Per aspera ad astra

Per aspera ad astra (or ad astra per aspera) is a Latin phrase meaning "through hardships to the stars". I prefer to translate it as:  through aspiration—to the stars. A gold pin we found in the back of a lovely old bureau abandoned by the roadside. Or rather, a hidden dime-sized enamel pin that stuck me and drew blood...I guess it wanted my attention. 

I have no idea what the rest of the pin means. A red star, a beehive on a piece of wood? Busy bees? Work? A mercator sky to map the stars? A red star, a Communist symbol, if ever there was one, a reference to socialism? Or what LOTM means. At first I thought it was LOTR! Hobbitses! One ring (or pin) to rule them all. And we do have that double planet conjunction coming up on the 21st. 

Katherine Hastings suggested, Ladies of the Maccabees is a possibility. Which proved to be harder to trace, than not. References were clear as mud. Something to do with a rebellion. But I got a lead, some Knights, and a whiff of masonry. A secret society. 

Are handshakes or fez hats involved? Oddfellows? Let’s try the Knights. See where that leads. KOTM doesn’t have that same ring to it. Oh great, a graveyard reference, but their motto is catchy: Astra Castra Numen Lumen. Just don’t say it while drunk. Any low-flying vultures involved? Do I need to duck? Kyle Alden Thayer says Life of the mind. I can work with that.

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
Victor Hugo, Les Miserables (1862)

My favorite astronaut, Colonel Chris Hadfield said the phrase was the motto of the Royal Canadian Air Force.  Per aspera ad astra .Through adversity to the stars. But their logo is a maple leaf, so I’m suspecting it really is much older than the Air Force. 

Then it dawned on me that Lowell Hendrickson, who once lived on our road, was a pilot. Weekends he would take his biplane out for a spin and do barrel rolls and loop-de-loops overhead with all of us kids out in the field screaming our heads off cheering him on. Either way, it’s a cool pin, and a cool motto.

Note bene: stuffing that little bureau into the back of my Guppy car (a Scion) was almost a comedy of errors, an engineering feat requiring precision to clear the wheel well, but we did it. My cousin, who fancied it, said it couldn’t be done. Passers-by shook their heads in disbelief. But I am allergic to the concept of No, I prefer to work with Yes! I knew it would fit if only we got the right configuration.

And so, we managed to wedge the bureau into the back of the itty-bitty hatchback, and bring it home like lions triumphantly dragging home their prey. Getting it back out of the car again required another round of finesse. Lift and twist. The little pin was easier to carry, despite its stellar weight. Maybe someday its cryptic message will be revealed.