Mysteries and mystery

Kleidoukhos - So many, many times I have said in my prayers that You are the Keeper of the Keys that unlock the Cosmic Mysteries. I didn't realize I was misunderstanding "Mysteries". 

I used to misunderstand ancient Mystery rituals as being secrets that were kept from the uninitiated, or those who were initiates of whichever group but had not progressed far enough. I eventually came to understand that those things could be factors in who did or did not participate, but Mystery was about Truth that had to be experienced and meditated on, usually repeatedly because a change in understanding could open opportunities for new knowledge from the same information. Kind of a never stepping into the same river twice thing. 

But I still misunderstood the word when praising You. Or only understood the smallest hint of it. I simply thought of it as You knowing everything in ways that would likely remain mysteries to humans, and that included things we don't even think of because we don't know enough to ask questions. And, yes, I suppose that's true...but I realize now that's not what it means that You hold the keys that unlock those Mysteries.

I've been thinking about my questions about You and Ganesha. I've been learning about Hindu philosophy, which my own views seem to align with in many ways. I'm learning things that are new for me, but feel more like confirmation and expansion than things I've never thought of. (So far. I expect that will change as I continue learning.) I don't feel at this time like it would ever be right for me to identify myself as Hindu, but I do feel like I'm finding the kind of spiritual studies I've always wished for when looking in other places.

I'm also building a more structured practice of devotion to Ganesha so that I can do my part in developing a deeper bond, a stronger communion. I'd be lying if I said there was no hope for help in my family's current situation - we're desperate for help! - but that's not all it is. In some ways, that's not the important part. We need the situation resolved, but this isn't a transaction. It's not a trade. I'm accepting that I've already been devoted to Ganesha for a long time, and realizing it makes me want to be active in my devotion. 

This has led to me seeing even more parallels between the two of You. (That's where my current understanding of "Mysteries" figures into things.) It brings me back to wondering... It's my understanding that You were adopted into the Greek pantheon from a region of what is now a country we call Turkey. That stories about Your role in the war between the Olympians and Titans, and Zeus respecting You and allowing You to keep Your titles and such, were added in much later than the original stories. And that we can only barely trace You back to that region of Turkey. We don't know how You were worshipped there, and we don't have their stories about You. 

In addition to being a Keeper of Mysteries, You are a mystery in many ways.

I don't know if I'm unconsciously trying to condense two favorite Shining Ones into one, or if the people who knew You before the Hellenes would have understood You as Ganesha with a different name and visualized in a different form.

I don't know where this path will lead me. I trust that there are reasons You are guiding me in this direction, though.