consciousness where we exist without all the overlays of transient energy. Union will move more to the forefront as this occurs.

This, I believe, is the purpose of the catalyst twin.  It is also what many say is the purpose of the true twin.  I have a different experience of that, which I will get to in a minute.

The purpose of the catalyst is to dig out those deep dark wounds and help them to be cleared away. It is a painful process. But it is for the good of the twin because the twin that is living through those old stories is not totally free until those stories are seen through and can clear.

Catalysts twins are something to be grateful for. They are one step closer to your real twin. It should also be said that real twins can function just like catalysts can, as well as many have attested to. I would say it is impossible to differentiate between the two until the Universe reveals that to you. It could also be argued that all karmic relationships are catalysts to help you move closer to your true twin. I feel this is also true.

In my experience, I was greatly triggered by my catalyst. I was not triggered much by my real twin, who I went into union with.  Yes, he did/does trigger me on occasion.  But there was only one time that he triggered me greatly. It was right after union, and it was the most significant life trigger I had. I wrote about that here: https://zeropointshamanism.com/the-divine-orchestration-of-the-spiritual-path/

When I was introduced to my real twin, and we went into union, the triggering had all but stopped.  It was almost effortless from then on out.  The energetic connection was stronger than with my catalyst, and nothing was standing in the way of our union. We fell very quickly into it.  I believe my catalyst helped pave the way for that.  Various psychics told Jim many times that he was a twin flame, and his union would be extremely easy and, for him, it was.  He did not experience all the insanity that many of us with catalysts or miserable twin experiences face.  His spiritual awakening journey came about differently long before we met and it was related to a near-death experience.  But that is another story.

In conclusion, many twins agonize over whether the person they are having the twin flame experience with is their real twin or a catalyst. I always tell them that I believe it is impossible to figure this out until the Universe reveals that to you. The Universe/God will reveal the answer when you are ready for it. And when it comes, there will be no mistaking it. The confusion will come to an end. I can attest to that. When I met Jim, I was dumbfounded, and it took a few days to process what had happened and finally understand it. We shared our detailed stories of that meeting and going into union here: https://zeropointshamanism.com/how-i-met-and-went-into-union-with-my-twin-flame/

Until the Universe reveals to you that your catalyst is just a catalyst or they are genuinely a real twin, treat the situation according to how your heart feels about it. Work towards seeing through all the triggers that may be burdening you and keeping you from feeling happiness and freedom. And give it time. Trust that all is happening at the right timing. It truly is. And if you are getting impatient, ask the Universe to speed things up a bit. Do not be afraid to ask for more clarity and speed for clear resolution if that is what you are aching for.  For some, I believe it is time to begin to ask for help. Often when we ask for help, things can turn on a dime and shock you in ways you never imagined. I am proof of that. The possibilities are limitless. Try to be open to that because, in every moment through your shift in focus and intent, dimensions shift.