Welcome to the Earthside Survival Guide podcast, a monthly podcast hosted by Yaya Erin Rivera Merriman, founder of Active Culture Family and Medicine Mandala, a mystery school located in the mountains of Southern California that supports unconventional wisdom keepers in finding pleasure, purpose and liberation through the path of esctatic stewardship of Planet Earth. Yaya has been a seeker, student, and practitioner of healing arts for 22 years and her speaking, writing, online, and in person educational programs currently reach thousands of people daily all over the world.
ESG022 Soul Family, Healing Trauma, and Empowering People Through Tarot with Lindsay Mack
Feb 27, 2020
In this episode, we are joined by Lindsay Mack, host of the popular weekly podcast, Tarot for the Wild Soul. Lindsay is passionately dedicated to honoring and helping to bring space, light, and healing to those who are experiencing mental, emotional or physical suffering. She is also the creator of Soul Tarot, a reinterpretation of the Tarot as a healing tool, one that can assist us in differentiating the noise of our brain from the truth of our soul.
In this episode we also explore:
Differentiating between soul family and biological family, who Lindsay’s people are and what they need
Healing trauma with tarot vs operating from habitual social dynamics
Themes intuitive are seeing in private practice
Choosing guides who share information in a way that feels safe and empowering to us
Unpacking some of the less popular cards in the deck
Learn more about Lindsay Mack by visiting her online at:
ESG021 Walking Skinless as an Act of Service with Eve Bradford
Jan 13, 2020
For Episode 21 we are joined by culture maker, oracle, poet, educator, and author of the book Instructions to a Young Magician (from herself), Eve Bradford. Eve joined us back in 2017 as our guest for episode #3, a really fun conversation titled: Poet as Revolutionary and Sacred Whore, that, if you haven’t had a chance to listen to yet, we highly recommend clicking the link below to listen now, so you can enjoy the way Eve’s work is growing over time as much as we do
In this episode we also explore:
Why people seek out ritual in times of chaos and loss
The surprising relationship between risk and heart health
Eve’s background and what prompted a period of intense growth and transformation
How Eve discovered her ability to channel and her different experiences as an oracle
The importance of listening to Lillith speak
Ecstatic usefulness during the oraclar process and what it takes to be an oracle
Learn more about Eve Bradford by visiting her online at:
ESG020 Authenticity, Kundalini and Coming Out of the Culture Closet with Kirti Srivastava
Oct 24, 2019
For Episode 20 we are joined by the founder of the DilSe Spirit School and a pillar of the local movement community, Kirti Srivastava. Kirti uses creativity and spirituality to ignite access to source divine. A dancer, yogi, and an educator for over 20 years--she looks to connect our human existence to our spiritual calling. As a first-generation American, Kirti weaves constructs of race and identity into her spiritual work, resulting in deep conversations around appropriation, patriarchy, and the responsibility of human beings on this planet.
She currently works as a yoga philosophy teacher, promotes peach through self-love as a personal trainer integrating mindful fitness, brings arts and spirit into school culture as an educational consultant and facilitates individual and group energy healing practices through breath, sound, and movement as an established movement medicine practitioner here in San Diego, CA.
We dedicate the first ⅓ of the episode time to learn more about Kirti’s background to better understand who she is. With her upbringing in a community that was had an abundance of white supremacists, she realized--early in her life--what skin color, pedagogy, and learned behaviors meant. In this episode we also explore:
Racism and creating your path as you grow into who you are meant to be
Authenticity: Coming out of your cultural closet as the “real you”
What it means to pass down patriarchy, how to stop ancestral patriarchy, stepping off the path of creating the “perfect wifey resume”
What Hip Hop Kundalini is and the benevolence of Kundalini energy (by whatever name you choose to call it)
Doing what you’re born to do and living life orgasmically
To learn more about Kirti Srivastava by visiting her online at:
ESG019 Safety, Self Acceptance, & The Sea of Oneness with Tracee Stanley
Jun 04, 2019
For Episode 19 we are joined by Yoga Teacher Trainer and Sri Vidya Tantra Practitioner Tracee Stanley.
Since 2001 the focus of Tracee’s teaching has been empowerment, sankalpa, self-mastery and healing. Tracey teaches Yoga Nidra, Meditation and Self-Inquiry informed by wisely sequenced asana, mantra and kriya practices to create a fertile environment and safe container for transformation and growth.
