'The term Druid means different things to different people. For some, it conjures up images of venerable white-robed and bearded gentlemen gathering at Stonehenge or at the Welsh National Eisteddfod. Others, with more awareness of the past, think of Druids as cruel religious fanatics, striking down hapless victims of human sacrifice by stabbing or burning. For others, again, Druids are somehow mixed up with secret forest groves, mistletoe, magic and spells. So what is the reality? Who were these mysterious people? When and where did they manifest themselves? And how do we know anything about them?

The available contemporary evidence presents a complex picture: Druids were involved in politics, sacrificial ritual, prophecy and the control of the supernatural world. They were teachers, keepers of oral tradition, royal advisors and, in some instances they were themselves rulers. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, they were feared and venerated because they had the ear of the divine world'

- Miranda J. Green - The World Of the Druids - P. 7