Pelman's System of Memory Training (Pelmanism)

Pelman's System of Memory Training (or simply Pelmanism) is a set of techniques intended for the improvement of memory and other faculties of the mind, as well as a curative method for various mental ailments. The system was named for Christopher Louis Pelman (Christof Ludwig Poehlmann), who was credited as the originator of the principles underlying it; however, it is unclear how much continuing involvement Pelman had with the English Pelmanist courses named for him, which were apparently devised and marketed by William Joseph Ennever through businesses as the Pelman School of Memory Training and the Pelman Institute.

Variations of Pelmanism included the Pelman-Foster System of R. F. Foster, author of Memory, and What Can Be Done to Improve It (1905).

The Course

Per Pelmanism and the Pelman Institute (Barry Ennever), the course offered by the Pelman School/Institute was fifteen lessons, referred to as "the little grey books", as follows:

Lesson 1, The Soul of Pelmanism
Lesson 2, Driving out the Inferiority Complex
Lesson 3, Your Purpose in Life: How to Achieve It
Lesson 4, The Will to Conquer
Lesson 5, Concentration and Mental Control
Lesson 6, The Science & Art of Self-Realization
Lesson 7, The Money Brain: An Enquiry Into Its Qualities
Lesson 8, The World of People and Things to Know About Them
Lesson 9, Self-Expression and Personality
Lesson 10, Good Judgement in Business & Affairs
Lesson 11, The Scientific Method: or, How to Handle Your Facts
Lesson 12, Your Subconscious Life
Lesson 13, Creating New Ideas: Studies in Imagination and Originality
Lesson 14, The Use and Abuse of Reading: How to Organize Your Mental Life
Lesson 15, Pelmanism in Action

A later, "Americanized" course offered by the Pelman Institute of America abridges the number of lessons to twelve, as follows:

Lesson 1, The First Principles of Pelmanism
Pelmanism at once makes you realize how your brain works. You see that all success must come from it. You are shown what mental ability is. You learn to understand yourself and to realize that you have powers within you to be developed. You begin the training which increases your power of observation and, consequently, your memory.
Lesson 2, Purpose: Or What Is Your Aim?
Are you drifting, not knowing where your goal is? In this lesson you are shown how to secure a rudder for your life, and to develop enthusiasm. You realize the meaning of purpose or aim. You see how this purpose develops energy, concentration, memory, will and increases knowledge and self-confidence.
Lesson 3, Knowledge and the Senses
You wonder why you do not know things. This lesson shows you how all knowledge comes through the sense avenues, — sight, hearing, etc. It develops the first fundamental tools for reaching a higher position. You are taught how to observe and how to reap the benefits of observation.
Lesson 4, Will and Effort
The practical training of Will is what you want and what this lesson gives. How to make yourself do the work that seems so dry and uninteresting, how to get those letters written, how to finish that job, — these are the things you want to know and these the lesson teaches. Will depends on the development of certain mental habits and our exercises develop them.
Lesson 5, Concentration
You sit down to read a book or to talk with your friend. Suddenly you wake up to wonder what you read or what your friend was just saying. You have been 'wool-gathering.' In this lesson on Concentration, we teach you how to overcome this habit and develop your ability to concentrate.
Lesson 6, Mental Connection
Your mind is stored with many memories, but you find it difficult to recall them at the appropriate time. This lesson drills you in the organization of thoughts and ideas. It increases your power of recollection and makes your memory stronger and more serviceable.
Lesson 7, Imagination and Originality
Your imagination rules your life. During your early training, imagination may have been deadened. It needs awakening. It is the basis of progress. You must see yourself as you wish to be. How to increase imagination and develop originality is the chief problem. Here you are shown how it is made a workman, not simply a play-fellow.
Lesson 8, The Pursuit of Truth
To have knowledge and be wise means that you must seek truth. You are taught how to become a hunter of fact. You learn how to follow evidence, not prejudice, or wish. We give you the right methods and teach you how to use them.
Lesson 9, On Personality
Personality is what you want. It is developed by the principles given here. Self-confidence is increased. Unreasoning fear is eliminated. Shyness or self-consciousness disappears, and you are trained to be yourself and express yourself. You are made a positive, not a negative character.
Lesson 10, Organizing Your Mental Life
A book is a look at life through another's eyes. It tells you what he thinks of a problem. Does he tell you truly ? This lesson teaches you how to give ideas their proper value. It guides you in your reading and shows how to retain what you have read.
Lesson 11, The Subconscious
You will be tomorrow the product of your today. The subconscious is like a store house for the experiences, the feelings, the emotions, the reactions of the present. This lesson teaches the significance of this fact and trains you in such a way so that the stored up energy will be a vital dynamic force in your life.
Lesson 12, Pelmanism in Action
The mind is a unity. In the preceding lessons we have taken up different phases. In this lesson the principles of Pelmanism are brought together, and in brief, pointed sentences, you are shown the whole system in action. It has become part of you, and this summary rounds you out as a complete Pelmanist.