Johanita Olivier
May 2018
Sutherland – Gateway to the Universe
Sutherland is a small Karoo town, famous for its warm hospitality, snowy winters, starlit nights and dramatic landscapes. Fascinating history and unique natural assets.
Like the earliest people, we are still awed by the mystery of the stars, planets and distant galaxies. Today, the extraordinary clarity of Sutherland’s cloudless, pollution-free night skies and its high elevation above sea level makes it a prime star-gazing destination and the perfect site for the South African Astronomical Observatory.
Over 25 000 years ago, the KhoiSan or Bushmen people who inhabited this region knew that time is in the stars. They had a remarkably extensive knowledge of the stars and wove this wisdom into the rhythm of their lives. The 19th-century scholar Dr Wilhelm Bleek, who studied their languages and analysed their legends, found evidence that the Bushmen had observed the movements of the planet Jupiter and its four main moons with the naked eye. These Bushman legends date back to before Galileo made his observations with his first telescope
The observatory houses the largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, SALT, Southern African Large Telescope. Based on the design of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, it consists of a primary, hexagonal mirror 11 metres wide made up of 91 individual hexagonal mirrors, each one meter wide and weighing about 100kg.
This great eye probing the universe is sensitive enough to pick up the light of a single candle on the moon – but its main job is to scan deep space, witnessing the birth and death of planets, gazing into distant galaxies and recording the scale and age of the universe, stars, galaxies and quasars billions of light years away.
Sutherland is a small Karoo town, famous for its warm hospitality, snowy winters, starlit nights and dramatic landscapes. Fascinating history and unique natural assets.
Like the earliest people, we are still awed by the mystery of the stars, planets and distant galaxies. Today, the extraordinary clarity of Sutherland’s cloudless, pollution-free night skies and its high elevation above sea level makes it a prime star-gazing destination and the perfect site for the South African Astronomical Observatory.
Over 25 000 years ago, the KhoiSan or Bushmen people who inhabited this region knew that time is in the stars. They had a remarkably extensive knowledge of the stars and wove this wisdom into the rhythm of their lives. The 19th-century scholar Dr Wilhelm Bleek, who studied their languages and analysed their legends, found evidence that the Bushmen had observed the movements of the planet Jupiter and its four main moons with the naked eye. These Bushman legends date back to before Galileo made his observations with his first telescope
The observatory houses the largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, SALT, Southern African Large Telescope. Based on the design of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, it consists of a primary, hexagonal mirror 11 metres wide made up of 91 individual hexagonal mirrors, each one meter wide and weighing about 100kg.
This great eye probing the universe is sensitive enough to pick up the light of a single candle on the moon – but its main job is to scan deep space, witnessing the birth and death of planets, gazing into distant galaxies and recording the scale and age of the universe, stars, galaxies and quasars billions of light years away.
So you still haven’t seen the true beauty of the African sky even though you’ve lived in South Africa all your life? Perhaps someone told you the Big Dipper is only visible from the Northern Hemisphere, and you took the news as a bit of a downer?
No more, excuses, you live in South Africa! People fly from the other side of the planet just to gape at our perfect night sky ─ and it is truly perfect, you just have to know where to look. It’s about time you hit the road to the place where the Milky Way is so close you can almost touch it with your fingertips. All you have to do is get up on the first windmill.
The sky is clearest during winter. Pack warm clothes! Thermal everything. It’s hard to marvel at the sky if you can’t feel your toes. Wake up at the crack of dawn, stroll down the main road and explore its dusty tributaries. Inhale the crisp, fragrant Karoo-morning air. There’s no better way to get the smoggy city out of your system.
Sutherland - Gateway to the Universe is beautiful, magical, life altering, extraordinary, allow experiences on all levels of existence and the panicle of life-enhancing energy flowing through your soul!
It seems like you just ran out of excuses for your date with the Universe. Pay it a never to forget visit, on your doorstep in Sutherland!
No more, excuses, you live in South Africa! People fly from the other side of the planet just to gape at our perfect night sky ─ and it is truly perfect, you just have to know where to look. It’s about time you hit the road to the place where the Milky Way is so close you can almost touch it with your fingertips. All you have to do is get up on the first windmill.
The sky is clearest during winter. Pack warm clothes! Thermal everything. It’s hard to marvel at the sky if you can’t feel your toes. Wake up at the crack of dawn, stroll down the main road and explore its dusty tributaries. Inhale the crisp, fragrant Karoo-morning air. There’s no better way to get the smoggy city out of your system.
