[Editorial] Calling the Corners and Representing the Elements in The Craft (1996)

For witches, the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire are an incredibly important part of our practice. When we set up our altars, items are placed at the points of the compass to represent each element as we work our rituals, with earth sitting at north, air at east, fire at south, and water at west.

Elements can also be used when casting a circle, which is a safety spell cast before working any magick to ensure that we’re protected from anything negative while we work. The elements can be called upon in turn as we work around the circle to aid with our magick, and then they are thanked and released at the end as the circle is closed again. 

In the 1996 witch teen drama The Craft, the elements are given a vital role throughout the entire movie. In one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie, the witches call the guardians of each directional tower, along with their element while invoking the spirit on a moonlit beach. “Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the north. By the powers of mother and earth. Hear us”, Sarah chants when it’s her turn to call her corner. Once the four corners are called, the circle is complete and the ritual can begin.

This is why Bonnie, Rochelle, and Nancy believe they need Sarah’s power to make their witchcraft really work. They need a fourth member of the coven so they can call a corner each, complete the circle, and give their rituals more power. And while the women all pick an element to represent when they cast their spells, it turns out there is more subtle elemental work at play throughout the entire movie. 

In the documentary Conjuring ‘The Craft’ (2000), featured as a DVD extra, writer Peter Filardi mentions that each of the witches represents an element, which is why they work so well together as a coven, in the beginning anyway. 

Sarah as Earth

Sarah, as the most grounded member of the coven, gets the honour of representing earth. Even though she gets excited about the spells working and the growing power that the coven finds from working with each other, she knows that witchcraft isn’t to be messed with. When she is told by store owner, Lirio, that the power of three will cause negative energy to come back to them threefold if they abuse their power, Sarah is the only one who takes this advice seriously. 

She’s also the most down to earth to look at considering her fashion choices versus the rest of the group, but especially versus the fiery goth look of Nancy’s wardrobe. On the first day of school, she chooses to turn up before she’s got her uniform, making her stand out from everyone, not just the other witches, in her earthy tones.

It’s worth noting that when the coven invokes the spirit, we see the containers holding the animals each woman brought with her explode when the power of the spell reaches its pinnacle, except for the small bird that Sarah is seen carrying. This could represent the fact that Sarah can control her power in situations like this, which we see mirrored in the film’s finale when she is able to invoke the spirit by herself and defeat Nancy. It could also show that Sarah was holding back in this moment, deciding to keep her feet firmly planted where she feels safe instead of wandering into unknown territory with this complicated spell. Either way, it shows that Sarah is more grounded than the rest of the coven and can channel her energy when she needs it most.

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Sarah is also the only natural witch of the group, so it makes sense that she would represent earth. While she hasn’t channelled her witchcraft in such a direct way before, she tells the other woman stories of how she’s accidentally flooded her room or made herself deaf in the past due to spells she didn’t even know she was casting. Her power is the strongest, it’s her that causes the coven’s spells to start working, and it’s only Sarah that’s left with powers at the end of the whole ordeal because she has a natural connection to witchcraft.

Sarah soon finds out that witchcraft was passed down to her from her mother, who was also a natural witch. This makes sense as Sarah channels both the powers of mother and earth when she takes part in rituals. Even though Sarah’s mother died in childbirth and she has never met her, she’s an incredibly important part of her life. The first thing Sarah unpacks in her new room is a picture of her mother, and it shows how strong their bond is. By passing her powers along to her daughter, Sarah’s mother has ensured that their bond will last a lifetime. She even aids Sarah in moments of doubt, her photo coming to life to show Sarah that she’s had the power she needed in her this whole time, and doesn’t need the rest of the coven to reach her full witchy potential. 

Finally, Sarah’s element being earth makes sense because north is connected to earth. Sarah is definitely the true north of the group, constantly trying to pull them back in the right direction when they start to drift off the path. When their spells start to work and they see the real consequences, she’s the first to suggest they lay off the spells for a while. She also notices the changes in the other women’s characters which they seem to ignore. She doesn’t want to lose her friends, but she is unwilling to continue hurting people once she realises what is going on. Instead, she tries to steer the other witches back onto the right path, hopefully fixing the problems they’ve created without tearing the coven apart. Of course, the other women make this impossible for her, and she’s forced to correct the whole mess herself. Sarah uses her earth powers to bring balance back to the group, which means stripping the other three witches of their powers.

