Gavin Frost (1930 – 2016) was an

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

author, doctor of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, and prominent member of the American

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

community. He founded the

Church and School of Wicca The Church and School of Wicca was founded by Gavin Frost and Yvonne Frost in 1968. It was the first federally recognized Church of the religion known as Wicca in the United States. It is well known for its correspondence courses on the Frosts' un ...

with his wife

Yvonne Frost Yvonne Frost (born 1931) is a Wiccan author, lecturer, and practitioner from Los Angeles. Together with her late husband Gavin Frost, she founded the Church and School of Wicca in 1968. She has co-written many books with him, and appeared on the ...

in 1968, and was the Archbishop of the Church of Wicca and a director of the School of Wicca. He and his wife have written several books on magic and related subjects such as ''The Magic Power of Witchcraft''. He appeared on national television's ''

Phil Donahue Show ''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...

'', ''

PM Magazine ''PM/Evening Magazine'' is a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States. In most areas, ''Evening/PM Magazine'' was broadcast from the late 1970s into the late 1980s. Origi ...

'',

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' ...

's ''Tomorrow Show'' and others, at many events serving the Neo-Pagan community such as Stones Rising, Sirius Rising,

Pagan Pride Day Pagan Pride is a movement among American pagans to build a positive public image of paganism. Local Pagan Pride groups sponsor "Pagan Pride Day" festivals, usually in public locations such as city parks or university campuses. The first recorde ...

, and the

Starwood Festival The Starwood Festival is a seven-day Neo-Pagan, New Age, multi-cultural and world music festival, taking place every July in the United States of America. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops on a variety of subjects. Th ...

, and in newspaper and magazine articles across the United States.

Early life

Frost was born in

Aldridge Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. T ...

, Staffordshire, England, on 20 November 1930. In 1952, Frost graduated from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

with honours, gaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, and after completing his post doctoral thesis with the Department of Atomic Energy in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, he received a Doctorate in Physics & Mathematics.

Career

After he received his doctorate, Frost left

and moved to Hatfield near London and took a research position with the

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

Aircraft Corporation investigating the effects of long wave infrared radiation on missiles. His next position was with

Canadair Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadair's origins lie in the establishm ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, first working on the Canadian missile program, then joining their training and simulation group, a position that allowed him to travel around the world. After moving to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Frost became the senior project engineer working on the military

F-104 The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

systems.

Witchcraft

According to Frost, he was initiated in 1951 at the Nine Maidens; the

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

site in

Boskednan Boskednan ( kw, Boskednan) is a hamlet near Mulfra Hill northwest of Penzance in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' It is in the civil parish of Madron See also * Boskednan stone cir ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. His claims to be initiated have, however, never been confirmed, and prominent Wiccan members have repeatedly asserted that Frost was never initiated into Wicca. After his claimed initiation, his position with the

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

placed him in the vicinity of

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

, where he investigated the ancient monoliths of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

and the people who built them, furthering his interest in ancient peoples and the origins of the Old Religion. While with

, a trip to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

gave him the opportunity to spend four days in a remote village exploring the religious beliefs and experiencing first-hand the powers of healing as practised by their

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

s. While working in California, a trip to

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

allowed him to do some research into the truths and fiction that surrounds Charles G. Leland's '' Aradia: Gospel of the Witches''. In 1966 he relocated to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany as a company representative, and became fascinated with the subject of German sorcery. He joined a group of Zauberers (''Zauberer'' – German for magician, sorcerer, wizard) operating in der Bayrischen Naehe just south of Munich, became an initiate and qualified to receive and don their saffron robe. Even though not Wiccan, the Frosts claimed the title and founded the Church and School of Wicca in 1968, which in 1972 became the first federally recognised Wiccan church in that country. It was first operated in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, then in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and then in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. The Frosts stepped down as active leaders of the church in 1980, but continued to be active as clergy and as heads of the School of Wicca. The church itself as well as several of the Frosts' publications have repeatedly been criticised for their rituals which many perceive as inappropriate conduct towards children, resulting in numerous public outcries by initiated Wiccans emphasising that apart from using the name, the Frosts' rituals have little in common with Wiccan rituals and lore.

Death

Frost died on 11 September 2016 at the age of 86.Aloi, Peg (12 September 2016
"Gavin Frost, author and lecturer on modern witchcraft, has died"
Patheos.com. Retrieved 12 September 2016.

Bibliography

*Frost, Gavin (1972). ''Witchcraft: The Way to Serenity'' – Esoteric Publishing *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1972). ''The Witch’s Bible'' – Nash Publishing *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1976). ''The Magic Power of Witchcraft'' – Prentice Hall Press *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1978). ''Meta-Psychometry: Key to Power & Abundance'' – Parker Pub Co , *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1979). ''A Witch's Grimoire of Ancient Omens. Portents, Talismans, Amulets, & Charms'' – Parker Pub Co , *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Ibn Saud (1980). ''Helping Yourself with Astromancy'' – Parker Pub Co *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1980). ''Power Secrets from a Sorcerer's Private Magnum Arcanum'' – Parker Pub , *Frost, Yvonne and Gavin Frost (1985). ''Astral Travel: Your Guide to the Secrets of Out-of-Body Experiences'' – Weiser Books; New Ed edition , . *Frost, S. Gavin (1988). ''The Mariner's Manual'' – Cornell Maritime Press *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1989). ''Tantric Yoga: The Royal Path to Raising Kundalini Power'' – Weiser Books , . *Frost, S. Gavin (1990). ''The Captain's License Book'' – Cornell Maritime Pr/Tidewater Pub , *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1991). ''The Prophet's Bible'' – Red Wheel Weiser , . *Frost, Gavin (1992). ''Who Speaks for the Witch'' – Godolphin House , *Frost, Gavin (Editor)(1992). ''Witch Words'' – Godolphin House , *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1999). ''Good Witch's Bible'' – Godolphin House; Reprint edition , . *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (1999). ''Magic Power of White Witchcraft Revised'' – Prentice Hall Press; Revised edition , . *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (2000). ''The Witch's Magical Handbook'' – Prentice Hall Press , . *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (2002). ''The Witch's Book of Magical Ritual'' – Reward Books *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (2003). '' A Witch's Guide to Psychic Healing: Applying Traditional Therapies, Rituals, and Systems'' – Red Wheel/Weiser , . *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (2004). ''The Solitary Wiccan'' – Weiser Books , . *Frost, Gavin and Yvonne Frost (2006). ''Good Witches Fly Smoothly: Surviving Witchcraft'' – Outskirts Press ,

Notes

References

* Bond, Lawrence &

Ellen Evert Hopman Ellen Evert Hopman (born July 31, 1952, in Salzburg, Austria) is an author of both fiction and non-fiction, an herbalist, a lay homeopath, a lecturer, and a Mental Health Counselor who lives and works in Western Massachusetts. She is the author of s ...

(1996) ''People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out'' (reissued as ''Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans & Witches Today'' in 2002 Destiny Books ) Interview. * De Puymaigre, Théodore ''Folk-lore'' (1960) Indian Publications (Original from the University of Michigan) * Dunwich, Gerina ''The Modern Witch's Complete Sourcebook'' * Jarboe, Michelle (9 April 2007) ''Wiccans Gather to Celebrate Faith'
News-Record.com article
* Rabinovitch, Shelley and James Lewis ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism''

External links

Church and School of Wicca's Official SiteInterview with Pagan News
Article on the Church and School of Wicca in '' Renaissance Magazine''
Gavin and Yvonne website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Gavin 1930 births 2016 deaths Alumni of King's College London English Wiccans People from Aldridge Wiccan writers