Tracee regularly teaches at festivals like Wanderlust, Symbiosis, Lightning in a Bottle and more, and serves as faculty at Esalen Institute where she leads teacher trainings, retreats and in general holds space for us to remember our radiance and power. In this episode we explore:
• Liberation from the belief that we need to stay small in order to be safe and receive love
• Overcoming childhood abuse and neglect
• Rebellion as precursor to liberation
• The process of looking at our patterns and how they become habits that become our personality
• Taking risks in how we do business
and more.
You can learn more about today’s guest by visiting her online at www.traceeyoga.com
ESG018 Durga Meditation, Chandi Path and the Practice of Tantra with Laura Amazzone
Jan 04, 2019
In this Episode we are joined for the second time by teacher, yogini, priestess and Goddess scholar Laura Amazzone. Laura is the author of the book, "Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power," and has published numerous articles in academic journals and anthologies in the fields of Tantrism, Hinduism and Women’s Spirituality. She has also contributed entries to the Encyclopedia on Hinduism and the Encyclopedia of Goddessses of World Culture.
Laura teaches in the Yoga and Philosophy program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, online at Mystery School of the Goddess and privately, offering classes, rituals, and workshops on the Goddesses, history and ritual practices of the Kaula, Shakta and Sri Vidya traditions into which she has been initiated.
In this episode, we dedicate the first 1/3 of the episode time to sharing a full Goddess Durga Vizualization practice that you can tune in with any time you feel a need to call in a protective, loving aspect of the divine mother. We also explore:
• The animist roots of traditional Tantra, stone circles and faerie rings and cultural sensitivity
• Why Tantra is sometimes called a path of paradox and adversity and the importance of going deep and staying the course when our practice asks us to look at our shadow.
• Experiencing a power that can’t be given away, can’t be taken away, can’t be lost or stolen
• Why and how we practice, and the benefit of the Kula (dedicated practice group)
ESG017 Kambo, Chronic Conditions, and Sexual Healing-With Caitlin Thompson
Nov 15, 2018
In this episode, we are joined by certified Kambo practitioner and founder of the San Diego based nutritional supplement company EntheoZen Caitlin Thompson. In this conversation we explore:
• adult themes including an in depth discussion of consent or lack thereof in the natural word and what this means for us as humans
• how medicines call to us to participate in our healing
• non-pharmacuetical approaches to treating autoimmune disease, chronic pain, herpes, and other onging conditions
• how are plant medicines and animal medicines different, and why animal medicine may be more effective for those seeking healing around their sexuality
• can frog medicine help prepare us for success in love?
• mapping different states of consciousness
• taking responsibility for our own mental health
• hope for those who have trauma and have given up on meditation
And more! You can learn more about Caitlin’s work here:
ESG016 Vulnerability, Stillness, and Intimacy with Death with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison
Aug 30, 2018
For episode number 16, we are joined by Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, a jungian psychotherapist, recognized teacher in the Soto Zen lineage of the White Plum Asanga, and the academic advisor for the Buddhist students in the Master in Pastoral Care and Counseling program at the New York Theological Seminary. Koshin is the cofounder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Zen-based organization to offer fully accredited clinical chaplaincy training in America, and the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care.
In this episode we explore:
• Dignity amidst being treated poorly
• Listening with every cell of your body
• Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen buddhism, and his female teacher Prajnatara, and other explorations of the feminine wisdom that lies at the intersection of Buddhism and Tantra, and how like most lineages, it comes down to a practice of how to be in relationship.
To learn more about Koshin and The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, please visit www.zencare.org
ESG015 Libra, Temperance, Tantra and the Soul's Quest for Moderation
Apr 01, 2018
Welcome to "Temple Talks", our series of mini episodes where we make a hopefully entertaining and educational attempt at the ultimate Fool's Journey, explaining the Great Mystery and Mapping the Void.
