(EMOTIONAL SELF) 
Similar to Freud's idea of the id, this is a collection of primitive drives coded in our genetic makeup that has survived in our species as part of our animal past from time immemorial. Its purpose is primarily to insure the survival of the species and, secondarily, the survival of the individual long enough to play its part in the continuum of the species. Closely related to the somatic control centers in and around the brain stem which govern the automatic aspects of bodily function, such as heart rate and breathing, the neural pathways involved in this "hindbrain-like" activity of the Animal Self probably also play a part in the mediation of the so-called psychosomatic phenomena.
The Animal Self is largely unconscious or preconscious (vaguely impinging upon awareness) and is composed of the maintenance drives, the protection drives, the reproductive drive, and the death response.
- Maintenance involves securing the intake necessary for the health of the mind and body. Oxygen, water, food, sunlight, and stimulation must be continually applied to maintain life.
- Protection involves insulation (clothes/shelter) against the harsher aspects of the environment. It also includes territorial and defense response against the predatory instincts of animals and other humans.
- Reproduction drive is one of the strongest motive forces within living systems insuring the continuation of the species by the production and nurture of offspring.
- Death Response is coded within the genetic information of each species as an approximate maximum lifespan. For humans this is about 150 years. However, once we have served our purpose, reproduction, a mechanism seems to be set into motion which accelerates physical deterioration, thus insuring the fastest possible turnover of the generations to keep evolution moving apace. It also seems probable that there can be a psychosomatic shortening of the lifespan by facilitating processes such as heart disease and cancer.
Biochemically associated with the programming of these drives are motivational mechanisms that compel us to prioritize our behavior in such a way that meeting drive imperatives is assigned a high order of importance. This is accomplished by influencing the way we feel, both through providing physical sensation and by controlling our ambient emotional state. These effects can vary from subtle nuances, like the vague sense of incompleteness of being that often permeates the consciousness of women until they have a baby, to the direct induction of physical pleasure and emotional gratification through the chemoelectric discharge of certain brain nuclei in what is called the reward cascade.
This reward cascade itself has a tremendous range of response through internal feedback and amplification pathways. Low levels of stimulation, such as occurs after feeding oneself in response to hunger, produce a small warm sense of satisfaction. Behavior that causes more intense arousal of these centers can be powerfully exhilarating, up to the almost incapacitating rushes that accompany the climax of a sexual love experience.
Unlike nature's simpler creatures, however, we do not respond instinctively to these chemical messages from the Animal Self. It is often possible for us to choose our responses to such stimuli or, from lack of understanding, we may react inappropriately to them. One might, for example, ignore or deny the resulting impulses, or even sublime them into some seemingly unrelated behavioral outlet. On the other hand, it is also possible to become obsessed with self-gratification and fixated upon activities which elicit reward response, such as excessive eating or becoming preoccupied with sex and mating rituals and games. Most unfortunate for some, has been the discovery, through chemistry and pharmacology, of methods for artificially inducing the reward cascade, permitting those with emotional difficulties to escape their discomfort or mask it with false pleasure, rather than allowing the pain to serve its intended purpose as an impetus for growth of the Emotional Self.
The fact that the behavioral expression of these drives is, to a certain extent, under the conscious control of the personality enables us to live together socially. We don't have to look far, however, for examples of the fact that we still have a bit further to go in perfecting these controls. Scientific advancement and cultural influences will be the decisive factors in helping us to circumvent the no-longer-useful remnants of our animal past.
On a metaphysical note - there are groups of people that believe that the expression of the Animal Self in each individual person can be seen to resemble the behavior of a certain animal in nature. Deep spiritual awareness will reveal this creature or totem to the mind of the person. My totem is an owl.
(EMOTIONAL SELF)
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