All of the Traditions recognize a shared system of titles where rank is determined by an individual mage's highest Sphere. Anyone with a 5th dot in a single Sphere is considered a Master, though sometimes this title is extended to include their specialties, such as Master of Correspondence and Entropy. Many Traditions tie authority and responsibility to one's mystical knowledge, but this varies between groups and does not normally extend beyond one's own Tradition.
- 1st Dot: Initiate
- 2nd Dot: Apprentice
- 3rd Dot: Disciple
- 4th Dot: Adept
- 5th and 6th Dot: Master
- 7th and 8th Dot: Oracle
- 9th Dot: Archmage
Many Traditions (though not all) have their own terms for these ranks, though practically all mages at least know the Hermetic terminology for convenience's sake.
Terminology by Tradition
- Akashic Brotherhood
- All Akashics are refereed to as "Brothers," regardless of gender.
- Sihing: Adept
- Sifu: Master
- Celestial Chorus
- Catechumen: Apprentice
- Presbyter: Adept
- Exarch: Master
- Cult of Ecstasy
- Divya: Master
- Dreamspeakers
- Kaimi: Apprentice
- So'cha: Disciple
- Wemilo: Adept
- Nahimana: Master
- Euthanatos
- Euthanatoi are somewhat difficult to fit into a true rank structure. A Shravaka (roughly analogous to an Initiate or Apprentice) becomes a Chela when they have learned either more than one Initiate-ranked Sphere, or advanced one to Disciple-rank. Also, while Acarya usually are "high-ranked" mages (such as Masters), the only true delineation of their rank is that they have proven themselves trustworthy enough to not require supervision by a mentor, and to take students of their own.
- Order of Hermes
- Being that they were the ones to strive for uniformity within the Council of Nine, the Hermetic terms for the various ranks are the ones described above and most widely used (or at least approximated).
- Sons of Ether
- All Etherites are regarded as able to claim the title of Doctor due to their intense education into Science (though those that do not also hold mundane Doctorates are sometimes looked down on).
- The border between a high-level Scientist (Initiate/Apprentice) and a Researcher (Disciple) is a fuzzy one, larger determined by how well the Etherite is regarded among his peers.
- A Professor is roughly the equivalent of an Adept, but as the name implies the role is more geared towards a Mage willing and able to teach those less learned than himself.
- Sphere Masters are refereed to as "Chairs," i.e. Chairman of Etheric Chemistry and Engineering, usually in regards to their home chantry.
- Verbena
- Verbena tend to eschew formal ranking systems, and some outright ignore the Hermetic terms as well. Instead, they tend to describe what they are able to do instead of trying to fit things into a rigid framework of titles.
- Virtual Adepts
- The Adepts do not have a rank structure as such. From square one, every Adept is regarded as a guerrilla soldier in the war against the restriction of information. Any authority within the Tradition is based purely on what an individual Adept has accomplished. The closest things the Adepts use to actual titles are their online handles and the terms "elite" and "lame." The latter two are rather self-explanatory.