Sihr does, as written, only affect Jinn. There are, however, members of the OoS who possess other summoning arts that are not so restricted: Goetic Summoning, for example, or the Faerie Summoning favoured by the Yatus.
If you're talking about Sihr, I would say no. He needs to know at least one of the five Solomonic Arts to do seasonal summoning activities. However, I would say that the knowledge of how to do this is part of gaining the Sahir Social Status Virtue, since there isn't a Solomonic Magic Theory Ability.
No, he needs to learn a Solomonic Art first.
Sure, I can't see why not.
Yes, certainly.
Sure, I would say so.
Yes. Their Hermetic Arts are considered their Summoning Art, and the summoning strength is the amount by which their casting total exceeds the spell level. It's possible to have a negative summoning strength with formulaic spells.
Sure, they are using their Solomonic magic to forge a bond, so as long as they use that spirit for other Solomonic magic, they can strengthen their connection to it.
I think the troupe would have to decide on a case by case basis. For example, Gentle Gift or a Study Bonus, I would say sure.
My instinct is no for Solomonic Arts, but only because the Solomonic Arts aren't techniques or forms. 
But I could see working something out since Secondary Insight is so weak.
...and since Erik wrote the book on the OoS (literally!), that's about as authoritative as it gets.
Thanks for clearing up any details! 
Gremlin is correct.
I believe the original intent of the paragraph was to imply that the ex-sahir mentioned became a faerie Jinn either through Warping or through a Mystery Initiation (similar to Becoming) as that would seem the easiest approach but the sahir could have become an Infernal jinn/spirit or less likely a Magic spirit through a similar process (Spirit of Nature) and be classified as a Jinn and thus susceptible to Sihr.
Sihr, whether Solomonic (non-hermetic version) or Exotic (Hermetic version) affects only Jinn.
The relevant chapter explains this more fully but Jinn are a sub group spirits belonging to a defined group of entities chiefly characterised by their interaction with Islamic culture aligned to the Faerie, Infernal or Magic realms.
Faerie jinn are faerie spirits that can assume corporeal forms composed of glamour. Infernal jinn are demons (beings of pure spirit) that can coagulate a physical form. Magic jinn are a form of elemental spirit and some Magic jinn are powerful enough to be considered daimons but there are many powerful jinn that are not daimons, in fact jinn that are daimons are quite rare as written.
Not all magical spirits of the Mythic Middle East are Jinn but the majority of them are, and thus the majority of magical spirits in the region are susceptible to Sihr. The Astra Planeta (daimons of the planets) are an example of spirits aligned to the Mythic Middle East region that are not jinn and cannot conventionally be summoned by Sihr (although I did work towards some rules for this that we didn't end up incorporating - maybe SubRosa).
If the hypotherical sahir in the example underwent an apotheosis and became a magical spirit that was not a Jinn they would not be susceptible to Sihr but given the cultural affiliation etc I would suggest the Storyguide/Troupe rule that a sahir should automatically be considered a jinn in such circumstances unless there was a very good story related reason to classify them otherwise, regardless of faith (nearly all individuals in the Mythic Middle East believe in and have probably encountered jinn so jinn are considered the norm in this environment - the sahir is likely to consider himself a jinn within paradigm).
(Solomonic) Sihr is the most common summoning art used by sahir as presented in tCatC. Hermetic sahir use a version of Sihr termed (Exotic) SIhr to differentiate it from the version used by their non-Hermetic cousins. However, not all sahir utilise Sihr as their summoning art - there are sahir (such as the mulhuddin but other groups/lineages also) that use the Goetic Art of (Spirit) Summoning (aligned to various realms but "tainted" with the Infernal per RoP:I), sahir that use the various Elementalist hedge magic of (Elemental) Summoning and sahir (usually yatus) that use Ars Fabulosa versions of (Realm) Summoning. There may be non-Faerie aligned versions of (Realm) Summoning as indicated but they haven't been encountered yet in canon, perhaps even the Divine although I can't recall what the final ruling on this was post comments and playtest without consulting the actual final book (still don't have my author copy as I live in Australia and postage takes ages). All of these generate a Summoning total and if the sahir and this can be used to help power other effects if the sahir possesses other Solomonic Arts.
