The Eagle

British comic started in 1950 by the Reverend Marcus Morris.
Featured the character Dan Dare and although it was very moral in tone it was also informative and imaginative.
The high standard of the artwork and writing in the magazine led to its name being later used for the Eagle Awards which are annual British awards for comics.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

--Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Eagle, as understood by the lineage of sorcerers of which the Yaqui Indian character of Don Juan from Carlos Castaneda's works was a part, represented the last thing a person would experience at the end of one's life.

(see first entry under The Eagle)

While the theologic view of reincarnation was never formally advanced in the Castaneda books, Castandeda did let slip a couple of times the suggestion that the belief structure he was documenting did in fact include the concept of multiple lives.

The Eagle as described, takes away the memories and experiences of each soul at the time of death. Don Juan impressed upon his pupils that this was an impersonal and horrifying end and did nothing to explain what might happen to a soul after it has been 'erased' as such. It appears to me that Don Juan did this in order to motivate his students in their attempts to overcome the limitations set by reality and the Eagle. --The ultimate goal of the sorcerer being to escape the bounds of both mortality and this physical reality, an act which could be achieved through two extremely long and challenging practices, one known as Dreaming and the other as, Recapitulation.

It was interestingly described once that dying before the Eagle and losing one's memories was the equivalent of 'handing in your homework.'

In any case, it seems there there is some incongruity between the various similar theories advanced by circles involved in such matters; Some North American Shamans and high ranking eastern marial arts practitioners claim to be able to remember one or more of their past lives, while other groups claim to be able to bring forth past life experiences in many subjects through methods involving channeling and hypnosis.

The story of the Eagle remains, for this noder, an unresolved puzzle.

Er, sorry waiter: could you read that menu for me?

The Eagle in Clerkenwell is a small, unpretentious gastropub on Farringdon Road, next door from the offices of The Guardian and The Observer. The interieur is decidedly dodgy, with a rather chaotic collection of cheapo chairs and tables and the most worn out sofa north of the Thames. Behind the bar, the (for London) usual ensemble of waiters from the Ukraine, Spain, New Zealand, Poland and Australia look after an impressive array of belgian beers (i.e. Leffe), English real ales, Erdinger and the usual spirits.

So far so good, but what makes this central london boozer so special, is the kitchen behind the bar, where smashing food is being produced. The menu is scribbled on a collection of blackboards above the stove and is notoriously hard to read (it actually gets more convoluted everytime I visit the place), so most of the time you'll have to ask the waiter/waitress to translate for you

The menu changes daily, depending on what fresh produce the cook can get his hands on and the food is always served with fresh bread and olive oil. The style of cooking could broadly be defined as mediterranean, with heavy emphasis on spanish and italian ingredients and a good variety of pasta and vegetarian dishes and the portions are seriously big.

The clientele is a great mix between journalists, young professionals and the usual gaggle of drunken students, low lifes (and almost no) tourists, and at times the odd musician. Apparently Graham Norton used to work as a waiter here, but fortunately has moved on.

Verdict? In my personal opinion possibly the perfect gastropub in London, but this is, as always, a matter of taste. Well worth a visit, though.

The Eagle
159 Farringdon Road
London, UK
EC1R 3AL
020 7837 1353