Rimma Badmaeva, about how to serve tea
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Rimma talks about whom to first serve first in the morning and the types of danger that women are believed to be exposed to: Every morning, women make tea and put a cup with fresh tea on the altar. After removing their headscarf, women pray and prostrate in front of the altar. The ceremony of sprinkling tea is done as follows. With her left foot inside the house, and her right foot outside, she sprinkles the tea upwards while uttering ‘tsog khayrkhan’. After the ritual, tea is offered either to the oldest male in the family or to the husband. If there are not grown up men around, tea is offered first to the oldest son. If there are not boys around, then the tea is offered to the grandmother. At midnight people open their door to no one, because night is a time of evil spirits. If one has to open the door, it should be done only after hearing three knocks. Evil spirits either knock once or many times. People also try not to let women into their homes at night, because women may bring in pollution or bad spirits that cling on to the bottom of their dress. For this reason women do not go to cemeteries either. In the past, women wore special hair bags for the same reason i.e. to protect their hair from pollution. Women wear earrings so that snakes do not cling to their ears.