# Origin of ""Hocus Pocus" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 1999, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621 "1999-12-28T16:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621/1 "1999-12-28T16:16:00Z")
I thought that Cecil had explained the origin of “hocus Pocus” some time back but I can’t find it in the archives. My dictionary says that it is a mangling of 'hoc est corpus meum." But I could have sworn that Cecil said the origin was a 17th century magician. Anyone care to set me straight on this? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621/2 "1999-12-28T22:49:00Z")
Yikes, I am totally pulling this one from some dilapidated brain cells somewhere, so don’t make any bar bets on it, okay? “Hoc est corpus” means “This is the body” in Latin. In Roman Catholic ritual, these are the words that a priest uses at the time of consecration of the bread, wherein transubstantiation is said to occur (the bread becomes the Body of Christ). Although nowadays the Mass is said in the language of the people, up until the early 60s it was said in Latin (making it easier to go to church when you traveled in foreign lands). “Hocus pocus” is a corrupted form of “hoc est corpus.” Presumably the phrase became “magic words” because of the “holy magic” of transubstantiation. -Melin ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621/3 "1999-12-28T22:56:00Z")
That’s the only explanation I can find, but I think that Cecil had a different explanation. I just can’t find it. Arrrgggh. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621/4 "1999-12-28T23:36:00Z")
_More of the Straight Dope_ has quiz questions, which I don’t believe are online. Question #41 is: The phrase “hocus-pocus” harks back to some medieval conjurer’s parody of the act of: a. transfiguration b. transubstantiation c. transmigration d. transvestitism The answer per Cecil is B, for the reasons as explained by Melin, although Cecil gives the full Latin phrase as _hoc est enim corpus meun_ (“for this is my body”). ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hocus-pocus/5621/5 "1999-12-29T02:11:00Z")
From [http://www.britannica.com](http://www.britannica.com) > [@](#): > > During certain periods in Christian Europe, especially the Middle Ages, worship of demons and the practice of witchcraft brought about the wrath of both church and people on those suspected of practicing diabolical rites, such as the Black Mass. One formula from the Black Mass (the mass said in reverse and with an inverted crucifix on the altar) has survived in popular magic: “hocus-pocus,” an abbreviated from of “Hoc est corpus meum” (“This is my body”), the words of institution in the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Witchcraft and sorcery have been closely associated with demonology in the thought of Christianity, especially in the West.