Meet Gary D’Andre | Educator/Spiritual Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gary D’Andre and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gary, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?

You keep going when you feel it in your soul that you know you are on the right track to something brand new. It feels like this natural pull to keep fighting even when you’ve put your all into it and still come up short.Somewhat like a gravitational pull towards something that you have always desired, and the Universe has provided you ample opportunity to try again and learn a new skill or perspective from the actions taken to get there. When the door continually gets slammed in your face regarding a situation, or you notice the outcome each time is not worth the energy being put into that particular situation, that’s when I know to make a move elsewhere.

There is so much power in giving up, also. Just because it doesn’t feel like something you WANT to do, it may be exactly what you need for that time. There’s a maturity in deciding to shift your intended action and knowing when enough is enough. Everything that is meant for you will always come to you and never a moment too late and the energy can be allocated appropriately to a different environment for the time being.

It always feels right in your spirit when it’s supposed to be the right thing for you. That’s what I always try to remind myself and stay aligned to that!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

My art and the work I do comes from a very vulnerable place and with a desire to serve others while staying true to myself. I’ve been journaling ever since I was a child and have actually kept all of my journals since the age of 10. Digging deeper into my feelings and being able to go back to those points in life where I processed emotions on paper in order to overcome them in real life has been a key component of me getting into spiritual work and creating intentions out of the desire for better.

I began learning more about astrology, numerology, and tarot right around the time that I made a personal decision to stop drinking alcohol to help save my life and reclaim my personal strength in trusting myself as I am. I had been through many trials with alcohol addiction and was looking for something to replace that bad habit in my later 20s. This was the first portion of the healing serum that helped me to recognize what was making me want to drink in the first place, who, and what was triggering me to be sent into that space of imbibing myself into oblivion. Learning more about why I was responding to difficult situations with the intent to forget became very important to dig into during my personal journey. Pulling cards for myself, meditating, and learning how to live more ‘consciously’ is what allowed me to recognize the gift that I had to help others on a larger scale. I was an elementary school and Spanish teacher in a past life, and relationship building + mentoring had always been a passion of mine. Providing guidance and holding space for others outside the four walls of the classroom became my goal since I didn’t feel like the way my body and mental health was holding up would continue to work. After losing my last job and needing to find a way to make money, I started offering my tarot services to people outside of my immediate circles via social media and other digital platforms. Once I started to get more confident in those skills, I was posting daily videos and infusing reading of the ‘energy of the day’ with tarot and oracle cards to my own personal story and this is where a lot of my beginnings in the wellness/spirituality sector come from.

In September of 2019, I had seen a post on social media about Buzzfeed looking for a spiritualist of color and I went ahead to apply for it, taking a leap of faith. I knew as a queer Black person who identifies as male, I didn’t see a lot of other readers or spiritualists out there that looked like me or gave a similar vibe to the work that I was doing. Visibility in our global community is so important to me as well as speaking from the heart! On November 11th of that year is the date that I filmed my first gig in my fully realized ‘new career’ in the spirituality and wellness industry. A lot of connecting with people, taking chances and believing in the work that I’m doing and the words I have to share is what kept me pushing. I wasn’t necessarily sure (and still am not fully sure) where this journey is taking me, but I do know that being a man of service has always been something I’ve valued all my life and wanted to uphold! Everything that I have been blessed with has come from my transparency and allowing others to see more into my personal life and support me while also passing that support forward. It hasn’t been easy because sometimes, you feel responsible to post every day or be there for others over being there for yourself. Having to remind myself of my priority to my wellbeing and also knowing I don’t KNOW everything is what I try and remind myself of in my work. I’m still in the early stages of my ‘freedom’ as I call it, and I’m still learning what the best, aligned way to share my work and also work with others is. Expressing that along the way has a sense of power in it and I think of myself as showing the steps I have been taking to continue to ‘glow up’ as the kids say.

What sets me apart from others is my vulnerability, I believe. Yes, we all can be vulnerable here in the world but do we find pride in wearing our hearts on our sleeves? Living out loud is something that growing up was taken away from me growing up as a Black queer man in the south, and I’ve been pushed to try and fit into boxes I didn’t necessarily feel like I was trying to fit into. I think about how all of us having something unique and special that just wants to be loved, heard, and respected and I feel like my purpose is to remind each person I work with or meet and interact with of these special components about them. I’m also the type of person who is going to give it to you straight, but also give it to you with love. I refer to myself as your ‘woo woo best friend’ – the type of person who is going to give you all the tea of the soul, snatch your wig while doing it and be kind enough to lay your edges down for you afterward because that’s what family does!

I want the world to know that I’m not perfect, and not trying to act like I am or know it all either! That doesn’t mean that I don’t have something to add to the global table because I’m deserving of that seat. We are responsible for one another to eat, shine, and soar. I want to be a person that you see that reminds you of that basic human law of love, feeling safe in each other’s company to grow, and actualizing the true version of who we are and what we are meant to be.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I currently live in Brooklyn, NY and if you know ME, you know that I rarely leave the house unless I am getting ready to take a trip somewhere. I stay on the go! However, when I am at home, I love visiting restaurants and going out to dinner with others; the act of sharing food with someone else really helps me loosen up and come back to myself.

I would start with food spots that I love to attend. Sisters in Brooklyn is a place I love to go to for their burgers and they have a full bar if that’s your jam! You can’t come to Brooklyn without going to Peaches OR Hothouse depending on your flavor; their southern-infused cuisine is so delicious and I would have to take my friend there. I love going to piers and parks as well, so Central Park would be on the menu along with Domino Park in Brooklyn. Taking a few days to just walk around, talk, catch up and enjoy the energy at this time of the year is always exciting. If they want to check some art out, we could hit the Brooklyn Museum and on certain weekends, they have special events that take place there. If the timing aligned, it would be something cool to do! What’s great about the city is there’s always something. to get lost in as long as you have a general idea of what you want to get into.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I want to dedicate this to my brother in Christ, Edrico. Edrico is the person I met way back when I was a college student via social media and we became friends through divine guidance. Their presence in my life over the last decade is what has kept me kicking here on Planet Earth and them seeing God’s love in me is what pushes me regularly.

Way back in 2010, I had lost a friend of mine unexpectedly and it shattered my world completely. Edrico and I had been friends via the Internet for a couple of months by that point. They helped me to deal with the pain of that loss at a time where I felt like I didn’t have anyone else around me who understood the emotions I was dealing with and lent a listening ear. As we became closer and ended up meeting one another in person within the following year, we started to talk about our futures and how we wanted to be known via ‘pen name’. I’ve always been super into competitive reality television and Edrico also knows of my affinity for ‘trap’ music.  Edrico gave me a new name to use instead of the one I had been using throughout my teen years.

Website: www.gangstagurry.me

Instagram: gangstagurry

Twitter: gangstaGURRY

Image Credits
Azim Hicks, Shawn Thomas, host of QBT Pod Carlos Valle, photographer