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Bonnie as Air

While she calls the element of fire when the witches invoke the spirit, writer Peter Filardi clarifies that Bonnie represents the element of air due to her skills as a seer. However, it’s worth noting that Bonnie carries a butterfly into the ceremony with her, so even though she’s calling one element, the jar she’s carrying hints at her real elemental nature. 

When we first meet Bonnie she is walking the hallways with Nancy and Rochelle, though she is concentrating on the almanac she is reading. Much like a daily horoscope for witches, the almanac provides an insight into what is coming that day and how to use it in your magickal work. 

“The almanac says today will bring an arrival of something…‘A new wholeness and with it a new balance. Earth, air, water, fire.’ Maybe it's our fourth.’ Through the almanac and her belief in its powers, Bonnie is the first member of the coven to get a hint of Sarah’s arrival. She’s also the first person to see Sarah’s powers in action when she catches her levitating a pencil using her mind in a class they share. Bonnie returns to the group with news of Sarah’s powers and eventually convinces Nancy to invite her to be part of the group.

Rochelle as Water

Rochelle’s element is probably the most obvious in the group, considering how much time we see her spend in the school swimming pool as part of the diving team. She calls west, which is associated with the element of water, when they invoke the spirit and carries a clownfish to the ceremony. 

Rochelle feels incredibly at home in the water, but the experience is constantly ruined for her because of the racist taunts from bully Laura. In the pool is also when Rochelle is separated from the other girls, and therefore, able to focus more clearly on her individual power. However, Laura is ruining her concentration, causing her to dive badly and not stand out on the team. 

When Rochelle casts her spell against Laura, it causes all of Laura’s perfect blonde hair to fall out while she’s sitting poolside. Seeing her enemy finally get taken down a peg gives Rochelle the confidence she needs to block out all the distractions and finally show off her true diving talent, which clearly impresses her coach. Once she’s able to get rid of Laura’s negative energy at the pool, Rochelle is able to connect with her element better and dive into the water below. 

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Nancy as Fire

The last element on the list is fire, which could only belong to Nancy. During the invoking the spirit ceremony, Nancy calls on the element of air, but it’s clear that fire is what is really lurking under the surface of this witch. She’s the one who is struck by lightning on the beach, apparently taking into herself all the power of Manon. This adds to the fire that was already burning inside Nancy and causes her to start burning out of control. 

Almost every interaction Nancy has with other characters in this movie is of a confrontational nature. As they call the corners, fire is connected to feelings, and boy, does Nancy have a lot of feelings. While she argues with classmates and challenges teachers on a daily basis, it seems that she has to hold a lot of her feelings inside in order to get on with her life. She hates her step-dad, but tries to keep the peace at home and with her mother. However, when her rage finally spills over, it’s like a fire has been lit, and there’s no putting it out. When her stepfather attacks her mother, Nancy seemingly uses her power to kill him, finally freeing their trailer of his presence. 

And when she becomes more confident in her powers, Nancy starts to get more and more out of control, like a forest fire quickly spreading through the dry grass. Once she gets a taste of power, she only wants more, consuming those around her like kindling. When Sarah wants things to calm down a little, Nancy refuses to be put out, making her flame burn even brighter and with more intensity. Her fire spreads to Rochelle and Bonnie as she wins them over to her side, and pushes Sarah out because she can’t manipulate her in the same way. 

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This is where Nancy starts to lose control, and Sarah quickly realises that she’s going to have to put Nancy’s fire out completely in order to stop her from destroying herself. When she kills Chris by pushing him out a window, it’s clear she’s not totally in control of her actions. She has every reason to hate Chris, but she goes from wanting to humiliate him to murdering him in the space of about five minutes. At this point, there’s no predicting how quickly situations with Nancy will escalate. There’s a fire constantly burning under the surface, which is incredibly hard to read, making it difficult for the rest of the coven to connect with her. 

In the finale, we see Nancy burn up all her powers in a bid to get rid of Sarah once and for all. After glamouring the house to make it seem bug-infested and making Sarah believe her parents are dead, Nancy really has nothing left to fight with when Sarah manages to regain her strength and kick off round two of the fight. 

She clearly believes her powers have the ability to burn forever, but instead, they burn bright and fast, starting to fade away before she’s even had the chance to really use them. She may think that fire is the more dangerous and impressive element to have inside you, but Sarah’s earth powers are able to smother the fire burning in Nancy and put out the flames for good.

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