Herman Slater


Herman Slater was an American Wiccan high priest and occult bookstore proprietor and 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. From 1958 through 1969, Slater had several 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 for recuperation.

Transition to witchcraft

During his recuperation process, Slater began experiencing and reading about paranormal phenomena, including divination, 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, and they co-founded 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. 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 that 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 correspondence course that was based in 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

Buczynski and Slater opened The Warlock Shoppe, the oldest witchcraft bookshop in Brooklyn, New York. Buczynski was the more magical and spiritual of the two and left the business side to Slater, who helped the shop grow in profitability. The shop established itself as the central information hub for local witches and the newly emerging neopagan communities. The two also published a periodical called Earth Religion News. It was successful but also caused controversy due to its explicit contents and cover designs. In 1974, Slater was initiated into the Gardnerian tradition and assumed leadership of a coven in the late 1970s. The Warlock Shoppe later moved to West 19th Street in Manhattan. In the later 1980s, it gained something of a mercenary reputation being willing to put “curses” on people for a price. With Slater's death, they started having trouble making ends meet and several significant new age publishers stopped providing them with books. The brick and mortar store finally closed in 1999.

Scandals

In 1972, Slater presented the Inquisitional Bigot of the Year award to NBC during a guest appearance on the Today show, for his criticism of an episode of McMillan & Wife that equated witchcraft with devil-worship. The crew of Today physically removed him from the set. More controversy surrounding Slater's actual proficiency in the types of magick he claimed to practice, accusations that he plagiarized material, his abuse of dissatisfied customers of the Magickal Childe, and outrage over other behaviors he exhibited earned him the nickname "Horrible Herman".

Works

Slater wrote the books:
  • Introduction to Witchcraft,,
  • The Hoodoo Bible,
  • A Book of Pagan Rituals I & II,
  • Pagan Rituals III,
Published:
  • Earth Religion News magazine
Edited:
  • The Magickal Formulary Spellbook,,
  • The Magickal Formulary Spellbook II,
These two witchcraft cookbooks are based on the inner workings of his shop and formulas of his potions. They are sold worldwide and are well-respected within the witchcraft community. The Magickal Childe now continues with an Internet presence.

Educating others

Educating people on the subject of witchcraft became an important mission for Slater. He frequently lectured as a guest speaker at many colleges. He starred in his own video, An Introduction to Witchcraft and Satanism, in which he wore ceremonial robes and headdresses typical of witchcraft. He also appeared with his familiar companion, a snake named Herman. He also hosted a weekly cable show which aired in Manhattan, called The Magickal Mystery Tour. The show featured interviews, rituals, music, occultism, and magick instruction. He thought of the show as an Earth religion 700 Club because it spread the word on the Old Religion and asked for donations.

Philosophy

Herman Slater considered Wicca to be an earth religion. In the early days of the Warlocke Shop he hosted The Pagan Way lectures, usually in a coven members apartment and sometimes his own on Atlantic Avenue. The Pagan Way ran the gammit, embracing the various pre-Christian religions and paranormal. Some of the Pagan Way lecturers promoted their works, including Dr. Leo Martello. Herman was tolerant of quite a lot, but would rein in adult activities if he expected youth to be present. His come all approach overwhelmed him in his Manhattan location, and with Eddie seldom around, Herman was preyed upon. He never requested money for the lectures or use of his ritual room, and sometimes complained that the Wiccans were there a lot but spent very little money, though the satanists had cash. Even so, he provided a platform for alternative religions as long as he could. Herman was about inclusion, self empowerment, and love.

Praise

One of Slater's former employees described him as "Very bright, almost schizophrenic, fiercely loyal one moment, then your brutal enemy the next. I loved and hated him so many times in turn that it's all a blur." However, many loyal followers were befriended by Slater, including most of his loyal employees, loving family and friends. He was affectionately known as Mother Herman to those he cared about. Herman's attraction to witchcraft was not limited to paranormal experiences. He was truly on a spiritual quest for a religion that would not condemn his sexuality, and believed homosexuality was the expression of a man finding completion of his soul through the love of another man. Wicca had no taboos regarding homosexuality or self empowerment, another of Herman's quests that he shared with the world. Among his famous quotes was "everything's in print now", meaning magic was no longer held in the hands of the elite alone.