Water and Fire

Darby Costello
This volume is both a poetic and a deeply insightful journey into the essence of these two astrological
elements and what they symbolise in the human psyche. Part One examines the element of water first
through its expressions in myth, alchemy, philosophy and psychology, and then through the water
signs and water houses in the horoscope. Each planet in a water house is described in terms of its
meaning and expression; the three water signs on the Ascendant are examined; and planets transiting
through the water houses complete a detailed analysis of all the permutations of water in the birth chart.
The chart of Marcel Proust is presented as a vivid example of the imaginative power and longing for
unity reflected by this most mysterious and most primal of elements.
Part Two takes the reader into the chaotic, inspirational realm of fire, beginning with the ways in which
fire is symbolised in myth and philosophy, and then examining Mars, the Sun and Jupiter as planetary
rulers of the fire signs. Each fire sign is then explored in detail, with an analysis of planets placed in
fire signs and fire houses, the nature of a fire sign on the Ascendant, and the meaning of the outer
planets in fire signs in relation to the the generation group to which the individual belongs. The charts
of two very different fire temperaments - William Blake and Heinrich Himmler - are presented,
followed by a discussion of the meaning of a singleton in fire, what lack of fire in a chart suggests, and
the experience of fiery people born into generation groups when the outer planets are placed in earth
and water. Audience participation enriches this unique journey throughout both seminars, allowing
individual experiences to deepen the reader's understanding.
Review by Mary Plumb - The Mountain Astrologer December 1999
I know I am in for a treat when books arrive from London's Centre for Psychological Astrology. The
transcripts from seminars held at the Centre have been consistently rewarding, and Darby Costello's
Water and Fire (Volume 11 in the series) is no exception.
Like other of her colleagues at CPA, Ms. Costello has a love of literature and etymology that makes her
lectures an erudite experience. She quotes poets and writers and has a strong appreciation for Western
literary tradition, but there is something else at work here - she is familiar with the imaginative realms,
with astrology as a language of Soul and Spirit, and her teaching unabashedly conveys this view. Her
thoughts will serve to fuel the imagination of any who may feel stuck in too literal a view of how the
elements act in a human life.
Part One, "Water: The Womb, Death, and the Dream," begins by considering the levels of water. The
author describes "terrestrial" water, then mythological, philosphical, alchemical, religious, and
psychological water. The Section on "Astrological Water" explores the motifs of soul, emotionality,
timelessness, separation and sin, and water healers. There is an appropriately meandering and yet
orderly course through the water houses and a full look at each water sign. Water cusps are discussed,
including fine distinctions between the natural houses of water's domain (4th, 8th, and 12th) and the
houses that the water signs inhabit in any particular horoscope. She delineates the birth chart (four
Cancer planets in the 4th house) of Marcel Proust, author of Remembrance of Things Past, as a
quintessential water chart. Outer planets in water, water singletons, and the progressed Moon in water sign and house - take us through to the end of the section.
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Ms. Costello writes that the "heart of fire is the Sun," and, in Part Two, she takes us into a spirited
account of "Fire and the Imagination, The Heart of Our Story." The work is far too free-spirited to
follow an identical outline to that in Part One, but is equally rich. After introducing the imaginal realm
and fire as the "primary organ of perception," she investigates its levels, which include, again,
terrestrial and mythological fire, the dangers of fire, fire divination, and celestial and imaginal fire. The
fiery rulers, Mars, the Sun, and Jupiter - have their own sections, along with focus on each of the fire
signs. She also recounts the stories of two very fiery individuals: Heinrich Himmler, designer of