Hocus pocus (magic) derived from the Protoslavic word "kusiti", which is itself derived from Gothic "kausajn" meaning "to try", "to attempt". This may indicate that the wording belongs to the alchemy kitchen and court of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (1552 – 1612). Also, "hocus" may mean "to cheat" in Latin or a distorted form of the word "hoc", "this". Combination of the two words may give a sense, especially both meanings together "this attempt/experiment" and "cheated attempt/experiment". According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term originates from "hax pax max Deus adimax", a pseudo-Latin phrase used as a magical formula by conjurors.
Pseudo-runes an appearance similar to runes, and of modern Latin alphabet variants intended to be reminiscent of runic script. The main use of the term pseudo-rune is in reference to epigraphic inscriptions using letters that imitate the appearance of runes, but which cannot be read as runes. These are different from cryptic or magical runic inscriptions comprising a seemingly random jumble of runic letters, which cannot be interpreted by modern scholars, but can at least be read. In contrast, pseudo-runic inscriptions consist mostly of false letters (some pseudo-runes within a pseudo-runic inscription may coincidentally appear similar or identical to true runes),