As Mars enters Taurus and begins its return in my house of love and Other people (the 7th astrological house), I still feel under the spell of one of the most beautiful academic books I’ve read this year. It’s called “On the Way to the Wedding: Transforming the Love Relationship” by Linda Schierse-Leonard, a book initially published in 1987, which is as old as I am and so gently powerful.

This book alongside with “The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit” by Donald Kalsched have to be the most amazing texts on love, relationships, healing and Jungian Analysis that I had the pleasure to discover this year.

These books do something to you…something begins to move in your mind once you’ve finished reading them and dreams begin to proliferate. A wall in your heart begins to chip, as you start to see things around you differently. Even if you are the most sarcastic person on the planet, you begin to yearn for love. But if you are wounded in love, you may fall for someone who risks re-traumatizing you.

Part of the fun of reading Linda’s book is that she titles the chapters of her book as “Prince Charming and the Special Princess”, “The Bewitchment” or “The Divine Wedding”, and my favourite “The Demon Lover”, as she breaks down fairy-tales and applies them to real cases from her patients and their mental health struggles.

There’s magic in the struggle.

Inspired by this book and the seductively dangerous image of the Demon lover, I created a playlist, to engage in a fun and sexy way with this Archetype. I guess this playlist can also see you through a bad romance or two, until your self-love kicks in and you begin to feel worthy of better:

The Cure – The Last Day of Summer

Twilight Sad – It never was the same again

Glass Animals – Black Mambo

Idles – Beachland Ballroom (p.2)

Daughter – Flaws

Warpaint – Love is to die

Bjork – Hidden Place

James Blake – To the last

Sweatcult – Pray

Austra – Beyond a Mortal

Smashing Pumpkins – Ava Adore HQ

Jonathan Bree – Until We’re Done

Ghostpoet – Sorry My Love, It’s You Not Me

Cigarettes After Sex – Twizzler

Editors – Two Hearted Spider

Sea Power – Want to be free

I initially created this playlist so I can listen to it while I’m preparing to read “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu, considered by many to be the first novel on vampires that started the trend. So I thought I’d share it. Hope this emotional sound-landscape adds a darker and interesting sheen to your life, whethever you may find yourself in the world.

With universal love,

Lexi