Currently the DE include the following ReVi Guideline:
Level 15 Summon any disembodied spirit associated with one of the four supernatural realms. (A different spell is needed for each realm.)
(As well as a matching Level 5 controlling one).
The Re Form guidelines of other forms, inherited from TMRE, e.g. "Level 15 Summon a disembodied spirit associated with Animal." do not include and Realm restrictions.
The supplemental guideline document includes:
Summon a disembodied spirit of Vim. [TMRE p.28 and LoH p.65]
Summon an Airy Spirit of Vim. [RoP:M p.111]
Summon an Airy Spirit of a specific Realm. [RoP:M p.111]
The question is:
Are the Re Form summoning controlling Realm specific or non-realm specific ?
In particular, in the case of Vim, is the TMRE guideline Realm specific or non-realm specific, and distinct from the AMDE guideline (which is non-Form specific, but Realm specific).
(In other word, is there a Vim Form specific but non-Realm specific Summon / Control disembodied spirit).
Note, we've been arguing over the sacred text on discord, but can't figure out the correct interpretation, we seek enlightenment from the Prophets, as well as the underlying decision wrt those guidelines in the DE.
(Was the Vim form-specific guideline deemed to be realm specific and folded into the general guideline, or was it just omitted for the newbies sake).
Re [Form] Wards are Realm-specific, so I can't see why the summon and control guidelines wouldn't be too. (I'd personally prefer if they weren't, in which case, yes there would be two distinct Vim guidelines, but that's neither here nor there.)
Well, some people on discord contended instead that the Form specific summon / control guidelines were not Reall specific, unless the wards (which are specifically Reall specific).
But that’s clearly the point of bringing this up for clarification.
The intention seems to me to be that someone using Rego Vim to summon a spirit must learn a separate spell for each of the four realms but is equally adept at summoning a spirit associated with any form, as long as it is within that realm they have a spell for.
Meanwhile, someone who uses a form specific spell can only use it to summon spirits of that form, but can summon a spirit of that form from any of the four realms.
Both level 15 baselines, both flexible in different ways. Not contradictory, complementary.
Airy spirits are a specific kind of disembodied spirit. In any case, the "disembodied spirit of Form" and "Airy spirit of Form" were merged into "disembodied spirit associated with Form" in the DE. (For all forms).
The main point of unclarity is the realm specificity / non-specificity.
OK so you think the DE merged those. I noticed so but I wasn't sure because DE is sometimes correction, sometimes taking some things from other books but not everything, sometimes repeating core rules Ars Magica 5... it's very hard to know what is for each choice done in DE compared to core.
Strictly speaking per RAW- no. There's no listed guideline for it. In fact the rules in TMRE implicitly bans it I'd say since it says "Vim spells using these guidelines" only care about Realms, the guidelines being the one you referenced.
Spells of a specific Form can com-
mand any spirit tied to that Form: for
example, Ignem can command any fiery
spirit. Vim spells using these guidelines
can command spirits aligned with one of
the four realms; Divine, Faerie, Infernal,
or Magic. The Form of the spirit is
irrelevant.
It is easy enough to extrapolate however and I'd allow it as a houserule, or at most as a minor breakthrough. If there was a reason it isn't possible for hermetic magic, it'd probably be the relevant breakthrough had no example of vim spirits.
Take a look at LoH p.15 box The Nature of Vim. You will see that the history of the development of Vim in the OoH is a long one, and it does not conclude with Bonisagus and Notatus.
LoH p.27 The Tome of Binro contains an experimental spell Ward against Woodland Spirits that affects creatures with a Herbam-based Might Score irrespective of their supernatural Realm. This can contribute to the integration of Conciattas later clarifications of Vim into general Hermetic theory.
The big thing we're talking about is commanding and summoning- not warding.
Warding against Mighted beings is Realm-specific and Form-specific unless using Rego Vim, in which case it is just Realm-specific.
The Mysteries when covering commanding and summoning makes it clear for non-Vim forms, Realm alignment is irrelevant to hermetic magic for the most part.