The Metaphysical Symbolism of "Skin"

Worldskins of Yokudan myth, Boethiah's preaching of “Shift Ye in your skins” and the proper way to wear them, Dwemer being the skin of Numidium… the lore is filled with references to skins in varying places. But what is the importance and what exactly are these “skins?”

Most have trouble trying to explain the concept to certain people, saying that the skin is the covering of something (such as a culture), the part in contact with the world. It’s the face, bit not the bone or heart, it represents bit is supported…

Is it easier to think of it another way?

Perhaps one way… Skins are Incarnations

Worldskins are different incarnations of the world/timelines, make it shed and you are left with a new yet different rendering of the your reality or history. Jumping between them is going to an elseworld version of your own reality or an alternate history. Vehk's claims of the events of Red Mountain at the trial, the proclamation of The King-Once-Jungled, and the plot of Serpent in ESO Craglorn, all show the wrappings of the state of the world/history are alterable, and alternative versions can be made by tampering with the underlying frameworks that prop it up or by breaking it with another impossible action.

The message of Boethiah to the Chimer, like as told in Sermon 10 was not only telling them how to act and behave… but setting up the tenants of the first houses (family lines) and reforming the original orthodoxy of their central Ancestral worship. The living are the “skin”… the incarnated projections of immortal concepts that are your “Aedra”. Shifting skins was as much about shedding and discarding the trapping of the Old Aldmeri faith and decadency while moving towards one based on their own created Houses backed by daedric attachments, as it was just changing its color and shade.

Additionally, Boethiah changed Trinimac's nature by "wearing his skin and speaking through it". This shifted his attachment away from the aedric ada, resulting in him and his people, becoming altered into paraiah. Skin being attached to your higher associated gradient, shows how this was done.

And for Dwemer becoming the Numidium's Divine Skin… now you can see that when I posted this... I wasn’t so much as disagreeing with the interpretations like u/laurelanthalasa awesomely put together…. But was merely saying it in a different way.

A God's skin is their manifestations/Avatars/embodied influence. The original source for incarnation, or to word it another way, subgradiance, in the universe… was the original brush of of Anu and Padhome

>It is interesting to note that their original views were very unorthodox for Altmer, and thus their exile from Alinor. These views included the suggestion that Anu’s son, the Time Dragon, was formed in reaction to Padhome’s influence. In effect, Anu had finally done something. This inconceivable effect gave rise to an equally inconceivable cause, and so PSJJJJ was named and the Order eventually took his name.

The world egg , whose shell was an ouroboros snake eating itself, was struck resulting in a piece of itself to separate and become independent… and more, in fact everyone, followed. The secret of world is “I” means that we all, us and the immortal concepts who influence and project us, are the lesser imperfect incarnations of the higher gradient, only separated by an impossible action… and it’s “Exact-Cracking” Psjjjj.

Thanks to u/badooga1 and good ol' Lorkhaj for finally getting me to put this into words.