Independent, Together

We came to Deeply Rooted by different roads, however for both of us, those roads were marked by harm, survival, and the long work of trying to build a life that was not shaped by the same old violence.

We are honest about that.

We have both lived through abuse. We both know what it means to be uprooted, to carry trauma in the body, and to keep searching for steadier ground. Independent, Together is the name we chose because it tells the truth about the life we are building now: not dependence, not possession, not one person disappearing into the other, however two distinct people choosing to stand on shared ground.

We did not meet at the beginning of our journeys. A great deal had already happened by the time our lives joined: grief, growth, children, hard lessons, healing, and the kind of change that leaves a person permanently different. There are moments I wish we could have shared earlier. However I am grateful we have this life now.

Shawni is not the single source of my joy, and I am not hers. That matters. What we have is not about rescue. It is about inspiration, commitment, and the daily choice to grow alongside one another. The same is true of our children, our animals, and the life we are building here on the land.

Our blogs reflect that shared life from two distinct perspectives. We write about Paganism, family, healing, stewardship, creativity, off-grid living, and the practical reality of making a home at Deeply Rooted. We write as people who are not interested in fantasy for fantasy’s sake. We are interested in what it takes to build something durable.

That is part of what Pagan Homeland means to us.

We believe land-based Pagan life can offer more than ritual space. It can offer structure, belonging, responsibility, and a real chance at rootedness for people who are rebuilding after danger, instability, or displacement. We believe some of the people best suited to steward this kind of land may be people like us: people with scars, people with mental health struggles, people doing the hard work of healing while also tending something larger than themselves.

When done well, that relationship can be mutually beneficial.

The land is cared for.

The people are changed by caring for it.

A homeland is built slowly, through weaving memories, labor, reciprocity, and the willingness to remain.

We did not build Deeply Rooted. Many people carried her before us. We are among those here now, trying to honor that legacy with our hands, our words, and the life we are raising on this land.

Independent, Together is where those threads meet.