奧菲斯教最初講的是「偶發、無原因的原因或起因（Causeless Cause）」，在該因素下所有的推測都是不可能的；從原子到宇宙萬物周期性的出現和消失；靈魂回到肉體（reimbodiment）；循環法則；所有眾生和事物的神性本質（the essential divinity）；以及宇宙表現出的二重性，這都是奧菲斯教要談論的宗教觀。它假定了無邊無界的七種散發：以太（aether，精神）和混沌（chaos，物質），從這兩者中化現出世界蛋（或宇宙蛋），其中便誕生了太初神祇法涅斯，是為第一因（the First Logos）；然後烏拉諾斯（還有蓋亞）是為第二因（the Second Logos），而克洛諾斯（Kronos，還有瑞亞〔Rhea〕──奧林匹斯眾神之母）是為第二因的後面階段；再來就是宙斯，是為第三因（the Third Logos）或造物主（Demiurge）──透過札格柔斯-狄俄倪索斯成為神人，也就是聖子，開始了所謂次要七倍等級的散發。
奧菲斯教宇宙起源論的特徵是賦予數字「七」重要的地位。F. S. 達羅（F. S. Darrow）指出：
「譯文：奧菲斯教對狄俄倪索斯崇拜之興起是希臘宗教史上最重要的事實，標誌着一種偉大的精神覺醒。祂的三大思想是：⑴相信人類本質的神性以及靈魂的永遠不滅或永恆，祂是先存與後生；⑵個人責任與公義的必要性；⑶人的高等自我對低等天性的再生或救贖。 原文：The rise of the Orphic worship of Dionysos is the most important fact in the history of Greek religion, and marks a great spiritual awakening. Its three great ideas are (1) a belief in the essential Divinity of humanity and the complete immortality or eternity of the soul, its pre-existence and its post-existence; (2) the necessity for individual responsibility and righteousness; and (3) the regeneration or redemption of man's lower nature by his own higher Self.」 [18]
奧菲斯教在記述神統的史詩是和赫西俄德《神譜》相近似的系譜學作品，但是兩大系譜是完全不同的編排結構。他們可能受到近東宗教觀念模式的影響。主要的神話故事情節是這樣描述的：狄俄倪索斯祂的化身是扎格柔斯（Zagreus），祂是宙斯與珀耳塞福涅的兒子；[19]宙斯聲稱要將祂的寶座繼承權賜予這位孩子，然而宙斯這樣的舉措反而激怒其妻赫拉，因此被迫需要讓扎格柔斯-狄俄倪索斯趕快離開，所以這位孩子的誕生是透過了另一位母親的懷胎而降臨世間的；由於這位神子誕生消息的公開之故，憤怒無比的赫拉即下定決心要謀殺這個小孩，於是唆使泰坦族將其迫害，扎格柔斯-狄俄倪索斯於是先被泰坦族的鏡子與童玩給欺騙之下，隨後泰坦族立即殺害並吃掉（consume）祂。雅典娜救出了狄俄倪索斯的心臟並且秉告宙斯有關泰坦族罪行，宙斯憤而慾懲泰坦族，便逐個地對其擲出了雷霆（又譯：閃電火）。故而泰坦族即打成了煙灰，隨即從中誕生出罪孽深重的人類，他們兼含着泰坦的身體、形體和狄俄倪索斯的靈魂。人的靈魂（狄俄倪索斯因子）是屬於神聖的，但是由於身體（泰坦因子）的捆綁，靈魂是處在奴役的狀態。因此，它表達着若靈魂每次[20]要返回物質界的肉身（host）時，那麼靈魂就勢必要在這重生之輪不斷地生生流轉着。在泰坦遭受報應之後，扎格柔斯被肢解的身軀由阿波羅慎重地收集著，並將之埋葬於祂的聖地德爾斐。在隨後的幾個世紀中，這方面相關神話傳說被引申為：阿波羅的埋葬之舉成為狄俄倪索斯轉世的原因，由此阿波羅也被賜予狄俄倪希歐多特斯（Dionysiodotes，英譯：bestower of Dionysus；漢譯：狄俄倪索斯之恩賜者）[21]的頭銜。阿波羅在札格柔斯被肢解的這一則神話情節中扮演着重要角色，因為祂代表宇宙靈魂（Encosmic Soul）歸向統一。[22][23]
關於狄俄倪索斯重生的奧菲斯神話故事還有兩則：其中一則是為狄俄倪索斯的心臟被植入了宙斯的大腿之中；另外一則是為宙斯已使凡人女子塞墨勒懷孕，導致狄俄倪索斯如實的重生了。這些故事的許多細節皆與古典作家的敘述大異其趣。達馬希烏斯認為阿波羅「將祂（狄俄倪索斯的肢體）聚集在一起使祂復活（gathers him (Dionysus) together and brings him back up）」。然而基督徒作家費爾米庫斯·馬特爾努斯則是在他的一本著作《關於異教宗教的謬誤》（On the Error of Profane Religions）之中就闡述了一項相當不同的說法，他表示說朱庇特（宙斯）原本是一位克里特島的（凡人）君王──歐赫邁羅斯的概念──並且狄俄倪索斯是祂的兒子。狄俄倪索斯被謀殺，隨即被肢解且吞噬掉。最終只有祂的心臟被雅典娜搶救下來。然後用石膏（這是泰坦族用來掩飾祂們自己的物質）製做成了肖似狄俄倪索斯的雕像，並且將祂的心臟給安置在雕像內部。[24]
英譯：I am a son of Earth and starry sky. I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me cold water from the Lake of Memory to drink.[26]
