Vegans of tumblr, listen up. Harvesting agave in the quantities required so you dont have to eat honey is killing mexican long-nosed bats. They feed off the nectar and pollinate the plants. They need the agave. You want to help the environment? Go back to honey. Your liver and thyroid will thank you, as well. Agave is 90% fructose, which can cause a host of issues. Bye.
Beekeeper here! Just wanted to say that the fact that vegans won’t eat honey is very silly. Harvesting honey does not hurt bees. The invention of modern moveable-frame hives means we can remove a selected frame, extract the honey and return it without killing a single bee.
If we destroyed the colony to harvest honey there would be no bees for next year, and beekeepers are incredibly careful to keep their bees healthy and thriving. We take *excess* honey that they don’t need, and it stops the hive from becoming honey-bound, meaning that there’s so much honey the Queen has nowhere to lay eggs. And if the winter is harsher than expected and the remaining honey store runs low, we feed the bees plenty to make sure they survive. We also make sure that pests are controlled, bees are treated for disease, and the hive is weatherproof and in good repair, all things that wild bees struggle with.
Keeping bees in properly managed hives where they don’t starve or die from preventable disease is much better for them than being left to fend for themselves, and they’re far too important to be left alone.
All the fruits and vegetables that vegans *do* eat couldn’t exist without bees, and the hives which pollinate those crops also produce excess honey which the beekeepers can sell to help keep themselves and their hives going.
TLDR: BUY THE HONEY, HELP THE BEES.
I can confirm that beekeepers love their bees more than they love their customers (and sometimes people related by blood).
Witchcraft isn’t a religion – you’re all making it into this weird culty thing and Tumblr has turned it into something stale and conformed
Wiccan and witch are not synonymous – there are witches of all religions
There’s not a right or wrong way to practice – do whatever feels right in every situation
You don’t need to believe in any gods, worship anything at all, have crystals or buy things from Instagram witch shops (most of the time they’re just capitalists anyway)
You don’t need to declare what specific type of witch you are – you can strive to be balanced
You create your own rules no matter what – it’s a deeply personalized way of life or thought process to each culture and each person
if someone tries to dictate how you do what you do, they’re gatekeeping pricks and should be throat slapped
Be true to yourself – this is only about harnessing your own strength and emotions and figuring out what parts you play in the world, not about an aesthetic or a fashion or trying to be the best witchling for other people’s admiration
Try to have fun and stop taking it so seriously, you uptight nerds
Kismet and Chaos 