AOE - How does it work?Follow

I've been trying to definitively sort out how the AOE cures/buffs in FFXIV work, with limited success. Can anyone please give a detailed explanation? My main issues are:

1. Sometimes it seems that desired targets must be in front of me (if I am casting on myself), sometimes it doesn't seem to matter.
2. Sometimes it seems that the desired recipients must be in front of the casting target (when I am targeting someone in the intended group of recipients), other times it doesn't seem to matter.
3. Sometimes if I target a player in front of me, I don't seem to get the benefit of the AOE even though I am very close.
4. Sometimes. when I target myself, the player right in front of me or very near me does not seem to get the benefit.
5. Sometimes, when I cast on myself and am facing the group of intended recipients, once the cast animation finishes, I turn around 180 degrees and cast on whatever was behind me instead.
6. The behavior of where I am or the target is seems to differ with the type of spell (i.e. Sacrifice seems to work differently than Protect).
7. All of these rules seem to vary in outcome depending on whether I am launching them from the action bar or a macro. For example, my party buff macro which casts all buffs on me using the <t> command seems to hit in a circular area, while buffs launched from the action bar behave in more of a cone-area fashion.

Any thoughts?

Okay, so maybe the effects I'm noticing can be attributed to range limitations and variations. Does the effect extend from the caster or the target?