MAGIC WORDS • Mysticism "It sounded hocus-pocus-y to me, to call on higher powers to protect me from evil, but on some intuitive level I sensed it might be helpful, and I certainly needed all the help I could get." -- Candace B. Pert, Molecules of Emotion (1999) • Paranormal, psychic phenomenon -- John Kenneth Muir, Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond, 1959-1961 (2001) • "Prince [angel] on high," as in Judaic magical rites during the Middle Ages -- Gustav Davidson, Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels (1994) • Ritual "[W]e hear of a red heifer, slaughtered with elaborate hocus-pocus by 'Eleazer the priest.'" -- H.L. Mencken, Treatise on the Gods (19 0) • Shamanism "[A]ll this hocus-pocus stuff -- sorcery and shamanism -- is blanketly proscribed." -- David Carson, Magic of the Ordinary (200 ) • Sleight-of-hand "A little trick, a bit of hocus-pocus." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (1880) "Cheap hocus-pocus, simple sleight of hand." -- Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World (1996) • Something that defies logic "It's simple and logical -- not hocus-pocus at all." -- The Atkins Essentials (200 ) • Stuff and nonsense -- Geraldine McCaughrean, 1001 Arabian Nights (2000) • Superstition, primitive belief system -- Michio Kaku, Hyperspace (1994) "Poetta became convinced that the burning of specific candles could cure or fix any problem from bad breath to bunions on the feet. She even went so far as to share some of her knowledge with me, but I can't remember all that hocus-pocus mess." -- Debra Phillips, The High Price of a Good Man (200 ) "[H]e must know as well as I do that the ceremonies are mere hocuspocus. There is nothing to be afraid of there." -- Robin George Collingwood, The Principles of Art (19 8) "The reign of hocus pocus is not yet over. What can be said is that we have rid ourselves of a great burden of superstition and misery." -- Daniel Usher, Political Economy (200 ) • Unknown quantities "[What are dreams?] Incredible body hocus pocus. The truth is, we still don't know what they are or where they come from." -- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), quoted in Dreams on Film by Leslie Halpern (200 )