Wow, what thread is this from? It got interesting quick!

Which form of hermetism? There are several, including chaos magic...

So, you view Quabbalists (strict Jewish followers of the Tree of Life and the True Name of God) to be the same as Alchemists (property of matter and the purification of the human soul) and Aleister Crowley? Just with different trappings?

I wouldn't call a totem an "invisible friend" seeing as they do actually appear in Shadowrun canon, if I remember correctly.

Didn't some hapless magician set free the spider totem from Uluru or some other outback area?

And is it really easier? You really do have to structure your life (including your personality and defects [hello, majorly destructive seductress shamans]) to the ideals of your totem to keep your magical power. I'd say this is equal to the rigorous study of formulae of your standard vanilla hermetic. Not to mention that the same amount of time and energy has to be spent learning the specific spells and metamagics.

Also, Chaos hermetics also devote themselves to rigorous study aswell, but instead of only using formula written in say, hard-copy Latin, they may also use word of mouth, the matrix magic SIG's, Runic formulae, and more. They still study and understand all the formulae that your standard bookworm hermetic does, so I fail to see why it is "fundamentally wrong", especially seeing as magic use in Shadowrun is all about channeling the manasphere and the metaplanes, not which particular trapping you use, unless you want to do something specific, like create a grande zombie, or summon a blood spirit.

The way that magic is wired in Shadowrun, you need some kind of belief system to connect to it. Either you merge it with your religious and/or superstitious beliefs, or you try to come up with a logical framework that describes how magic works.

The trouble with the latter is that one, magic is hard to test by the scientific method, and two, just as with using religion, any theory, right or wrong, can fuel a hermetic's magical abilities. So it's kind of hard to determine whose theory on the nature of the metaplanes is correct, when both hermetic mages can get tangible results using those theories.

Hermeticism is still on the right track, though, because of the simple, observable fact that people with wildly different views can use magic, and their preconceived notions affect how their magic works, what kind of spirits appear for them, and how those spirits interact with them.

Kage, while in general I agree with you, in this case I have to take a contrary position (and dare I say it, offense!) There is far too much in the world which cannot be explained by hermeticism alone. Not to say hermeticism hasn't learned to use the tools first given to our spiritual elders and that their methods aren't functional, but they refuse to believe anything they can't put in a beaker and test. Well God doesn't fit in a beaker, my friend. So rather than admit their theory has holes, they simply hand-wave it with their own 'scientific spiritualism', spiritualism with the modern trappings. They might as well say 'reverse the polarity of the warp drives' and be done with it, for all they're willing to truly explore their world.

The simple fact is, totems have been proven to exist, and to impress their will on the world, even while they struggle to keep the distance necessary to allow space for faith. No hermetic has as of yet been given the ability to speak with the spirit of old man oak or to tap into the thoughts of the newly built sky-scraper. They have not been able to invite in the strength of their loa, allowing the body to do things beyond the abilities of any normal human. For all their science and numbers, they still cannot approach the power of my totem, old man drop bear.

Hermeticism is a focus on substance, without an understanding of the spiritual. They can make tools, but cannot inspire, they can drive the ship, but cannot see the course. They are without the greater understanding of their place in the universe, and while so self-inflated with their own egos, will never truly be able to master it.

When you can explain why a hermetic cannot achieve what shamans can do with hardly a thought, then perhaps I will agree, but in the meantime, we have the strength, the spirit, and the wisdom you cannot find in any text book.