Healing through Nature. A Lesson from the traditional Ameru culture in Kenya

Ameru is a Bantu group of people currently living on Mount Kenya’s and Nyambene slopes in Kenya. The paper explains How nature sacred meaning in the traditional Ameru culture brought healing in the society before most of them became Christians. The Ameru life lesson, how they interacted with nature, how they treated their living using nature, and how nature served as the resting place for their dead, is an integral part of how nature brought healing. It offered physical, psychological and spiritual healing. Their approaches might help us to see how nature is part of our healing; a recognition of our interconnectedness. Nature and spirituality generated hope and connected the dead with the living. Forested areas were part of their integral spirituality, and ‘heaven’ for their ancestors, who were watching over them.