.jpg)
The Living Arts
Don’t Flip Out! It’s Going to Be a Great New Year
A Conversation with Tori Hartman
by Sydney L. Murray
I don’t know if you have ever seen the Bravo TV show, “Flipping Out,” but Tori Hartman was instrumental in helping Jeff Lewis, the obsessive compulsive star of the show, create his deal with the network. This show portrayed his wacky experiences of buying and flipping (selling) homes. Hartman was also instrumental in helping to clear the energy in homes that weren’t selling so that they would sell. After talking to Hartman a few times this fall and receiving a Luck Candle from her, I wanted to share this special woman with our readers. She is compassionate and funny while offering hope to her clients about moving forward in their lives.
Vision Magazine: What can people do to jump-start the new year?
Tori Hartman: The first thing is understanding that the alignment of thought and energy is more important than the action you take. What you do first is stop and meditate, even if it is just three to five minutes per day. Something that quiets your mind for a few minutes is going to be the first thing that gets you back on track, especially going into this New Year. I am noticing tons of people who are already “gone” this year even though their bodies are here. They don’t want to be here. They have checked out.
VM: These last few months have been very challenging for a lot of people. Where do you think are we headed?
TH: I think our whole country is aware of the world in a way that we haven’t been before. We are very conscious about what is going on in the rest of the world. We are very concerned about Iran, Iraq, India, and China. We are truly realizing that we are all in this together. If someone blows up India, we are all affected. It’s making us think outside of our homes. People around the world are losing their homes to fire and earthquake. The mortgage crisis is a small part of this loss of homes; but it is also making us realize we have to help each other. So I do think we [Americans] are becoming more involved in global issues.
If I had to say one word for this next year I would say it is legacy. We’re all going to start thinking more consciously. We are going to ask ourselves, what are we leaving behind?
Remember the cliché that “we’re not human beings having a spiritual experience; we’re spiritual beings having a human experience.” We’re starting to understand that concept more than we have before. When we die we go on. No matter what your religion is, there is another side to it. So I think we are starting to realize that spirit is continuous and we have a responsibility. And there is this wonderful belief I work with that your life affects seven generations behind you and seven generations in front of you. And you have a responsibility to pay attention to what you are doing. In the 80s, we found out that we were messed up and we blamed our parents. In the 90s, we said, “Hey, wait a second—we have to take personal responsibility.” More recently, we’ve found out that we could do something [to change the world].
That was the beauty of this election on November 4—an entire population of people who thought their voice never counted was counted. And that was the power in this realization that one person can make a difference.
I think it’s a really powerful thing for all of us, no matter who you voted for. If you stood in line on Election Day—talk about power! I stood for an hour in the sun and I didn’t care.
VM: What would you tell people who don’t know who you are?
TH: I am probably one of the most unlikely people to be a psychic or intuitive. I am a person just like you. I get up in the morning and I go through my day. I have my own issues and problems. I tell off the cable people just like other people. I think that I am very blessed with a gift to be able to see things that will assist you in moving to the next level in your life. I have always been someone who has believed very strongly that everyone’s voice counts. I love entrepreneurs and people that take risks and want to change their lives. And I am someone who can very powerfully support that. I also work with people who come to me because they are in fear. They need to create something and do it quickly. I have had people come to me with $2000 in debt or $100,000 in debt and it doesn’t matter because it is the same energy. I help them create a whole new story around their life because it is all related to the stories we tell ourselves. And that is what a belief is—we create it.
I’m a spiritual coach and yes, I am psychic. I can see things but I like to remove myself from the idea that I know better than you. My whole work is about empowering you to make your own decisions in your own relationship with spirit, or God, or Jesus or whatever that is for you. That is where I derive my energy from: you based on what your needs are. I am always honored when people come to me because I know they have entrusted their spiritual energy to me. It is my obligation to be as supportive as I can. It’s sort of like being a spiritual doula as I deliver you to what you need to know.
And the magic of it is that I am just confirming what is going on in your lives and confirming the decisions that you’re making. The beauty of a reading is that you will know which way your energy is taking you. I think the new style of a reading is about what is going to happen to you based upon where you are heading.
