1.  The three lower sub-planes of the Astral World in which the emotional consciousness is slowly “purged” (purified) of self-inflicted judgments and suffering—much of which originates in religious illusions as in the “hell and damnation” preaching of Christian evangelists. Neither Hell nor Purgatory has any objective existence but are nevertheless subjectively real to the sufferer until he can free himself of these illusions.

2.  An extrabiblical concept taken from the fiction of Dante and adopted for centuries by Roman Catholic doctrine describing a place where the souls of sinners who are redeemable and not damned to Hell may suffer—sometimes described in horrible ways—to expiate sins before moving on to heaven.