Andrew Fleming’s 1996 cult classic, The Craft, introduced audiences to a fictional Pagan deity known as Manon, who provided the witches with their powers in the movie.
Starring Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Scream‘s heroine Neve Campbell, and Rachel True, The Craft brought themes of witchcraft and sisterhood in an emerging trend of feminist horror that came in the late ’90s and early 2000s. While a hit upon release, The Craft has become more of a cult classic in recent years, with many young women in particular finding reasons to relate to the movie’s lead actresses due to its themes of being an outcast and ostracized for various differences. The Craft is also an excellent commentary on social issues, as the women find strength in each other after dealing with various reasons for being bullied or overlooked by their peers including biracial heritage, poverty status, and physical deformities. Currently, Blumhouse Productions is working on a reboot of The Craft.
The Craft introduced Manon as the overarching power source behind the coven’s abilities that become the centerpiece of the movie’s plot. Fleming and the producers took extra measures to ensure authenticity, and decided on a fictional deity for very specific reasons.
The Craft: Who Is Manon?
In The Craft, Manon is the name of the deity who the four main characters worship. Similar to Odin, the “All-Father” in Norse mythology, Zeus, and even the Christian God, Manon is known as the Creator of all things, a being that oversees humanity with both malevolent and benevolent actions at will. Truly, Manon is neither fully good, nor fully evil and instead seems disinterested in direct intervention unless invoked directly. In Pagan beliefs and traditions, much of worship is connected to nature, the elements, and the self.
Manon represents the more primal aspects of human instinct, and therefore is most interested in bolstering facets of a devotee who invokes for more self-serving reasons. In the movie, a love spell is successful, Bonnie’s scars heal, Rochelle is able to get revenge on her racist, high school bullies. This speaks to Manon’s interest in helping acolytes get their desires fully realized, and empower them to overcome adversity through occasionally problematic means. While Manon certainly backs their desires and assists them, it seems crucial for the witches to solve their own problems. However, Manon’s role in The Craft is also a cautionary tale. When the witches start abusing their powers, they lose their connection with Manon and their magic suffers.
Because of the content and its connection to witchcraft and Pagan traditions, an on-set coordinator was hired to ensure not only authenticity, but also establish that everything was being done safely. There was a concern that, if they wrote an actual deity into the script, audience members might take to performing the rituals and invoking something more powerful than they could handle, with potentially disastrous results. The Craft is reasonably respectful of Pagan faith and Wiccan practices, and while Manon certainly isn’t real, it provides a snapshot of a religion that goes outside the norm of the commonly used demonic possession and exorcisms within the horror genre.
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