Welcome, seekers; this is Shadow Alchemy, your portal to excavating hidden facets of yourself and transmuting them into self-knowledge. This site is both a roadmap and invitation: to confront what you’ve buried, to honour what you’ve rejected, and to emerge more enlightened on the other side. All you need is a notebook, pen, and deep desire to know yourself.
I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become.―Carl Jung
Shadow work can feel like tearing down familiar walls; your ego may protest, and old defence patterns will come out of the woodwork. Yet beneath those defences lie raw potential and untapped creativity. Think of your shadow self not as a demon to be slain, but as a secret agent devoted to your survival: often stuck in outdated missions, but infinitely valuable once reprogrammed.
Why Shadow Alchemy?
- Mine the Gold: Coping mechanisms tend to bury your deepest desires, talents, and intuitive gifts. Shadow Alchemy frees them.
- Break Patterns: Illuminate the unseen drivers of your behaviours: prejudices, fears, and relational blind spots.
- Integration & Wholeness: This isn’t just about acknowledging darkness; it’s about integrating, honouring, and harnessing it for personal evolution.
If you’re here, you’ve likely tasted tarot’s insights and craved a practice that digs deeper into who you are. Shadow Alchemy amplifies those divinatory sparks, weaving in Jungian psychology, stoic philosophy, alchemy, and the Hero’s Journey. It’s a guided course of 54 automatic writing exercises engineered to provoke, challenge, and awaken.
Tip: Keep a separate journal (paper or digital) exclusively for these exercises. Your shadow work deserves a sacred space of its own.
Below is your map through this underworld: from primer prompts to shadow rituals, culminating in seamless integration with your conscious self and enhancement of your divination practice.
1. About Shadow Alchemy
- What Is Shadow Alchemy? A fusion of mysticism, analytical psychology, and automatic writing designed to purge, refine, and empower. This work is is worthy of being called alchemy.
- Rewards of the Journey: Insight, resilience, creative breakthroughs, and sovereign self-mastery.
2. Getting Started
- Quick Introduction: Orientation to key concepts and sacred space setup.
- Quick-Start Prompts (-22 to -1): Twenty-two practice exercises to warm up your writing muscles and mindset.
3. Core Curriculum
- Introduction: The big picture: why we do this and how it ties to divination.
- Basics: Grounding, sacred space, and mindset.
- Wounds & Coping: Spotting your survival strategies and methods of manipulation.
- Archetypes: Identifying the inner players on the stage of the Self.
- Four Pillars:
4. Before and After Sessions
- Grounding, affirmations, and crafting custom rituals to prime your psyche.
5. Journalling Ideas
- Writing inspiration and tips.
6. Warm-Up Writing Prompts
- Exercise your mental muscles with Exercise 0.
7. Main Exercises (1–31)
Thirty-one intensive automatic-writing prompts to exercise your shadow.
8. Wrapping Up
- Integration
- Moving Forward: How to pair tarot and oracle readings with your new shadow insights.
- Glossary
Ready to Step Into the Crucible?
Begin with ‘Getting Started‘.
