CHIM, CHIM-in-ey, CHIM, CHIM-in-ey

Dear /r/teslore,

Happy anniversary (once again) from /u/lilrhys and /u/Prince-of-Plots. This is an update to the Merry CHIMmas post by PoP at the end of last year. A lot of you are much the wiser about this than when it was first posted and so this update will hopefully be more accurate and comprehensive than the previous one but will still help newer members of our subreddit.

To understand CHIM you must firstly understand that the whole of the TES universe is the dream of the Godhead, an unknown entity turned schizophrenic by the raging battle between the “Order” of Anu and the “Change” of Padomay. This “dream” is subgradient which means that each level of the dream (Void to Aurbis to Mundus) are lesser parts of the dream. Therefore all the beings seen in the Elder Scrolls games are parts of the Godhead, as is the player character him/herself.

CHIM, is the realisation that you are a part of this Godhead whilst also being an individual within it. Failure to realise the second part leads to zero-summing, which is blanking out of the dream. It is called zero-summing because of the equation that is needed to attain CHIM. In order to attain CHIM you must balance the “I AM” (of existence) and the “I AM NOT” (of non-existence) and still conclude that “I AM” or adding 1 and -1 and still getting 1. If you get 0, you zero-sum out of existence, which is not desired.

Examples of those who have attained CHIM are Talos and Vivec. They attained CHIM by using the method of the Tower which is explained by Vivec himself in his teachings. In order to find the Tower you must first see the wheel, which is the structure of the TES universe. In the centre you have Mundus which is the hub of the wheel. The 8 spokes of the wheel are the 8 givers who are known best as the 8 Divines. The gaps between these 8 spokes number 16 and represent the 16 Daedric Princes.

We are the hub, the Mundus that goes by many names. We are the heart of all creation. What does this mean? Why should we care? Lorkhan created it so that we could find what he did. In fact, and here is the secret: the hub is the reflection of its creators, the circle within the circle, only the border to ours is so much easier to see. Stand in its flux and remain whole of mind. Look at it sideways and see the “I”.

As Vivec states. Look at the Wheel sideways and you see the “I” of the Godhead. The singular which dreams the plurals. This sudden realisation is what kickstarts CHIM. This quote, however, shows more than how to reach CHIM, it also explains Lorkhan’s purpose. Lorkhan saw the Tower without the Wheel when he travelled to the edge of the Aurbis:

As the gods and demons of the Aurbis erupted, the get of Padhome tried to leave it all behind for he wanted all of it and none of it all at once. It was then that he came to the border of the Aurbis.

He saw the Tower, for a circle turned sideways is an “I”. This was the first word of Lorkhan and he would never, ever forget it.

Lorkhan saw the Tower and realised that he was a part of the Godhead but somehow he did not attain CHIM and neither did he zero-sum. What we do know though is that it inspired him to create Mundus. He created it so others could attain CHIM:

And this is the most-reached destination of all that embark upon this road. Why would Lorkhan and his (unwitting?) agents sabotage their experiments with the Tower? Why would he crumble that which he esteems?

Perhaps he failed so you might know how not to.

In order to understand CHIM though you must also understand Love. In order to truly attain CHIM you must also Know Love although it is true to say that attaining CHIM is actually an act of Egotistic Altruism. Both Vivec and Talos loved themselves so much that by proxy they loved everything else because they were also it. By that logic the applications of CHIM are also bound by Love. After achieving CHIM you become a lucid dreamer within the dream and can begin to change and manipulate the dream since you intimately know the land beneath your feet like you know your hands. However, as I previously stated the CHIM’s uses are bound by Love and therefore the only examples we have of CHIM’s uses are through Love:

“You have suffered for me to win this throne, and I see how you hate jungle. Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you.”

—From the Many-Headed Talos (recited by Heimskr)

Talos loved his warriors and used CHIM to change the landscape of Cyrodiil from jungle to the grasslands we see in Oblivion.