VM: How did you end up developing your different line of products?
TH: The first line was the candle line. If someone came to me with a problem and I wanted to clear the energy, I would make a healing candle for him or her. I would use my own aromatherapy blends, put crystals into them and just create a candle. I would find that many people used them successfully. Eventually, I realized that more people wanted them than I could make myself. I found a candle company out of Colorado. The woman that pours them is a Reiki practitioner. We hand pour organic soy (which is quite a process, as they are two-pound candles) into a glass jar that I have hand blown with an intention inscribed on it. A lot goes into these kits because the intention you want in your life is built into them.
If I need a shift I will just take a candle and my intention will shift the energy. I can literally stand over it and pray and it shifts energy. I have found it to be a beacon for me.
I developed the candles three years ago. Next the jewelry came along because I was working with Jeff Lewis on his house blessings. I created six home pieces and I have since edited them down to three. I created these home pieces because I wanted people to quickly shift energy in a room. I found a woman to create this jewelry. I would tell her what I was seeing and she would create it. You never do this work alone. I co-created these jewelry pieces and candles.
I created the Artists Magic piece to hang in the window for this one person who wanted to write. Each of the pieces would quickly shift energy in the room.
One that is important to me is the Chakra Vortex line. The chakras dance, their energies move and I wanted to make them look like a bunch of grapes. These pieces are very fluid.
I am streamlining all of my lines—I’m telling you, it is that Pluto Capricorn shift [inspiring me] to shape up, organize and minimize.
The gratitude bracelets are my heart’s love. My personal favorite is the Stone of Truth. They're each made individually. I am going to lower the prices so I can offer these blessings to more people.
People show up as angels to guide us. In this New Year, I really think we are coming into a year of trust and I think that is the beauty of what we have seen happen so far. There is going to be so much trust and faith in each other. That, for me, is huge.
VM: 2008 has shown me that “the old ways are not working.” Being aware of that, I am looking for new ways. Can you comment on that?
TH: What we have to look at is that Pluto breaks down and rebuilds. For over a decade, Sagittarius was about excess and before that was Scorpio—with struggle, building walls, and hiding secrets.
Now with Pluto going into Capricorn we are asking ourselves many questions. What is prudent? What do we need? What is practical, smart and usable? Like you said, the old ways are not working, [the ways in which] people used to throw a lot out there and see what sticks.
People are getting smarter and won’t buy into [tricks such as], “This course is $1000, but for you, today only, it’s $299.”
I have to laugh because there are people who just don’t understand the work we do. Someone once said at a party, “Oh you are just reading people’s energy.” And I said, “Pretty much.” He retorted, “That’s phony,” to which I responded by asking, “Why is that phony?” He answered, “Because it is not authentic.” I asked, “What do you do?” He replied, “I’m a mortgage broker.” I said, “Enough said.” Nothing is authentic anymore. What we are realizing is that everything is a product of our imagination. We created this financial crisis and we will create the solution. And the solution has to be caring about others. We have to offer dinner to those friends who don’t have much. I am having my big annual birthday party this Friday. It is potluck and everyone comes because it is about gathering together. I will be having more salons next year. And it’s fun. Remember when we were little and our families would sit around the table and talk until all hours of the night. I am waiting for the day when families turn off their phones and cell phones for the weekend. Because it is only a matter of time before we all do it. I see eight-year-olds staring at IPhones and bumping into things because they are not paying attention to life.
I think gathering family and friends is really important and to be grateful, because we are not here forever. Not in this form. Gone are the days of arrogant experts. Look at the people who have really lasted like Wayne Dyer or Tony Robbins—they are not arrogant. They are loving and supportive, and they love their public.
In this next year the get-rich-quick-schemes are going to fall by the wayside. We have to get back to helping each other and taking personal responsibility for everything that happens.
I think the biggest thing for regeneration is that you must find relaxation. There is no way to create from frantic energy. The biggest thing we have to do is we must take down-time for ourselves. I believe we are really just going back to old family values. And I think it is going to be a great time for people because we really are going to rely upon each other.