For our second Temple Talk, Yaya Erin Rivera Merriman, host of Earthside Survival Guide, takes 20 minutes to explore:
• The Archetypal energy of Libra
• How our relationship to apparent others expresses itself differently in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th dimensions
• The relationship and applicability of terms such as balance, equilibrium, equality, temperance, moderation, tantra, integration, harmony and unity
Although this episode is for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of what we can learn from Libra energy, it may be especially useful for professional seers, diviners, tarot readers, astrologers, shamanic practitioners, and others who serve the collective as companions and guides to the inner realms, where the ability to make extremely subtle distinctions becomes more and more important to the quality and effectiveness of our work. We will close with a guided meditation and blessing, so it may be useful to wait until you can be alone to listen to the complete episode uninterrupted, allowing the time for it to become a mini self care ritual, complete unto itself.
For more information about tarot assisted intuitive guidance sessions or other healing journeys with Erin, please visit www.activeculturefamily.com
ESG014 Trust, Safety, Self Responsibility and Emotional Mastery- With Luna Love
Mar 01, 2018
For episode numbered 14, we are joined by women's leadership mentor Luna Love. Luna assists those called to be change makers in achieving clear vision for their lives by providing supportive, life promoting experiences, practical tools, and spiritual wisdom to align ones divine essence, authentic expression, and life purpose through the power of self awareness and love.
In this episode we explore:
• Self care for the professional care provider
• What self responsibility looks like and how self responsibility transforms our emotions and increases our capacity for both sexual and emotional intimacy
• Demystifying our emotions including:
- What emotions are and when, how, and why to fully feel them
- The connection between our feelings and the seasons
- An exploration of the immense value of depression, grief, and loss
Musical enhancement for this episode includes The Hunter and History of Touches by Bjork (prevailing Queen of creative, liberated, unconditional open heart conciousness )
ESG013 The End is the Beginning: Reforestation at the End of The World with Ayana Young
Dec 19, 2017
For Episode Number 13 we are joined by ecological researcher and voice of the forest Ayana Young. Ayana hosts For The Wild Podcast (formerly Unlearn & Rewild) and teaches about empowered earth stewardship, leads biodiversity enhancement workshops and facilitates panels across North America.
Ayana is currently studying Restoration of Natural Systems in Victoria, BC, and creating an ecological research center and native species nursery in the Southern tip of the Cascadian bioregion. Along with the restoration of damaged landscapes, Ayana is committed to protecting intact ecosystems. In this Episode you will learn:
• What it means to be planting 1 million redwoods at the end of the age of loneliness
• Why a women’s perspective and capacity to “embody the dichotomy” of our times is critical to the climate change movement
• How sacred rage can function as a gateway into a scouring, purifying grief that paves the way for a more creative, emotionally evocative, sensually fulfilling form of activism
Musical enhancement for this episode includes "When I grow Up" by Fever Ray
ESG012 The Power of Names, spiritual permaculture,and other Timeless Women's Magic with Lara Valeda Vesta
Oct 11, 2017
For Episode number 12 we are joined by Lara Valeda Vesta, certified celebrant, mother, artist, and author of The Moon Divas Guidebook: Spirited Self-Care for Women in Transition.
In this episode we explore:
• Whats in a name? The power we have to reclaim ourselves and change our destiny by changing our name
• Illness and motherhood as invitations to develop a more authentic relationship to time
• The fertile intersection of permaculture and tantra
To learn more about classes, books, and art by Lara, please visit: www.laravesta.co
The musical enhancement for this episode includes:
“Fara Fin Ya Ye Koba Ye” byZena (zay-nah) Carlota from the soon to be released album The Confidence of Birds
ESG011 Echoes of our Ancestors and Cultivating Intimacy with Death-With Amber Magnolia Hill
Aug 19, 2017
For episode number 11, I am joined by mother, writer, teacher, and herbalist Amber Magnolia Hill. Through her business Aquarian Dawn, Amber shares the fruits of her continued exploration of ancestry, psychedelic healing, float tanks, home funerals, empowered menstruation, sex, childbirth and more. In this episode we explore:
• Reclaiming the word "Witch" and Facing Loss
• The importance of being with and honoring your emotions even when it feels like you’ve been set on fire
• How to keep your womb space clear by moving through grief, anger, illness and more with presence and compassion and in a general unshaming of the woman’s journey and experience
To learn more please visit www.aquariandawn.com where you can learn about herbal body oiling, peruse the blog, and shop for Mythic Medicinals, Amber’s inspired line of handmade herbal products.
ESG010 Mystical Activism Part 2-with Vicki Noble
May 15, 2017
For episode number 10, we are joined by feminist shamanic healer, author, scholar and wisdom teacher Vicki Noble. Vicki is the author of several books, including Shakti Woman: Feeling our Fire, Healing our World, and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power.
