The Three Stages of Life: From Burden to Freedom to Wisdom

“Three changes of the spirit do I show you: how the spirit turns into a camel, the camel into a lion, and the lion into a child.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

You are at the start of a journey—a spiritual journey that philosophers and psychologists have been mapping out for hundreds of years. This route has different stages, each with its own problems and gifts. Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, and Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, both saw these basic changes in human awareness, even though they lived in different times and fields.

Your life is not a straight path but a series of spiritual rebirths. Awareness of these stages helps you move purposefully, recognise your growth, and anticipate change.

The Camel: Your Stage of Burden and Obedience

You start your trip as a camel, which is the spirit that carries weight. Nietzsche says that this first step is like kneeling down like a camel, wishing to be well loaded and asking, “What is heavy?” so you can take it on and be happy with your strength. This is your training for life, where you learn the values, duties, and responsibilities of your family, culture, and society.

The Mind of the Camel

At this point, you mostly just collect what other people expect of you. Jung may say that this is you identifying with the persona, which is the mask you show the world.

You have a lot of endurance, like a camel. You carry your burdens through the deserts of your early life, which makes you stronger and more disciplined.

The Knowledge of Carrying Burdens

Old Indian texts talk about this important step in discipline. The Bhagavad Gita (3.35) says, “It is better to do your own duties poorly than to do someone else’s duties well.” A person never gets into trouble if they do what they are supposed to do. This is similar to the camel’s sacred duty to carry its assigned load.

But eventually, the weight becomes overwhelming. Signs that you are moving from camel to lion include growing discomfort with the roles and values you’ve been carrying. When you realise your conditioning’s limits and begin to question society’s promises, you start to feel disillusioned. This dissatisfaction is the catalyst for your first major transformation.

The Lion: Your Fight for Freedom and Rebellion

In the loneliest part of your unhappiness, your second change happens: the camel turns into a lion. You now have the creative power to get rid of your past since you have inherited and comprehended the traditions you once carried. The lion stands for your brave self, who questions and fights against the values that are already in place.

Killing the “Thou Shalt” Dragon

Nietzsche says that the lion’s big job is to face the powerful dragon of established values, which has a “Thou Shalt” on every scale. These are the regulations and laws that have been in place for your camel stage. The lion stands up in protest, yelling a “sacred No” to everything that would limit your freedom, while the camel kneels in respect.

This rebellion isn’t just teenagers being rebellious; it’s a necessary tearing down of things that have outlived their usefulness. You “want to capture freedom and be lord in your own desert” as the lion.

The Lion’s Strengths and Weaknesses

The lion stage represents what Jung called the emergence of the shadow—the neglected aspects of oneself that need to be reclaimed for completeness. Jung said that “one must give up the retrospective longing which only wants to resuscitate the torpid bliss and effortlessness of childhood.” This is exactly what the lion does when it refuses to carry childhood responsibilities.

If you keep being defiant, this stage can become a trap. One modern commentator says, “The Lion is reactive because he only uses power against what already exists.” If you define yourself by what you don’t want, you will always be tied to it.

The Child: Your Return to Imagination and Wonder

The final major shift comes as the lion transforms into a child. After breaking down old values, this stage is about building new ones. Nietzsche calls the child innocent and full of fresh creativity—a symbol of a new beginning. This is you rediscovering wonder, now combined with the insights gained from your earlier two stages.

The kid stage is what Jung called “individuation,” when all your parts come together to become a whole. Jung said that “in every adult there is a child—an eternal child that is always changing, never finished, and needs constant care, attention, and education.” This perpetual child is the core of your creativity.

This spiritual kid is not like the physical child at the start of life. Instead, they embody what the Bhagavad Gita calls “steadfast wisdom,” which means being “without desire, satisfied, firm in faith, and master of mind and senses” while still being completely involved in the universe. The child treats reality like a game, making values instead of fighting against them.

Jung’s ‘Afternoon of Life’

Jung specifically discussed this latter stage in what he called “the afternoon of life.” He said, “The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different.” The morning was about growing and taking over the outside world, whereas the afternoon was about getting smaller and looking inside.

Jung said that numerous individuals struggle to navigate this shift smoothly: “For the most part, our elderly attempt to compete with the youth.” Instead of taking on the role of wise elder, they try to stay brothers and sisters to their kids, holding on to values from when they were young that no longer help them grow.

According to Jung, the true sage gives up worldly success and looks inside themselves. They become what some call a “gerotranscendent” being, which means they feel more connected to prior generations and have less need for unnecessary social engagement.

The Cyclical Nature of Your Changes

These stages occur many times, deepening as life progresses. Taking on new obligations might feel like the camel; when limits become constraining, you become the lion; and when you find new ways of being, you become the child.

Modern Jungian analysts observe that in our latter years, we endeavour to “hold the tension of opposites—such as the puer (inner child) and senex (old person),” indicating that the last stage entails the integration of all prior transformations. You become a camel, a lion, and a child at the same time, carrying the loads you need to, keeping your sovereignty strong, and making things with childlike wonder.

The Journey Goes On

Your spiritual growth follows this old pattern of building up, tearing down, and building up again. You have a camel, a lion, and a child inside you at once, and each needs to be expressed at different times.

Nietzsche and Jung provide the map, but you forge your path. As the ancient Hindu text Katha Upanishad says, “Get up! Wake up! And don’t stop till you attain your goal.” Your journey continues—each ending a new beginning, each death a richer rebirth.

How a Therapist Can Guide You Through the Stages

A therapist guides you through transformation. As the camel, weighed by duty, they help you identify which burdens are yours. In the lion’s rebellion, they offer a safe space for your anger and guide you to rebuild purposefully. As a child, they support you in integrating experiences and rediscovering creativity, turning struggles into wisdom.

This journey is cyclical, deepening with each pass. The goal is not to remain in one stage, but to flow between them, carrying the camel’s discipline, the lion’s courage, and the child’s creativity within you all at once.

Reflect on the camel, lion, and child stages: which do you identify with most right now?

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