The question of consciousness also involves the question of the origin of language, spoken and otherwise. My own take on this one resides on Bearfabrique.
There was originally an electrostatic component to the manner in which the human mind functioned and the greater prevalence of things which we would call psychic or paranormal phenomena in recent prehistory are thought to have been enabled by this more potent electrostatic field. Some of Al DeGrazia and Hugh Crossthwaite's writings on electricity and antique religious practices can be downloaded in PDF format from Bearfabrique.