Eureka Street

Keywords: Ritual

AUSTRALIA

Reflecting on the year that was
- David Halliday, Michael McVeigh, Laura Kings, Michele Frankeni, Andrew Hamilton, Julian Butler
- 18 December 2024
To close the year for Eureka Street, the editorial team are taking a step back to reflect on the character of 2024. What did it demand of us? What did it teach us about ourselves, and the world we inhabit?
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AUSTRALIA

The delight and discomfort of undeserved gifts
- Emma Wilkins
- 18 December 2024
Gift-giving should be a celebration of kindness, but modern rituals often entangle us in obligation and excess. From generous neighbours to Christmas present hauls, reciprocal gifts build and shape our relationships. But what does it mean to give without strings?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Russell Brand: Messiah or very naughty boy?
- Cherie Gilmour
- 06 December 2024
Russell Brand's conversion to Christianity has sparked fascination and skepticism. Dismissing his newfound faith as a cynical PR move, critics cite his controversial past. Yet, his public embrace of grace and redemption speaks to a restless spiritual hunger. Is this a genuine transformation or another reinvention of Brand’s ever-shifting persona?
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AUSTRALIA

The spirituality of KFC
- Michael McGirr
- 22 November 2024
3 Comments
There’s this other place that is neither heaven nor earth but which you might find in the car park of the third busiest KFC in Melbourne, waiting for your son to finish his shift. A bin beside the car is overflowing with all the packaging that comes with fast food, not to mention the remains of poor dead chooks whose life it is hard to imagine.
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AUSTRALIA

The gates to the secret house of death
- Andrew Hamilton
- 30 October 2024
2 Comments
The traditions of All Saints Day and All Souls Day invite a rare reflection on death — a topic largely sidelined in contemporary Australia. Amid global events and various cultural spectacles, these days offer a quiet reminder to consider how we honour the dead and what that reveals about our values.
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INTERNATIONAL

Yom Kippur: A time for grieving
- Andrew Hamilton
- 09 October 2024
4 Comments
War breeds division far beyond the battlefield, fueling hatred and resentment across societies, and the conflict in Gaza has reignited long-standing animosities. As Yom Kippur approaches, its themes of repentance and forgiveness urge us to recognize the humanity in both the victims and perpetrators of conflict.
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INTERNATIONAL

The Taliban's war on women
- Warwick McFadyen
- 17 September 2024
2 Comments
How do you try to turn a human into something less than human? You take away their voice. The Taliban in Afghanistan have recently introduced new laws that ban women’s voices and faces in public, continuing the extreme subjugation of half the Afghan population.
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INTERNATIONAL

Olympic ceremonies as liturgies
- Juliette Hughes
- 07 August 2024
You have to admit, the French have form for mocking religion. But with their peculiar take on the Lord's Supper with all its Dionysian excess, the colourfully irreverent opening ceremony left many asking: has Paris 2024 turned the Olympics into a ritual of performative ethics?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Stephanie Alexander and the family table
- Claire Heaney
- 02 August 2024
When Stephanie Alexander released the immensely popular The Cook’s Companion in 1996, she became a literal household name. The reason for her success lies perhaps in the knowledge that the true essence of cooking lies not in perfection, but in the act of coming together.
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RELIGION

Can today’s church overcome division?
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 May 2024
14 Comments
The Week of Christian Unity encourages the healing of divisions between churches, and is intended to restore unity among Christians. However, we should wonder at how realistic that vision is in a society where division provides most of the news of the day.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Taller when prone: The contradictions of Les Murray
- Paul Mitchell
- 10 May 2024
2 Comments
Les Murray once confessed it was his mission to 'irritate the hell out of the eloquent who would oppress my people,' by being a paradox that their categories can’t assimilate: the Subhuman Redneck who writes poems. And therein lies the ‘poem’ of Les Murray: complex, contradictory, sublime, and sometimes ready to whip his enemies with a scorpion’s tail.
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RELIGION

Old rituals, new revelations
- Geraldine Doogue
- 02 April 2024
5 Comments
Each year, the Stations of the Cross liturgy affects me more than I had planned. Annually, I am left wondering: why does this ritual work? Well, it has much to offer: a narrative with exposition, climax and denouement; characters big and small; blood, gore, politics, virtue, cowardice and a pointer towards mystery.
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Keywords: Ritual