Buddhism
Though the Buddhists have their bodisattvas, the approach to spiritual awareness is itself very very esoteric. No extra-corporeal deity to tap one on the shoulder. Only an increasing awareness of our cognitive presence and its effects on ourselves and on the world. What is perception? Is it an illusion? What is suffering? What is desire? Does desire cause suffering?
It's a very very cool -- as in "reserved" -- way of looking at the world, very self-directed, very remote from self. A contradiction, but a tense and vibrant one. The only hell one has to go to is the one one makes for one's self. There are many heavens as well, but the ultimate bliss is release.
It's a third way, apart from the two you describe.