In the mid-1990s I was in downtown Beaufort, North Carolina, walking along Front Street when I noticed a slender, gray-haired woman dressed entirely in black. “Yvonne,” I said, to attract her attention. She stopped, and I introduced myself. “Philip Howard, from Ocracoke,” I offered. She extended her right arm, palm down, clearly inviting me to engage in the formal ritual of gently take her hand while bowing and kissing the back of her proffered hand. Instead, I grasped her hand firmly and inquired how she was doing.
I knew Yvonne and her husband, Gavin, when they were considering establishing a coven for their Church and School of Wicca on Ocracoke in the late 1970s.
Yvonne (nee Wilson) Frost was born in 1931 to a family of “foot-washing” Baptists in California, but embraced Spiritualism after rejecting her childhood faith. In 1966, while working with an aerospace company in Anaheim, she met her future husband, Englishman Gavin Frost, who had a doctorate in physics and mathematics, and who had worked with the Department of Atomic Energy in England.
Gavin Frost was also interested in the occult. In 1951, when he was twenty-one years old, Gavin was initiated into the coven of Boskednan in Cornwall. The initiation was carried out within a stone circle. Gavin’s work in the aerospace industry took him to Germany where he joined the Zauberers, an occult group of sorcerers. From there he moved to the United States, where he met Yvonne. In 1968 Gavin and Yvonne Frost moved to Salem, Missouri, and formed their first coven which they named the Church and School of Wicca, offering correspondence courses on their religious beliefs. Gavin ordained himself Arch Flamen (high priest or archbishop), and claimed the right to wear the Saffron Robe and the “authentic mark of initiation on his wrist.” Yvonne, who had been initiated into the Celtic tradition, styled herself the Flamenca (high priestess) in the church.
In 1969 they published a pamphlet, Witchcraft, the Way to Serenity. Gavin and Yvonne married in 1970. Two years later their Church and School of Wicca was recognized as a legitimate religion and obtained tax-exempt status.
In 1972, Gavin and Yvonne Frost published their first book, The Witch’s Bible; How to Practice the Oldest Religion. Two years later the Frosts relocated to New Bern, North Carolina, and established their headquarters there. Critics maintained that the Frost’s teachings contradicted mainstream Wiccan beliefs. Some even denigrated their book as “witchcrap.” The Frosts republished The Witch’s Bible in 1974, which stirred up another storm of protests from others in the Pagan community by suggesting they claimed some Wiccan authority, by downplaying the role of the Goddess and emphasizing an asexual monotheistic deity, and most troubling, by advocating the ritual sexual initiation of children. Although the Frosts modified their views in later editions, and were never charged with any misdeeds, the concerns followed them in the Pagan community. It was not until writing this article that I learned of the troubling controversies swirling around their 1972 book.
Advertisements in the National Inquirer and various comic books in the 1970s were designed to prompt curiosity about the practice of Wicca. The confrontational nature of some advertisements elicited disquiet, even outrage.
The advertisements assured readers they could learn how to cast spells, how to control and dominate other people, how to find lost objects, how to inhale cosmic energy, how to find love and infinite wealth, how to see into the future and make time run backward or forward, and how to keep evil forces away.
More books were to follow. In 1978 the Frosts found their way to Ocracoke soon after publishing A Witch’s Guide to Life.
I had never heard of the Frosts, and knew little about Wicca. I first met Gavin and Yvonne when they were shopping in the Village Craftsmen gallery. One of them was probably wearing a t-shirt advertising their church, or perhaps was wearing a necklace with a pentagram attached. I have a degree in Philosophy and Religion, and have long been fascinated with the “varieties of religious experience.” A conversation ensued, and I ended up trading Carl Goerch’s book, Ocracoke, for their book, A Witch’s Guide to Life. The Frosts remained on the island for some time, apparently looking for real estate to purchase. We had a number of opportunities to chat. They were especially interested in my thoughts about their book. Although I found their 27-page summary of Western European Christianity generally credible, I thought their “guide to life” with emphasis on magical energy, kundalini, astral realms, and reincarnation unconvincing. I think they viewed me as a disappointment.
In 1978 I discovered that rumors were circulating within the village that the Frosts were considering relocating their Church and School of Wicca to Ocracoke. Perhaps they were only looking for a suitable location to hold their annual “Samhain Seminars” with workshops, rituals, and lectures. Unsurprisingly, fears of arcane practices and “demonic” rituals fueled a general panic, especially among island churchgoers.
In the end, the Frosts never relocated to Ocracoke, nor held any events on the island. In 1993 they moved to Hinton, West Virginia. They followed the festival circuit, appeared on radio and television, and hosted a blog called “The Dancing Wiccans.”
Gavin Frost died September 11, 2016. He was 86 years old. Yvonne Frost, retired, published her last “Dancing Wiccans” post in January, 2017.