Phases of Liquid Crystals as an Explanatory Framework to Distinguish Between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT

Back in 2021 during my first meditation retreat (which was centered around the teachings found in Shinzen Young’s “The Science of Enlightenment”) I hypothesized that the human brain uses liquid crystals to instantiate the world simulation we all know and love.

By this I mean: look around you, doesn’t this world look fake? It is a simulation, isn’t it? But unlike the simulations discussed in The Matrix, here we’re talking about a World Simulation¹ crafted, at the very least, by your body and nervous system. The walls around you are “made” of some type of material. Granted, it is a highly dynamic material, which comes and goes in a fraction of a second, but it is also at times clunky and irritating. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to live in a small room with walls at very odd angles. When you live in such a place, you are swallowing the geometry of your surroundings and in a way becoming one with it. Furbishing your world simulation with odd angled rooms can be detrimental to your valence. The waves of attention and awareness will not be able to sync up as well, and you won’t find a place that feels “centered” and “balanced” in which to meditate. I will hypothesize that how this world simulation works shares a lot of features with liquid crystals. Chances are that you yourself are staring at a Liquid Crystal Display right now. Over and over again I’m amazed at how most people have no idea what this means. We’re looking at them directly for hours at a time, and never realizing we’re dealing with a rather exotic phase of matter. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time (if I’m right that the brain uses liquid crystals too!).

I want to suggest that the world simulation you “see” in front of is implemented with a liquid crystal whose parameters are being modulated electromagnetically. The system is one which has both local and holistic properties. The field as a whole acts holistically, as it keeps track of topological invariants and global energy levels. But locally there can be a lot of compartmentalization. The field might become “locked” when it goes through a region of tissue whose liquid crystal is in crystalline phase.

To develop an intuition for the diverse effects of liquid crystals, I highly recommend watching the video shown above. I want to suggest that many psychedelic effects might be connected to the dynamics you see in this video. Not all of the effects, because there are things that happen on psychedelics that I have not seen depicted with liquid crystals, such as complex hierarchical organizations and the sense of non-locality. But enough “pieces of the puzzle” find strong resonance with such a system that I’m willing to speculate and guess. In particular, I think that our normal world simulation might involve the liquid crystal being in nematic phase, whereas DMT/psilocybin/ayahuasca would cause the phase to liquify and crystalize, and 5-MeO-DMT might cause it to become isotropic. Consciousness in ordinary waking life could be thought of as anisotropic, meaning it has preferred directions and orientations that guide the way thoughts, perceptions, and the structure of self-awareness are connected to one another.

5-MeO-DMT and the Isotropization of Consciousness

When 5-MeO-DMT is consumed, it may act to disrupt these aligned structures, causing the liquid crystal substrate to become isotropic – a state in which all directions and orientations become equivalent. This change could lead to a loss of differentiation across perceptual and cognitive domains, explaining the characteristic feeling of non-duality, ego dissolution, and of oneness with the universe.

In this isotropic state, the usual directionality of consciousness – its “grooves” that create boundaries between self and other, subject and object, etc. – are “demagnetized”, resulting in a continuous and homogeneous field of experience. This would explain the “white-out” or complete absorption into bliss/emptiness that is often reported (at high doses). Without the structured resistance typically provided by the anisotropic matrix, the mind enters a state of effortless flow, leading to sensations of profound bliss and a perception of timelessness or the eternal now, where “all directions of movement are equally likely”.

The notion that 5-MeO-DMT could render the liquid crystal substrate of consciousness isotropic kick starts a new conceptual framework to make sense of its unique phenomenology, which I believe is highly generative. In this model, the material that implements consciousness – perhaps the neural networks or even finer structures like microtubules – functions like a liquid crystal. But even without postulating a specific biochemical substrate (despite ample candidates in the literature) we can do good phenomenology work (indeed, good algorithmic reductions) using liquid crystal phases as an explanatory framework that can make predictions. Thus, even without grounding in biochemistry, I would posit the framework offers a lot of value.

Crystallization in DMT/Ayahuasca Experiences

In contrast, DMT and ayahuasca may act to crystallize this same substrate, but in a way that forms “competing clusters of coherence” (or “domains”)⁴. Rather than becoming isotropic, the substrate under the influence of DMT becomes highly ordered and structured, but in a complex, fractalized way. The experience typically converges on solid crystalline blocks connected through a sort of liquid interface, which spend a lot of time and energy figuring out how to “talk to each other” and “harmonize” given that they must share the same unified field of consciousness. These domains would represent different facets of the mind with slightly different “affective key signatures”⁵, each producing distinct, often highly geometric, visual and cognitive patterns.

Competing Alignments

In this crystalline state, different parts of the substrate align themselves in a way that is internally coherent but not globally unified. This could explain the characteristic kaleidoscopic visuals and the overlapping layers of perception reported on DMT trips, where different fractalized domains seem to compete for dominance, creating intense and often chaotic shifts in the global texture of experience.

Symmetry and Fractals

Unlike the continuous symmetry of the isotropic state in 5-MeO-DMT, DMT seems to generate discrete symmetries, where specific patterns repeat in a structured way but with variations. This can manifest as geometric forms, polyhedra, or fractal shapes that divide the perceptual field into lattice-like tessellations. The mind is pulled into these competing domains, creating a sense of fragmentation or hyper-compartmentalization of experience, often described as the brain “tuning in” to multiple overlapping realities at once.

