Shadow Work Journal Prompts for Deep Inner Alchemy
Unearth, unravel, and transmute - one page at a time.
Let’s get one thing straight - shadow work isn’t some doom-and-gloom descent into your emotional basement. It's more like lighting a candle in your subconscious, inviting the forgotten parts of you to tea, and saying, “Alright love, tell me your story.” Shadow work is healing, empowering, and yes - messy. But so is birth. So is blooming.
In Wicca, witchcraft, and most spiritual paths that embrace wholeness, the shadow is not evil. It’s just the sacred unseen. It’s your jealousy, your fears, your unspoken desires, your rage, your self-doubt - all the things you were told not to feel. When we give those parts a voice in our journal, we take our power back. We reclaim the scattered soul.
Whether you’re deep into your shadow journey or just dipping your quill in, these 50 prompts are here to stir the cauldron of your self-discovery.
50 Shadow Work Journal Prompts
- What emotions do I tend to avoid, and why?
- What parts of myself do I try to hide from others?
- When did I first learn that certain emotions were "bad"?
- What does my inner critic sound like? What does it say?
- How do I respond when I feel rejected or left out?
- What do I judge harshly in other people?
- What triggers me the most - and what might that reveal about my own wounds?
- When do I feel the most insecure?
- What’s one thing I pretend not to care about but secretly do?
- Who do I envy, and why?
- What are my deepest fears about being vulnerable?
- When was the last time I felt truly ashamed?
- What childhood memory still haunts me?
- How do I self-sabotage when things are going well?
- What role has guilt played in my life?
- Who do I need to forgive, but haven’t yet?
- What do I need to forgive myself for?
- What’s one thing I’ve done that I still carry shame around?
- How do I behave when I feel powerless?
- What parts of my past am I still trying to rewrite?
- What lies have I told to protect myself?
- What masks do I wear to be accepted?
- What do I believe I have to do to be “worthy”?
- Who taught me that I wasn't enough - and were they wrong?
- What part of my identity feels like it was shaped by survival?
- When do I feel most disconnected from myself?
- What belief about myself do I know isn’t true - but still struggle to let go of?
- What’s my relationship with anger? How was it modeled to me?
- What do I fear people would think if they saw the “real” me?
- Where do I betray myself to make others comfortable?
- How do I react when someone sets boundaries with me?
- What do I crave from others that I don’t give to myself?
- What emotional patterns keep repeating in my relationships?
- What pain am I still holding onto because it feels safer than healing?
- What does my shadow want me to know today?
- When do I feel like I’m “too much” or “not enough”?
- What belief am I carrying that isn’t even mine?
- Where in my life am I operating from fear instead of truth?
- What would it look like to fully accept all parts of me?
- What memories have I been avoiding?
- What do I think will happen if I let go of control?
- How do I numb myself when things feel hard?
- What secrets do I keep from even myself?
- What version of myself am I afraid to become?
- How does unprocessed grief show up in my life?
- What ancestral wounds am I carrying?
- How do I want to be witnessed in my healing?
- What emotions or experiences am I afraid to write about?
- What would my shadow say if I gave it the mic?
- What does wholeness look and feel like to me?
Final Notes
Remember - this is a process, not a performance. Your shadow doesn’t want to be “fixed.” It wants to be felt, heard, and held. Some of these prompts may stir deep feelings. That’s okay. You’re not broken - you’re blooming.
You can burn the pages, cry on them, or gild them in gold. This is your sacred space.
You’re doing the work. And that’s powerful.
