MAGIC WORDS • "'Newton was an alchemist,' he says. 'His genius was as much hocus-pocus as anything else, his Principia and his Opticks and the laws of gravity were almost accidents, the voodoo man's sideline. His main interest was deciphering the secret codes of the universe, and he computed the year that Jason found the Golden Fleece.'" -- Janette T. Hospital, The Last Magician (1992) • "From time to time jagged streaks of lightning illuminated the sky, hocuspocus from the heavens. Lucy oohed and aahed, caught up in the wonder of it." -- Earl Emerson, Poverty Bay (1997) • "A little hypnotic ability, a little hocus-pocus, and they can make people believe anything." -- Neil Gaiman, American Gods (2002) • "What, do they consult Jugglers and Hocus-Pocusses? No certainly they consult Witches or Wizzards, and Diviners." -- Joseph Glanvill, Saducismus Triumphatus: Or, Full and Plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions (1688) • "Hocus, pocus, dominocus . . . if someone was mean to me, I'd lie in bed at night imagining him (or her) with a big X on his face. The results worked very nicely. The next day the boy was invisible to me, completely insignificant -- I no longer saw him." -- Jessica Treat, "Honda" (2000) • "Hocus Pocus, a simple gesture and, like a wonder, red roses fell out of your hat in a cascade." -- Sorana Salomeia, "Simsalabim" (2004) • "When in doubt, try hocus pocus." -- T.A. Barron, The Merlin Effect (1994) Hokus Pokus (see hocus pocus) A conjuror with a satchel of 'Hokus Pokus' slung round his neck. -- Leslie Stephen, Dictionary of National Biography (1901) Meanings: • Deceit "Hokus-pokus promises." -- John Moody, The Truth About the Trusts (1904) • Jargon "This hokus pokus was probably invented by lawyers." -- Clarence Morris, The Justification of the Law (1971) • Magic "Perhaps Frankie possessed a hokus-pokus touch." -- Gordon H. Fleming, The Dizziest Season (1984) • Mirage; illusion "[I]f I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I should declare it be a Never, Never land -- a hokus pokus that never did exist." -- John Jacob Niles, One Man's War (1929)