Very dark purple is a specific, dense tone of violet assigned to the Sephirah Yesod on the Emperor Scale of Colour in Liber 777. The name itself is a direct descriptive label; there is no historical etymology beyond Crowley’s need to differentiate it from the “rich purple” of Path 21 (which is a higher, more luminous violet) and the “deep purple” of Chesed (which is a warmer, fuller purple). It is the darkest purple on the entire scale, positioned at the threshold where colour nearly sinks into blackness.

Position on the Tree of Life

This colour occupies step 9, Yesod—the Foundation, the sphere of the Moon, of illusion, of the astral plane, and of the generative forces. On the Emperor Scale, each Sephirah receives a colour that corresponds to its nature when viewed from the perspective of the Father (the Emperor, Atziluth). Very dark purple for Yesod suggests a foundation that is not bright or solid, but deeply reflective, absorbing light rather than emitting it. It is the colour of the deepest night sky just before the moon rises, or of a bruise that has settled into the tissues—a wounded but vital hue.

Historical context

Crowley derived the Emperor Scale colours from the earlier work of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which in turn adapted colour scales from the Sword of Song (R. A. Gilbert’s reconstruction) and from the Masonic tradition of the “Four Worlds” schema. The Emperor Scale itself is the scale of the Father, the divine will, and its colours are considered the most primal, the chiah or essential life-force of the Sephiroth. In this system, purple is consistently associated with the lunar and watery paths, but the specific “very dark purple” for Yesod is a departure from the more common indigo or violet assigned to the Moon in other systems. Crowley’s choice emphasises the density of Yesod—its role as the receiver of all higher forces, where they become thick, tangible, and ready for the final step into Malkuth. In The Vision and the Voice, the 29th Aethyr describes a “deep purple” that veils the entrance to the abyss, but this colour is darker, more secretive, the colour of the magician’s robe when he works at the hour of midnight without a lamp.

In table 777, this colour appears uniquely at the intersection of Yesod and the Emperor Scale. It is not repeated elsewhere; the other scales (Queen, Prince, Princess) assign different hues to Yesod (e.g., the Queen scale gives it violet flecked with silver, the Prince scale gives it pale purple, the Princess scale gives it citrine flecked with azure). The very dark purple here is therefore the most hidden and most paternal aspect of the lunar sphere, the colour of the foundation that is never seen directly, only felt as a deep pressure in the dark.