Sutherland - Gateway to the Universe is beautiful, magical, life altering, extraordinary, allow experiences on all levels of existence and the panicle of life-enhancing energy flowing through your soul!
It seems like you just ran out of excuses for your date with the Universe. Pay it a never to forget visit, on your doorstep in Sutherland!
April 2018
What is Astrology?
For centuries humans have looked for the skies for guidance. Astrology is the study of the relative positions and the movements of celestial bodies. It pertains to the astronomical positions of the sun, the moon and the planets at the time of a person’s birth
Astrology is one of the most profound Sacred Sciences known to man. Since the dawn of civilization the stars and planets have been used as celestial guides for human affairs.
Surely none other than the Infinite One could have created something with such unfathomable depth, complexity, and beauty.
What is the difference between astronomy and astrology?
Astronomy is the study of the universe and its contents outside of Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers examine the positions, motions, and properties of celestial objects.
Astrology studies how those positions, motions, and properties affect people and events on Earth. Keep in mind the moon determines low tide and high tide.
Humans are relatively made up of between 60% and 70% water. How can the celestial bodies not have an influence on our approach to life, characteristics, emotions and much more?
For centuries humans have looked for the skies for guidance. Astrology is the study of the relative positions and the movements of celestial bodies. It pertains to the astronomical positions of the sun, the moon and the planets at the time of a person’s birth
Astrology is one of the most profound Sacred Sciences known to man. Since the dawn of civilization the stars and planets have been used as celestial guides for human affairs.
Surely none other than the Infinite One could have created something with such unfathomable depth, complexity, and beauty.
What is the difference between astronomy and astrology?
Astronomy is the study of the universe and its contents outside of Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers examine the positions, motions, and properties of celestial objects.
Astrology studies how those positions, motions, and properties affect people and events on Earth. Keep in mind the moon determines low tide and high tide.
Humans are relatively made up of between 60% and 70% water. How can the celestial bodies not have an influence on our approach to life, characteristics, emotions and much more?
How does Astrology work?
Astrology is a glorious and beautiful harmonization of science and spirit. By using the Earth's orbit around the Sun as a fixed reference point and through precise astronomical plotting of planetary movements, people can understand, with remarkable accuracy, the highest spiritual meanings and most practical physical potentials that synchronize with celestial events.
The 'map' against which one superimposes this extremely precise scientific data is the birth or natal chart. The birth chart, which everyone has, is essentially a snapshot of the heavens at the moment of birth. The locations and aspects of the Sun, Moon, and planets mysteriously reveal the nature and purpose of one's life.
How can I benefit from Astrology?
The value of Astrology transcends mundane concerns and is a priceless treasure for all mankind to share. Astrology can reveal one's life purpose, one's ascension path, and provide tremendous clarity on all matters of love, family, health, career, finance, education, experience, and of course, spirit.
It offers solutions to life's most difficult, seemingly hopeless challenges as well as revealing pathways to manifesting abundance and success at spectacular levels. It empowers individuals by helping them understand their inherent strengths and potentials that they may embrace and develop. There is nothing hidden under the heavens and nothing that one can't understand through the luminous lens of Astrology.
Astrology is a glorious and beautiful harmonization of science and spirit. By using the Earth's orbit around the Sun as a fixed reference point and through precise astronomical plotting of planetary movements, people can understand, with remarkable accuracy, the highest spiritual meanings and most practical physical potentials that synchronize with celestial events.
The 'map' against which one superimposes this extremely precise scientific data is the birth or natal chart. The birth chart, which everyone has, is essentially a snapshot of the heavens at the moment of birth. The locations and aspects of the Sun, Moon, and planets mysteriously reveal the nature and purpose of one's life.
How can I benefit from Astrology?
The value of Astrology transcends mundane concerns and is a priceless treasure for all mankind to share. Astrology can reveal one's life purpose, one's ascension path, and provide tremendous clarity on all matters of love, family, health, career, finance, education, experience, and of course, spirit.
It offers solutions to life's most difficult, seemingly hopeless challenges as well as revealing pathways to manifesting abundance and success at spectacular levels. It empowers individuals by helping them understand their inherent strengths and potentials that they may embrace and develop. There is nothing hidden under the heavens and nothing that one can't understand through the luminous lens of Astrology.