Dan Price has taken two very different paths in life. One led to an existence without belief and devoid of spirituality, the other to a strong belief in karma and the spirit world. He was a materialistic fitness instructor into trendy clothes and flash cars, now he is a medium, and finally at peace with himself. Liz Weafer met him for a reading.

FOR a medium Dan looks extremely conventional - tall, broad and tanned with a shaved head and unusual blue eyes that sometimes look almost brown.

His flat is small but charming, and is adorned with tasteful ornaments, paintings and colourful crystals from around the world.

It is immaculate and I was astounded by the number of CDs and DVDs he had covering the entire wall of his sitting room.

My impression of him as a very ordered man was further reinforced when he informed me they were organised in alphabetical order.

Dan, 34, of Russell Street, Stroud, is an animated, intense person, with penetrating eyes, in fact I was scribbling furiously in my notepad to avoid meeting them in case he craftily read my mind.

His story is a sad one. For many years Dan felt like a lost soul, drifting from one job to another, overwhelmed by a sense of not belonging.

"For a long time I was depressed, and would abuse my body with drugs and alcohol because I wanted to escape from myself and what I was experiencing," he said.

"I was having premonitions, seeing figures and sensing spirits - my back would vibrate or they would show themselves in a flash of light."

He pauses a moment, looks at his furry forearm, which is covered in goosebumps, and then glances eagerly at the door. "They are queuing up for you," he tells me with a grin.

Born in Bournemouth, Dan worked as a fitness instructor and personal trainer until he moved to Berkeley to live with his beloved grandmother.

When he first arrived in Stroud two years ago, he felt lonely and desolate, knowing no one and living in a cramped flat with no furniture.

He has slowly rebuilt his life and with the help of Stroud Spiritualist Church, he is now fully accustomed to his paranormal thoughts. Dan says he foresees tragedies and events before they take place.

"Before the Asian tsunami I felt overcome by grief, and I found myself drawing a symbol of water," he told me while rolling a cigarette.

"When my partner had a serious car crash I said to my friend on the way to the hospital, 'I knew this was going to happen."

Dan is currently unemployed but does a lot of work for Stroud Spiritualsit Church and sometimes holds services there.

Before the reading I must confess to being a sceptic. This, however, did not stop my heart racing and hands fidgeting as the spiritual guru opened the channels of energy.

Eyes tightly closed, his finger slowly tracing circular shapes on the glass table, his other hand rubbing his forehead, I don't know what he was mouthing but the gates were open.

Before long we had a whole range of weird and wonderful spirits floating around Dan's living room - a Shetland pony, a brown short-haired dog frantically wagging its tail, my granddad and briefly my uncle.

By the sounds of it they were all clamouring to be heard and he had to firmly tell them to slow down and stop getting so close.

I would be lying if I said it was spookily true, I did not ride when I was younger, my 17-year-old single sister is not expecting a child (I hope), I am not looking to move, since I only moved to Stroud three months ago, my boss doesn't crack the whip and my 20-stone granddad, God rest his soul, was definitely not sporty.

That said, my mother is a 'glamour puss', I have got my eye on someone and I do put barriers up.

Towards the end, when I was trying to soften the blow by saying 'maybe', 'sometimes', 'not that I know of' rather than a straight 'no', he got it scarily right.

When my uncle died a couple of years ago, we all suspected it was suicide. The coroner gave a verdict of accidental death but it just didn't add up.

So when Dan asked me if there was anybody in particular I wanted to communicate with, I answered yes, my uncle John.

After closing his eyes in deep concentration for a minute or so, slowly rolling a quartz crystal between his palms, Dan asked me, "Is his name John? Did he commit suicide?"

Stunned, I stammered: "Yes, well that's what we all thought."

His hands shaking, Dan proceeded to tell me that John's spirit was hesitant but that he was sorry and he had not meant to do it - he said this twice.

I came away feeling utterly confused, and strangely for a non-believer, I believe absolutely, no doubt in my mind, that my uncle killed himself.

To book a reading call Dan on 01453 765356.