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the divine, but rather something nonhuman, like the very essence of metal.
Now the story may be interpreted as a discovery by the early modern Transylvanians of a refractory metal. Such material could be melted into a cannon ball for military tests and, in the face of its discovery by the enemy forces, hidden in a statue. Still, whatever the truth, the word about the new material got out and as a result emerged some new sects worshipping metal as a living creature, which, in their turn, gradually would give birth to similar lore of this kind. Therefore, similar cults would appear concerning not only metals but other materials as well.