How did our consciousness develop?

A copy of a 1478 drawing by Theodoros Pelecanos, ^[1] of an alchemical tract attributed to Synesius

One can consider the development of consciousness in terns of external or environmental factors
or one can see it through the development through archetypes or primordial images (see above)
which reveal themselves to us in dreams and fantasies and initiate the process of assimilation and
development.