Meet Founder & Temple Keeper: Suzanne Mansell

For 20 years I've been guiding individuals in their quests to better understand themselves, their businesses, their relationships, their families, and—most importantly—to listen to the voices of their Souls.

Within that time, I've also coached and mentored numerous women as they've crossed thresholds into new ways of being that have brought them closer to the Essence of who they truly are.

I love partnering with the medium of dance and the wisdom of animals to bring women into greater alignment with their inner Wisdom and inner Aliveness.

I was born and raised in Chicagoland and have been deeply influenced by my mixed heritage: my mother, born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica with West African, Celtic, and Spanish ancestry, and my father, born in Chicago with German, French, and Norwegian ancestry.

There is great medicine hailing from my ancestors in these lineages, the most noteworthy being my Jamaican great-grandfather, an herbalist, whose concoctions were coveted throughout Kingston. This explains my grandmother's tiny pouch of herbs that she carried in her purse, which is a practice I inherited. It also explains my study of herbalism and healing modalities of all sorts, including Ayurvedic medicine, yoga, Reiki, and other forms of energy healing.

Having threads of connection to such diverse lands has often made me feel that "I belong everywhere and nowhere;" yet, it also provided me with the gift of finding that sense of home and belonging within myself.

In addition to the home within, I have been honored to call California home for over a decade with my husband.

I feel deeply nourished by the lands and waters of Northern California and am blessed to call Sebastopol home-a tiny town in Sonoma county on the sacred land of the Southern Pomo people.

It is no coincidence that the birth of Temple of the Moon occurred in Sonoma County, as Sonoma translates to "valley of the moon."

Did I mention my sun and rising signs reside in earthy Taurus and my moon sign sits in watery Cancer (the moon's home sign)?

There are no coincidences, only destinies.

“When women sit in circle, they amplify their medicine. As the Temple Keeper, I call the circle and help ground the container and the initial energetic template for the gathering. And then, one by one, as each woman enters the circle, the alchemy begins…”

  • I have been honored to sit live and/or in person with the following beings who have influenced, and continue to influence, my heart, mind and soul in a myriad of ways:

    Ariel Spilsbury, Susan Lipshutz, Paul Grilley, Claudia Welch, Lynne Twist, Hank Wesselman, Sandra Ingerman, Elayne Kalila Doughty, Suddha Wexler, John Douillard, Mary Thompson, Vasant Lad, Martha Beck, Christine Arylo, Sara Avant Stover, Lynda Caesara, Linda Kohanov

  • The following are books and resources on various subjects, from the mundane to the esoteric, that I often refer back to again and again:

    Adam Kahane, "Collaborating with the Enemy"

    Anneliese Singh, "The Racial Healing Handbook"

    Ariel Spilsbury, "The 13 Moon Oracle"

    Christiane Northrop, "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom"

    Claudia Welch, “Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life”

    David Frawley & Vasant Lad, “The Yoga of Herbs”

    Don Riso & Russ Hudson, "The Wisdom of the Enneagram"

    Eckhart Tolle, "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose"

    Esther Perel, "Mating in Captivity"

    Gail Sheehy, "Passages"

    Jean Shinoda Bolen, "Goddesses in Everywoman"

    Jean Shinoda Bolen, “The Millionth Circle”

    Karla McLaren, "The Language of Emotions"

    Linda Kohanov, "Riding Between the Worlds"

    Linda Kohanov, "The Tao of Equus"

    Linda Kohanov, “The Power of the Herd”

    Lissa Rankin, "Sacred Medicine"

    Lynne Twist, "The Soul of Money"

    Maya Twari, "Women's Power to Heal Through Inner Medicine"

    Michael Beckwith, "Spiritual Liberation"

    Michael Singer, "The Untethered Soul"

    Michael Singer, "Living Untethered"

    Michaela Boehm, "The Wild Woman's Way"

    Malidoma Patrice Some, "The Healing Wisdom of Africa"

    Peter Wohlleben, "The Hidden Life of Trees"

    Rick Rubin, “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”

    Robert Cole & Paul Williams, “The Book of Houses”

    Robert Simmons & Naisha Ahsian, "The Book of Stones"

    Rosemary Gladstar, "Herbal Healing for Women"

    Sally Kempton, "Awakening Shakti"

    Sandra Ingerman & Hank Wasselman, “Awakening to the Spirit World”

    Sara Avant Stover, "The Book of SHE"

    Sara Avant Stover, "The Way of the Happy Woman"

    Steven Forrest, "The Inner Sky"

    Susan Scott, "Fierce Conversations"

    Ted Andrews, "Animal Speak"

    Terrence Real, "The New Rules of Marriage"

    Terrence Real, "Us"

    William Bridges, "The Way of Transitions"