Shadow work prompts: where do I start?

Start with one question a day about what feels heavy. These seven shadow work prompts are the first week of Lead to Gold, the gate the alchemists called Calcination: what weighs on you, the masks you wear, the voice you are hardest on yourself with, and who you are when you have nothing left to prove. Write a few honest lines for each.

Seven prompts, one a day

Day 1, The first fire: What part of your life feels heavy as lead right now?
Day 2, The masks: Which mask did you wear today, and who was it for?
Day 3, Burning with water: What did you catch yourself doing today that you’d like to let go of? What was it protecting you from?
Day 4, Gold doesn’t fear the fire: Where do you most need to be right? What would happen if you weren’t?
Day 5, Two fires: What does your harshest inner voice say to you? Whose voice does it sound like?
Day 6, Ash and salt: What has this week burned away? What stayed?
Day 7, What stays: Write one sentence about who you are when you have nothing left to prove.

Going deeper

Each prompt in the app comes with three questions to go deeper. Two examples:

Which mask did you wear today, and who was it for? When did you first need that mask? What would happen if you took it off? Who sees you without it?
What does your harshest inner voice say to you? Whose voice does it sound like? When did you first hear it? What is it afraid of? What would the gentle fire say instead?

How to use them

One prompt a day is enough.
Write it down. A thought is easier to see on the page.
Notice; don’t fix. ‘You don’t have to fix anything today. You only have to notice it, and give it a little warmth.’
If a question brings up more than you can hold, stop, and talk to someone you trust.

Why the first week is fire

The alchemists began every Work with fire. They heated their matter until everything false in it turned to ash and only what was real stayed. In you, the matter is your own life: the habits, masks and old stories you carry. This week you hold them up to a gentle fire, one at a time, and see what stays.

In the old masters’ words

“Remove the shell, and take the kernel.” Eirenaeus Philalethes, An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King, 1645

In Lead to Gold

The rest are in the app. Gates 1 to 5 hold 35 shadow work prompts and 105 questions to go deeper, and the later gates carry on through clearing, new light and your gold: 84 prompts in all. Your answers go into a private journal that stays on your phone.

Last updated October 24, 2026.

Lead to Gold: Shadow Work, on Google Play

The alchemists’ Great Work, made into ten quiet minutes a day: twelve gates, a private journal, and a line of wisdom from the old masters. Free to download, for Android.

Get it on Google Play

Keep reading

What is shadow work?: Shadow work means looking honestly at the parts of yourself you hide or judge. Where the idea comes from, Carl Jung and alchemy, and how to begin gently.
What is calcination in alchemy?: Calcination, stage 1 of the twelve stages of alchemy: burning off what isn’t you. What the alchemists did, and what it means for you.
What is putrefaction in alchemy?: Putrefaction, stage 5 of the twelve stages of alchemy: the dark before new life. What the alchemists did, and what it means for you.