Gavin and Yvonne Frost
. (1930- ) (1931- )
. (1930- ) (1931- )
Reprinted with the gracious permission of Raymond Buckland from this book
"The Witch Book. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.
"The Witch Book. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.
Gavin Frost
Gavin, born in 1930, was raised in a tight-knit family group ruled by his
hard-working, hard-drinking Welshman grandfather, who was the family's patriarch.
All of the family's sons and cousins worked in its galvanizing business, and members
lived together on a wooded ridge outside Aldridge where the Welsh patriarch had
built homes for each of his children. When the old man passed in 1936, the family
promptly moved away from Aldridge, and Gavin was enrolled in boarding school.
During the war years, the family's kitchen garden and business paid dividends, and
family members sought advice from Granny on putting down eggs, storing, and
canning, so that there would be food through the winter. That ancient knowledge
became essential to life and health. The methods Gavin learned in youth served
his family well in later years.
At war's end, a particular hero of Gavin's graduating class was a decorated navy
commander who taught mathematics. From that man, Gavin derived his love of
mathematics and physics, and in college he continued in the two disciplines.
Gavin, born in 1930, was raised in a tight-knit family group ruled by his
hard-working, hard-drinking Welshman grandfather, who was the family's patriarch.
All of the family's sons and cousins worked in its galvanizing business, and members
lived together on a wooded ridge outside Aldridge where the Welsh patriarch had
built homes for each of his children. When the old man passed in 1936, the family
promptly moved away from Aldridge, and Gavin was enrolled in boarding school.
During the war years, the family's kitchen garden and business paid dividends, and
family members sought advice from Granny on putting down eggs, storing, and
canning, so that there would be food through the winter. That ancient knowledge
became essential to life and health. The methods Gavin learned in youth served
his family well in later years.
At war's end, a particular hero of Gavin's graduating class was a decorated navy
commander who taught mathematics. From that man, Gavin derived his love of
mathematics and physics, and in college he continued in the two disciplines.
In his final year at the University of London (King's College), Gavin grew interested in the prehistoric peoples of
the British Isles, and in the reconstruction of their spiritual beliefs. The influence of T.C. Lethbridge (Witches)
and Glyn Daniel (Megalithic Monument Builders), and the heady atmosphere in London after the repeal of the
Witchcraft Act, made this a formative time in Gavin's life.
After earning an honors degree, Gavin was requested to work for the Department of Atomic Energy, but before
he moved to the wilds of Cumberland, he was initiated into the Coven of Boskednan. (Boskednan is a Nine-
Maidens circle in Cornwall.) Today the spirit-through-fire scar that the initiation entailed is still visible on his wrist.
The Coven of Boskednan was formed after a number of London University students contacted a Penzance group
that had formally been at the university. Gavin's group was instructed on what books to study and what lectures
were pertinent if members hoped to be considered for initiation. Individual tasks were also allocated. Gavin's
was to walk around Cornwall on the cliff path, carrying tents and supplies, which turned out to be quite a trail –
he encountered numerous signs with warnings such as "Dangerous path. Beware of land slips." When the tasks
were completed and further interviews held, four members of Gavin's group were initiated.
Roots of that Penzance coven's practice always intrigued Gavin because (a) they seemed to owe nothing to
Gerald Gardner's work, and (b) the order of service) as shown in the The Good Witch's Bible) did not resemble
that of most other groups.
Gavin's move to Cumbria and research proceeded. He completed his doctoral thesis and moved on to other
research. Soon he had a long-term "significant other" in Dorothy Whitford. Gavin and Dorothy moved to de
Havilland Aircraft in Hatfield, near London, where his research concentrated on the investigation of long-wave
infrared radiation for the British equivalent of the Sidewinder missile. Much of that missile's testing was carried
out at night on Salisbury Plain. This gave Gavin time during the day to explore nearby ancient monuments such
as Stonehenge and to talk with local historians on what may be called the pagans of Stonehenge.
At the time archeologists, led by Gerald Hawkins' Stonehenge Decoded, were re-investigating the old
monuments and the people who built them. Fascinating discoveries were being made. One that Gavin vividly
recalls was that of a skull that showed evidence of three trepanning surgeries – holes carved into it for brain
surgery or perhaps for reduction of pressure. One such scar had been covered with a screwed-on silver plate,
yet the man had lived to a great age after the operations (as shown by regrowth of bone). Incredibly, scientists
estimated that his age a death was as much as three hundred years.
