22. Ipos: an earl and prince of the Ars Goetia

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Ipos is number 22 in the catalog of 72 spirits that opens the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him an earl and prince ruling 36 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Ipos knows all things past, present, and to come.

His composite image, part angel and part animal, is one of the strangest in the catalog. Each part below carries a label for its layer, explained in how to read a spirit page.

At a glance

The 1904 entry

Historical The full entry from the 1904 edition, with footnote numbers and the dash after the heading left out and the heading set in ordinary type:

Ipos. The Twenty-second Spirit is Ipos. He is an Earl, and a Mighty Prince, and appeareth in the form of an Angel with a Lion’s Head, and a Goose’s Foot, and Hare’s Tail. He knoweth all things Past, Present, and to Come. He maketh men witty and bold. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits. His Seal is this, which thou shalt wear, etc.

Ipos is “an Earl, and a Mighty Prince” who appears as an angel with a lion’s head, a goose’s foot and a hare’s tail. His offices are knowing “all things Past, Present, and to Come” and making men “witty and bold”. “Witty” meant intelligent and quick of mind, not merely funny.

Appearance

Historical Ipos “appeareth in the form of an Angel with a Lion’s Head, and a Goose’s Foot, and Hare’s Tail.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

Historical The offices of Ipos, in the order the 1904 text gives them:

• Knows all things past, present, and to come.
• Makes men witty and bold.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Scot’s Weyer has “Ipos, alias Ayporos,” “a great earle and a prince,” in the shape of an angel, “and yet indeed more obscure and filthie than a lion,” with a lion’s head, goose’s feet, and a hare’s tail. Weyer’s added description is less flattering. The offices and legions match.

Historical Weyer’s Latin is harsher: “specie angelica, interim leone obscurior et turpis”, angelic in form, yet darker and fouler than a lion. Weyer gives “pedibus anserinis”, goose’s feet in the plural, and the alias Ayperos. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer has Ipes alias Ayperos; Scot Ipos alias Ayporos. No meaning is known.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Ipos’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in copper and silver or tin, the metals of his two ranks. Why seals were worn, why editions draw them differently and how to study one are explained in seals, circle and triangle.

Later tradition Le Breton’s 1863 plate, titled Ipès, shows a shaggy, long-necked creature with a bird’s head, clawed hands and bird’s feet, a free reading of the text’s animal parts.

Later tradition and modern practice

Modern Ipos’s office of making people “witty and bold” has made him a modern favorite for confidence and quick thinking. His composite form, angel with lion’s head and animal parts, is a frequent subject in modern art.

Lore about Ipos’s personality, likes or chosen people is modern, not grimoire material; modern approaches explains where such claims come from.

Beginner’s quick reference

Before you burn or handle anything listed for Ipos, read incense, plants and offerings.

Practical notes

Ipos is an earl and prince, not a king. His offices are divination and wit, with no harm. He fits the beginner criteria reasonably well for a question about your own learning or confidence. Boldness is best built through practice in ordinary life.

In the directory, Ipos is one of the 30 spirits that fit the beginner criteria.

Try this: one question to study

Draw or list the four parts of Ipos’s body in the 1904 text and compare them with Weyer’s Latin.

What next

To compare Ipos with other spirits of his rank, read Marax and Furfur.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Ipos is the day spirit of the first decan of Scorpio, which belongs to the Five of Cups; the night spirit of the same decan is Amy (spirit 58).