A seventeenth-century magician once wrote that summoning a spirit without knowing its rank was like handing a loaded sword to a stranger. The Ars Goetia lists seventy-two demons, each with a title, a seal, and a specific kind of obedience. Two of them — OFS and Ipos — are frequently confused by beginners because both appear as crowned figures in early grimoires. The difference between them is not cosmetic. OFS is a Great Marquis who governs war and revelation; Ipos is a Prince who governs knowledge of the past and the future. One speaks of what has been, the other of what will be forced into being.
What Are OFS and Ipos, Exactly?
OFS (also spelled Orphiel, Orifiel, or Oze) is the twenty-eighth spirit of the Goetia, a Great Marquis who commands twenty legions. He appears first as a great serpent, then takes human shape with a crown and carries a flaming sword. His domain is the revelation of hidden things, the instigation of conflict, and the granting of familiar spirits.
Ipos (also spelled Ipes, Ayporos, or Ippos) is the twenty-second spirit, a Prince who commands thirty-six legions. He appears as an angel with a lion’s head, a goose’s foot, and a hare’s tail — a composite form that signals his role as a messenger between realms. His domain is knowledge of the past, the future, and the secrets of the dead.
The confusion arises because both wear crowns in their illustrated forms. But a crown on a serpent and a crown on a lion-headed angel are not the same office.
Where Do These Names Come From?
The earliest known list of Goetic spirits appears in the fourteenth-century Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis, though the manuscript tradition is messy. The Ars Goetia as we know it was compiled in the seventeenth century, likely by the English occultist Thomas Rudd (1583–1656), who claimed to be working from older Solomonic texts.
OFS appears in the Lemegeton as “Oze” in some manuscripts and “Orifiel” in others. The name may derive from the Hebrew Or (light) and El (God), suggesting a fallen angel of illumination. Ipos appears consistently across manuscripts, though his spelling varies. The nineteenth-century occultist S.L. MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918) standardized both names in his edition of the Goetia, which became the basis for Aleister Crowley’s 1904 version.
Crowley’s edition, published as The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King, cemented the modern spellings. But the manuscript evidence shows that medieval magicians treated OFS and Ipos as distinct entities with separate seals, separate ranks, and separate uses.
What Each Spirit Actually Does
The difference is not academic. A magician who calls OFS for a question about the past will get a wrong answer, not because OFS lies, but because his nature is to act, not to recall.
OFS: The War-Maker and Revealer
OFS is a spirit of revelation through conflict. His primary functions, according to the Goetia, are:
- To make a man wise in all liberal sciences
- To give true answers about divine and secret things
- To transform a man into any shape the magician desires
- To grant familiar spirits
The “transformation” clause is unusual. Most Goetic spirits can alter the magician’s perception, but OFS is specifically said to change the physical form of the operator. Whether this is literal or metaphorical is debated among practitioners. What is clear is that OFS operates through force. He does not whisper; he shows.
The flaming sword he carries is not decoration. In Solomonic magic, the sword represents the power to cut through illusion and compel obedience. OFS is a spirit you call when you need to break a situation open, a legal case, a hidden enemy, a truth that someone is actively hiding.
Ipos: The Knower of Beginnings and Ends
Ipos is a spirit of memory and foresight. His functions are:
- To give knowledge of all things past and future
- To make a man witty and bold
- To reveal the secrets of the dead
The “secrets of the dead” clause is rare in the Goetia. Only a handful of spirits claim authority over the deceased. Ipos is one of them, which places him closer to necromantic traditions than most Goetic spirits.
His composite form, lion’s head, goose’s foot, hare’s tail, is a visual code. The lion represents courage and kingship. The goose represents vigilance and the ability to move between water, land, and air. The hare represents speed and the ability to see in the dark. Together, they describe a spirit who can travel between the worlds of the living and the dead, the past and the future.
Ipos is a spirit you call when you need to understand a pattern, a family history, a recurring dream, a prophecy that has not yet fulfilled itself.
