gregory
Many people have never met a witch that they know of. I'll bet he's just curious and perhaps a bit clumsy at expressing his curiosity. I've had the same thing happen with people who hear my name and wonder if I'm a Jew having never met one.
I like what Zechariah13 says about the usefulness of boxes as a first step in getting to know people.
eta: Suppose he'd said, "I don't know much about this. Is tarot part of witchcraft? Are you a witch?" Slightly less clunky, perhaps. People get excited to meet others with backgrounds and lifestyles very unlike their own--at least I do. I don't think it's automatically stereotyping. Like I said--curiosity.
Yes - absolutely. Though there are of course fundamentalists of ALL types who have to treat people according to the boxes they put others in. That's NOT so good. This includes people from here who blast evangelical Christians - which is JUST as bad ! WE all have our own beliefs and deserve respect for them. Acceptance of others is key.
When people asked me (it's only happened about twice, and I'm not a witch) I just said "No, I am just very peculiar."
There's no arguing with that... Anyone who knows me here will agree