Alhassan Iddrisu is a modern-day biblical Joseph or Daniel teaching people to understand the spiritual significance of their subconscious mind’s nightly wanderings. In Understanding Your Dreams: A Divine Revelation, Iddrisu proposes that “God reveals himself to us as Christians in dreams.”
Some Christians experience visions or prophesy, but Iddrisu finds these gifts inferior in that they are “not messages from God to man but rather message [sic] from man to man.” Conversely, dreams come directly from God to man, he contends, hence “the gift of dreams has proven … to be the most reliable and most frequently used medium God uses to inform his prophets.” Iddrisu encourages us to find the meaning behind our dreams to guide our decisions about the future.
Undoubtedly the book’s most useful and entertaining portion is the list of meanings behind common symbols in dreams. If you dream about water, Iddrisu notes that it may symbolize “a period of rest, or a time of relief.” Dreaming about cats may represent “a close enemy mostly associated with witchcraft and stealing [your] fortune.”
The book’s real purpose, however, is confusing. At first glance, Iddrisu implies that anyone can learn to be a dream interpreter “regardless of spiritual level or religion.” Moments later, he claims that “the ability to interpret dreams is a gift … you cannot work for it.”
The author’s grammar and punctuation add to the confusion, often providing a bumpy ride. For example, he writes: “The scripture above tells us about what God was telling his people about a time to come what he, will do for his children.” In addition, a more comprehensive “dictionary” of dream symbols would have been useful.
If you can overlook the sometimes-difficult prose and are looking for a crash course in dream interpretation with a Christian bent, this may be for you. However, an in-depth study of the subject will require more than Iddrisu offers in this slim volume.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
