In the context of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering" scattering, the effect can be viewed as photon absorption giving excitation to a non-existent ('virtual') energy level, followed by immediate re-emission of a photon and return to the same (Rayleigh) or another (Raman) state.
Contrast this to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescence" , which occurs between real energy states.