[Frostriese]

The few Passion mentions I'm aware of -

  Teachdaire the elf assassin from Prime Runners is said to occasionally mention something about "mad passions".
  Someone brings up Passions in the Tir Tairngire SB, and Harlequin mentions about sending flowers to his funeral - implying that the Tir Princes brutally suppress any mention of them, as they would anything from the Fourth World.
  Another reference is in the opening fiction to Harlequin's Back, where one of the Passions converses directly with Harlequin.
  Lastly, I believe that there are references to them in Black Madonna but I'll need to return to that novel to check it.

And thats exactly why I think mentor spirits* cannot be passions - because passions are already alluded to in SR source material, hence implicitly as something different. The comment in the Tir Tairngire sourcebook even explicitly says that the shamans gathering at Lavertys are... different to normal shamans.

*I like the term. Its a generalisation of totems beyond shamanism. The term "totem" is so connected to shamanism that creating a more generalised term simply makes sense.

[Lansdren]

It would appear that the mentor spirits can be assummed in some form to be related to the passions as per below



SM pg 40
THE PATH OF THE WHEEL

(Snip)
According to path doctrine, enlightened spirits follow a curriculum
in life, intended to move them further along the Mes ti
Draesis, the five great paths that form the Great Journey of the
Wheel of Life. Each represents a lifelong vocation associated with
an Order of Tir society, an element of nature, and a province of
Tír na nÓg. Each path also aligns with one of five metaphysical
archetypes known as Passions, typically represented by appropriate
mentor spirits.
The five paths are: The Path of the Warrior (for a mentor
spirit, use the Wise Warrior archetype), also known as the
Order of Cu Chulainn; the Path of the Steward (use the Great
Mother mentor archetype) or the Order of Etain; the Path of
the Bard (use the Fire Bringer mentor archetype) or the Order
of Brigid; the Path of the Druid (for mentor archetype, combine
the description of Owl with Moon Maiden’s advantages
and disadvantages) or the Order of Ogma; and finally the
Path of the Rígh (use Sky King) or the High Order of the Sun,
Moon, and Stars (reserved only for the Tir elite and believed to
possess exclusive metamagics able to replicate all the advantages
of the lesser paths).

[FastJack]

It would appear that the mentor spirits can be assummed in some form to be related to the passions as per below

As much as a Mentor Spirit that appears in the form of an angel (or demon) can be attributed to the Judeo-Christian faith, at least.

[Kot]

Well, Passions are idealized forms. Maybe it just needs time and metahuman influence for a mentor spirit to grow into one? I'd say, theoreticly, yes. But the spirit would have to be a representation of an ideal not included in the ED Passions pantheon, and represent something broad enough to be followed by many, many metahumans... So in other words - not in a normal SR game.

P.S. It's good, that there are no Passions in SR. Imagine what would happen with Dis's influence over the Corps, or Raggok's over the Invae (insect spirits), undead, and toxic shamans... Not mentioning Vestrial's machinations.