Gavin and Dorothy married in January 1953 and honeymooned in Ireland. At that time, finding pagan sites was
difficult and, most likely, not the highest priority for a young married couple. A trip to the Isle of Man to see the
TT races was more memorable for seeing Old Man Honda that for the visit to the Witch's Mill. Although Dorothy
assured him that he met Gerald Gardner, quite frankly Gavin has no memory of it.
The young couple was extremely happy when Dorothy became pregnant and Gavin obtained three offers of
employment. One was at MIT, one with the group that became Hewlett Packard, and one with Canadair in
Montreal, Canada. Gavin and Dorothy elected to emigrate to Montreal to work on the Canadian missile
program. Canadair's Research Institute. Gavin declined, joining instead the firm's Training and Simulator
group. On one assignment Gavin visited a remote village in Chile, and in his four days there, he got his first
taste of religion and Healing as practiced by shamans. The villagers could not believe that an outsider
(especially a Caucasian!) would have any interest in their procedure or would be receptive toward it. He saw
many parallels in what they were doing to what he had been taught in England.
Gavin later moved to California, Where he became senior project engineer on the radar system used in the F-
104 military jet. This gave him the opportunity to travel around the world extensively. In Milan, Italy, he seized
the opportunity to investigate Leland's Aradia, through police contacts and records. In his search, he uncovered
both truth and fiction.
The long work hours required in the aerospace industry took their toll on Gavin's personal life, and when an
opportunity arose to become his firm's European representative, he took it. He and his family moved to Munich,
Germany. Although the hours and work expectations were still high, there was more free time in Munich with a
group of German sorcerers in Geiselgasteig, the old Bohemian arts' colony south of Munich. Because Dorothy
had no interest in the occult or in writing for a living, the family was beginning to fragment and, upon their return
to the United States, Gavin and Dorothy divorced. It was not an amicable divorce, and it became evident that if
Gavin remained in southern California, Dorothy would continually harass him and any new associates. So,
accompanied by his new love interest, Yvonne Wilson, Gavin accepted a post as international sales manager for
a firm in St. Louis, Missouri. There, he and Yvonne began the long process of getting the U.S. government to
accept Wicca as a religion. (See Church and School of Wicca, below).
Gavin felt that his international travel gave him opportunities that were not available to most Wiccans. For
example, the King of Thailand arranged for Gavin to live as a monk for one week in a monastery outside
Bangkok. Further, Gavin's copy of the Bhagavad Gita bears the signature of Madame Indira Gandhi, who also
introduced him to some authentic Tantrist.
the British Isles, and in the reconstruction of their spiritual beliefs. The influence of T.C. Lethbridge (Witches)
and Glyn Daniel (Megalithic Monument Builders), and the heady atmosphere in London after the repeal of the
Witchcraft Act, made this a formative time in Gavin's life.
After earning an honors degree, Gavin was requested to work for the Department of Atomic Energy, but before
he moved to the wilds of Cumberland, he was initiated into the Coven of Boskednan. (Boskednan is a Nine-
Maidens circle in Cornwall.) Today the spirit-through-fire scar that the initiation entailed is still visible on his wrist.
The Coven of Boskednan was formed after a number of London University students contacted a Penzance group
that had formally been at the university. Gavin's group was instructed on what books to study and what lectures
were pertinent if members hoped to be considered for initiation. Individual tasks were also allocated. Gavin's
was to walk around Cornwall on the cliff path, carrying tents and supplies, which turned out to be quite a trail –
he encountered numerous signs with warnings such as "Dangerous path. Beware of land slips." When the tasks
were completed and further interviews held, four members of Gavin's group were initiated.
Roots of that Penzance coven's practice always intrigued Gavin because (a) they seemed to owe nothing to
Gerald Gardner's work, and (b) the order of service) as shown in the The Good Witch's Bible) did not resemble
that of most other groups.
Gavin's move to Cumbria and research proceeded. He completed his doctoral thesis and moved on to other
research. Soon he had a long-term "significant other" in Dorothy Whitford. Gavin and Dorothy moved to de
Havilland Aircraft in Hatfield, near London, where his research concentrated on the investigation of long-wave
infrared radiation for the British equivalent of the Sidewinder missile. Much of that missile's testing was carried
out at night on Salisbury Plain. This gave Gavin time during the day to explore nearby ancient monuments such
as Stonehenge and to talk with local historians on what may be called the pagans of Stonehenge.
