The type of Magus we are unlikely to see :
Really must get a copy of AnM.
In the meantime i think i'll stick to sharing lab notes for discoveries. Slower, yes, but more in tune with the research feel of teaching a breakthrough.
The additional major breakthrough is what enables the virtue to be taught - AnM still mentions it (at the very end of page 7): "and the incorporation can then be taught to others as Supernatural Virtues". Without it, you can only initiate it.
Yes, indeed. However, as far as I understand it, the additional Major Breakthrough even surpasses this, since it turns the formerly Hermetic/Supernatural Virtue into an integral part of mainstream Hermetic theory. It is no longer a virtue, it's a part of vanilla Hermetic magic just like the Parma Magica or Moon duration or Auram form.
First Major Breakthrough: from non-Hermetic magic to Hermetic oir Supernatural Virtue, which is automatically learned by researcher only and can be taught and learned to/by others by Mystery Initiation.
Second Major Breakthrough: from Hermetic/Supernatural Virtue to full part of Hermetic magic, can be taught by instruction or studied by tractatus or lab text, just like Minor Breakthroughs.
What is nice is that you can re-use the same sources of insight, which helped you to do the first breakthrough, to help the second breakthrough, too. However, only the original researcher can do it, or someone that has initiated the Virtue.
The researcher that wants share her discoveries has several options: sharing the original insight sources, which would help to reproduce the first breakthrough (unlikely, they might be helpful to research other discoveries); share her breakthrough lab notes, which can be used as insight sources to reproduce the first breakthrough (more likely, you just have to put your scribe to churn out a copy); create an initiation script, initiate someone, and maybe then give them insight sources and let them do the second breakthrough; do the second breakthrough yourself, then simply instruct or share lab notes from the second breakthrough; share copies of the initiation script, then let your initiates to act as mystagogues to others. Or combine some of the above.
What is as yet not adequately covered by the rules is how to use insight sources to help research an initation script.
Ressurecting a rather old thread.. but this just came up between me and my story guide.. and still unclear how things work..
Firstly.. it seems true lineages and ancient magic apparently contradict each other a bit.. but no errata on the subject.. so hmmm
Basically.. initiation via mystagogue and such is crazy hard.. and plus, the need for cult lore scores seems to defy the point of bonisagi sharing research and such...
This works alright in ancient magic, as you're researching specific ancient things, and thus tend to get scores in those things, whereas original research most likely won't do any such thing.
So.. if anyone has done original research.. how do they share it?
Pg 29 of true lineages suggests just teaching it them, which seems rather easy, taking just a season of work, as long as they can get 5xp worth enough to get a score of 1 (even tho it's mentioned as not need to have an ability)
People seemed to refute this.. which is fine.. but brings along the next point.. if that magus simply copies his research lab texts.. by the same rules on pg 29, any other magus can easily gain the same number of breakthrough points after a few seasons comprehension, getting his arts lab total each season and thus learn the hermetic virtue after a bit of work on his own?
Basically.. just curious how hermetic virtues are passed on really.. and kinda wondering why there aren't more of them being passed around.

Ressurecting a rather old thread.. but this just came up between me and my story guide.. and still unclear how things work...
No worries by me, quite the opposite- Respect for keeping the related questions within one topic.
There is, imo, a distinct difference between adding clarification to a topic, and thread-o-mancy just to say "me too!"
However, on the point in question, I'll wait with you for others to post more learned opinions than I can provide.

First Major Breakthrough: from non-Hermetic magic to Hermetic oir Supernatural Virtue, which is automatically learned by researcher only and can be taught and learned to/by others by Mystery Initiation.
Second Major Breakthrough: from Hermetic/Supernatural Virtue to full part of Hermetic magic, can be taught by instruction or studied by tractatus or lab text, just like Minor Breakthroughs.
Wanderer has the key to it, by my understanding.
The Mysteries is not incompatable with Original Research. It is probably best to think of these as two different options (which can interact).
Original Research is the scholarly pursuit of expanding Magic Theory. It is done by spending time in a lab experimenting. It takes multiple breakthroughs to encorporate an idea into Hermetic Theory, though: the first to create the effect, and then others to put it into a form usable by Magic Theory. Once this is done, however, it can be taught to anyone with Magic Theory using Tractata or Lab Texts (this is the bit I'm still a little unclear on).
Mystery Initiation is the pursuit of mystic knowledge ability by other means. It requires a Mystagogue to guide one, and quests and the like to get you there. This is both harder and easier than Original Research. OR takes a long time, and will likely warp the heck out of the magus doing the research. Mysteries are faster but you have to go through Ordeals.
All of that, by the way, is off the top of my head, and without the books in front of me, but I looked into this a while back and this is what I recall learning.
Now, the two points do overlap. A magus who has been initiated into a Mystery (and thus has a Hermetic Virtue letting him do cool stuff) could spend time in a lab bringing that mystic understanding into Hermetic Theory. In many cases this would have dire consequences... they're called Mysteries for a reason. (Presumably Criamon wouldn't mind the idea, of course.)
Ancient Magic... well, I haven't really read and groked that yet. It seems to me to be a way to help magi doing Original Resarch get there faster and more safely by getting out of the lab and finding Non-Hermetic magic that does the same stuff already. I'm not sure how it interacts with Mysteries, if at all (although I recall there was a sidebar addressing the issue).
So, what do you think, Wanderer? Did I get it right?