How You Speak to Each
The seals of OFS and Ipos are different. The seal of OFS contains a central cross with four points, suggesting the four directions of conflict. The seal of Ipos contains a circle divided into quadrants, suggesting the four divisions of time (past, present, future, and the unknown).
In practice, the difference in approach is stark. OFS is summoned with a commanding tone. The magician must be prepared for a spirit that tests will through resistance. Ipos is summoned with a requesting tone. The magician must be prepared for a spirit that tests patience through silence.
A seventeenth-century manuscript in the British Library (Sloane MS 3824) contains a note from a practitioner who tried to use OFS’s seal to contact the dead. The note reads: “He gave me a war instead.” The same manuscript records a successful invocation of Ipos for locating a lost inheritance, with the spirit appearing “as a great light that showed the place in a dream.”
What the Crowns Actually Mean
The crown is the most misleading detail. Both OFS and Ipos are described as “crowned” in the Goetia, but the crowns signify different ranks.
OFS is a Great Marquis. In the hierarchy of the Goetia, a Marquis rules over twenty to thirty legions and has authority over specific territories of human experience, in OFS’s case, conflict and revelation. The crown of a Marquis is a coronet, open at the top, signifying that his authority is delegated from a higher power.
Ipos is a Prince. A Prince rules over thirty to forty legions and has authority that is closer to sovereign. The crown of a Prince is a closed crown, signifying that his authority is more independent. In the Goetia’s hierarchy, Princes outrank Marquises. Ipos commands thirty-six legions to OFS’s twenty.
This means that Ipos is the more powerful spirit by rank. But rank does not equal usefulness. A Prince who gives knowledge of the past is useless if you need a war won.
Common Misconceptions
“OFS and Ipos are the same spirit with different names.” No. Their seals, ranks, legions, and functions are distinct. The confusion comes from early grimoires that sometimes swapped names due to scribal error. But the Lemegeton treats them as separate entries, and the evocation traditions of the nineteenth century maintained the distinction.
“Ipos is a demon of death.” Not exactly. Ipos reveals the secrets of the dead, but he is not a psychopomp. He does not guide souls or control the passage between life and death. He is a librarian of the afterlife, not a ferryman.
“OFS is dangerous because he carries a sword.” Every Goetic spirit is dangerous if mishandled. OFS’s sword is a symbol of authority, not aggression. The danger with OFS is not violence but misdirection, he will show you what you need to see, not what you want to see.
“You need special equipment to summon either.” The Ars Goetia specifies a circle, a seal, and a triangle of manifestation. But many modern practitioners use simplified methods. The key is not the equipment but the intention. OFS responds to force. Ipos responds to patience.
FAQ
Can OFS and Ipos be summoned together? The Goetia does not forbid it, but their natures conflict. OFS compels; Ipos reveals. A combined summoning would require the magician to shift between commanding and requesting modes, which is difficult to sustain.
Which spirit is better for divination? Ipos. His domain is knowledge of the past and future. OFS is better for uncovering hidden truths that require confrontation.
Do OFS and Ipos appear in any other grimoires? OFS appears in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1583) by Johann Weyer as “Oze.” Ipos appears in the same text as “Ipes.” Weyer’s list is the source for much of the Lemegeton.
Are there modern books that cover both spirits? Jake Stratton-Kent’s The True Grimoire (2009) discusses the hierarchy of the Goetia in detail, including the distinction between Marquises and Princes. Stephen Skinner’s The Goetia of Dr Rudd (2007) provides the manuscript evidence for the separate traditions.
Closing
The difference between OFS and Ipos is not a trivia question. It is a practical distinction that determines whether an evocation succeeds or fails. A magician who confuses a war-maker with a knower will get results, but they will be the wrong results. The Ars Goetia is a library of contracts, each with its own terms. Reading the fine print is not optional.
For a deeper understanding of the Goetic hierarchy, see our guide to demonology and the Goetia. If you want to study the seals and their meanings, the glossary entry on Goetic seals covers the symbolism in detail. And for the specific evocation methods used with each spirit, the guide to summoning Goetic spirits walks through the practical steps.