PROOF OF THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD.
I have just found a video that sums up this very good. And moreover, if you know some spiritual allegories, this video can be understood even better. Anyways, I will include a commentary here.
NOTE: I'M NOT WRITING AN ESSAY ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THE VIDEO, I'M ONLY EXPLAINING VAGUE PARTS OF IT. I'M IGNORING A LOT OF CLEAR THINGS IN THIS VIDEO SO THIS IS JUST A COMPANION TO THE VIDEO.
About the Elysian Mysteries:
Note that the Elysian fields were thought to where the advanced souls reside, so the purpose of this cult that almost every Athenian partaken in is for advancing the soul, to reach this field.
Death and reborn means a spiritual transformation here, as it is said in the video, people would die and reborn in these rituals. This means a spiritual transformation of the soul, and becoming a God.
Mania is unlocking the power of the soul.
The description of Plutarch of this ritual is very reviling: "Than in accordance to nature the soul stays engaged with the body in close union thereafter." As we know, the more advanced you soul gets, the more it will be connected to your astral body and physical body. When your soul unites with you physical body, you become a God, and immortal.
Pythagorean Mysteries:
There isn't much to explain here, note that "altered state of consciousness" means a trance state, meditating, and also a higher state of consciousness, connected to things such as intuition, "all knowing" Kundalini, and so on.
The Bacchic Mysteries:
Bacchus is Dionysus, as explained, but he is also Satan. People in this cult were literally dedicated to Satan.
Here, similarly to Mania, Baccheia is the unlocking the power of the soul.
Ecstasy is often related to the pineal gland, when it is activated, it gives an ecstasy feeling.
Here he gives an inaccurate description of women's life. In reality women were esteemed by man, besides not having political rights, they were esteemed. Just because they did not had political rights it doesn't mean they weren't esteemed. It was a manly characteristic to engage in politics but we see woman to had actual power, even political in the ancient word. See for example Cleopatra, or the Pythia (priestess of Apollo) who were consulted by leaders to take the right decision.
Moreover, "killing others" and "intoxicants" is still allegorical here. The secretion of the pineal gland were also thought to be a poison, but this is this is life energy as we know today. This was also cakked as wine / mead.
The Orphics:
As said, advancing the soul gets it to higher dimensions, aka a more pleasant afterlife. Katabasis could mean astral projection, meditation, and rising of the Kundalini.
And it has nothing to do with Christianity as we can see.
Parmenides:
Here it is further confirmed that Katabasis could mean the rising of the kunalini. Meeting the unnamed Goddes who reveals the secretes of reality could mean the Kundalini penetrating the crown chakra, resulting in a higher state of conciseness. But also what he explains, meeting a Goddes literally.
Everything is one could mean the ether.
Plato:
This is speking for its self.