>>6152
>The aesthetics of the delivery?
That is almost the most important part. A child will eat meat naturally but if you slaughter the family pet pig front of it rip out the meat and feed the kid she might not want to eat it anymore... Until she becomes real hungry. Instincts and feelings are at odds sometime and knowing which prevails depends on the person itself. This is the true with transmuting via spirits. Does the spirit's instinct to stay the same materia the stronger or the spirit has feelings towards the magician to obey the change. Love changes people and different energies change our environment.
>If someone knocks on your door and gives you a cake and you throw away the carrot it doesn’t seem like transformation
This is also a thing in magic especially with entities. A materia for an entity might be more valuable than for you. So offering a carrot to the entity for a cake is a fair deal and while this might not sound as a transformation but a trade in actuality you might see the carrot turn into the cake. So while this sounds like you "threw away the carrot" actually you exchanged it. Like maybe betacarotene is a fuel for the entity that makes him able to shit out 3 cakes and with this now he has 2 cakes and he gives you one. This is exchange ofc but it will look like transformation because in actuality you gave the entity something so he can use his own transmutation abilities. For him it is child's play but he is not gonna breach realities for nothing. This is why being able to breach realities by yourself makes you into a more easy to guide person because instead of a personal tutor having to anchor into your life you can visit their home dimension so the person who puts the effort in is you and they just have to teach a little. Also they really like it when you are not a dense motherfucker. Good thing the proper guides are usually patient.
>The meaning behind the arrangement of the spirits seem to be altered in a similar manner
It is similar but not the same. This is important. As you develop your concepts your mind will try to match "higher concepts" with your current understanding which means it will just find a metaphor or a symbolic thing. And use that as a framework for your understanding then as the concept in your mind is "solid" the symbolic frameworks can be removed so you work with the true unblemished concept now. The symbolic nature of magic serves as a gateway and not as the "real thing". The "real thing" is accessed via the mind of the magician. Those who use sigils without understanding them always walk a dangerous path.

>how the meaning is presented is the primary difference
K let's get into the word "meaning". Meanings can evolve and they have a depth too. Finding the real meaning something is not just "intellectual superiority" but knowing it's full worth it's full use. This is why I am saying "function" is something we humans assign to things while "nature" was there before even humans noticed their "use". Changing the meaning/function of things is like starting to use a smartphone as a paperweight. You can use that (smartphone) paperweight as a smartphone again but you are unable to use a (rock) paperweight as a smartphone. Like a child using random objects as a phone to mimick the parent is not actually using a phone. But the child can pick up the phone of the parent and accidentally dial something and use it how it is made to be used but that is the real object now and the accidental skill of the child and not a "play-pretend" anymore even tho the play-pretend inspired it. Not to mention if a child play-pretend orders a pizza on a (play)phone the parent can "humor him" to make pizza for dinner but the child did not truly order pizza and the parent can say "no we are not eating pizza tonight" thus revoking the child's "apparent authority". These differences matter in magic too.