Banner artwork: Three Soul-Ling eggs digital illustration by LTenie
About Your Souls Sanctuary
What is Your Souls Sanctuary?
Your Souls Sanctuary is a digital adoptable experience created as a love letter to the classic and nostalgic virtual pet sites of the 2000s.
In today’s often-chaotic world, it’s easy to miss the simple magic and innocent joy of years past, and many of us know the shock of transitioning from childhood into what society calls the “real world.” We often come to find that this “real world” consists of roles and expectations that aren’t always in our best interest, where sacrifice and struggle are the expected norm, and the “hard work” that is meant to eventually “pay off” leads to burnout and a loss of childlike wonder.
Your Souls Sanctuary is a vote for a different kind of real world. One where simple, comforting things are deeply valued, and where art, creativity, and community care are what bring dreams to life.
Here, you can collect monthly mystery eggs, lovingly created by a different human artist every month, and watch them hatch and evolve into unique creatures called Soul-Lings. Every $3 egg directly supports the artist, while also helping to fund the real-world Awakening Souls Sanctuary: a wolfdog sanctuary, support hub, and physical retreat space for neurodivergent and disabled folks.
By adopting eggs and participating each month, you actively bring this unique vision to life, supporting the dreams of independent artists and our sanctuary all at once.
The Lore
The world of Your Souls Sanctuary exists where the spirit world and physical world overlap.
In this world, you discover a vast expanse of Spirit Land was left to you, yet you never knew it existed. Left untended for so long, you find that the land is overgrown and out of balance, waiting for a Spirit Caretaker to help restore it to its natural state of vibrant harmony.
As you step into the role of Spirit Caretaker for the first time, you discover the existence of magical beings called Soul-Lings. Born from the raw energy of creativity, love, and joy, these gentle spirit companions are in need of a home, and it turns out, their presence is the key to restoring your land.
As you welcome different Soul-Lings into your sanctuary, their authentic presence and distinct personalities begin to awaken the land. Each creature carries its own unique strengths and focus, so as more and more diverse Soul-Lings come together in your space, their combined energy restores true balance and life to Your Souls Sanctuary.
The Monthly Experience
To begin your journey as a Spirit Caretaker, you will need to Create an Account. Once logged in, you will see the portal button that takes you directly to Your Souls Sanctuary.
If you are new here, your land (your collection page) will likely start out empty and quiet as it waits for its very first inhabitants. In order to adopt Soul-Lings, you will need to visit the Nursery during Egg Week.
The world of Your Souls Sanctuary has a predictable monthly rhythm, consisting of the following:
- Days 1-7 of the Month: Egg Week
- On the first of each month, mysterious Soul-Ling eggs appear in the Soul-Ling Nursery.
- Eggs are only available for adoption during this first week, so be sure to pick up your eggs before the week ends to welcome this month’s species home!
- Adopting mystery eggs and hatching them in your portal is the way most Soul-Lings will be introduced to your sanctuary. There are multiple variations of each species each month, all with their own personalities! Adopting more than one will likely introduce you to a wider variety of Soul-Ling energies!
- Day 8: Hatch Day
- At the end of Day 7, the Nursery closes and magic fills the air, signaling to the eggs to get ready. On Day 8, visit Your Souls Sanctuary using the portal in your account to see what kind of creatures have hatched! They will be in their baby forms at this time, excited to be in their new home.
- Day 22: Evolution & The Arrival of Roamers
- Around Day 22 of the month, your Soul-Ling babies will evolve into their adult forms, revealing different vibrant variations. Each variation carries its own traits, personalities, and messages. Whichever variation you hatch is thought to carry the exact energy you and your land needed most. Visit your portal on this day to see your full-grown spirit companions!
- On Evolution Day, Roamers appear on the landscape. Roamers are exclusive adult variants of that month’s species that cannot be hatched from eggs. Dispersed across the realm, these wandering spirits carry unique purposes of their own, and are eager for the day they find a place to call home.
- Adopting a Roamer is a special act of kindness to your sanctuary space and ours. Set up as a choose-your-price option (with a minimum of $6), adopting Roamers is a unique way to further support our artists and sanctuary while adding extra energetic balance to your land. (Note: Unlike monthly eggs, Roamers remain available year-round, so even if you miss a month, you can always bring a Roamer of that species home!).
At the start of each month, the cycle begins again with a brand new species, brought to life by the love and creativity of a new human artist! You can learn more about all of our artists by visiting the Artist Directory. We are so excited for you to be a part of this magical journey with us!
(A Note on Trading & Sharing: At this time, you will not have the ability to trade Soul-Lings with other Spirit Caretakers, though we really hope to be able to offer this in the future! For now, we encourage you to share and show off your Soul-Lings across your favorite sites using the custom embed links found on each creature’s profile!)
How This Builds a Real-Life Sanctuary
Your Souls Sanctuary was designed to be a purposeful, meaningful experience, where your participation in this virtual world directly creates safe, supportive spaces in the real world:
Funding the Physical Awakening Souls Sanctuary: Every $3 egg and Roamer purchase contributes directly to building our future physical sanctuary. This real-world haven will provide specialized forever-homes to rescued wolfdogs, alongside a welcoming, disability-focused, accessible retreat space for the neurodivergent and disabled community that will be free to attend. As we work towards this vision, we will also be building a virtual support hub with resources and events for our community, so that neither money nor distance will be barriers to support for folks who want and/or need it.
Supporting Real Human Artists: We believe creative work should be highly valued, honored, and fairly compensated. Art is an incredibly human practice, one of devotion, skill, and powerful self-expression. It has soul that non-human art simply cannot (and should not) replicate or replace. And whether the world remembers right now or not, we all NEED human art! So each month, we hire a different human artist to let their creativity run wild, and then once their Soul-Lings are up for adoption, a portion of all sales goes directly to them as royalties, helping independent creators sustain their passion and livelihood.
This whole endeavor is a dream come true, for the founder of the sanctuary and all those we collaborate with. None of this would be possible without people like you, who still choose to believe in magic, comfort, and the power of human creativity. Thank you so much for being here, regardless of whether you adopt one egg, a whole dozen every month, or simply choose to wander through our soft corner of the web. Your presence alone adds light to our community, and we are so grateful to share this space with you. Welcome home!
Are you an artist? We are always looking for passionate creators to design future Soul-Ling drops! If you’d like to collaborate, please email us at connect@awakeningsoulssanctuary.com to learn more about being a featured artist for Your Souls Sanctuary.