why should earth have eclipses, fire walls, etc? further along that line of questioning, why is a "eclipse" a permanent, it is an observation of a state in the alignment of ~3+ celestial bodies. the general idea is that by and large, most permanents are considered objects/matter/solid, and the theme is that the clay is built to replicate the *structure* permanent and then function.
as far as aether being able to do miracles/mutations/etc, they are magic being copied (and subsequently replaced in your hand) by aether, and copying is firmly in aether's domain