In many fantasy literature and film and television works, the appearance of the character "druid" can often be seen, and both the name and skill seem to be linked to the ancient European mythology.
The most classic example is in the popular game Warcraft, the Druid is a magical class, mainly using spells in battle, if you change the strategy during the period, the release of auxiliary skills will make the druid suddenly different.
The Clawed Druid can turn into a bear, and the Raptor Druid can turn into a Storm Crow. Many other games also see druids with antlers. It can be seen that they are like Sun Wukong, with the magic of transfiguration, which also reflects their proficiency in skillfully using the power of nature.
In fact, it is unknown whether the magical abilities of the druids really exist, but this group has indeed appeared in history, and it is rumored that they live in the forest, blend into nature, and devote themselves to cultivation. Over the years, the Druids have been loved by their creators precisely because of their mysterious past.
▲ The Druid is inextricably linked to the oak tree
It is now widely believed that the Druid is an ancient religion of Celtic origin, also known as the Druidism, and the legendary powerful mage is probably the Druid priest.
In the 5th century BC, christianity had not yet been founded, and the Celts, which were widely distributed in ancient Europe, allowed Druidism to spread. But Druidism is relatively primitive, has no perfect missionary system, and loves to be low-key, and the preaching of doctrine is simple and natural, so there is no obvious distinction between faith and unbelief.
The Druid's English "Druid", which originally meant "those who are familiar with the oak tree", the believers accompanied the oak forest all year round, regarding the acorn as a sacred fruit and the mistletoe as a panacea. They conform to nature, obey nature, and try to protect nature with the power of their own magic.
It is said that the Druid priests, as priests of the Celts, were proficient in divination, often able to prophesy, and were familiar with the rituals of sacrifice, and at the same time made great achievements in calendar, medicine, astronomy, and literature. They are reclusive in their daily lives, but once the political arena is agitated, they often mediate, and their credibility is extremely high.
In society, the Druid priests were able to combine themselves as enforcers, explorers, and bards, and when they lived in seclusion, they were like the brown-robed wizard Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit.
The druids, who were deeply worshipped at that time, had extremely mysterious doctrines and rituals, and generally only passed them on by word of mouth, so few scriptures survived in the world. Therefore, there were various rumors later, such as the use of living sacrifices, but most of these rumors lacked sufficient evidence.
▲ The Druid priest hid in a cave when he was persecuted
In the eyes of the self-proclaimed orthodox Roman Empire, the Celts belonged to the barbarians, and the expansion of the Celts became a major problem for the Romans.
In the 1st century, Rome began a major crusade against the Celts, and at the same time, the Druids were destroyed.
Of course, Rome's indiscriminate slaughter of the Druids was, on the one hand, to exclude religion and kill people, and on the other hand, because the Druid priests participated in the war and played an important role.
In the long years of nearly 1700 years, the already mysterious Druidism was even more mysterious, basically existing only in folk songs and mountain songs.
▲ New Druid religious rituals after reconstruction
By the 17th century, an English antiqueist had inferred that Stonehenge was a Druid product, which, although later falsified, sparked the Druid Revival Movement, and in 1717 William Stucker and John Tolan announced the restoration of Druidism.
Of course, the historical materials and doctrines about the druids have not been left on paper, and several catastrophes have obscured the only oral accounts, and the druidism that is now believed in the people inevitably mixes modern elements.
More interestingly, there is a group of druids in the United States who profess their faith in druids only to oppose the university's forced religious service. Since the principle of freedom of religious belief is violated to force people to believe in religion, it is advisable to believe in a religion that almost does not exist.
Others who actively choose druids are mostly attracted by the druids' advocacy of freedom, freedom, and mystery in the unity of heaven and man. In fact, the restoration of druidism is not important, let alone necessary, but the romantic lifestyle of the druid's birth also caters to the current people's desire to "lie flat", which is a good comfort.
(The picture in the text is from the Internet)