How Hidden Colors Debunk the Notion of 'Hallucinations'

Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death. This week, I’m exploring how Psychedelics don’t distort reality—but reveal parts of it we’ve never seen.

---

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” — Albert Einstein

---

Intro

Proof that Psychedelics don’t just trigger hallucinations might come from an unlikely source—color.

Psychedelics don’t merely fabricate illusory experiences; they reveal aspects of reality hidden from our senses—like colors we’ve never seen before.

According to this article, Psychedelics may grant us access to hidden colors embedded in the fabric of the universe. As my friend Joel Brierre—who runs Tandava, a retreat center dedicated to 5-MeO-DMT (alongside his partner Victoria Wueschner, who you might recognize from her two appearances on this blog)—puts it:

“It’s a brilliant, blinding white light that is so radiant it contains everything within it. You feel that white light with every bit of your body—like you’re experiencing the vibratory pattern of it, the intricacies and infinite nature of it.”

Those who’ve sat with the world’s most potent Psychedelic know exactly what he means (more on that later). Maybe these aren’t hallucinations or cortical glitches—but glimpses into a deeper reality, obscured by the limitations of our evolutionarily adapted eyes.

---

Photo by Amanda Dalbjörn on Unsplash

---

Part #1: The Subjective Nature of Color Perception

“Color is not out there in the world—it is a sensation created by your brain.” — V.S. Ramachandran

This idea, echoed by neuroscientists like V.S. Ramachandran, invites us to rethink what we consider “real.” Color is not an intrinsic property of the external world but a subjective experience—an internal interpretation of electromagnetic wavelengths by our visual system.

In An Immense World, science journalist Ed Yong illustrates this concept beautifully by showing how different species perceive radically different slices of the electromagnetic spectrum:

• Bees see ultraviolet patterns on flowers invisible to us.

• Snakes detect infrared heat signatures.

• Mantis shrimp process a dozen more color channels than humans.

The takeaway: color is not fixed—it is filtered. Our human experience of it is just one version among many.

---

Part #2: Scientific Discovery of 'Olo'

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

In a remarkable experiment, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, used precise laser stimulation to target individual photoreceptor cells in the human eye. Participants reported seeing a completely novel color—described as a hyper-saturated blue-green—that doesn’t exist in the natural world or in any known language. The researchers nicknamed it "olo."

This discovery shows that our visual system is capable of perceiving colors that go beyond the familiar rainbow—colors that don’t exist in our shared external reality but can still be generated internally by manipulating the right inputs. In other words, our perceptual range is not fixed—it’s expandable.

In The Case Against Reality, Donald Hoffman argues that what we see isn’t a faithful rendering of objective reality, but a user-friendly interface evolved for survival. Olo is a striking example: the brain is capable of creating visual experiences outside our evolutionary toolkit when pushed beyond the ordinary.

---

Part #3: Psychedelics & Altered Visual Experiences

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” — Robertson Davies

Psychedelic compounds like Psilocybin influence the brain's visual processing centers. Users report experiencing entirely new colors, intricate patterns, and textures previously unseen—sensations that feel more vivid & real than ordinary perception (can confirm).

A recent study published in Nature investigated the neural mechanisms behind these Psilocybin-induced visual phenomena. The researchers found that Psilocybin alters the typical constraints on visual perception by reducing the sensitivity of visual regions to external stimuli & enhancing top-down feedback from higher-order brain areas. This shift allows internally generated imagery to dominate, even with eyes closed, effectively bypassing the usual sensory filters that limit our visual experiences .

These findings suggest that such experiences are not mere hallucinations but represent an expanded form of perception. By modulating the brain's processing pathways, Psychedelics temporarily lift the filters that shape our normal sensory experiences, granting access to a broader spectrum of visual consciousness.

---

Part #4: Reevaluating the Term 'Hallucination'

“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anaïs Nin

If normal perception is already a filtered, constructed experience shaped by evolution & cognition, then what we label as a “hallucination” may not be false—it may simply be a different model of reality. Psychedelic experiences, rather than being meaningless distortions, might reflect alternative interpretations of the same sensory or cognitive inputs, processed under altered neural dynamics.

This paper introduces the REBUS (Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics) model, which proposes that Psychedelics reduce the precision of top-down beliefs in the brain’s predictive coding system. With these constraints loosened, perception becomes more flexible, fluid, and open to alternative interpretations—including visuals that are not “false” but simply not normally accessible.

In his book, Hallucinations, neurologist Oliver Sacks reframes hallucinations not as signs of pathology but as meaningful & often benign events—sometimes insightful, even beautiful. He shares how the brain can generate vivid, complex imagery that’s experienced as real, not because the person is “delusional,” but because the brain is capable of such generative perception.

---

Part #5: Philosophical Implications

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”
—Philip K. Dick

The ability to perceive previously unseen aspects of reality raises deep questions about the nature of consciousness and the limits of human perception. If our experience of the world can shift so dramatically through altered states, then reality itself may not be as fixed or objective as we once believed.

These altered states suggest that consciousness is not just a passive observer, but an active participant in shaping what we perceive. The boundaries of reality may not be absolute—they may expand as our minds evolve, shift, or open to new ways of sensing the world.

If so much of what we call "reality" is shaped by the mechanics of our perception, then altered states—far from being escapist or delusional—might serve as tools for exploration. They challenge the default settings of the mind and offer glimpses into what lies beyond the edges of our ordinary awareness. Perhaps the true frontier isn’t outer space or the deep ocean—it’s the uncharted territory of consciousness itself.

---

Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash

---

Part #6: My Experience

I’ve sat with 5-MeO-DMT four times, and I can confidently say Joel is right—these colors are not imagined. What we witness under the influence isn’t just vivid; it’s otherworldly. A realm of impossible brightness & vibrating hues, so foreign to waking reality the limits of language fail to do it justice.

So what’s actually happening?

Let’s start with what’s not happening: this isn’t just a hallucination. Not a distortion, not a cortical misfire. The evidence suggests something else entirely: a veil is being lifted. We’re granted temporary access to a world of color & sensation that is always there, beyond the limits of baseline consciousness.

This conversation tends to split along a familiar line: those who’ve had a mystical experience, and those who haven’t. The latter often dismiss it outright. The former know that what they saw was real. As real as a sunrise. As real as grief. As real as love.

---

Conclusion

Psychedelics challenge our assumptions not just about the mind, but about the nature of reality itself. If substances like 5-MeO-DMT & Psilocybin can unmask hidden dimensions of color, then what we call “normal” vision is just one small slice of the whole.

These experiences don't distort reality—they expand it. And maybe that’s what scares people most: the idea that there’s more to see, more to feel, and more to be—if we muster the courage to look beyond the veil.

Because if this veil can be lifted—if what we’ve called hallucination is actually revelation—then everything changes. Not just how we see the world, but who we believe ourselves to be in it.

---

If you found value in this piece, I'd appreciate it if you could hit the 'Like' button. The number of 'likes' a piece receives plays a crucial role in its visibility within the Substack algorithm. Your support means a lot—thank you!

---

The best way to support my work is by sharing it with others who might be interested. Feel free to forward this email and encourage them to subscribe using the button below.

---

I'm excited to announce my collaboration with Fun Guy! Use this link to shop for your favorite products. If you're looking for a euphoric, fun aphrodisiac but aren’t quite ready for MDMA (or want to avoid the gnarly MDMA blues), Kanna might be just what you need. My personal favorite is Flow Chocolate—use this link to purchase it directly!