Vacuum cleaner, dust: what are the meanings of cleaning in our dreams?

Have you ever dreamed of your broom or too much dust in your bedroom or kitchen? The household can invite itself during our sleep with its share of good and less good surprises. What signals do these different dreams send us? Explanations with Olivier Cochet, dream specialist.

1. Dreaming of a vacuum cleaner, a mop or a broom: what meaning?

The vacuum cleaner and the mop have the same symbolism in our dreams. Well, almost… “These two objects refer to a desire to clean something. The mop echoes souvenirs. We can ask ourselves: do I have to clean something from my childhood, from my adolescence or from a past that I believe is over? It focuses on an element that has been present in us for a long time and which deserves to be worked on in depth” explains Olivier Cochet, author of the book “Onirotherapy, playing with your dreams to better experience reality” published by Jouvence. The expert insists on an essential point: the place of the dream. Because vacuuming or mopping in a bedroom or toilet does not have the same meaning. “In the bedroom, there is the idea of ​​washing something that has been soiled in our privacy, or which in any case has been damaged. With the toilets, we have to wonder if we have undertaken the evacuation of our entire interior”.

In every dream, there is a strong image, a strange detail that allows us to remember it. Olivier Cochet remembers a patient’s dream where it was a question of a broom. “This woman didn’t use it often. It was interesting to see him in his dreams. There was a mask next to it. What was he doing in a beautiful apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris? We expect something more high-tech. By working with this person, we discovered that she could no longer bear this too select environment. She felt like a commoner. The broom was near the mask, it’s not for nothing: Brooms/mask = down with the masks. We could have taken the wrong road, believing that the broom evoked something old, except that no. It referred to something very current”. Hence the importance of taking into account the environment and the context of the dream. It says a lot more than the object itself…

2. Dreaming of moving furniture: what does it mean?

“There is a need to realign here. A change must be made. You have to get out of the habit of something to tend towards what suits you” notes Olivier Cochet. If furniture is removed, there is the idea of ​​making room. This implies that we are too cluttered in our daily lives, at least in appearance. It is essential to take into account the emotion of the person. “Hoarding objects can make us feel rich. On paper, it’s nice, but it masks a desire to take refuge in the material, forgetting the spiritual dimension of the things around us. Dreaming of an overcrowded interior can be unpleasant, but it can inspire us to take charge of our lives and ask us the right questions so as not to get bogged down. There is an invitation to get rid of futile things to focus on the essential. All the scenarios exist, it is the emotion associated with the dream that tells us if there is positive or negative”.

3. Dreaming of dust: what does it mean?

Dreaming of dust refers to different interpretations: the accumulation of time, poor professional or personal management… But in nine out of ten cases, it echoes a letting go in our way of behaving. “Again, it’s interesting to ask where the dust has settled. If she has piled up on the bed, one wonders what place we give to our intimate life. If it’s in the kitchen, have we fed our souls and hearts enough and properly? Too much dust in the toilets is a call to free oneself to move forward”. Olivier Cochet recalls the quote from the playwright Jacques Deval: “The nightmare is the soul that sweeps in front of its door. Dreaming and cleaning are the same thing. The way we hold our inner space interferes with our dreams. The more our space is maintained, the more our dreams nourish us. Dreaming is a great inner cleansing to dust off our life and move forward”.