Drew Cali – The Beginning

Growing up, Drew had a typical American childhood. Like many boys his age, he played in the neighborhood with friends, he was athletic and liked playing sports, and as a teenager, he started playing the guitar. He never once saw spirits running around trying to speak to him or anything like that!

He was, however, a very sensitive child who was curious about the deeper meanings in life. He remembers being drawn to philosophy and asking his mom questions such as, “Where was I before I was born?” In his late teens when he won a book prize at a restaurant, he chose a book titled, “The Philosophy of Religion,” even though it drew an incredulous look from his father.

Drew’s dad was a very black and white person, often abrasive even to the point of being abusive at times. It was not an easy house for a sensitive child to grow up in, and Drew often escaped into his imagination as a coping mechanism. He would get lost in his own little world, whether it was playing GI Joes, writing, or drawing, and feel safe there. In his teens, he started escaping with more toxic substances like alcohol and drugs, desperate to numb his feelings.

After high school, Drew found himself wandering, unsure of any direction. He did a brief stint at a college in New Hampshire and a few cross-country trips to San Diego, CA, but it wasn’t until 9/11 that he experienced any sense of purpose. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Drew felt called to serve our country and joined the Army. He was 25 at the time. He served overseas in Baghdad, Iraq, and was honorably discharged in 2006.

When Drew returned from the war, he fell back into his previous pattern of trying to numb his feelings with alcohol and other substances. On the outside, he had a great life. He was a newly married, incredibly successful business owner. On the inside he felt emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. Then, tragedy struck. His baby daughter was stillborn at 8 months. Twenty-five days later, Drew’s brother-in-law committed suicide. It was a dark time and his marriage unfortunately did not survive, but it was the catalyst that helped Drew begin to turn his life around.

A little while later Drew’s sister persuaded him to see a psychic she had been to and came highly recommended. He resisted at first because to him, psychics were people you went to see drunk on the Jersey shore boardwalk as a joke. But eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check it out. During the session, Drew was surprised by how much the psychic knew about him, like how he had co-signed a car for an employee, for instance, and that the lease would go into default in April – which it did! At the end of the session, the psychic told Drew to go home and meditate. It was the best advice anyone ever gave him.

At the time, Drew knew nothing about meditating. In fact, he had to Google it to figure out what he was supposed to do! After reading about how to meditate for a little while, Drew decided to give it a shot. He sat down on a nearby chair and closed his eyes, not sure at all what to expect. What followed was a meditative experience that changed his life forever.

During the meditation, Drew had a vision, although calling what he experienced a vision doesn’t do it justice. It was so much more ‘real’ and tactile, drawing on all of his senses. In the vision, he was standing by a river. He could see it, feel it, hear it – like he was really there instead of sitting on a chair inside his house. He wanted to reach out and touch the water, but something held him back.

On the other side of the river was a man who seemed to be a thousand years old. It wasn’t that he looked old, but rather that he radiated the energy of an ancient spirit. Even though he had never seen the man before, Drew felt like he knew him. At one point during his vision, the man floated across the river towards him. As he got closer, Drew could feel the heat of the man’s body in front of him. It was such a shock that it made Drew audibly gasp and he immediately stopped meditating, scared by what he was feeling and seeing.

Nervously laughing, Drew told himself (and his dog sitting next to him), “Alright, enough of that!” and got up to go to bed. When he turned around, however, there in front of him was the silhouette of the man from his vision. In fact, Drew found himself surrounded by the silhouettes of many people, in the room with him and in the windows surrounding him. Scared though he was, it felt like coming home at the same time and he embraced the experience. He began drawing all the figures around him, questions swirling around in his brain. As soon as he thought a question, he would get an immediate answer, as if he and the strangers around him were connected on the same brain waves – like they had tapped into his thoughts and he into theirs.

That night was Drew’s first true encounter with his psychic gifts, the beginning point of his journey to where he is today.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3 of this series: Drew Cali - The Psychic Medium and Drew Cali - The Teacher.