by Julie Rieger
My practice is to live in gratitude each day. It doesn’t always happen that way, though, I have to confess. Just like everyone else, I can be thrown off my center. I can lash out in anger. I can be pathetic. I can be needy. I can be arrogant. I can be selfish. I call it my practice because I literally practice each day for those egocentric moments to be fewer and more far between. I practice each day to speak my truth without fear of consequence or approval. I practice each day to be kind even if the other person in my face is an asshole. I practice each day to be nonjudgmental. (I guess I should retract the previous asshole comment.)
What matters is that I have a ritual, a practice. Like with anything else—any sport, art, or trade—we must practice to be better.
APPENDIX FIVE
The Crystal Kingdom: Five Crystals That Every Human Must Have
I hold a crystal in my hand every time I practice my daily rituals. Usually it’s a rose quartz, but as you know by now, many crystals are an integral part of my life. I love all the crystals in the crystal kingdom and could wax on for another few more hundred pages—but I’ll cut to the chase: If I had to pick only five crystals that every human should have, here’s my must-have list:
1. BLACK TOURMALINE
It’s no surprise that if I had to choose only one crystal for the rest of my life, it would be black tourmaline. It’s my king stone. When I’m taking ghost photographs or house clearing, you can bet I’ve got black tourmaline in all my pockets. I also have a plastic bucket in my backseat floorboard filled with black tourmaline. (You’ve never heard of anyone who had a car accident with a bucket of black tourmaline in their car, have you?) I have pieces in luggage, in my pocket, in my handbag, on my desk at work and home, and on every windowsill in the house. Its energy protects and strengthens me, and also helps me sleep well. It should be on every single bedside table in every single bedroom.
2. AMETHYST
Amethyst crystals are all a variation on the powerful color purple. They’re associated with serenity and are imbued with a high level of spiritual energy. Similar to black tourmaline, amethyst finds a place on my bedside table to help me sleep well and in various rooms where I work, where it promotes calm, radiant energy.
3. ROSE QUARTZ
Hold rose quartz in your hand and close your eyes, and you can just feel love. Its pink color is associated with our fourth chakra, the heart chakra. Rose quartz represents unconditional love, compassion, peace, and comfort; it clears out anger, resentment, and bitterness.
4. CITRINE
Citrine relates to earthly matters of survival and power—and essential resources like money—all of which are connected to our sense of self-worth. Its radiant yellow and gold color energizes and activates the third chakra of our solar plexus, which relates to our digestive tract and central nervous system.
5. CLEAR QUARTZ CRYSTAL
If there’s any stone that embodies almost every attribute in the crystal kingdom, it’s clear quartz crystal. It’s known as the “master healer” of all crystals and evokes the transparent power of water. People use it to heal various parts the body, neutralize negative energy, and harmonize all the chakras.
CHAKRAS
For your reference, here’s a quick look at each chakra: its name, location, color, associated organs, and energy. There are thousands of books available for anyone interested in learning more about chakras.
CHAKRA QUICK REFERENCE CHART
NUMBER
NAME
LOCATION
COLOR
ORGANS
ENERGY
First
root
base of spine
red
spine, limbs, circulatory system
survival
Second
sacral
below belly button
orange
reproductive organs, kidneys, bowels, immune system
emotions
Third
solar plexus
upper abdomen
yellow
pancreas, liver, digestive tract, skin, central nervous system
self-worth
Fourth
heart
center of chest
lower: pink; upper: green
thymus, heart, lower lungs, circulatory system, immune system
love
Fifth
throat
throat
blue
thyroid, respiratory system, teeth, vocal cords
communication and self-expression
Sixth
third eye
between the eyes
indigo
pituitary, eyes, sinuses
intuition and wisdom
Seventh
crown
top of the head
violet
pineal gland, brain, nervous system
connection to spirituality
Gratitude
I don’t know how to begin to thank everyone named in this book. To me, you’re not just a name, you are what makes me, me.
These experiences I describe in this book are part of us, part of our lives. And I believe that they are also bigger than us: They’re proof, whether in the form of photography or personal experience, that we are indeed spirits having a human experience. I didn’t understand this until you came into my life.
I thank you all for not making me feel crazy and for supporting me in my journey. I thank you for being by my side through tremendous grief, and for helping me find joy again. I thank you for listening to my stories—what seemed to be unbelievable—of the unseen world. And thank you for telling me yours.
To Suzanne: What a privilege it is to be your wife, your partner in this life. Thank you for picking me not only when it was easy, but, more important, when it was hard. Thank you for never telling me that. You keep me grounded. You make me better. Wherever you are is home. It is an honor to grow old with you. I have loved you for many lifetimes, I feel sure.
To Brenda: Because of you, I believe in magic. If not for your wisdom, open heart, extraordinary gifts, and unwavering friendship, I would be twirling with no true north. It is an honor to be your elf. You have my love and devotion for eternity.
To Mona: I miss you every single day. I drive by your house on my way to work and my heart sinks without fail. In life you taught me warmth and devotion, and I taught you that you can’t make French toast in a toaster. In death, I learned that you were still here. Honestly, with your son in our house, it was hard to ignore you. Our electronics worked perfectly after he moved out. I love you, Mona. I will see you again.
To Pam (Mona’s sister): Thank you for grieving with me, for understanding my inconsolable pain. Thank you for being the funniest sad person on the planet. I am so sorry that you lost so much that horrible night on the way back to LA from Lake Havasu. I know you will never be the same. I admire your courage, your devotion to your husband and to your sister. You love so very deeply it’s a curse and a gift. I will always love you so very much.
