Gary Cantrell was a Priest in an Eclectic-Celtic Path of Wicca and High Priest of a small Coven. He recognized the divinity of nature since the early 1970's but did not fully realize that he had been following the Pagan path until about 1991. He began a study of witchcraft in 1993, initiated as a witch and Priest of Wicca at Imbolc of 1995 and accepted the responsibilities of Coven High Priest in 1998. He retired after forty years as an engineer in the aerospace industry, and then wrote books on witchcraft and related subjects as a hobby.

Wiccan Beliefs and Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries and Covens is Cantrell's second book, the first title being Out of the Broom Closet? In addition to authoring two books on the Craft, Cantrell had several articles on Wicca published in local newspapers as well as in Pagan publications and had been the featured guest on a Los Angeles area television talk show to discuss Out of the Broom Closet.

Gary Cantrell passed away on June 28th, 2002.  He is survived by his wife, son and daughter, and three grandchildren.