Abracadabra, Hocus-Pocus, Mumbo Jumbo

Abracadabra comes from a pagan god (Abraxas), hocus-pocus from the 'Hoc est Corpus' ('This is My Body') of transubstantiation in the Latin Mass, and mumbo jumbo from a grotesque African idol of that name.

The use of the first and the last might possibly signify in demonology and the middle one may strike some as blasphemy.

Conjurors' use of presto (fast) is not really part of a charm or spell. In The Arabian Nights, open sesame is a magical phrase; in the comic books shazzam is similar. When the name of a devil or demon or The Devil himself is used, we have demonology.

It is remarkable that some black magicans include the names of God and the angels and saints in their invocations. To anagrammatize these, or to use them backwards in disrespect and rejection, is one thing; to use them 'straight' looks very odd.

The Right Words

It is a firm belief in magic that if one does not say the incantation exactly right - it's an incantation, not an invocation - there will be no result. One must get the hocus-pocus right. That term is a Protestand insult to the Roman Catholic Mass.

Those who still would like to cling to the Latin Mass - which the Roman Church did say at the 16th century Council of Trent was forever, an idea dropped after a Vatican council in our century - argue that the words of consencration don't work in other languages, making the Mass more like a Protestant memorial of the Last Supper than a Roman Catholic miracle of transubstantiation on the altar.

In the history of magic there are reports that the single word Agla, if said in the right way, prodoced extraordinary results. It is also said that merely by pronouncing seven names correctly (Adonai, Perai, Tetragrammaton, Anexhexeton, Inessensatoal, Pathumaton, and Itemon) King Solomon was able to bring all demons under his personal control. The name Primematum holds power over the whole host of Heaven. The name of God commands the hosts of Hell. You open the Gates of Hell by chanting Zazas, Zazas, Nasantanada, Zazas. Closing them is considerably more difficult. You know of the story with 'Open, Sesame!' What was the password for closing?

A fragment from:
The Complete Book of Devils and Demons
Leonard R.N. Ashley - Barricade Books - ISBN 1-56980-077-4(TP)