The Purgatory Myth: Applying Administrative Integrity to Grief and Mediumship
By Karen Baldwin
In an unregulated industry like spiritualism and mediumship, the lack of professional standards doesn't just spread misinformation—it actively harms vulnerable people. As an evidential medium, my work is grounded in years of formal training with respected mentors. In my day job within the Australian Public Service (APS), I operate under a strict Code of Conduct centred in accountability and respect. When I look at the psychic industry through that same professional lens, I am frequently appalled by the lack of administrative integrity shown by untrained practitioners.
A few weeks after my mother passed away into the spirit world, I had an encounter that highlighted exactly how dangerous this lack of standard can be. I was getting my hair done in Canberra, and the hairdresser asked what I did for work. When I mentioned I was a medium, she casually chimed in that she "dabbled" too. I shared that my mum had recently passed.
Without hesitation, or a single shred of evidence, this woman looked at me and said:
"Oh, well, she would be in a place of reflection right now. She hasn't quite gone to the spirit world yet; she's stuck in a waiting area."
The Danger of Ill-Informed Opinions
I saw red. Not just because I was a grieving daughter, but because I knew her statement was completely illogical, unverified, and deeply unethical.
If I didn't possess the training and firsthand evidential proof that I do, an off-the-cuff remark like that could have completely destroyed my peace of mind. It would have left me worrying that my mother was trapped, lonely, or struggling in some cosmic purgatory. This is how fear-mongering and theatrical "spiritual slop" exploit people when they are at their lowest points.
I demanded to know where she learned this information. She named a local development circle.
I asked: On what authority? What gives them the right to make a claim on behalf of the spirit world that causes real psychological harm to the living?
She had no answer.
The Logic of the Spirit World
Let's look at this with logic and reason. In a disciplined, evidence-based tradition, we are taught that consciousness is free. You are either here in the physical world, or you are there in the spirit world. Nobody gets stuck. Nobody gets left behind.
Two days after my mother passed, she came through in a professional development group with irrefutable, specific evidence. She didn't need to be "sent into the light" by a self-proclaimed expert, and she wasn't sitting in a waiting room. She had her reunion with my dad, her parents, and her siblings. She went straight into a space of safety and healing. I know because I was there and witnessed her transition to the spirit world.
Every time a psychic or medium speaks in the name of the spirit world, they act as an ambassador. They are entirely accountable to the entire spirit world and to the mental safety of the client sitting across from them.
If someone in this industry tells you a loved one is "trapped," demand the evidence. If they cannot prove it with specific, unmistakable information, then it isn't spirit communication—it is simply a bad, unpolished, and completely unacceptable business practice.
You deserve standards, evidence, and accountability, not theatrical nonsense.
Karen Baldwin, May 2026
Words written and created by me and edited using AI.