Subconsciousing, part two

 And here it is, in his own words, William Walker Atkinson's method of subconsciousing (the intentional use of the subconscious mind):

• the methods whereby, after having accumulated the necessary materials, they may bid the sub‑conscious mentality to sort it out, rearrange, analyze, and build up from it some bit of desired knowledge
• the mind is capable of extending outward toward an object, material or mental, and by examining it by methods inherent in itself, extracting knowledge regarding the object named
• the process by which the knowledge is extracted is most wonderful, and really is performed below the plane of consciousness, the work of the conscious mind being chiefly concerned in holding the Attention upon the object
• the sub‑conscious intellectual faculty may be set to work under the direction of orders given by the Will
• relax every muscle,—take the tension from every nerve—throw aside all mental strain, and then wait a few moments. Then the student is instructed to grasp the subject which he has had before his mind, firmly and fixedly before his mental vision, by means of concentration. Then he is instructed to pass it on to the sub‑conscious mentality by an effort of the Will, which effort is aided by forming a mental picture of the subject as a material substance, or bundle of thought, which is being bodily lifted up and dropped down a mental hatch‑way, or trap‑door, in which it sinks from sight.  The student is then instructed to say to the sub‑conscious mentality: “I wish this subject thoroughly analyzed, arranged, classified (and whatever else is desired) and then the results handed back to me. Attend to this.” 
• the Will‑power back of the transferred thought material, which Will‑power is the cause of the subconscious action, depends very greatly upon the attention and interest given to the acquired material. This mass of thought‑material which is to be digested, and threshed out by the sub‑conscious mind, must be well saturated with interest and attention, in order to obtain the best results. In fact interest and attention are such important aids to the Will, that any consideration of the development and acquirement of Will‑power is practically a development and acquirement of attention and interest
• In acquiring the mass of thought‑material which is to be passed on to the sub‑conscious digestion, one must concentrate a great degree of interest and attention upon each item of thought‑material gathered up. The gathering of this thought‑material is a matter of the greatest importance 
• take up each bit of thought‑material in turn, and examine it with the greatest possible interest, and consequently the greatest attention, and then after having fairly saturated it with this interested attention, place it with the pile of material which, after a while, is to be passed on to the sub‑conscious mentality. Then take up the next bit of material, and after giving it similar treatment, pass it along to the pile also. Then after a while when you have gathered up the main facts of the case, proceed to consider the mass as a whole, with interest and attention, giving it as it were a “general treatment.” Then drop it down the trap‑door into the sub‑conscious mind, with a strong command, “Attend to this thought‑material,” coupled with a strong expectant belief that your order will be obeyed
• Remember that you are passing on “thoughts” for the sub‑consciousness to act upon, and that the more tangible and real these thoughts are, the better can they be handled.  Therefore any plan that will build these thoughts up into “real” things is the plan to pursue. And attention and interest produce just this result
• thought‑material if worked upon with attention and interest become “thought‑forms” that may be handled by the mind just as the hands handle a material object
• To realize just what we are offering to you, we would remind you of the old fairy tales of all races, in which there is to be found one or more tales telling of some poor cobbler, or tailor, or carpenter, as the case may be, who had by his good deeds, gained favor with the “brownies” or good fairies, who would come each night when the man and his family were asleep, and proceed to complete the work that the artisan had laid out for the morrow. The pieces of leather would be made into shoes; the cloth would be sewed into garments; the wood would be joined, and nailed together into boxes, chairs, benches and what not. But in each case the rough materials were prepared by the artisan himself during the day 
• first to calm and quiet his mind.  Then he should arrange the main features of the problem, together with the minor details in their proper places. Then he should pass them slowly before him in review, giving a strong interest and attention to each fact and detail, as it passes before him, but without the slightest attempt to form a decision, or come to a conclusion. Then, having given the matter an interested and attentive review, let him Will that it pass on to his sub‑conscious mind, forming the mental image of dropping it through the trap‑door, and at the same time giving the command of the Will, “Attend to this for me!”  Then dismiss the matter from your conscious mind, by an effort of command of the Will. 
• If the matter does not present itself the following day, bring it up again before the conscious mind for review. You will find that it has shaped itself up considerably, and is assuming definite form and clearness. But right here—and this is important—do not make the mistake of again dissecting it, and meddling with it, and trying to arrange it with your conscious mind. But, instead, give it attention and interest in its new form, and then pass it back again to the sub‑conscious mind for further work. You will find an improvement each time you examine it. But, right here another word of caution. Do not make the mistake of yielding to the impatience of the beginner, and keep on repeatedly bringing up the matter to see what is being done.  Give it time to have the work done on it. 
• Sooner or later, the sub‑conscious mind will, of its own choice, lift up the matter and present it to you in its finished shape for the consideration of the conscious mind.
• The secret is that the sub‑conscious mind with its wonderful patience and care has analyzed the matter, and has separated things before apparently connected. It has also found resemblances and has combined things heretofore considered opposed to each other
• Its whole work seems to have been in the nature of assorting, dissecting, analyzing, and arranging the evidence, and then presenting it before you in a clear, systematic shape. It does not attempt to exercise the judicial prerogative or function, but seems to recognize that its work ceases with the presentation of the edited evidence, and that of the conscious mind begins at the same point
• Suppose you wish to gather together all the information that you possess relating to a certain subject. In the first place it is certain that you know a very great deal more about any subject than you think you do.  Stored away in the various recesses of the mind, or memory if you prefer that term, are stray bits of information and knowledge concerning almost any subject. But these bits of information are not associated with each other. You have never attempted to think attentively upon the particular question before you, and the facts are not correlated in the mind.  
• fix the interested attention firmly upon the question before you, until you manage to get a clear, vivid impression of just what you want answered. Then pass the whole matter into the sub‑conscious mind with the command “Attend to this,” and then leave it. Throw the whole matter off of your mind, and let the sub‑conscious work go on. If possible let the matter run along until the next morning and then take it up for consideration, when, if you have proceeded properly you will find the matter worked out, arranged in logical sequence, so that your conscious attention will be able to clearly review the string of facts, examples, illustrations, experiences, etc., relating to the matter in question. 
• And so far from being apt to get us in a position of false dependence, it is calculated to make us self‑confident—for we are calling upon a part of ourselves, not upon some outside intelligence. 

I'll post up my commentary and thoughts in a separate post for discussion, but this should give y'all quite a bit to chew on until then.