Please forgive me for the above, my only excuse is I am having a bad attack of the "silles" This morning,
I had responsibility for the art Pottery kiln area and the Tech support for it at the University I worked for and it was always more than just another tool to the potters, it was always, as John said, a mystical experience and treated almost as a "religious" experience with its rituals of loading and unloading etc.
. I t was also my good fortune ,to be allowed to be present when a colleague at another place I worked let me attend while they did a Raku firing!! it was amazing!! ( I attended as a H&S observer, well thats my story and I'm sticking to it) and seems to be a very high risk process for the pots, as the "mortality rate" was higher than Kiln firing.