At the time archeologists, led by Gerald Hawkins' Stonehenge Decoded, were re-investigating the old
monuments and the people who built them. Fascinating discoveries were being made. One that Gavin vividly
recalls was that of a skull that showed evidence of three trepanning surgeries – holes carved into it for brain
surgery or perhaps for reduction of pressure. One such scar had been covered with a screwed-on silver plate,
yet the man had lived to a great age after the operations (as shown by regrowth of bone). Incredibly, scientists
estimated that his age a death was as much as three hundred years.
Gavin and Dorothy married in January 1953 and honeymooned in Ireland. At that time, finding pagan sites was
difficult and, most likely, not the highest priority for a young married couple. A trip to the Isle of Man to see the
TT races was more memorable for seeing Old Man Honda that for the visit to the Witch's Mill. Although Dorothy
assured him that he met Gerald Gardner, quite frankly Gavin has no memory of it.
The young couple was extremely happy when Dorothy became pregnant and Gavin obtained three offers of
employment. One was at MIT, one with the group that became Hewlett Packard, and one with Canadair in
Montreal, Canada. Gavin and Dorothy elected to emigrate to Montreal to work on the Canadian missile
program. Canadair's Research Institute. Gavin declined, joining instead the firm's Training and Simulator
group. On one assignment Gavin visited a remote village in Chile, and in his four days there, he got his first
taste of religion and Healing as practiced by shamans. The villagers could not believe that an outsider
(especially a Caucasian!) would have any interest in their procedure or would be receptive toward it. He saw
many parallels in what they were doing to what he had been taught in England.
Gavin later moved to California, Where he became senior project engineer on the radar system used in the F-
104 military jet. This gave him the opportunity to travel around the world extensively. In Milan, Italy, he seized
the opportunity to investigate Leland's Aradia, through police contacts and records. In his search, he uncovered
both truth and fiction.
The long work hours required in the aerospace industry took their toll on Gavin's personal life, and when an
opportunity arose to become his firm's European representative, he took it. He and his family moved to Munich,
Germany. Although the hours and work expectations were still high, there was more free time in Munich with a
group of German sorcerers in Geiselgasteig, the old Bohemian arts' colony south of Munich. Because Dorothy
had no interest in the occult or in writing for a living, the family was beginning to fragment and, upon their return
to the United States, Gavin and Dorothy divorced. It was not an amicable divorce, and it became evident that if
Gavin remained in southern California, Dorothy would continually harass him and any new associates. So,
accompanied by his new love interest, Yvonne Wilson, Gavin accepted a post as international sales manager for
a firm in St. Louis, Missouri. There, he and Yvonne began the long process of getting the U.S. government to
accept Wicca as a religion. (See Church and School of Wicca, below).
Gavin felt that his international travel gave him opportunities that were not available to most Wiccans. For
example, the King of Thailand arranged for Gavin to live as a monk for one week in a monastery outside
Bangkok. Further, Gavin's copy of the Bhagavad Gita bears the signature of Madame Indira Gandhi, who also
introduced him to some authentic Tantrist.
Yvonne Frost
Yvonne, born in 1931, felt she was reincarnated into a family of Kentucky
foot-washing, hard-shell Baptists in the heart of the Depression. A large group of
relatives from the Cumberland Gap area moved from the poverty in Kentucky to
Depression-era Los Angeles. As the eldest of four children, Yvonne lived in silent
obedience and conformity, wondering why she did not fit in. The best lessons of
those early days were a frugal approach that she never outgrew and a gratitude for
every good experience that enriched her life.
A marriage to a well-meaning "Neanderthal," as she described him, lasted ten
years. At some point in that era, she came across Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision
and mentioned it, with excitement, to her Sunday-school teacher. His response: "If it
isn't in the Bible, I don't want to hear about it." She says she never looked back.
Yvonne, born in 1931, felt she was reincarnated into a family of Kentucky
foot-washing, hard-shell Baptists in the heart of the Depression. A large group of
relatives from the Cumberland Gap area moved from the poverty in Kentucky to
Depression-era Los Angeles. As the eldest of four children, Yvonne lived in silent
obedience and conformity, wondering why she did not fit in. The best lessons of
those early days were a frugal approach that she never outgrew and a gratitude for
every good experience that enriched her life.
A marriage to a well-meaning "Neanderthal," as she described him, lasted ten
years. At some point in that era, she came across Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision
and mentioned it, with excitement, to her Sunday-school teacher. His response: "If it
isn't in the Bible, I don't want to hear about it." She says she never looked back.
