Step into your True Colours
In January, February, and March, an old monastery in The Hague will take center stage for a series of True Colours gatherings. Each session offers a dive into the spectrum of the inner rainbow we all carry in our own unique way.
These gatherings explore what truly moves you, which shades of yourself you’ve been ignoring, and how to bring your authentic colours into the routines that shape your daily life.
Guided by multitalented musician Thijs Ronteltap, artist Charlotte Luijerink, aura-reader and intuitive coach Sarah Muiderman, and Ingrid Schippers, transpersonal and energy counselor, we’ll explore our true colours by blending the senses—turning sound into colour and colour into sound.
The encounter that started it all
What if music doesn’t just sound, but also carries colour?
For musician and producer Thijs Ronteltap, this is daily reality. The phenomenon is called synesthesia. Since childhood, Thijs has seen colours in his mind’s eye when he hears music or even someone’s vocal timbre.
It also works in reverse: Thijs can ‘read’ paintings—by Van Gogh, Banksy, or anyone else—like musical scores, converting what he sees into free musical improvisations. Over the years, he has learned to use this sensory crossover creatively: as inspiration, as a grounding force, and as a way of engaging with diversity. During an interview with Thijs the idea emerged to share this gift more widely.
In True Colours gatherings, participants shine their own light
Shakespeare said it well:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
We each play many parts, contributing—often without realizing it—to the larger picture. We paint our thoughts, words, feelings, and associations onto the canvas that becomes our life’s journey.
But do you know why your favourite colour is your favourite colour? Or what emotions and undercurrents certain colours evoke in you?
Long ago, people named colours after objects or idioms rather than the pigment itself. Even today we use colour to describe experiences that have little to do with actual colour: being caught red-handed, something appearing out of the blue, having green fingers, rolling out the red carpet, receiving a golden opportunity.
What’s interesting is that colour always exists in relation to something else. A rainbow appears because light breaks in water molecules. Astronauts see objects illuminated by the sun, while space itself remains dark. The Moon is visible only because it reflects sunlight. Light needs matter to reveal itself—and all matter reflects its own unique palette. “Let there be light” is no exaggeration.
Before artificial lighting, people were far more aware of natural light; today we’re reminded of this only during power cuts.
And further back in history, people may well have perceived the colours that others carried in their aura—something modern energy healers increasingly report. Much like water in a rainbow, the minerals, plants, animals, and humans reflect their state of being through the way their chakras and energy pathways refract light. What we now call ‘synesthesia’ may once have been a natural ability in our hunter-gatherer evolution.
Connecting the senses, a first taste
The 2026 True Colours gatherings explore sensory blending through different themes:
- January 18 — Setting intentions for the new year: reconnecting with your inner rainbow
- February 14 — Valentine’s Day: the colours of love
- March 22 — First day of spring: the colours of rejuvenation and rebirth
To get a sense of what to expect, take some time for yourself. Gather some coloured pencils and a blank sheet of paper. Ground yourself—feel your connection to the earth, the chair beneath you, your feet on the floor. Open your senses and listen to Flight, a free improvisation by Thijs based on the colours and sounds that arise when his senses blend.
Maybe you simply want to listen; maybe certain colours or feelings emerge. Whatever happens, let it unfold naturally. What is meant to appear will appear.
Or try drawing what you hear onto the white paper, and observe—without judgment—what feelings arise. Whatever unfolds will tell you something about yourself.
Flight. © Thijs Ronteltap
Want to stay tuned?
To stay updated on the program and upcoming blogs, send us your -e-mail address through the contact form with the subject line “True Colours”. We’ll add you to the mailing list and keep you informed.
Added to this blog is a short improvisation by Thijs at the piano in the Barthkapel in The Hague where the True Colour gatherings will take place. : IMG_1994
