Martie Geiger-Ho first became aware of archetypes and concept of Carl Jung's collective unconscious when she was a student in graduate school trying to explain why, as a ceramist, that she felt a need to photograph herself camping for the camera as her alter ego, the Kiln Priestess. Created in response to her desire to control the firing process, her Kiln Priestess character was predicated on the notion that a kiln god could take human form. As a chthonic character representing a flesh-and-blood kiln god come to life, the Kiln Priestess was, and still is for Geiger-Ho, a numinous figure that embodies the creative force or spirit that guides her production of pottery.