Phenomenological Differences

Isotropy vs. Crystallization

5-MeO-DMT

As the liquid crystal substrate becomes isotropic, the uniformity of consciousness results in a seamless, non-differentiated experience. This explains the deep oneness, bliss-emptiness, and timeless absorption characteristic of 5-MeO-DMT experiences. There is no competing information or fragmented competing clusters of coherence; instead, everything is experienced as part of a singular, continuous field where waves travel in every possible direction (quite reminiscent of Feynman’s path integrals), leading to the sensation of centerless consciousness and profound peace. In this state, energy flows smoothly and without resistance, contributing to the super-smooth and deeply peaceful phenomenology reported at high doses.

DMT/Ayahuasca

In contrast, the crystalline structuring of the substrate under DMT/ayahuasca creates a multi-layered, fractalized state, typically with elements of hyperbolic geometry. Here, the mind perceives distinct regions of experience, each vying for attention. Each region or cluster represents a coherent part of experience but lacks the smooth integration seen in 5-MeO-DMT. Instead, the experience is marked by competing directions of thought, tactile feelings, visual input, and synesthetic constructs.

Energetic Flow and Emotional States

5-MeO-DMT

In the isotropic state, energy flows without friction or resistance. This might explain the sensation of bliss – the mind is no longer caught in loops of contraction or attachment but instead experiences a free, effortless expansion. The loss of directional preferences (such as attachment to the self) allows for a profound equanimity and peace, often described as a deep surrender to the flow of the universe. The centerless awareness reported in this state could be a direct reflection of the isotropic condition of the liquid crystal, where no “point of view” is privileged over any other.

DMT/Ayahuasca

The crystallized structure under DMT, on the other hand, could lead to energetic resistance between different regions of the substrate. This might explain the jarring shifts between different patterns, the intense emotional highs and lows, and the sense of being pulled between competing realities. Each cluster of alignment represents a distinct “crystalline coalition”, and as the mind navigates through these regions, it encounters pockets of resistance and flow convergence (cf. geometric frustration), contributing to the often overwhelming intensity of the DMT experience.

Topological Defects

5-MeO-DMT

5-MeO-DMT in small doses does bring about a state of the “energy body” where energy often collides with itself. In other words, at low doses 5-MeO-DMT causes a kind of geometric frustration in the somatic and visual field (at least). But at higher doses this tends to resolve and one cannot prioritize one point over another. They all seem to be, at the root, “the same point” anyway. In other words, while topological defects characteristic of irregular liquid crystal organizations are typical of 5-MeO-DMT experiences in low doses, this goes away in high doses. Perhaps we could think of this as the result of the interaction between the liquid crystal phase and the isotropic phase, where we arrive at a hybrid state that effectively does have patches of directionality. But when the isotropic phase finally takes over, all of that goes away.

DMT/Ayahuasca

The number and complexity of topological defects increases with the dose. As documented by the visual artists who participated in the retreat, the complexity and connectivity of gestalts continue to increase as one increases the dose of psilocybin or ayahuasca (and thus likely DMT as well). These gestalts, if attended to closely, seem also to be implemented with topological defects as their scaffolding. The higher the dose, the more intricate and modularized the crystal domains seem, which fits the story of the dose climbing a kind of “crystallization gradient”. The more competing clusters you have, the more topological defects you will observe.

The Role of Symmetry and Entropy

5-MeO-DMT

5-MeO-DMT brings about a state where the liquid crystal substrate becomes maximally symmetric above a certain scale. Interestingly, we would see that at the lowest of levels the state is “scrambled” and thus behaves like a diffusion bed for very high frequencies. But for wavelengths above a certain threshold then any direction of travel costs the same energy. This symmetry in direction of movement is continuous, meaning that any orientation or movement within this field results in the same underlying structure, allowing for a sense of complete unity and smoothness. Phenomenologically, this is experienced as the feeling of being everything at once, with no boundaries or separations. It may also result in the extreme slow euphoria and the profound calmness that pervades the higher doses of 5-MeO-DMT.

DMT/Ayahuasca

DMT/Ayahuasca, in contrast, produces a discrete symmetry where different regions of the substrate align in patterns that repeat but are not seamless. This could explain the vivid and intense fractal visuals, the compartmentalized realities, and the sense of being pulled in multiple directions at once. These discrete symmetries lead to a higher entropy state in which information and perception are not evenly distributed, resulting in more chaotic, though highly structured, experiences.

Wrapping Up

In this speculative framework, 5-MeO-DMT isotropizes the liquid crystal substrate of consciousness, resulting in a seamless, non-dual experience of oneness, while DMT crystallizes the substrate, leading to the formation of competing clusters of coherence that cause geometric, fractal, and kaleidoscopic structures to emerge. Both processes, while fundamentally altering the structure of consciousness, result in vastly different phenomenologies – one marked by smooth, continuous unity, and the other by complex, structured multiplicity.

By understanding these phase transitions in the liquid crystal model of consciousness, we gain a deeper appreciation of how different psychedelic substances shape the topology of experience and why the phenomenology of 5-MeO-DMT and DMT differ so radically.

While we haven’t investigated in detail plausible biochemical substrates for this liquid crystal, we think the explanatory framework can stand on its own simply by virtue of being able to compress large amounts of phenomenology into a small set of principles. While I can’t say I have confidence that this theory is on the right track, I do think it reaches the threshold that makes it worth exploring in detail. Thus, we shall program simulations and run psychophysics studies aiming to falsify this explanatory framework. It’s one of the new research frontiers that these retreats have opened up.