Dr. Falx

Three years ago, very unexpectedly, I lost my only sibling - my little brother, Jake. The grief process that followed rocked me to my foundations, changing every part of my life and transforming me on every level. There is a lot that I could say about that process. I have cultivated quite an intimacy with grief and with trauma, walking with that experience through these last three years. But this post is about what came next.

As I emerged from the first intensive year of healing, I recognized that I was not the same person who was thrust, unsuspecting and unprepared, into the cauldron of transformation that is deep grief. I had been made new, in so many ways. For the worse, of course, in some obvious ways. But also, in a much more complex way to own, for the better, too.

I came to understand that this new person, this nearly unrecognizable version of me, had a new name - Falx.

The falx cerebri is a structure in the brain that I have worked with in CranioSacral Therapy (CST) for more than a decade now, and it has always captivated me. The falx is a fold of dura mater, literally “tough mother” in Latin, the membrane that surrounds and protects the whole central nervous system. The falx cerebri is the portion of the dura mater that folds between the two hemispheres of the brain and contains the sinuses that drain fluids from the brain, which just means it allows the old to flow out, creating space for the inflow of fresh nourishment. Working with this structure in CST soothes a frazzled nervous system, allowing for the release and healing of trauma, for the emergence of resilience.

In Latin, Falx (pronounced fall-ks) itself means “sickle- or crescent-shaped.” 

Like the waxing and waning moon, who presides over the ever-changing seasons of our lives.

Like the scythe of the reaper, who gathers in the grain, 

that remaining kernel, 

that labor of love gifted by beings whose season is finished.

Like grief, that honed, curved blade, sharply dividing our lives into Before and After.

This new name isn’t something I’m changing legally. It’s not something that banishes the Molly I was Before. It’s simply a more fitting address for the person I am growing into in this big After. That is to say, if you continue to call me Dr. Molly, that’s perfectly fine. That person is still here too and will always be part of my wholeness.

But I am ready to introduce myself to all of you in ways that only my closest people have seen so far. I am ready to emerge more fully from this underworld experience of grief and transformation and to carry more openly the healing elixir that I am bringing forth as Dr. Falx.

Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you most of all for allowing me to walk with you on your journeys of transformation. This work that I do is truly one of the most meaningful parts of my life, and I am deeply honored that you choose me to be part of your healing.

Yours in grief, in healing, in love and in pain, in deep sadness and in profound gratitude, and in transformative, post-traumatic growth,

Dr. Falx