Ok, well, being a SMN, I had to level THM to 15. At the time, I thought, "cool! I loved Black Mage in FFXI!". However getting to 15 was a real struggle/chore for some reason. I know I need to level THM to at least 26 to get "Swiftcast" for my SMN, but I'm dreading just BSing my way through it for another 11 levels. I'd like to enjoy the experience. So I was curious if anyone could offer any help in the way of 2 things.

1. Could some please explain the Astral Fire and Umbral Ice mechanic to me? (I've tried googling it, but I'm at work currently and all the sites with explanations are blocked). It was a real source of confusion for me.

2. What is a good rotation for this lower level grind?

Thanks everyone! As always, any and all help is greatly appreciated!