Personally crafted magic disciplines

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

Imagine a world in which there are magicians and even colleges and societies of magicians but each talented wannabe mage must find a personal way of doing magic.

They can be taught some things about the universe and even a few tricks that can be shared by anyone but have to find their own 'path', 'way' or 'method'.

Studying magic involves meeting as many mages as you can and then trying to create a way that works for you.

This reminds me of art school, where there were people around to help you learn, but not necessarily to teach you much. So, how about each wizard needing to ideosyncratically combine Thaumatology with some other skill, such as painting, singing, jewelrysmithing, poetry, cooking, butchering, dancing, etc. (as is more or less described in Thaumatology, p 40)? The initiatory rites you describe could give them access to specific Paths (RPM) or Nouns & Verbs, but that access to power alone is insufficient to work magic. To do that, they apply the theoretical knowledge supplied by Thaumatology and the practical discipline of their particular field. You could still use the basics of Verb/Noun or RPM, but have the skills capped the lower of Thaumatology and this complement skill (instead of Magery). Even if they have access to a grimoire written by someone with the same discipline, they will need to figure out how to apply its information to their particular circumstance with a roll against the lower of Thaumatology/other skill.