Degrees of Magic

The degrees of magic is a system of academic ranks established by Euryplus of Thule as part of the curriculum of the Five Great Academies of Atlantean Magic during the Orichalcum Age. This system remains in use within the Atlantean community and among the Atlantean diaspora, leading to its widespread adoption in post-Atlantean systems.

Generally, magic users become more powerful as they age, gaining knowledge and experience. As they do so, they progress through various degrees of training, starting with five mortal degrees followed by five immortal degrees. Attuning to the platonic field (the spiritual and astral plane) is necessary to achieve the latter specialisations, and this causes an evolution of the magic user’s mind and body. They stop existing solely in the physical world and slowly shift the greater part of their consciousness into the platonic field.

Mortal Degrees

The five mortal degrees are the attainment levels held by most citizens in a highly magical civilisation. The first two (initiate and apprentice) are those held by children and students, and the remaining three (disciple, adept, and magnus) represent the progression from journeyman (skilled worker) to scholar/master.

Initiate (First Mortal Degree)

Initiates are individuals who have begun to explore the realm of magic and possess an understanding of its possibilities. In High Atlantean, they are the Orinthai, those who have started along the path of Orin Atlaneas. They have been initiated into the initial stages of magical knowledge and practices or have otherwise been awakened or enlightened into the possibilities of the arcane.

Despite their initiation, initiates lack structured instruction. While they may exhibit inherent talents or instincts toward magical practices, but their lack of formal training limits their capabilities. At this stage, initiates are often sensitive to mystical energies, allowing them to perceive magical phenomena around them, but their control of those energies is unreliable and inconsistent.

Apprentice (Second Mortal Degree)

An apprentice is a student in the process of being formally trained. Students under one-to-one instruction are usually called apprentices; those being instructed as part of a larger group may be called acolytes. In High Atlantean, these students are called the Orinkai, meaning the children or pupils of Orin. Under the Atlantean conservatoire system, it typically takes 10 years or more to complete a standard magical apprenticeship.

Many dabblers and hedge wizards/witches never surpass this degree but supplement their craft with mundane skills. A village-wise woman has a lifetime’s experience and knowledge of natural work supplemented by only a small yet focused knowledge of true magic.

Disciple (Third Mortal Degree)

A disciple can be surprisingly dangerous. Some want-to-be mages call upon powers they do not fully understand. A prime example is Felix Faust, who nearly always replies on props or somebody else’s magic.

A disciple is a schooled journeyman mage; their magical skill is equivalent to a High School education. They have passed their basic training and can either make a living in magic or they have become a specialist practitioner (e.g., a rune crafter, spell component manufacturer, arcane beast specialist). Therefore, a disciple usually has a day job or other time-consuming central life. Disciples form the greater part of the Atlantean diaspora’s magical communities.

In High Atlantean, disciples are the Vishari, the followers of Vishara (power). They are called this as they are bound to the manner in which they have been taught, i.e., they cast and use magic in the manner that their masters have taught them. However, they are unlikely to have the training or experience to innovate in significantly in the art.

Adept (Fourth Mortal Degree)

An adept is the wider magical community – they are dangerous enough to present an issue but not so powerful to be world-class. Examples include Blue Devil, Silver Sorceress, Doctor Mist (in some tellings), Madame Xanadu, and even John Constantine (it’s not raw magical power that makes John dangerous).

An adept is a skilled magic user who has reached a professional level, allowing them to teach earlier degrees of magic effectively. This is comparable to a college or university graduate. In High Atlantean, they are the Kalathari, the followers of Kalath (magic). Unlike a disciple whose occupation is an otherwise mundane one supplemented by magic, an adept will have an occupation entirely focused upon magic (e.g., tutor, demonologist, alchemist).

While adept magic users are highly skilled, they typically do not create new magical works. Those adepts who employ external tools—such as alchemists or conjurers/summoners—can be particularly dangerous; however, they usually rely on research into arcane rituals and practices recorded by others.

Magnus (Fifth Mortal Degree)

A magnus is one step down from the sorcerer supreme. They’re challenging but not singularly powerful. In standard DC lore, examples include Giovanni Zatara and his daughter Zatanna Zatara, Jason Blood, Ibis, Jennifer Morgan, and most A-rank magic users.

A Magnus or magister is a master mage, the highest degree a magic user can achieve without becoming a reclusive magical researcher and full-time obsessive scholar. This is equivalent to a post-graduate level of magical instruction. These magic users correctly understand the mechanics and theory behind the rituals and spells used by lesser magic users. Given time, they can craft new spells effects and research new practices.

In High Atlantean, a full mage is called a Van’torei; this is a difficult word to translate but means something like “the destined”. This entitles them to train students as apprentices one-to-one rather than collectively with other mages. Under the Ouranous Prohibition, anyone with a degree of Magnus or above is forbidden from the line of succession to any Atlantean royal station.

Immortal Degrees

The rare, gifted, and hardest studying of magi eventually learn to slow their own ageing and, if so interested, can become unageing. They may then have enough time to ascend to the immortal degrees. As a mage grows in knowledge, they have to emerge more and more of themselves into the Platonic Field; this inevitably begins an evolution.

Doctor (First Immortal Degree)

The rank of Doctor is explicitly named after Doctor Fate and Doctor Strange. This is the sorcerer supreme style power level. In DC lore, this would be Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson), Arion at his mortal peak, and probably Circe. Outside of DC lore, this could be a character like Dumbledore.

