What if the question is asked so much because it is more a seeking of reassurance that the Craft is really real? Maybe some need to hear it from real practitioners so they don't feel they will be mocked by their peers without cause.

 I suspect it might have more to do with personal insecurities and that they need to be reassured that they are really real.   

 Given the overall hassles involved with taking on any label ... why not remain formless ?

 It's pretty hard for the fundies to persecute something that they can't put a name to. 

You still get many that think Witches worship the Devil . This still has strong roots in some country's where being said that your a Witch will get you killed . Home many people have come on here and said they feared to let people know what they were because of where they lived in this country .

I think it's asked so much because there is a long standing habit of screaming witch at people with psychic abilities, or at someone who behaves like a bitch, or someone others don't like... Most really don't have a clue what goes into it or if it is even real.

True, though if they bothered to read the definition it's right there.

It really depends which dictionary you are talking about. Some still have older versions. I saw one some years back that seemed to take the witches hammer too seriously... like biblical level religious text kind of seriously...

What if the question is asked so much because it is more a seeking of reassurance that the Craft is really real? Maybe some need to hear it from real practitioners so they don't feel they will be mocked by their peers without cause.

I think it's asked so much because there is a long standing habit of screaming witch at people with psychic abilities, or at someone who behaves like a bitch, or someone others don't like... Most really don't have a clue what goes into it or if it is even real.

True, though if they bothered to read the definition it's right there.

I've never heard the term "religious tourist" to mean eclecticism.  Eclecticism--real eclecticism--is a HARD path, since there is no guide book or "master" to follow.  You have to figure out how things do and don't fit together on your own.  So Eclectics are hard workers taking the bath less traveled.

Sadly, many don't actually put in the effort and slap things together in a pile of superficial nonsense.  These people don't tend to last long since their "path" lacks any kind of substance.

A "religious tourist" on the other hand is someone who decides there are Taoist this week.  Jewish next.  Hari Krishna the week after and so on.  They try and sample but don't commit.

I think it's asked so much because there is a long standing habit of screaming witch at people with psychic abilities, or at someone who behaves like a bitch, or someone others don't like... Most really don't have a clue what goes into it or if it is even real.

 I wonder if it might be part of a larger social trend. We live in a fast paced world these days

 The Toltec has been greatly simplified and reinvented as Nagualism.

 The AF&AM has all but abandoned ritual in some states.It's possible to receive all three degrees in a single day after attending a class & performing a certain amount of community service hours. When ritual is talked about it's more often referred to as a series of harmless plays.

 The OES seems all but dead. ( It's heavily steeped in ritual. ) There's little or no new blood coming in to fill the shoes of the dearly departed. The interest just desn't seem to be there.

 Can't imagine there are very many of the "Old Guard" left. Without dogma and structure to hold the line unchanging Wicca morphed into wicca and the more difficult & demanding aspects of the practice were shed along the way ?

 Overall, the young people that i talk with seem to have a bias against all religion in favor of science & reasoned thinking. Thanks Bill Maher & Religilous ?

 Maybe the spiritual and philosophical aspects of a religion are acceptable but a ritual practice of the craft is a bit too far out there for the young people of today ?

 

I really don't know why this gets asked so much.  it's very simple. witchchacks practice witchcraft.  No witchcraft, no witch.  Everything else is just personal preference and window dressing.

I'll try to find the book I read it in and the word was not Wice , wici or wica but was shorten to that and it was like a trade tongue between the Saxon and  Danes before 1000 c.e. . To many books  .