SR4 Magic cha cha cha cha changes! Options

[swirler]

This is kind of a carry over from the retcon thread. I haven't played/ran SR since second edition so my knowledge is mostly half remembered bits and pieces. I mean the obvious stuff is the total revamp for shamans, including totems and spirits

Someone mentioned the ivy thing doesn't work anymore, what about FAB? My question is why does the ivy not work? according to the quote I posted below only mentions nonliving objects as offering no resistance. It says that astral forms can slow or affect another astral form. Does this mean "active" astral forms? Or all astral forms of living things? The latter is how it reads to me, but I would like some input on this.

Astral forms are unaffected by the physical world; non-living objects that are solid in the physical world
offer no resistance to astral forms and allow a projecting magician to pass freely. Only astral forms can slow or affect another astral form. The earth is solid on the astral plane, just as it is in the physical world; astral forms cannot pass through it. Secure facilities are often built underground to keep out astral intruders. Active weapon foci have a presence in astral space and can harm an astral form (see Foci, p. 190), but the wielder must be present on the astral plane to use the focus in astral combat. Only mana
spells affect astral forms.

Another thing mentioned was grounding. So astral enemies can't attack people through their active foci anymore? Is this specifically state, or just not mentioned as an option?

Using part of the quote above, the weapon foci part, it says "the wielder must be present on the astral plane to use the focus in astral combat" This means projecting or astrally perceiving, correct?

Okay I'm sure I have more but my brain is a little scrambled atm so for now one last question.
Initiation. Is it just a simple thing now? pay your karma and poof you "level up"?