For the next eight years, Yvonne lived as a self-supporting, single woman. In that time she earned her degree in
Orange County, California, and began exploring alternative paths of spirituality. She considered espousing
Buddhism, but found the Eastern philosophy too passive for her spiritual needs. She finally discovered
Spiritualism. At a seance in 1965, a voice came to her through the medium's trumpet: "Can I be your little girl?"
Because she was single, she was taken aback, but she still managed to answer, "Yes. You come when it's time."
(Bronwyn was born in 1969.) In another seance her spirit guide, Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace (the first proponent
of evolution), brought her a green cabochon stone, which she had set into a bracelet. Wallace once pointed out
(as a spirit) that a photo in his biography had been printed as a mirror image. Yvonne found a copy of the book
and confirmed the complaint.
Her career at that time was in the aerospace industry; Gavin was her boss's boss. During Gavin's stint in
Munich, he began writing a novel titled Pagans of Stonehenge and asked her to edit it for him. The two
eventually became linked romantically. Once Yvonne met Gavin and learned of the Craft, she found that some
of its aspects overlapped with the teachings of Spiritualism and Buddhism; for the first time, she felt she was
finally on the right path. After Gavin's divorce, the couple moved together to St. Louis.
Once there, Gavin's work as an international sales manager led to more travel and longer hours away from
home. Yvonne used her time alone to type all of the school's lectures (see The Church and School of Wicca,
below) and the draft of The Witch's Bible.
In late July 1969, Gavin flew in from Australia, full of excitement. He had traveled on a Qantas flight especially
rescheduled so passengers could see the reentry of the capsule carrying the first astronauts to walk on the
moon. When he finally paused to take a breath while telling Yvonne about his special flight, Yvonne calmly
informed him, "My water broke this morning." Witnessing Bronwyn's birth brought Gavin an epiphany. He gave
up his career in aerospace, although he worked intermittently for a year or so as a consultant, and committed his
life and energies to the Craft.
Effectively, the two of them sawed off the limb they had been sitting on: no more gold credit cards, no more
first-class flights, no more captain of industry and management matron. They traded all of that in for a vow of
poverty and a full time commitment to living and teaching The Craft.
In retrospect, they both felt that their shared life showed a pattern. They spent a couple of years remodeling a
derelict building in St. Charles, Missouri, three years raising pigs on unimproved rural Missouri acreage and
restoring an abandoned schoolhouse, twenty years in New Bern, North Carolina. These experiences served to
fill in gaps in their respective learning. What the Frosts did not already know about humility from the discomforts
of rehab-bing buildings and from raising pigs, they learned well and throughly from the Pagan/Wiccan community
and the warmth of its reception.
Today their life marches on. Yvonne says, "As we respectively approach out seventieth birthdays, we are eager
to met our successors -- poor devils!"
Orange County, California, and began exploring alternative paths of spirituality. She considered espousing
Buddhism, but found the Eastern philosophy too passive for her spiritual needs. She finally discovered
Spiritualism. At a seance in 1965, a voice came to her through the medium's trumpet: "Can I be your little girl?"
Because she was single, she was taken aback, but she still managed to answer, "Yes. You come when it's time."
(Bronwyn was born in 1969.) In another seance her spirit guide, Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace (the first proponent
of evolution), brought her a green cabochon stone, which she had set into a bracelet. Wallace once pointed out
(as a spirit) that a photo in his biography had been printed as a mirror image. Yvonne found a copy of the book
and confirmed the complaint.
Her career at that time was in the aerospace industry; Gavin was her boss's boss. During Gavin's stint in
Munich, he began writing a novel titled Pagans of Stonehenge and asked her to edit it for him. The two
eventually became linked romantically. Once Yvonne met Gavin and learned of the Craft, she found that some
of its aspects overlapped with the teachings of Spiritualism and Buddhism; for the first time, she felt she was
finally on the right path. After Gavin's divorce, the couple moved together to St. Louis.
Once there, Gavin's work as an international sales manager led to more travel and longer hours away from
home. Yvonne used her time alone to type all of the school's lectures (see The Church and School of Wicca,
below) and the draft of The Witch's Bible.
