The RAIRE Technique: A Scientific and Spiritual Bridge to Mediumship
Have you ever wondered if there's a systematic and scientifically-backed method to bridge the gap between our world and the spirit world for mediumship development? In the realm where science meets the supernatural, there is a systematic technique that can simplify the way we approach spirit communication. RAIRE combines a current understanding of brain states and neuroscience. As we delve into the intricacies of this method, we'll explore how each step is rooted in spiritual wisdom and supported by scientific research and empirical information.
What is the RAIRE Technique?
The RAIRE technique is an acronym I developed after working with students and from my practice as a medium. The desire was to simplify mediumship development (it is simple!) and help people better understand the spirit communication process. RAIRE stands for:
Relax: Entering the Optimal State of Consciousness
Attention: Focusing the Mind on the Spirit World
Intention: Focusing on a Target via a Spirit Communicator
Receive: Being open to and allowing impressions through the nervous system.
Express: Conveying the Evidence and Message
By mastering the steps of Relaxation, Attention, Intention, Receiving, and Expression, mediums can develop a consistent and reliable method for spirit communication. Let’s break down each step.
Step 1: Relax - The Gateway to Spirit Communication
Research on mediumship about alpha and theta brain wave states has provided intriguing insights into the neurological processes associated with this practice. While studies in this area are limited (and more research needs to be done!), the available evidence suggests a significant correlation between these specific brain wave patterns and mediumistic experiences.
Alpha brain waves (8-12 Hz) are associated with a relaxed, alert state of consciousness. Studies have shown that practitioners often exhibit increased alpha wave activity during mediumship readings. I usually describe spirit communication as "alpha with a target," where the medium maintains a calm, receptive state while focusing on the spirit world and spirit communicator. Delorme et al. (2013) examined brain activity in mediums and found that increased alpha activity correlated with enhanced perceptual sensitivity, indicating that mediums enter a relaxed yet attentive state during readings.
Theta brain waves (4-8 Hz) are linked to more profound relaxation, creativity, and heightened intuition. Some research has indicated that experienced mediums may also show increased theta wave activity during readings, particularly in the upper Hz range of theta. Hageman et al. analyzed the EEG patterns of Brazilian Spiritist mediums and found increased theta power in mediums compared to controls during mediumistic activities.
The Windbridge Research Center has conducted several studies on mediumship, focusing on various aspects of the phenomenon. An EEG study with six Windbridge mediums suggested that communication with the deceased is a distinct mental state, different from ordinary recollection, perception, or imagination.
Nahm, M. (2024). The Arcane Nexus: Mediumship and Trance States from the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) examines historical and contemporary mediumistic trance states and their correlation with brain wave activity. Again, one of the most striking findings is the increased presence of alpha and theta waves in deep trance mediums. These brain wave patterns are remarkably similar to those observed in individuals experiencing hypnosis or deep meditation.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need hours of meditation or “sitting in power” (spiritual meditation practice primarily used in mediumship development, popularized by Spiritualism traditions). We naturally and EASILY move constantly in and out of Alpha and Theta brain wave states. Below are examples of how frequently and naturally we enter these brain wave states.
Alpha Brain Wave States:
Daydreaming or zoning out during a mundane task.
Light reading or watching TV without intense focus.
The moments just before falling asleep at night.
Practicing mindfulness or meditation.
Taking a relaxing walk while not focusing intensely on the task.
Stretching or light exercise with a calm mind.
Sitting quietly with eyes closed, feeling relaxed but awake.
Theta Brain Wave States:
The transitional state between wakefulness and sleep.
During deep meditation practices.
Moments of creative inspiration or sudden insights.
Engaging in repetitive, automatic tasks like showering or driving a familiar route.
Experiencing hypnagogic imagery just before sleep.
Performing creative visualization exercises.
Engaging in activities that induce a flow state characterized by intense focus and immersion.
As you can see, we naturally transition in and out of alpha and theta brain wave states throughout the day. While we experience these transitions commonly, the duration and intensity of alpha and theta states can vary depending on individual factors, tasks, and daily activities.
Step 2: Attention – Focusing on the Spirit World
Directing attention toward the spirit world involves a deliberate shift in perception from the material to the spiritual realm. This idea of the spirit world is abstract and sometimes hard to grasp. It is easier not to think of the spirit world as a place as much as it is a frequency. Additionally, the frequency is apart from emphasis and awareness of the material world.
Think of it like tuning a sophisticated multi-band radio in a room filled with electromagnetic waves. The room you're in, with its visible objects and everyday sounds, represents the material world we typically perceive. The invisible electromagnetic waves filling the room represent the spirit world - always present but not immediately apparent to our normal senses. The multi-band radio represents your attention and awareness. It can pick up various types of signals. Turning on the radio and selecting the "spirit band" is like shifting your attention from the material world to the spiritual realm.
To give another analogy, imagine you're visiting a new city to meet someone you've never seen before. You're entering a new environment as you drive into the city limits. This is like shifting your awareness to the spirit world. You notice the general atmosphere, architecture, and energy of the city. Similarly, when you first attune to the spirit world, you might sense a change in the energy around you or feel a different "vibration." You might sense a general "feel" of the spiritual space you're exploring.
Attention to the spirit world or that frequency can not occur if the medium is in a beta brain wave state. Beta-brain waves are neural oscillations in the brain with a frequency range of 12.5 to 30 Hz. These waves are associated with normal waking consciousness and active, focused mental states. Activities for Beta include active conversation and debate, learning and processing new information, problem-solving and analytical thinking, and studying or working on challenging projects.
