Not that Jugling and Inchanting are one and the same imposture, but the reason is, because when In his book he asks 'Why with their Inchantments?' and answers his own question with: If they were thought to be using actual magic powers they were clearly witches and had a grim, and short, future ahead of them.Įven in 1656 Ady was wise to the techniques that are still used by conjurers to baffle us today. If the jugglers could be dismissed as performing sleight of hand tricks then they were just stage entertainers. This was a life an death matter for those concerned. He had little faith is the audience - silly wenches he calls them - having the ability to distinguish between the juggler's tricks ('lying miracles') and what he viewed as the true miracles of Christ.
WHO DOES HOCUS FOCUS NOW PROFESSIONAL
Words, to blinde the eyes of the beholders, to make his Trick pass the more currantly withoutĪs one who was employed in the unmasking of witches Ady took a professional interest in their craft. Trick, he used to say, Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo, a dark composure of Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus, and so was he called, because that at the playing of every The first is profitably seen in our common Juglers, that go up and down to play their Tricks inįayrs and Markets, I will speak of one man more excelling in that craft than others, that wentĪbout in King James his time, and long since, who called himself, The Kings In that he gives an example of a longer string of the cod Latin used by jugglers (as conjurers were then called): In 1656 Thomas Ady, published ' A Candle in the Dark'. The author isn't named but was later known just as Hocus Pocus after the book's title.Ĭonjurers didn't limit themselves to the phrase hocus pocus in their stage patter. The expression began to be used in relation to conjuring in the 1620s and, in 1634, a book entitled ' Hocus Pocus Junior - The Anatomy of Legerdemain' was printed. In fact, now and then, these 'charms' provide that essential element required for all conjuring tricks - distraction. When it was first coined though magicians could reasonably have expected that such exotic-sounding phrases would fool some of the audience into the believing that mysterious forces were being conjured up. Hocus-pocus is now treated like abracadabra, shazam and 'izzy-wizzy, let's get busy' that is, as stage patter, used mostly by comedy magicians. What's the origin of the phrase 'Hocus-pocus'?įrom the early 17th century onwards 'hocus pocus' (now more often spelled as a single hyphenated word) has been used as an incantation by conjurers when performing tricks. More recently it has been used as a general term for trickery or magic.
'Hocus pocus' is a supposed magical charm previously uttered by magicians. Reduplicated phrases What's the meaning of the phrase 'Hocus-pocus'?.
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