36. NECTARS OF IMMORTALITY

     "Faeries, those airy creatures of light, are the cyanobacteria that were the first to invent photosynthesis to feed on light to give off the oxygen that would become the new atmosphere of an illuminated world."
                          -- William Irwin Thompson

     "Just living is not enough" said the butterfly fairy, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
                          -- Hans Christian Anderson 

     "Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup, with the promise of......"1 longevity! (at least a few hundred years!). Grasses and algae (cyanobacteria - the species that transformed our planet), along with the brassica family (kale, chard, collards, etc.), sprouted seeds, seaweeds, and wild and garden-variety herbs, contain living cells / enzymes delighted to assist us in creating new blood. Vampyrella, a eukaryote species of bacteria, feeds on filamentous algae by penetration of filopodia - "pin-like suctorial rays"......there's that sucking sound again!

     Swish! mix the marinated raw juices of green plants with your saliva before swallowing. Chlorophyll (plant blood) is molecularly identical to hemoglobin (human blood), save for a single atom (chlorophyll's central atom is composed of magnesium, while  hemoglobin's atom binds to iron). Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis and maxima) a fresh-water cyanobacteria, is 65 per cent pure plant protein. Radiating a full spectrum of all 21 amino acids, it hosts gamma linolenic acid - the active compound found in mother's milk! Astounding rejuvenation powers!
     Treeplanting2 is rated one of the most grueling jobs on the planet, along with forest firefighting, for burning the most energy per calorie. Carrying 50 to 75 pounds of saplings, in bags harnessed to your waist, and crisscrossing slash (the landscape of mangled trees left by clearcut logging) up a 90-degree slope in the blazing sun, while swatting flies eating chunks of your flesh, is assuredly a bit of a tough go. 

     M and I landed environs Prince George, B.C. Canada, circa 1987, in the biggest clear cut on Earth (shamefully visible from the Moon), wearing urban, anarchist black, and hissy-fitting in Québecois patois, over our ego's loss of control, in this unmitigated, monstrous, environmental disaster / rape. The staff laid serious bets we wouldn't last a day (Suckers! we went on to plant for numerous coastal and interior outfits, over the next five years3, with "Highballer" M planting a cool million trees, and yours truly becoming a legendary camp cook (known far and wide for my rock-hard, multi-grain bread, and hearty, garlic-laden, Moosewood Cookbook soups!)).

     As treeplanting warriors, we required (and were wired to) deep psychological releases (sex, marijuana, drum circles, and hackey-sack), and the latest techno-edge (Walkmans) to keep on trucking, amidst screaming endorphins, adverse weather, and the PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) which results from seeing our beloved Earth Mama's primeval forests shredded for paper bags, toilet paper, newspapers, and toothpicks / matchsticks.
     Enter fellow tree planter (and blood brother!) Spirulina Dave (later known as Leif) to the rescue. Daredevil of intrepid pursuits in India and China (on Sacred Quests seeking longevity elixirs) he intuitively deduced the Secrets of Immortality, thriving in his namesake, spiral-dancin', algae (or pond scum, as a squeamish friend deems it). Spirulina is a quick- fix lasting hours, energizing every cell. Green Savior! We went wild for it! - our mouths, lips and teeth stained with the emerald slather, similar to the fiendish, blood-red grins of manic betel-nut chewers.

    Further rallying, Leif travels to Lake Texcoco, near Tenochtitlan, Mexico, home of the ancient Aztec civilization. The Aztecs revered two of today's touted super foods; cacao (chocolate) and spirulina. The algae, grown in canals and aqueducts along the pyramid-vaulted city of millions, was harvested, sun-dried, mixed with sprouted grains (quinoa and amaranth), honey-patted into cakes, and brushed with powdered cacao.               
                                 
                           
     Our Spirulina Guru tours a modern factory on the lake, producing tons of the life-nourishing algae (characteristic of algae blooms, it doubles its mass daily, and promises to (hopefully, one day soon) eradicate world hunger). He returns North beaming, bearing live specimens in glass milk bottles, with full intention to seed the swimming sprites in coastal ponds and lakes. Aquatic life forms millions of years young! Global warming's primed to do the trick....

     Leif is legend - a superhuman testament to the power of the Green Gold, he traipses treetops and sky-walks teepees, commandeering daring, bone-breaking stunts (which he heals in record time, using crystals and chanting). Living off-the-grid as a nomadic, barefoot-bard and open seas kayaker / sailing instructor, we're on stand-by exodus to promised lands, up inlets of the Coast Salish, onto Haida Gwaii..........
     Treeplanter Myth : A Japanese Zen ascetic living in a cave subsisted solely on water and spirulina for seventeen years! Stave off apocalyptic scenarios by putting-by a few pounds of the cobalt-blue-green lifesaver. Visit the wonders of Klamath Lake, Oregon, its algae bloom fed by the underground volcanic mineral deposits of nearby Crater Lake. Drink algae daily for radical health and the joyful lightness of Being attributed to the cyanobacteria - pure faerie de-light! Fill your belly with the modern equivalent of Aztec nutritional genius!4

     Ever swill wheatgrass juice? In my professional career heyday as the Juice Lady (proprietress of Zingy Juices, a 100-per-cent- organic, juice and smoothie bar), I squeezed ounces of the medicinal green lightning, served foaming in shot glasses, sweet and slightly anti-septic to the taste. I mirthfully observed the faces of my customers pucker, and bodies involuntarily shake, as massive doses of chlorophyll jumpstarted their chakras. Once your wheels are whirling, you, too, will smile green-tongued joy. The secret? Green plant juices and algae are Ph miracles - among the most alkaline foods on the planet, and major vampire fixer-uppers. Solar energy is where it's at, Lightsuckers! Nectar-dripping from the teats of the Green Goddess!

1 Young, Neil, "Harvest"
2 for the Definitive Treeplanting Experience, read Charlotte Gill's Eating Dirt
3 We finally realized that the Forestry Department, ruled by multi-nationals such as Weyerhauser, Interfor, etc. was only interested in planting tree farms, to log as soon as possible (i.e. maximizing profits), not in maintaining the health of the forest eco-system, thus rendering the logging industry totally unsustainable, and, in effect, criminal.
4 Billy's Infinity Greens Superfoods Bar

                                        Gretchen Fetchin communing with algae on LSD!!!
                                        Ken Kesey & The Merry Pranksters bus tour, (1964)