Hocus-pocus - Wikipedia

Hocus-pocus is a reference to the actions of magicians, often as the stereotypical magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. Hocus-pocus FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch Magicphrase Thisarticleisaboutthemagicwords.Forotheruses,seeHocusPocus(disambiguation). Hocus-pocusisareferencetotheactionsofmagicians,oftenasthestereotypicalmagicwordsspokenwhenbringingaboutsomesortofchange.Itwasonceacommontermforamagician,juggler,orothersimilarentertainers.Inextendedusage,thetermisoftenused(pejoratively)todescribeirrationalhumanactivitiesthatappeartodependonmagic.Examplesaregivenbelow.[1] Contents 1Examplesoftheextendeduseofthetermhocus-pocus 2History 3Conjecturedorigins 3.1Latinandpseudo-Latinorigins 3.2Magician'sname 3.3Nonsenseword 4Seealso 5References 6Externalresources Examplesoftheextendeduseofthetermhocus-pocus[edit] Thoserelatingtodivinationorotheractivitybyonepractitionerworkinginisolation:Haruspication(divinationbyinspectionofentrails),andnecromancy. Thoserelatingtoamagicalconnectionbetweentwoormorepeople:Subconsciousdirection,cross-dreaming,extrasensoryperception,splitsubjectivity,telepathy,clairvoyance,channelling,psychictranscription,‘facultyX’,‘mindenergy’.[1] History[edit] TheearliestknownEnglish-languageworkonmagic,orwhatwasthenknownaslegerdemain(sleightofhand),waspublishedanonymouslyin1635underthetitleHocusPocusJunior:TheAnatomieofLegerdemain.[2]Furtherresearchsuggeststhat"HocusPocus"wasthestagenameofawellknownmagicianoftheera.ThismaybeWilliamVincent,whoisrecordedashavingbeengrantedalicensetoperformmagicinEnglandin1619.[3]Whetherhewastheauthorofthebookisunknown. Conjecturedorigins[edit] Theoriginsofthetermremainobscure.ThemostpopularconjectureisthatitisagarbledLatinreligiousphraseorsomeformof‘dog’Latin.Somehaveassociateditwithsimilar-soundingfictional,mythical,orlegendarynames.Otherssuggestitismerelyacombinationofnonsensewords. Latinandpseudo-Latinorigins[edit] Paintingtitled"Hocestcorpus",forasetoftapestriescelebratingtheEucharist,byPeterPaulRubens,circa1625 OnetheoryisthatthetermisacorruptionofhaxpaxmaxDeusadimax,apseudo-Latinphraseusedintheearly17thcenturyasamagicalformulabyconjurors.[4] AnothertheoryisthatitisacorruptionorparodyoftheCatholicliturgyoftheEucharist,whichcontainsthephrase"Hocestenimcorpusmeum",meaningThisismybody.[5]Thisexplanationgoesatleastasfarbackasa1694speculationbytheAnglicanprelateJohnTillotson:Inallprobabilitythosecommonjugglingwordsofhocuspocusarenothingelsebutacorruptionofhocestcorpus,bywayofridiculousimitationofthepriestsoftheChurchofRomeintheirtrickofTransubstantiation.[6][7] ThistheoryissupportedbythefactthatintheNetherlands,thewordsHocuspocusareusuallyaccompaniedbytheadditionalwordspilatuspas,andthisissaidtobebasedonapost-ReformationparodyofthetraditionalCatholicriteoftransubstantiationduringMass,beingaDutchcorruptionoftheLatinwords"Hocestcorpusmeum"andthecredo,whichreadsinpart,"subPontioPilatopassusetsepultusest",meaningunderPontiusPilatehesufferedandwasburied.[8]InasimilarwaythephraseisinScandinaviausuallyaccompaniedbyfiliokus,acorruptionofthetermfilioque,[citationneeded]fromtheLatinversionoftheNiceneCreed,meaning“andfromtheSon”.ThevariantspellingfilipokusiscommoninRussia,apredominantlyEasternOrthodoxnation,aswellascertainotherpost-Sovietstates.[citationneeded]Additionally,thewordfor"stagetrick"inRussian,fokus,isderivedfromhocuspocus.[9] Magician'sname[edit] OthersbelievethatitisanappealtothefolkloricNorsemagicianOchusBochus:Itispossiblethatwehereseetheoriginofhocuspocus,andOldNick.AccordingtoSharonTurnerinTheHistoryoftheAnglo-Saxons,theywerebelievedtobederivedfromOchusBochus,amagiciananddemonofthenorth.[10] Nonsenseword[edit] Asanalternativetoothertheories,itmaysimplybepseudo-Latinwithnomeaning,madeuptoimpresspeople:Iwillspeakofoneman...thatwentaboutinKingJameshistime...whocalledhimself,"TheKingsMajestiesmostexcellentHocusPocus",andsowashecalled,becausethatattheplayingofeveryTrick,heusedtosay,"Hocuspocus,tontustalontus,vadeceleriterjubeo",adarkcomposureofwords,toblindetheeyesofthebeholders,tomakehisTrickpassthemorecurrentlywithoutdiscovery,becausewhentheeyeandtheearofthebeholderarebothearnestlybusied,theTrickisnotsoeasilydiscovered,northeImposturediscerned.— ThomasAdy,ACandleintheDark,1656[11] Seealso[edit] Abracadabra Barbarousnames OpenSesame References[edit] ^ab"W.B.Yeatsand"AVision":AutomaticScript".www.yeatsvision.com.Retrieved2020-11-21. ^"TheProjectGutenbergeBookofHocvsPocvsIunior(authorunknown)".www.gutenberg.org. ^"HocusPocus,Jr".www.hocuspocusjr.com. ^TheOxfordDictionaryofPhraseandFable,2nded,2005,ISBN 9780191727047s.v. ^OnlineEtymologyDictionary[1]http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hocus-pocus ^OxfordEnglishDictionary"hocus-pocus" ^MacIsaac,Margaret."abracadabra;hocuspocus".PenguinRandomhouse.com.Archivedfromtheoriginalon5September2008. ^IndeKou,GodfriedBomansenMichelvanderPlasoverhunroomsejeugdenhoehethunverging,Amsterdam,1969 ^EtymologicaldictionaryoftheRussianlanguage ^Turner,Sharon(1807).TheHistoryOfTheAngloSaxonsVolII(2 ed.).London:Longman,Hurst,Rees&Orme.p. 17.Retrieved23February2019. ^Martin,Gary."'Hocus-pocus'–themeaningandoriginofthisphrase".Phrasefinder. Externalresources[edit] Lookuphocus-pocusinWiktionary,thefreedictionary. HocusPocusorTheWholeartofLegerdemain.FromtheMarionS.CarsonCollectionintheRareBookandSpecialCollectionDivisionattheLibraryofCongress HocusPocusJunior:theAnatomieofLegerdemainFromtheHarryHoudiniCollectionintheRareBookandSpecialCollectionDivisionattheLibraryofCongress Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hocus-pocus&oldid=1093611836" Categories:17th-centuryneologismsMagic(illusion)MagicwordsHiddencategories:ArticleswithshortdescriptionShortdescriptionmatchesWikidataAllarticleswithunsourcedstatementsArticleswithunsourcedstatementsfromJune2016 Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk English Views ReadEditViewhistory More Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Inotherprojects WikimediaCommons Languages ČeštinaDanskDeutschEspañolFrançaisItalianoעבריתNederlandsNorskbokmålNorsknynorskPolskiPortuguêsSuomiSvenskaTürkçe Editlinks