Herman Slater

Herman Slater (1935 – 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.

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 which was encouraged by the Catholic Church. 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 in Bainbridge, Maryland. 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.

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 was initiated into the New York Coven of Welsh Traditional Witches. It was there he met Eddie Buczynski (Lord Gywddion), who was a high priest of the coven. Slater took the craft name Lord Govannon and the two became lovers.

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