In late July 1969, Gavin flew in from Australia, full of excitement. He had traveled on a Qantas flight especially
rescheduled so passengers could see the reentry of the capsule carrying the first astronauts to walk on the
moon. When he finally paused to take a breath while telling Yvonne about his special flight, Yvonne calmly
informed him, "My water broke this morning." Witnessing Bronwyn's birth brought Gavin an epiphany. He gave
up his career in aerospace, although he worked intermittently for a year or so as a consultant, and committed his
life and energies to the Craft.
Effectively, the two of them sawed off the limb they had been sitting on: no more gold credit cards, no more
first-class flights, no more captain of industry and management matron. They traded all of that in for a vow of
poverty and a full time commitment to living and teaching The Craft.
In retrospect, they both felt that their shared life showed a pattern. They spent a couple of years remodeling a
derelict building in St. Charles, Missouri, three years raising pigs on unimproved rural Missouri acreage and
restoring an abandoned schoolhouse, twenty years in New Bern, North Carolina. These experiences served to
fill in gaps in their respective learning. What the Frosts did not already know about humility from the discomforts
of rehab-bing buildings and from raising pigs, they learned well and throughly from the Pagan/Wiccan community
and the warmth of its reception.
Today their life marches on. Yvonne says, "As we respectively approach out seventieth birthdays, we are eager
to met our successors -- poor devils!"
The Church and School of Wicca
When Gavin and Yvonne moved to Missouri in 1968, their first act was to attempt to form a coven. They quickly
found that they were not comfortable having people come to their home to attend classes. The answer seemed
to be a correspondence course, especially since Gavin was still on the road much of the time. Together they
wrote a series of lectures that later formed the nucleus of their book, The Witch's Bible (Nash Publishing, 1972).
In order to meet IRS requirements as a nonprofit organization, the church had to have a defined philosophy.
The Frosts symbolized that philosophy using the five points of the pentagram: (1) The Wiccan Rede -- "If it harm
none, do what you will." (2) Power through knowledge. (3) The Law of Attraction and of Threefold Return.
(4) Harmony with the universe. (5) Reincarnation. The center of the pentagram represented deity.
A furor was created in Wiccan circles when the Frosts published their rituals and revealed that a dildo was used
in the female initiation. Despite that furor, they have stood by their teachings.
Having finally satisfied all the IRS demands, the Church of Wicca was issued a Letter of Determination on August
31, 1972, after which fifteen other Church of Wicca facilities were chartered across the United Sates. Six years
later, Gavin and Yvonne retired from active leadership in the church but retained responsibility for the
correspondence school. The school has since grown to be the largest Witchcraft correspondence school int he
United Sates. It also offers courses in astrology, Tantra, psychic development, healing, herbs and other
subjects.
The church continues to work for Wiccan rights, especially by making its teachings available to those in prison
and in the military. The church was a leader in the fight against the Helms Amendment. (Senator Jesse Helms).
The church and school publishes a periodical called Survival that is edited by the Frost's daughter, Bronwyn.
When Gavin and Yvonne moved to Missouri in 1968, their first act was to attempt to form a coven. They quickly
found that they were not comfortable having people come to their home to attend classes. The answer seemed
to be a correspondence course, especially since Gavin was still on the road much of the time. Together they
wrote a series of lectures that later formed the nucleus of their book, The Witch's Bible (Nash Publishing, 1972).
In order to meet IRS requirements as a nonprofit organization, the church had to have a defined philosophy.
The Frosts symbolized that philosophy using the five points of the pentagram: (1) The Wiccan Rede -- "If it harm
none, do what you will." (2) Power through knowledge. (3) The Law of Attraction and of Threefold Return.
(4) Harmony with the universe. (5) Reincarnation. The center of the pentagram represented deity.
A furor was created in Wiccan circles when the Frosts published their rituals and revealed that a dildo was used
in the female initiation. Despite that furor, they have stood by their teachings.
Having finally satisfied all the IRS demands, the Church of Wicca was issued a Letter of Determination on August
31, 1972, after which fifteen other Church of Wicca facilities were chartered across the United Sates. Six years
later, Gavin and Yvonne retired from active leadership in the church but retained responsibility for the
correspondence school. The school has since grown to be the largest Witchcraft correspondence school int he
United Sates. It also offers courses in astrology, Tantra, psychic development, healing, herbs and other
subjects.
The church continues to work for Wiccan rights, especially by making its teachings available to those in prison
and in the military. The church was a leader in the fight against the Helms Amendment. (Senator Jesse Helms).
The church and school publishes a periodical called Survival that is edited by the Frost's daughter, Bronwyn.
Books, Gifts and More