A Doctor of Magic is an individual who is beginning to transition away from being entirely immersed in the physical world. They are so attuned to the spiritual and magical realms (often referred to as the Platonic Field) that part of their awareness is consistently present there. However, they are not entirely disconnected from reality; they still engage regularly with the mundane world.

Typically, they are viewed as esoteric researchers who focus on higher, more abstract concepts. Their moral compass and concerns remain firmly rooted in the mortal realm. A Doctor of Magic will usually have a dedicated physical home base — a sanctum, tower, or workshop — where they will spend most of their time. In High Atlantean, they were the Medikai and were expected to devote themselves entirely to the Great Academy or Conservatoire to which they belonged.

A mage who has risen to the level of a doctor can see past individual spells and systems to the universalities underneath. They can adapt existing spells on the fly and even weave simple new ones. If magic users are out in the world battling each other, then this is usually the highest level that would take to the battlefield themselves.

Archmagis (Second Immortal Degree)

Examples of Archmagis from standard DC lore would be Arion in the modern day or even Atlan when Peter David wrote him. They are around but aren’t generally concerned with mortal affairs. Outside of DC lore, you are looking at somebody like Gandalf the Grey or Merlin.

An archmagis or archmage is a singularly powerful individual. An Archmage’s lifespan, body, and even identity will often be sculpted or infused with magic. A significant part of their awareness is always in the Platonic Field, which splits their concentration between physical and spiritual worlds. An archmage nominally retains a recognisable sense of mortality, although their overarching awareness means that their decisions may not always make sense to those who do not share that awareness.

To reach this level, an archmage will have typically become a figure of great authority, the grandmaster of any single school or branch of magic, or even the ruler of an empire. In High Atlantean, they are the Majistral’ari, the followers of Majistra, and were most often one of the Grand Masters of one of the five Great Academies. However, the day-to-day concerns of that position will not interest them, and they often have to rely on servants or helpers to do “normal” things for them.

There are rarely more than a handful of archmages alive at any one time. They seldom take to the battlefield themselves, preferring to act through subordinates, and will try to avoid encountering another archmage in battle.

Eternal (Third Immortal Degree)

As the name implies, an Eternal is one of the Council of Eternity. This includes the wizard Shazam and his contemporaries. Outwise of DC lore, this might include Gandalf the White. We include this as a separate rank to divide them from the active in their own right archmages and the divorced from reality transcendents.

An Ethernal is a Lord of Magic. If they are not killed or permanently disabled, an archmage will eventually reach a level of self-awareness where they realise that the greater part of their awareness is focused into the spiritual and magical planes (the platonic field). These magic users still possess a nominal physical body, but they are so connected with the Platonic Field that they are unaging and often have to remind themselves to “act” as mortal. Thus, Eternals are still mortal in the sense that their body can be killed.

The shift in consciousness from archmage to eternal usually means they lose interest in the mundane world. In weapons terms, Eternals are the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb; there are no winners when Eternals go to war. Therefore, they understand that the order of things is for them to step aside to avoid dangerous battles for supremacy with their counterparts. The handful of Eternals alive at any one time form a body called the Council of Eternity, a coven that exists to check each other’s power and keep the peace.

In High Atlantean, an Eternal was an Athura (an undying one), and the Council of Eternity was the Athuraion.

Transcendent (Fourth Immortal Degree)

A transcendent should still have a sense of their own identity. Examples from DC lore would be characters like the Phantom Stranger or Mordu.

A Transcendent is what happens when an Eternal loses even their remaining ties to the mortal and physical world. They no longer have a true physical body, although they may conjure one if wished and exist almost entirely as a being within the platonic field. Nevertheless, there is still some tie, either psychologically or emotionally, to the physical world. They retain a strong sense of self patterned after their original identity and often still retain such concepts as good, evil, love, and hate.

High Atlantean would have called a Transcendent a su’untvontai, one who has been set free.

Ascended One (Fifth Immortal Degree)

Examples of ascended ones from DC lore would include being like Zeus, Athena, and Doctor Manhattan. Gods and near god-like figures.

Finally, an ascended one is what happens to a magic user who has passed through transcendence and is so removed from physical reality that even their original identity has been lost. It is not unknown for the spirits of mages to simply discorporate rather than ascend. Those without a strong enough sense of self will not survive permanently in the eddies and currents of the platonic field. However, those with a strong enough belief in their own identity merge with the platonic idea of themselves, effectively becoming the literal idea of themselves.

There is no one route for what a transcendent will become upon ascension. Some will become servants of the Dominions and be indistinguishable from the races (dream beings, demons, etc) that serve them. Others may become attached to the mantle of a local Power, effectively becoming the next incarnation of a god or the seed for a new divinity.

The Ascended Ones were recognised in both the Atlantean Old Faith and the Cleitonism schools of the Adamant Age. Under Cleitonism, there were the Orthodox Nine, ancestors from the Orichalcum Age who had ascended to godhood. They were called the Orinel’tai, after the mistaken belief that Orin Atlaneas had reached a divine state (el’tai).

Beyond the Immortal Degrees

Examples from DC lore include the Endless, Lucifer Morningstar, and the Presence.

Theoretically, a person could evolve past the Fifth Immortal Degree. However, they would have evolved past the equivalent of a planetary god. That would give them power on a galactic or universal scale. At that level, splitting characters into ranks is virtually impossible.

Timeline for Degrees of Magic