Herman Slater (1938 – July 9, 1992) was an American Wiccan high priest and occult-bookstore proprietor as well as an editor, publisher, and author. He died of AIDS in 1992. Early life Slater was born in 1938 in a lower-middle-class Jewish neighborhood of New York City. At a very early age, he became aware of anti-Semitism . This became one of the influences that led him to witchcraft. Slater studied business administration at New York University, liberal arts at Hunter College and traffic management at the Traffic Management Institute in New York. He also completed a full course at the United States Navy Personnel School at United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge. During 1958 through 1969, Slater had several business jobs in management, traffic expediting, and insurance claims investigation. 1969 marked the beginning of significant health-related issues for him. He was later forced to quit work due to bone tuberculosis, which cost him a hip bone and three years of recuperation. Transition to witchcraft During his recuperation process, Slater began experiencing and reading about paranormal phenomena, including divination (tarot cards), clairvoyance, and levitation. He spent an entire year lying in bed in a body cast that weighed 300 pounds. Then one morning, he awoke to find himself stretched across a chair on the opposite side of the room while still in his body cast. These experiences led him to witchcraft, and in 1972 He met Eddie Buczynski (Lord Gwyddion), and they partnered in the Warlocke Shoppe, on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. It was there that two witches from England gave them the Welsh Tradition Book of Shadows and Herman and Eddie self initiated. Slater took the name Lord Govannon, and Eddie Lord Gwyddion. Eddie later made trips to Egypt and became part of an all male Minoan magic group in New York. Some of the original members of the coven Herman and Eddie formed left to form their own group. among these were authors Denny Sargent, who with Robert Carey, were co editors of a magazine for aspiring teen magicians called Mandragore. They and other members of the original coven moved on to ceremonial magic, and subscribed to an Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) correspondence course that was based out of London in the mid seventies. In 1977, the O.T.O. came to Slater's Magickal Childe, his new location in Manhattan's Chelsea. Career Bucznski and Slater opened The Warlock Shoppe, the