While we cannot argue that Freemasonry directly derives from the ancient mysteries, or even that it has retained certain practices carried down through the centuries (it might have done, but we cannot point to any proof of this) we can show that many parallels of symbolism exist. In some way Freemasonry shares a symbolism in common with these ancient rites. And how much does Freemasonry share the understanding of that symbolism? We cannot answer this question definitively but it is certainly plausible to suggest that an understanding of the hidden meanings managed to survive the centuries.
The mystical rites of Eleusis lasted for three days. We can see a similarity in our own rituals: each of the three degrees in Freemasonry is a symbolic day; each is opened at sunrise in the east for work by the Master and closed with sunset m the west by the Senior Warden. And there is a further mysterious parallel here, of course, which relates to Christian mysticism and the three days of Easter.