Depending on the exact specifics of the summoning art, various sahir can summon entities other than jinn, which helps them to be almost as varied in potential as Hermetic magi. Those sahir with one of these other summoning abilities could theoretically summon even the hypothetical sahir that manages to apotheose into a non-jinn Faerie spirit. Sure being a magical spirit / jinn is great but it leaves you vulnerable to Sihr.
Regards,
Lachie
BTW theoretically you could use Purity Invocation Divine effects to summon Jinn of various realm alignments but IIRC this does not generate a summoning total and therefore cannot be used to power Solomonic Arts. Erik will correct me here but we don't define what magic the mythical King Solomon actually used and whether he actually used the Solomonic Arts or whether they were just named after him for the associated prestige.
I'll jump on the back of Lachie's excellent post and say +1,001!
I had imagined the sahir summoning the other (former) sahir as having (Goetic) Summoning, which lets him summon any spirit, not that it really matters. That Summoning Art is pretty common in the Mythic Middle East, though. >:)
Sahirs can indeed use Invocation and Purity to summon spirits. The sahir's summoning strength in that case is the difference between his casting total and the level of the holy effect. There is also some interesting story potential for a sahir who has a guardian angel or other companion spirit but cannot actually summon it -- it may come when the character calls, but without a casting total for the summoning, the character can't really do anything with it.
As you (and the book, of course) continually use the word "spirit" I assume this differentiates between material Magic/Faerie creatures and ephemeral ones? I know that all demons are inherently spirits. Right?
Yes, and angels too. Noncorporeal beings, basically. They are probably all supernatural, though I can think of some edge cases like a person targeted by a Muto Corpus-Mentem spell, or the subject of a Solomonic Travel effect, where it would look like a spirit but wouldn't actually be able to power magical effects. A Gifted sahir could still pull off spells using it, though, as long as he could summon it with his Summoning Art.
Looking forward to seeing you again! Maybe you'll run a Middle Eastern game for us to play?
My copy arrived today and I've had a quick flick through. So much in there. Great work guys, really looks good. Just when you think you have the measure of the book, you turn the page and there's a picture of an overgrown pyramid and the story potential kicks off again.
I'm looking forward to taking this in, bit by bit.
As did mine. Yipeee!
Finally to see it in print! It's even more beautiful than I thought... the interior art is great and the maps turned out amazing.
Lachie
Still waiting news from my local bookstore 
I kinda fooled myself. I had assumed that cradle was for Bethleem, especially since the blurp mentions Outrmer and Crusader Kingdoms (I overrlooked the beyond in that sentence).
Anyway, I was disappointed to find those places absent. But I haven't read a lot yet. Maybe it turns out...
The "Cradle" refers to the cradle of civilization and magic ie. Mesopotamia/Persia. The "Crescent" refers to the Islamic lands.
The blurb indicates "beyond the shattered lands of the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer".
That's not to say you can't use the material within (at least the sections on Sahir, Jinn, Bedouin, and the various story elements scattered throughout) for an ArM5 Saga set in the Levant with some modifications. This supplement, combined with a PDF copy of ArM$ Blood & Sand and some upcoming SubRosa articles may just do the trick - at least until we revise the Levant Tribunal for 5th edition...
Hope you enjoy it regardless!
Lachie
I'd like to say I really like this! Some great ideas for the Sahirs and some neat stuff for giving people the partial gift also 
. Sweet!
My major issue is two things... hoping some of you guys can help me out.
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I can't seem to work out how to enchant a flying carpet as a sahir. Thats just a crime, there should be a sidebar
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Can Djinn physically move people about? I'm thinking of a Djinn of air moving sahirs on a whirlwind and so on, or earth Djinn and so on. Are they any faster while doing this than walking around?
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Can a Djinn teach non-hermetic forms, like Storytelling or anything like that? Because unless I missed it they can teach hermetic stuff but not Sihr, summoning, or any of the five Sahir arts.. which seems a bit crazy.
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Perhaps an Alchemy effect that affects the air touching the carpet/bound spirit could be used to grant buoyancy? Though locomotion could be more difficult.