Staying in and returning to an alpha/theta brainwave state allows spirit communication. In other words, if Step 1: Relax isn’t happening, then Step 2: Attention can not occur.
Step 3: Intention: Focusing on a Target via a Spirit Communicator
The power of intention plays a vital role in spirit communication. Setting a clear intention helps direct the medium’s focus toward a specific communicator.
To go back to the analogy above with the radio station. Fine-tuning the dial to find a clear signal is akin to focusing on a specific spirit communicator. You're sifting through the general spiritual "noise" to connect with one particular spirit communicator. You haven't moved through this process, but your perception has shifted dramatically by finding your target.
Using the other previous analogy of the neighborhood, you can find the specific house you're looking for. This represents honing in on the “energy” of a particular spirit. Finally, the person opens the door, and you meet the person you came to see. This is like establishing a direct connection with a specific spirit communicator.
To add another analogy to understand the third step of intention, imagine you're at a bustling cocktail party in a crowded room. There are dozens of conversations around you, clinking glasses, background music, and the general hum of activity. This represents your everyday material world, full of sensory input and distractions.
Let’s say you hear someone across the room mention your name. Suddenly, your focus shifts. You're still in the same busy room, but now your attention is entirely on that conversation. The other noises fade into the background as you concentrate on picking up every word from that specific discussion and finding the person who has mentioned your name, your target in this analogy, your spirit communicator.
You're still physically present in the material realm. Still, you’re choosing to tune out the "noise" of everyday life and focus intently on picking up the subtle "signals" from the spirit communicator. It's not that the party (material world) has disappeared; you've just shifted your perception to focus on someone specific.
Lynn McTaggart's work from her book The Intention Experiment suggests that intention is a tangible energy that can influence physical reality. This idea can be extended to spirit communication, where a medium's focused intention may be a directing force. The book explores the idea that a vast quantum energy field connects the universe. In the context of mediumship, this interconnectedness facilitates communication between the physical and spiritual realms when accessed through focused intention.
Dean Radin’s 2006 book Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality explores how quantum mechanics may explain extrasensory perception (ESP), telepathy, and spirit communication. Just as intent appears to shape probability waves in experiments like the double-slit, it's theorized that focused attention and intention could align energy fields, potentially facilitating deeper spirit connections.
Step 4: Receive – Allowing for Spiritual Impressions via The Nervous System
The Receive stage is where the medium actively allows for impressions from the spirit communicator. The impressions work through the subconscious mind by utilizing various sensory channels to receive impressions from spirit communicators. These psychic abilities are innate in everyone! The purpose of mediumship development is to have mediums have a heightened awareness and allow these subtle senses to work through the subconscious mind and nervous system.
I have hypothesized that mediumship works through the mechanism of engrams. Engrams are physical representations of memories in the brain. They are defined as units of cognitive information imprinted in bodily substances, theorized to be how memories are stored as biophysical or biochemical changes in the brain. Engrams form when experiences strengthen connections between groups of neurons, creating unique patterns of activity that can be reconstructed when triggered by a retrieval cue. I believe mediumship involves the interaction between the subconscious mind and the activation of the engrams through the energetic consciousness of the spirit communicator.
These impressions manifest through various sensory channels in the nervous system. However, for extrasensory perception, they have been giving specific names, which may seem familiar and are listed below:
Clairvoyance (clear seeing)
Clairaudience (clear hearing)
Clairsentience (clear feeling)
Claircognizance (clear knowing)
Step 5: Express – Evidence and Messages with Clarity and Understanding
The most significant challenge in mediumship is accurately expressing spirit impressions in language so the client or sitter understands in an evidential and meaningful way. Because spirit communication does not occur in neatly packaged, long, detailed sentences, transforming these impressions into something intelligible to a sitter is challenging and prone to misinterpretation, cognitive interference, and bias filtering.
Language is inherently restrictive when conveying complex evidence and messages. It is fundamentally inadequate for expressing the depth and complexity of spirit communications. Research in neurolinguistics suggests that words are approximations of internal experiences rather than direct representations of reality.
Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis suggests that the structure of language influences perception. If spirit communication occurs in a non-verbal, symbolic, or energetic form, attempting to verbalize it inherently alters its meaning. Because spirit communication relies on impressions rather than direct speech, mediums must render non-verbal experiences into human language in a way the sitter or client will understand—a process rife with potential distortion.
However, neuroplasticity, in the form of deliberate practice of expression of evidence, can help with the most challenging aspect of mediumship. Neuroplasticity plays a crucial role in assisting mediums to express evidence more effectively. This process involves the brain's ability to form new neural connections and reorganize existing ones, which can enhance a medium's capacity to articulate spirit impressions clearly and meaningfully. This neuroplastic adaptation can improve their communication accuracy and clarity over time.
I express to students regularly, I know they are accurate if they are linked up with the spirit communicator (steps 1-4). It is trying to express out how you are accurate in a meaningful way to the sitter. This is why I advocate deliberate practice more than anything else in mediumship. It is the real key to mediumship development because of the expression and limitations with language.
Conclusion
These factors contribute to why spirit communication can be inconsistent and, at times, frustratingly ambiguous—for both the medium and the sitter. However, understanding these challenges from a neuroscientific, scientific and psychological perspective can offer valuable insight into the complexity of the process.
RAIRE technique represents my attempt to bring structure and methodology to the practice. By following these steps, practitioners aim to create a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms, facilitating meaningful connections and messages for those seeking guidance or connection with loved ones who have passed on.