来自17世纪魔术师开始变戏法时念念有词的咒语,hax pax max Deus adimax,仿拉丁短语,大意为神啊,赐我力量吧,Deux,神。引申词义花招,骗术。
I will speak of one man ... that went about in King James his time ... who called himself, the Kings Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus, and so was called, because that at the playing of every Trick, he used to say, Hocus pocus, tontus tabantus, vade celeriter jubeo, a dark composure of words, to blinde the eyes of the beholders, to make his Trick pass the more currantly without discovery. [Thomas Ady, "A Candle in the Dark," 1655]