Silim! (That’s the common greeting in Sumerian meaning many things, including “welcome” and “good health”.)
My name is Samuel David. I am a Mesopotamian polytheist, artist, writer, researcher, and educator from Sangamon County, Illinois.
I facilitate ritual, community workshops, and presentations as a representative and steward for É-Sangamon or Temple Sangamon and am the founder of the Order of the Rod & Ring.
I am also the founder of Four Reeds, a legally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit religious organization primarily dedicated to maintaining the spiritual legacy of the Mesopotamian people. Sadly, COVID affected the development of this project, but nevertheless, we persevere.
I am also a chairperson for The Council of Near Eastern Pagan Religions, and am actively involved with the Temple of Inanna.
Through these organizations, I network with fellow Mesopotamian polytheists and pagans both nationally and internationally, keeping the spiritual traditions of the Mesopotamian people relevant in the modern world.
My presentations at local pagan festivals, national, and international conventions include lectures, rituals, and workshops.
My adaptation of “The Descent of Inanna” has been included as classroom material for California State University, Los Angeles’ Ancient Near East history syllabus in 2020.
The purpose of this site is two-fold.
First, it is to highlight the thriving community of Mesopotamian Polytheists (Sumerian Reconstructionism, Babylonian Reconstructionism, etc.) both within the United States and abroad.
The second, is to feature my own work within this community I consider my spiritual family.
As a writer, I focus primarily on the reconstruction movement (though I do no consider myself to be a staunch reconstructionist). My work includes “Rod & Ring: An Initiation Into A Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition”; “Lioness: The Song of Inanna; a forthcoming book “The Red Shepherd: Towards A New Image of Dumuzid”; the short story, “I, Adapa”.
Rod & Ring 