So aether, how does it work exactly?

[ObsidianFire]

It's a lot more complicated then that. On the one hand, Aether is almost more similar to atoms and the Fundamental Forces (weak force, strong force, gravity, electromagnetism) then anything else. You've got the building blocks of everything in the elemental aether (lightning, fire, earth, ice, water, wind) and the "rules" for how it behaves depending on weather it's Astral or Umbral aspected. And that's just the material side of things.

In the quests leading up to the Ridorana Lighthouse, it's revealed that even immaterial "things" such as memories, thoughts, feeling, will, etc. are made out of aether. That's probably why it's possible to do things like teleportation. You're sending all the aether that makes you you though the sea of aether that is the Lifestream and it all comes out the other end. All you need is a beacon (aethyrite) to send it to.

The Ridorana Lighthouse also has a lot of technobable concerning aether and a lot of it seems based off the natural phenomena of waveforms (think light or sound). Funnily enough, Quantum Mechanics (the set of physics that has to do with describing how atoms function) has a lot to do with waveforms... but whether that was on purpose or just a happy coincidence I don't know. It is true that in-universe, Aether studies are treated more like a kind of Physics then a kind of Magic. The line between the two is Eorzea is so blurry as to be non-existent.

Aether Technobable (and normal translations) from Ridorana Lighthouse

My apologies. The Otius is no ordinary crystal, even discounting its obvious historical importance. The specimen is more than a simple manifestation of elementally aspected energies─it is, rather, an aetherial lodestone whose facilitation of both the absorption and transmission of distinct-frequency NRR–type harmonic vibrations has been observed to promote aetherial amplification.

The resultant neuro-harmonic disturbance allows for a highly unique emittance of CPRS waves that, instead of radiating outward with a determinate factor of dispersal, instead resonate inward at a frequency so labored, my estimates place the rate of VRT decay at upwards of several centuries...though I must admit I lack sufficient variates to complete a truly comprehensive graphical assessment.

Simpler... Right... Um... Aether is not only the building block of all things material, but those immaterial as well. Thoughts, memories, feelings, one's very will are all understood to be aetherial phenomena, and can be measured as such. Unlike most crystals, which only can emit elemental energies, auracite is tuned not only to absorb aether, but aether specific to the immaterial. That aether is then stored and multiplied within its crystalline confines until external stimuli precipitate release.

Uh... Ahem. Under appropriate conditions, a strong will or desire can become imprinted upon the auracite and stored until fomentation, at which time the desire becomes manifest─