[Baalz]

One thing which is kinda tangential but good to know nonetheless, it's easier to get into astral or death with a level one mage because the site searching spells only require a level one mage. You can use your level one mage to site search until you have 30 gems then empower them. With the exception of blood (for a different reason) every other path requires at least a level two mage to boostrap into at any reasonable cost.

-edit-
You can also manage that with a water mage once you get to con-6, though that's often getting a bit later in the game to be starting to try and bootstrap in.