Why did Maria rub badger fat on Darusya's head? In chapter 2 of _Sweet Darusya_ , Maria rubbed badger fat on Darusya's head and put a cabbage leaf on top of that in an apparent effort to help with her headaches. Why did she do that?

Badger fat is a common folk medicine in eastern Europe. It is typically used to treat cuts or burns, though a close friend from Voronezh reports having been given hot badger fat to drink to treat sore throat. Cabbage leaves are commonly used to treat headache. A small academic survey of Belarusian remedies, including these, can be found here.