Straw-Death is a collection of field notes from the living land of Deeply Rooted Church. It gathers reflections, insights, and practical writing shaped by sustainable land stewardship. Our life here is a mixture of ritual, weather, maintenance, community, and personal growth.

When we speak of the Homeland, we mean the Pagan Homeland Project, first conceived by Wade Mueller, founder of Deeply Rooted Church in Athens, Wisconsin. Pagan Homeland is not a distant fantasy. It is the slow, difficult, worthwhile work of tending land, building memory, and creating durable Pagan space that can endure across generations.

This blog is primarily the story of our family: Shawni, our children, our animals, and me, Quill. We came here in turmoil and have been learning, day by day, how to build permanence, make sacrifices, grow beyond our comfort zones, and honor a place that existed long before us. We did not build Deeply Rooted. Many hands shaped her across 25 years. We are among those here now, tending the daily work and helping carry that legacy forward.

From that same understanding grows the Pagan Homeland Collaboration: a serious effort to support the future of land-based Pagan life by strengthening sacred spaces, rooted communities, and practical continuity. SHEAVES is part of that work, connecting land-based Pagan and nature-centered communities in shared learning without erasing the distinct roots of each place.