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Some jinn have physical forms and could thus certainly move a human about. There are rules for calculating Movement in "Lords of Men", but they're somewhat problematic in that larger creatures have a reduce Movement due to their lower Quickness scores. That being said, a horse doesn't walk much faster than a human either. The advantage for the rider is that he can force his steed to expend ITS Fatigue so that he can arrive at his destination more quickly.
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"Each individual jinni acts as the equivalent of a Tractus on a single Hermetic Form (typically an elemental form for Magic jinn, Imaginem for Faerie jinn, and Vim for Infernal jinn), the Accelerated Ability Sihr, and their aligned (Realm) Lore."
I'm not sure if Solomonic Magic could do this directly, but bargaining with a lesser Faerie jinni that has the equivalent ReAn power (probably through Master of Animal or an equivalent power) might do the trick - the jinni may remain invisible and/or incorporeal and the carpet would then appear to be animated to an observer. Similarly, commanding a jinni with ReAu powers to cause the air surrounding the carpet to support it and move it would be possible also and achieve a similar effect. We did not include rules for sahir binding jinn to objects, although this was possible for Solomon and the earlier Umayyad viziers (see History section in Chapter 5: The Order of Suleiman) and is possible for sahir who use Goetic or possibly Faerie Arts.
Erik may have more ideas on how to achieve this within the guidelines of Solomonic Alchemy.
Jinn can physically move humans if they have assumed a corporeal form but traveling in a whirlwind or atop a column of fire and whirling smoke may be uncomfortable to say the least without some form of added magical protection in the form of an additional magic effect or a hedge-magic charm or a jinni granted minor power. The description for Alexander of Jerbiton in Magi of Hermes has a spell that keeps out sandstorms which would be applicable to traveling in a whirlwind.
As derived from the HoH:S rules on (elemental) Magic jinn, learning from jinn is akin to studying from vis or significatos etc - the jinni is not teaching the character, the character is learning from observing and questioning the jinn - some jinn may find this distasteful and/or consider this beneath them. For actual instruction, a Faerie jinni with the Faerie Instructor Virtue (to allow the jinni to have Abilities instead of Pretenses) may be the most appropriate and may allow teaching non elemental Arts including Solomonic Arts depending on what Arts they possess. Some jinni, particularly those styled on wizards or ex-sahir may know Sihr, Summoning etc and be able to teach these Abilities/Arts to sahir and even Hermetic magi with the appropriate Virtues etc.
The rules presented however do not require the jinni being studied to have scores in the elemental Forms, Imaginem, Vim or even their associated (Realm) Lore. Similarly most jinni do not have a knowledge of Sihr but as Sihr is all about jinn, studying the behaviour and interacting with jinn grants experience towards learning Sihr. It's not actually teaching though.
Cheers,
Lachie
Thanks for the guides!
Having a look over the Sihr stuff, I'm just wondering how much penetration is valuable for summoning Jinn with Sihr. I have a few questions. I'm thinking of making a small covenant of the Suhhar who have Djinn do a number of tasks about their covenant.
- Does a summoning total penetrate by itself or does a seperate Summoning Penetration need to be figured? Does Penetration do anything much at all, given a Sihr with an ability of approximately the same level would be able to summon spirits of about the same level, and the summoning strength appears unaffected?
I.e. Sihr 10 would easily summon Magic Might 10 Jinn. Summoning Strength would be the same regardless of Penetration.
Assuming a Sahir called Aladdin with a bit of ability (Pres + 1, Com + 1, Sihr 10, Bargain 5 (Jinn) and Penetration (Jinn) 5 and True Name of Happy the Djinn.
Trying to summon Happy the Jinn, a Magic Might 10 Jinn.
Aladdin rolls 1 (pre) + 10 (sihr) + 3 (magic aura) + 5 (Average dice roll) = 19.
His Penetration total is 19 + (6x6 = 36) - 10 = 45. But this total doesn't seem to do anything further.
So basically his summoning total is 19 - 10 for MM which means his summoning strength is 9.
However, if he tried to summon Angry the Djinn (mm 45) he would be able to summon it just fine. His following bargain total would be.. -26. For bargaining, entirely useless. (Useful for some Naranj maybe...)
