Literally translated as “brown bald rabbit”, this phrase relates to the practice of smearing soot on a baby’s forehead for protection at night. The practice’s roots lie in folklore when two demons were conspiring to take a young couple’s baby. However, because of the soot on the baby’s face, the demon that was meant to grab the child claimed it didn’t see the baby in the night, only a woman carrying a brown, bald rabbit.

Some related beliefs in this practice is that by covering that portion of the baby’s forehead, it also covers their “third eye”, thus making them less sensitive to the supernatural world. In this way, it is meant to keep the baby calm and from being scared, especially at night. Otherwise, the practice is meant to ward off the evil eye or other dark energies.

We first heard about this practice during our Mongolian language studies this spring. Since then, I’ve encountered it only a few times here in UB, although I suspect this is more common in rural areas these days (or in the ger districts).