Posted by Anne LeVeque on September 24, 2002 at 20:31:53 from 207.197.128.69 user Anne_LeVeque.
In Reply to: Re: Penny Whistle etc posted by John Lambert on September 23, 2002 at -1:35:03:
I'm not sure that 'hocus-pocus' can be laid at the door of Protestants - my understanding is that it is a corruption of the Latin "Hoc est enim Corpus meum" which you quoted, by the illiterate, non-Latin speaking hoi polloi. The subsequent 'hokey-pokey' dance apparently may have been a reference to the priest's gestures during the Mass (you put your right hand in, you put your right hand out...).
So maybe the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about.
Anne L.