To Patricia: I love everything about you, from your prickly exterior to your marshmallow heart. I thank you for teaching me to trust my intuition and to believe in my own powers. I thank you for teaching me about the power of crystals. You are one badass psychic lady who is very picky about her friends; I am honored to be one of them. I can honestly say that I have loved every single second I have spent with you so far on this Earth. That’s hard to find.
To Ima: I don’t know how to properly thank you. Here it goes: Thank you for including me in your psychic tribe. You shared not only your gifts with me, but an extraordinary amount of time, which is one of our most precious resources. I am most grateful for this gift from you. Instead of handing me a fish, you taught me how to be a kickass fisherman.
To Tony Sella: My friend, my former boss, my brother from another lifetime, I love you. You are my mirror. Through you I see who I am on so many levels and dimensions. I know your kindness, your genius, and your beautiful crazy
. You will forever by my teacher of the creative gifts from the universe.
To Cubby, my sister from another mother: We know everything about each other. You are my rock, my keeper. I have never once felt alone on this Earth because of you. I will love you until the end of time.
To Julie Piepenkotter: I thank you for being my smart friend who knows how to spell and use proper punctuation. I swear on my life that autocorrect just kicked in when I tried to spell punctuation. Aside from your incredible grasp of the English language, you are my friend with a giant heart who was so willing to read and read and read and talk and talk and talk about this book. We learned so much about each other through the process and this body of work, which is better as a result of you. You made me find more of me.
To my friends Sari and Becca: I keep you two apart for a reason; together you would torture me relentlessly. Separately, you have stuck by me day in and day out, encouraging me to dig deeper and on occasion be funnier when I was exhausted by life. I love you both.
To my friend and master of the advertising universe JoAnn Ross: It was you. It was you who encouraged me to move fearlessly and share my story with Carolyn Reidy. Our bond is not what we do for a living, but our unwavering love for our moms. I will forever be grateful to you, JoAnn.
And to you, Carolyn Reidy, and you, Judith Curr: My God did you take a chance with me. I admire your faith and commitment to finding new voices in the strangest places. I would certainly call ghost photography a strange place. I would also say, as a businesswoman, that you are both leaders who inspire other women (don’t worry, we’re watching you). No guts, no glory, right? I will forever be grateful to you and for picking Zhena to guide me down this path I never traveled.
To my publisher, Zhena Muzyka: Everything about you is magical, from your own writings, your storytelling, your love, and your family, to your compassion for every single living thing. There was no publisher in the world better for me than you. Thank you for loving my voice when I didn’t even know I had one. And thank you for knowing me before I knew myself. Your vision will heal others. Your soul is so giant, I don’t know how it fits in that little body of yours. I will follow you anywhere.
To my editor and ghostwriter, Debra Ollivier: You are not just an editor or a ghostwriter to me, you’re now a friend, a member of my tribe. You taught me proper storytelling. You pushed me to reveal the depths of my soul to better serve our readers. And the funny thing is this, it served me, too. You’re like a coach who also plays in the game. Thank you for being my coach and for opening your home and your life to me. I hope this is just our beginning. To you, I give you my devotion and admiration.
To Stacey Snider: I have worked for and with many great women in my life, but not one like you. You exude class, utter brilliance, genuine kindness, self-deprecation, and a wicked sense of humor. And you’re tough as fucking nails. You blazed a trail for not only women like me, but women everywhere. We are indebted to you. Your husband had it right when he said you’re a combination of Lucy Ricardo and Albert Einstein. Working for you is enchanting.
To a real hero and psychic soul sister, my photo editor, Ariell Brown: Sister, you are the first person I have encountered who sees everything that I do. Only you could usher my ghosts into the light where everyone else can see them.
To my dog, Homer: In the moments when I was petrified that I opened a ghost portal, you were right there by my side. We would walk the perimeter of the property together, burning sage, praying, and talking to your grandma Margaret asking her to protect our family and home. You are the first dog I ever truly loved. I am you in a human suit. We both bark a lot, we both love a good snack, we both sense danger, we both don’t come when our name is called, we both know Booger is in charge of the house, but most important, we are fiercely loyal to each other and those we love.
About the Author
JULIE RIEGER is the award-winning president, chief data strategist, and head of media at 20th Century Fox, responsible for marketing such notable films as Avatar, Deadpool, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Book Thief, and she is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. An Oklahoma native, she now resides in Los Angeles, California, with her wife, dogs, and ever-expanding group of ghostly friends.
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Copyright © 2018 by Julie Rieger
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First Enliven Books/Atria Books hardcover edition October 2018
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Interior design by Dana Sloan
Jacket design by The Book Designers
Jacket photography © Shutterstock
Author photo by Richard Radstone
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rieger, Julie, author.
Title: The ghost photographer : a Hollywood executive discovers the real world of make-believe / Julie Rieger.
Description: First Enliven Books hardcover edition. | New York : Enliven Books, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018016449 (print) | LCCN 2018035439 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501158919 (eBook) | ISBN 9781501158896 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501158902 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Rieger, Julie. | Parapsychology—Biography. | Occultism—Biography. | Ghosts.
Classification: LCC BF1027.R485 (ebook) | LCC BF1027.R485 A3 2018 (print) | DDC 130—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016449
ISBN 978-1-5011-5889-6
ISBN 978-1-5011-5891-9 (ebook)
Certain names and identifying characteristics have been changed.
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