中譯：我是大地與星空之子。我快渴死了；請你趕緊從記憶之湖取點水給我吧。
另外幾個金箔上的文字要求死者去找珀耳塞福涅：
英譯：Now you have died and now you have come into being, O thrice happy one, on this same day. Tell Persephone that the Bacchic One himself released you.[27]
原文：The Orphics were an ascetic sect; wine, to them, was only a symbol, as, later, in the Christian sacrament. The intoxication that they sought was that of "enthusiasm", of union with the god. They believed themselves, in this way, to acquire mystic knowledge not obtainable by ordinary means. This mystical element entered into Greek philosophy with Pythagoras, who was a reformer of Orphism as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of Dionysus. From Pythagoras Orphic elements entered into the philosophy of Plato, and from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious.
原文：He is not an orthodox Orphic; it is only the fundamental doctrines that he accepts, not the superstitions and ceremonies of purification.[31] 譯文：他不是一位正統的奧菲斯教徒；他只是接受了基本的教義，不是迷信和淨化的儀式。
Three Faces of God by David L. Miller,2005,Back Matter: "... assumed that this was a Christian trinitarian influence on late Hellenistic Orphism, but it may be that the Old Neoplatonists were closer ..."
Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture by Marilyn B. Skinner, 2005, page 135, "[...] of life, there was no coherent religious movement properly termed 'Orphism' (Dodds 1957: 147–9; West 1983: 2–3). Even if there were, [...]"
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W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks & Their Gods (Beacon, 1954), p. 322; Kirk, Raven, & Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (Cambridge, 1983, 2nd edition), pp. 21, 30–31, 33; Parker, "Early Orphism", pp. 485, 497
眾多不一而足含有這項必要套語的薄片帶有一些微小的變化；對於希臘文本和翻譯，請參閱弗里茨·格拉夫（Fritz Graf）和莎拉·艾爾斯·詹斯頓（Sarah Iles Johnston）合著，Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets (Routlege, 2007)，pp. 4–5 (Hipponion, 400 BC)、6–7 (Petelia, 4th century BC)、pp. 16–17 (Entella, possibly 3rd century BC)、pp. 20–25 (five tablets from Eleutherna, Crete, 2nd or 1st century BC)、pp. 26–27 (Mylopotamos, 2nd century BC)、pp. 28–29 (Rethymnon, 2nd or 1st century BC)、pp. 34–35 (Pharsalos, Thessaly, 350–300 BC)，以及pp. 40–41 (Thessaly, mid-4th century BC) 線上電子書 （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）。
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