Vicki taught in the Women's Spirituality graduate program at New College in San Francisco, lectures internationally, and has lead tours of women on pilgrimage to sacred Goddess sites around the world. She is also one of the creatresses behind the celebrated Motherpeace Tarot, and currently shares her teachings in private practice with women in Santa Cruz, California. This episode is part 2 of a 2 part series. In this episode we will explore:
• The validity and historical precedent for alternate relationship paradigms
• The relevance of Vicki’s book Shakti Woman today, almost 30 years after it was originally written
• A reading from the Motherpeace Tarot from Vicki, in answer to the question “What would Goddess most like for the women of my community to understand about action and activism to be both effective and well in our bodies?”
ESG009 Mystical Activism Part 1-with Vicki Noble
May 15, 2017
For episode number 9, we are joined by feminist shamanic healer, author, scholar and wisdom teacher Vicki Noble. Vicki is the author of several books, including Shakti Woman: Feeling our Fire, Healing our World, and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power.
Vicki taught in the Women's Spirituality graduate program at New College in San Francisco, lectures internationally, and has lead tours of women on pilgrimage to sacred Goddess sites around the world. She is also one of the creatresses behind the celebrated Motherpeace Tarot, and currently shares her teachings in private practice with women in Santa Cruz, California. This episode is part 1 of a 2 part series. In this episode we will explore:
• The path of Mystical Activism
• The Goddess Guided beginnings of Feminism in the United States
• The role of Cannabis in the creation of the Motherpeace Tarot, one of the most important tools we have been gifted for evolving our understanding of the archetypal energies that shape our human experience by enabling us to consider them through a matriarchal lens.
Musical enhancement In this episode includes Dve Nevesti by The Moors
ESG008 Regenerative Culture and the Slow Music Movement-with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia
Apr 25, 2017
For Episode number 8 we are joined by Leah Song, one half of the douo at the front of the musical activist band Rising Appalachia. Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. In this episode we explore:
• Music as activism and the Slow Music Movement • Weaving Threads of Change and mining for goodness • Urban farming and sharing skills that empower us in creating regenerative culture
To learn more about the Weaving threads of Change workshop coming up later this week that we speak about in this episode, please visit:
For Episode number 7 we are joined by another of my favorite big sister mentors, Columbian Born Medicine Woman Paola Garcia. Paola is the creatress of the “Eterno Sol Yoga & Mindfulness” program, where she shares the tools and practices of Yoga Asanas & Mindfulness Meditation that she has been practicing and teaching for the last 16 years. Since 2011 she has walked her path with her beloved Gustavo Ik, and together they share Ceremonial Cacao with communities around the world. In this episode we explore:
• How ceremonial cacao can help us transcend relationship hell,
• How bitter medicines bring us home to the present moment
• How mindfulness and willingness transform the space of our relationships from a battlefield of egos into a sacred quest to find love within
To learn more about 7 day residential retreats with Paola and her partner Gustave, you can visit:
Above photo: Paola and Gustavo with Taita Eustorgio Payaguaje from the Cofan Siona tradition of Yage medicine in Colombia. The musical enhancement for this episode includes recordings of Paola singing live in one of her and Gustavo's ceremonies.
ESG006 Psychedelic Grief and Queer Plant Tantra-with Sophia Rose
Feb 21, 2017
For Episode number 6 we are joined by Sophia Rose, the master herbalist at the helm of the nomadic apothecary “La Abeja Herbs. Through La Abeja, Sophia creates potent and inspired wild medicines and apothecary goods, holds space for herbal wellness consultations, and teaches classes on topics including women's medicine, folk herbalism, and wild foods. In this episode we explore:
• Ocatillo for Womb Clearing
• The direct correlation between grief and orgasm
• Queer Medicine People- Can plant medicine make you queer?
To learn more about Sophia's travels, classes, herbal products, and more, visit her at:
ESG005 Karma As Ally-with Erin Rivera Merriman
Feb 09, 2017
Welcome to "Temple Talks", our series of mini episodes where we make a hopefully entertaining and educational attempt at the ultimate Fool's Journey, explaining the Great Mystery. For our first Temple Talk, we will be addressing the psychology that causes us to misunderstand the nature of Karma and come to understand Karma as the benevolent Ally that it is.
