CHIM gets brought up in discussion of TES Lore quite a bit these days, but I wonder sometimes if it is being applied to events too liberally. As awesome as the idea of CHIM is, there is little in the way of verifiable in-games texts to support it. And even when it is written of, it is often in metaphor and nebulous vague terms.
Vivec writes that he has achieved CHIM in his 36 Lessons but there a number of issues here. First, much of what is in these volumes is of questionable (AT BEST) veracity. His interactions with Nerevar, the forming of the Tribunal, even his very birth contradict much of what is recorded from that time. Second, if Vivec even wrote the Sermons, he had a vested interest in propping himself up as figure more impressive than the Daedric Princes. He was the most involved with the operation of the Tribunal Temple and a notorious poet before his ascension. Neither go well with printing the truth. Finally, there is no real evidence that he wrote them at all. And as such, they would have nearly no foundation.
Another major source of information on CHIM is Mankor Camoran's Commentaries, specifically his references that Tiber Septem used CHIM to change the very ecology of the Imperial Province from jungle to forest. BUT, this information is coming from a genocidal lunatic with a history of making false claims about his ancestry, the nature of Tamriel, and the afterlife that awaits his followers. In our world, it would be little different from sourcing the teachings of Jim Jones or Charles Manson on the matter. You would be justifiably laughed out of any serious discussion on the matter.
Now, I am not arguing against the concept of CHIM existing. I am not even saying that Vivec and Talos didn't achieve it. BUT, I see a lot of talk these days that implies a much more concrete application and understanding of what CHIM is, what CHIM does, and who has used it. And I think what is passed as fact is often more assumption than anything else.
