Quick question. Arcana is not a knowledge skill it is an active skill and therefore costs more build points at character generation. Is this correct?

Yes ,thats correct

Hough!
Medicineman

The reasons for this are simple. You use it to make patterns for enchanting foci and you use it for getting info for and Calling free spirits. Because of those two uses, and the power it gives the players, it's an active skill and not a skill you can get for free.

Why would you get it for free... Prior to it being an Active Skill, it was a Knowledge Skill. So, still not free.

You get free knowledge skill ranks equal to your Intuition + Logic. Therefore it is a skill you could have gotten for free (not that you automatically get for free).

If you purchase it in Character Gen you still get it "For Free." You did not have to earn it at all...
But that is semantics.