You can learn more about the Karma Clearing Services mentioned in the podcast by visiting the sessions section of our website here: http://www.activeculturefamily.com/sessions/
ESG004 At the Intersection of Tantra, Feminism, and Matriarchy-with Laura Amazzone
Jan 24, 2017
For episode number 4 we are joined Yogini, Priestess and Goddess Scholar Laura Amazzone. Laura is the author of the book, "Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power," and has published numerous articles in academic journals and anthologies in the fields of Tantrism, Hinduism and Women’s Spirituality. She has also contributed entries to the Encyclopedia of Hinduism and the Encyclopedia of Goddessses of World Culture.
Laura teaches in the Yoga and Philosophy program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, online at Mystery School of the Goddess and privately, offering classes, rituals, and workshops on the Goddesses, history and ritual practices of the Kaula, Shakta and Tantra traditions into which she has been initiated. In this interview we explore:
• Tantra- what it is and what it is not and how this varies among different lineages we hear about (Shakta, Sri Vidya, Kaula, etc.)
• Star codes and the relationship between Tantric Wisdom Goddesses and the 7 Sisters of the Pleides
• The importance of understanding the historical context of Tantric teaching stories and how Myths have often been taken out of context and used as a means of controlling women and avoiding responsibility
To recieve 40% off Laura’s online course “Mysteries of the Yogini’s” visit
Musical enhancement for this episode includes my own original Sri Devotional coming from practices shared by Mark Whitwell through www.heartofyoga.com, as well as “Find a Better Way” by Aloka from the album “North Star”
ESG003 Poet as Revolutionary and Sacred Whore-With Eve Bradford
Dec 17, 2016
In this episode we are joined by one of our most beloved ongoing collaborators, Eve Bradford, culture maker, oracle, and author of one of my favorite books of poetry: Instructions to a Young Magician (from herself). As a long-time student of shaman and author Martín Prechtel, Eve is often called upon by the extended community to offer counsel and guidance to individuals, couples and groups, and to create and facilitate ceremonies of all kinds, from weddings to rites of passage to memorials. At the heart of the matter is Eve’s innately ecstatic nature, her great love for the web of life, and her hopeful diligence applied to creating a myriad of experiences coaxing others to fall equally in love with the world. In this episode, we explore:
• The overlap in Goddess Myths of Ancient India and Eastern Europe
• Word magic and some specific ways that the words we use to express our experience of who we are either limit or expand our reality
• Subtle dynamics of energy exchange and The poet as both the Revolutionary and the Sacred Whore
To learn more about Eve's work as a teacher, author, event producer or ceremonial leader, please visit www.ladyapples.com
ESG002 Empath Survival, Ancestor Worship, and Becoming a Vessel for Love-with Arzu Mountain Spirit
Dec 10, 2016
In this episode, we are joined by one of my first guides on my path of plant spirit healing, Garifuna elder Arzu Mountain Spirit. Arzu is a traditional healer, writer, life coach, and international presenter on the subject of Garifuna spirituality, healing methods, and medicinal plants. In addition to maintaining her healing practice in Belize, she is also the founder of the Wagiya Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Garifuna healing ways and spiritual traditions. In this episode we will explore:
• Garifuna History, Culture, and Spirituality • Empath Survival Tips • Things we wanted to ask elders about sexuality when we were growing up but where too embarrassed to ask
Musical enhancement for this episode: "Baba" + " Gaganbadiba" by Andy Palacio
ESG001 Nature Communication, Ancestral Foods, and Mushroom Mentorship-with Shonagh Home
Dec 10, 2016
For our maiden voyage, we are honored to be joined by our Sacred Mushroom mentor and guide Shonagh Holme. Shonagh is a writer, poet, shamanic therapist and teacher of the shamanic arts. She is an international public speaker on the subject of visionary shamanic-spirit medicine, a voice of stewardship for the honeybees, and a teacher on the subject of Traditional Foods. She is also the author of several books, including ‘Ix Chel Wisdom: 7 Teachings from the Mayan Sacred Feminine,’ and ‘Love and Spirit Medicine. In this episode we will explore:
• Strengthening our intuition
* Nature Spirit Communication with tree spirits, elves, and more
• Ancestral foods for physical and spiritual Immunity, and recovery from convenience addiction.
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