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World Snake Day - July 16

7/16/2026

Today is 16 July, World Snake Day.

Snakes shed their skin, leaving behind what they have outgrown without looking back. The skin shed becomes one with Mother Earth again, nourishment to the plants, and the snake enters a new cycle of growth, experiencing her world with eyes that are older and wiser, her body albeit young once more and shining.

Forgiveness is an internal process, not an external one. It is not an inviting back in of old energies, a reunion with others or the return to a place or into a situation, where trauma occurred or was inflicted. It is opening up to life again step by step, inviting healing and fresh energies in.

Snakes are mentors that teach us about forgiveness and letting go, instead of striking and biting back, and the choice of leaving a situation or an old you behind that is slowly taking your breath away, suffocating your heart.

Forgiveness is a letting go of the resentment and the blaming of yourself for not knowing better, the what ifs and the should have beens. It is the shedding of the old skin and the growing of a new you.

Forgiveness means giving yourself the closure someone else or a situation never offered to you, allowing yourself the freedom to heal, find your peace and set out on your path again with renewed hope and trust in yourself and in your heart.

"White Horned Viper", white pastels, Kristin Raphaela Otti (2024, Hotel, Café & Konditorei Hecher, Wolfsberg, Carinthia)

"White Snake", white pastels, Kristin Raphaela Otti (2023)

Forgiveness is an internal process, not an external one. It is not an inviting back in of old energies, a reunion with others or the return to a place or into a situation, where trauma occurred or was inflicted. It is opening up to life again step by step, inviting healing and fresh energies in.

Forgiveness does not mean offering the other cheek if someone has slapped you in the face and let them hit you once more. Forgiveness sometimes means acknowledging that trust has been shattered, a pattern recognized, setting a boundary and walking away, keeping the peace instead.

It is not cowardice.

It is the courage to protect your heart, your soul, your mind and your spirit.

The wisdom you gathered through your experience and the one you will share with others by allowing yourself to walk away, will bring healing to your world and the ones you meet on your future path, when you decide to share your stories, wisdom and medicine with them.

Kristin Raphaela Otti

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UN International Day of Hope - July 12

7/12/2026

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The United Nations General Assembly has designated 12 July as the International Day of Hope — a day to celebrate and promote hope as a guiding principle for individuals, communities, and nations alike.

Let go of the past, let go of fear. Dare to dream. Dare to be the hope of a new tomorrow. Dare to tell your story. Dare to inspire.

In September of 2024, I held a speech during a United Nations Summit of the Future Action Days Online Live Event.

I spoke about letting go of fear and becoming the hope, daring to tell our stories as they are and thus inspire and initiate change: First within ourselves and our own hearts and then by daring to speak and tell our personal stories, share our medicine and wisdom and by doing so, become the hope and the gardeners tending to the garden in which the dreamers of tomorrow, our children, can take root, grow in their own time, blossom and come into full bloom sharing their unique beauty and gifts.

The title was “Voices of Change – Empowering Communities through Inclusive Dialogue and Storytelling”. Here is my speech in a transcript:

“My name is Kristin Raphaela Otti. I was born and raised in the Lavant Valley in Southern Austria, a province called Carinthia. I am a shaman, storyteller and artist.

Above all, I love learning and listening to stories. I remember the time, when I was allowed to play cards with my grandma and listen to her stories very fondly. She was a businesswoman and in politics, so our conversations were a never-ending stream of new information, adventures and learning. I am also a change manager, organizational designer and teacher by trade.

One might think that there is a contradiction in being a shaman and being in business, but a shaman empowers people by listening and by telling stories and a change manager does the same. We go into organizations and businesses, listen to the stories told and then by telling new stories, we help shape the future of the organizations and businesses.

As in everything, the stories told by the people, the individuals coming to us or by the businesses and organizations vary. There are stories of hope that are beautiful. There are stories of despair, demise and fear. There are stories filled with fear of the past and the hurt that was being done and inflicted upon us.

In the end, there is no story that cannot be told. There is no story that is not worth being listened to. There is no story that is better or worse, none is bigger or smaller than anybody else’s.

Stories and storytelling are the fabric of our world. They have always been used to create either division or unity. Every word spoken bears power.

"Peace, Harmony and Balance", white pastels, Kristin Raphaela Otti (2024, Cafe Müller, Munich)

A single word can grow into a sentence, a sentence can grow into judgment and thus become a sword dividing. And yet, a single word can grow into a seed of change, blossoming and blooming, and become an open hand and a guide into a new tomorrow.

In working together, in telling our stories in conversation, on social media, in daily life, in business, there is always a choice: We can be the fear that brings division and despair or we can be the hope of a new dawn, a new day, a new tomorrow.

Let us choose to be the hope.

Let us come together in a circle, listen to each other with open hearts, as equals, standing side by side.

Through listening to one another with open hearts instead of trying to seem bigger or better, let us welcome different points of view and diversity in approaching matters and life.

Let us turn our stories into hope and whatever we have experienced as individuals, as the children we are, as communities, as people - Let those stories grow into seeds of hope!

I have done so in my life and at the moment, I am building and creating three organizations that aim to helping people become healers instead of being victims and to bring change.

Animal Wisdom Speaks helps through storytelling to make aware of environmental issues and by having storytelling events at schools aims to empower children and teenagers to stand tall and powerful.

The past is a teacher not a place to live in or dwell on, the present is the moment, we can shape with our stories. The future is the playground we create for the dreamers of tomorrow, for our children.

Let go of the past, let go of fear.

Dare to dream.

Dare to be the hope of a new tomorrow.

Dare to tell your story.

Dare to inspire.”

Kristin Raphaela Otti

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World Snake Day - July 16

UN International Day of Hope - July 12

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