Back to Happy who he has summoned. 1 + 6 + 9 + 5 (av. roll) - 3 (gift penalty) = Bargaining total of 18.
He 'Bargains' with happy, giving happy 2 pawns of vis, and says 'Protect me (+ 0 task) for 1 week.
He now has a protector for a week for the cost of 2 pawns of vis for about a days work.
Am I right with that? Why is Penetration valuable at all?
Glad you're enjoying it! I'd be very excited to hear how you end up using it.
Always happy to help.
You say enchant, which I assume means you want to do a Solomonic effect. That would probably be Solomonic Alchemy, using the Level 15 Ritual guideline to transform the properties of complex matter, making it weightless and pushing it through the air like a leaf on the wind. I'd call that a Significant Alteration, and I imagine it will need a couple of extra magnitudes for Size. So that's something like Level 35? Level 40? Certainly possible, and you can bind it to the carpet if you want. Maybe bind an air spirit instead of a jinni so the Suhhar doesn't get upset if they find out about it.
However, I generally picture sahirs relying much more on the inherent powers of their summoned jinn. Just summon a jinni that has powers over the air, and have it transport you instead of let you cast spells through it. It is a subtle thing, but sahirs have so much more power if they just convince jinn to go and do things for them, especially when facing Hermetic opponents. That way they can stay in their houses of learning, and the jinn have Might to absorb the response. 
I happily defer to Jarkman on these questions. He gives great answers in that other thread.
Likewise this one. Like Lachie says, they aren't actually teaching so much as they are providing experience like studying from vis. I would totally let them put that experience in Solomonic Arts just like Hermetic Arts.
Not very, no. They don't really worry about Penetration very much, except when summoning spirits, because they rarely target people who have Magic Resistance with their spells, and in any case that uses their summoned spirits' Penetration instead. Hermetic magi are a relatively new opponent for them, and Magic Resistance is somewhat alien. They only really need Penetration when summoning spirits, to get the bonus for incorporating the spirit's True Name (as 0 x 6 is still 0), but other than that it isn't all that useful for them. Maybe if they were trying to summon a spirit without having a summoning spell, or when summoning a spirit that has a Might Score that is much higher than their Sihr score. You are right that in that case, the sahir will be at a serious disadvantage when bargaining because his Summoning Strength will be so low, but maybe he has a lot of vis to offer or is willing to accept a heavy duty or two. And if he doesn't penetrate, he can't summon it to bargain with it at all. Or maybe he is summoning the spirit in a divine aura, like in a city, and has a significant penalty to his Summoning Total. His Summoning Strength will be pretty weak in that case too, but with a high Penetration he might still be able to cause the spirit to manifest, and that may be all that matters to him.
Actually, using Sihr or a summoning spell, he couldn't summon Angry. His Summoning Total is only 19, and that does not beat the Ease Factor of the effect. He could penetrate its Magic Resistance, but both summoning methods also require that the Summoning Total exceeds the spirit's Might Score. 
Suppose in your example that Aladdin is summoning a jinni with Might 19 instead. He just barely succeeds, since his Summoning Total is 19, but that's only natural with a Sihr score so much lower than the jinni's Might Score. His Penetration Total must be at least 19 as well. With Penetration 5 that is no problem for him, but that's a pretty hefty score. If he only had Penetration 2, he would fail, since 3 x 6 is only 18. Plus, once you get up past about 30 or so, it is harder to get that much penetration. So if the sahir is going to try and summon high-powered spirits, spirits that are beyond his Sihr score, or both, a high Penetration becomes nearly essential.
FINALLY GOT MINE!!!! The three wise men were slow and only arrived with their bountiful feast on the 6th of January. They brought a book from their lands and a magical dvice able to reproduce almost any book on demand.I am sure it contains a djinn that answers to the true name of Kindle the Third (intellego ignem-aligned?)
Back to you all in a few days, when I have digested it.
Cheers,
Xavi
Not quite what you asked, but in the city of Isfahan (in the Persia chapter) you will discover mention of Davdand, who makes flying carpets for the Suhhar Sulayman. He has the Touched by Faerie Virtue (from City & Guild).
Mark