Eremos

The 100th bumper issue of Eremos magazine has arrived, with twentyfive years of exploring producing a cloth of many colours. First, we hear from the five people who contributed to issue number one of ‘Eremos Newsletter’, as it was then known. These include the three Founding Directors, Bruce Wilson, Don Meadows and Colin Alcock. Colin was also the first Executive Director. Eileen Baldry (Diesendorf) and Randall Nolan make up the five, and all agreed to write again for Eremos. They appear in the same order as in the first edition, looking back to look forward, appraising their early efforts and pondering new directions.

Much has changed in Australia since 1982, and Eremos has endeavoured to respond to new challenges in the areas of belief, faith and spirituality. Like Sarah Carew, whose article follows those of the first five, we experiment with a new vocabulary to encapsulate all ‘varieties of religious experience’, as William James put it in the title of his classic work. We take a long, hard look at interfaith as Allison Gentle interviews Stephanie Dowrick about her ministry. There follows a poem by Robyn Backhouse, reflecting upon world religions and the Christian Word. Kate Scholl then reviews two books on journal writing.

With Roslyn Tinker we brave the rigours of non-belief, for which Eileen Baldry has already paved the way. Drew Hanlon reviews John Carroll’s The Existential Jesus, revealing insights into the Gospel according to Mark wherein Jesus invites us to come to a deeper knowledge of ourselves. Nicholas Rundle critiques the film Into Great Silence which focuses on the daily lives of Carthusian monks. And Sue Emeleus rounds it all out with her regular column recommending books.

It was essential for this issue to have a distinctly Australian flavour and I am grateful to two artists, one an indigenous painter and the other a non-indigenous poet, for their contributions. Kukula McDonald allowed us to use, for a rare colour cover, her painting of red-tailed black cockatoos, birds which have a dramatic visual impact upon the Australian landscape. Robin Pryor, for his part, opens his heart to this much-loved land in a poem describing fire in the extraordinary formation, Wilpena Pound.

Eremos has come a long way but perhaps, as one of the contributors suggests, it is not so much a journey as a mosaic. A well-rounded spirituality is made up of doubt and contradiction, peace and confidence, sometimes all at once. A realisation that life in the spirit is not so much a journey but more a mosaic representing all facets of existence encourages us to relinquish the notion of ‘going somewhere’ spiritually and replace it with constant,  heightened awareness.

Jacquie Pryor 

Cover artist
Kukula Linda McDonald was born in Papunya in 1986, and moved to Alice Springs when she was seven years old. She visits the community regularly, where she spends much of her time watching the celebrated Pintupi artists at work. Kukula is currently studying at Yararra College in Alice Springs.

Similar to many of the Pintupi artists of Kintore and Kiwirrkura, Kukula has an interest in geometric design. She also has a fascination with the black cockatoo that is native to the Central Australian region, and frequently paints these creatures.