Interview: Stefani Caponi

Interview with Stefanie Caponi of Moon Void Tarot
www.moonvoidtarot.com
Instagram - @Moonvoidtarot

Go ahead and introduce yourself.
I’m Stefanie Caponi, an illustrator, tarot reader, and creator or the Moon Void Tarot. I also write the monthly horoscopes, focusing on relationships, sex, and intimacy for DameProducts.com. I teach workshops in NYC and in my spare time I focus on creating art. I live in Brooklyn with my partner and our two cats.

What is your favorite book?
Women Who Run With the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

If you practice a spiritual path, what is it? Why were you drawn to it?
I was drawn to spirituality at a young age, having grown up attending Catholic school. I knew from a young age the patriarchal teachings of organized religion were not my path. I was drawn to ritual and sacred practice, and began to study tarot and wicca when I was fourteen. Wicca was still too rigid for me, and I began to build my practice based on my own experiences as a channel and developing my own rituals.

Do you have any daily rituals? If so what are they?
I recommend finding your power element and starting there. Mine happens to be fire, and in my daily rituals I work with candle magic and sacred cleansing, which is a fancy way of saying my showers are intentional for energy clearing and purification. Ritual can be simple as long as it’s intentional.

What first made you interested in tarot?
As a teenager I was curious about the symbolism and artwork. The RWS deck blended elements of Judaism and Catholicism I was familiar with, and the first time I became curious about artwork and symbols pre-dating and transcending their religions. This was pre-internet time!

What were some of your earliest experiences with tarot like?
I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but it felt good to engage with it.

What techniques did you use to learn tarot?
I was self taught through books until I began drawing my own deck based on my spiritual awakening in 2016. Drawing the cards helped me embody and understand them in ways I could never read in a book. Around that same time I decided to join an in person six month intensive study program called The Brooklyn Fools, created by my teacher, Jeff Hinshaw and co facilitated by Lindsey Mack.

What was your first tarot deck?
A Rider Waite Smith deck I got from Barnes & Noble in 1997 when I was fourteen.

What is your favorite tarot deck besides your own?
The Pagan Otherworlds Tarot deck by Uusi. The artwork is so beautiful.

What card are you most drawn to? Why?
The Death card, I’m always drawn to artists interpretation and depiction of Death

What is your favorite card? Why?
Death and The Empress are my favorites. The themes of transformation and rebirth are symbolic of my life experiences, as are the themes of creativity, feminine energy, birth, nature, and receptivity.

What was your inspiration (art, books, movies, etc) for Moon Void?
My own life had fallen apart and I took a year off from working to let myself process the destruction of everything I had once known. I wrote a memoir and began drawing the cards as accompanying illustrations. My book felt too personal and mostly cathartic, but people encouraged me to finish the deck and here we are.

What made you choose modern imagery?
While I love traditional imagery, I use tarot for practical and modern living, and I think it’s important to see ourselves in our decks.

What has the process been like?
Drawing was surprising and beautiful, the business side of the process has been eye-opening and not always my favorite. I wish I could focus on creativity and spirituality and less of the business and marketing, but I’ve loved having the opportunity to blend my artistic process with my spirituality.

Have there been any frustrations along the way from concept to production? If so, what have
they been?
Production is tricky if you don’t have help with graphic design layout, or an understanding of computer graphics, which I don’t! Managing sales, promotion, and customer service is more than I was prepared for, but I’m proud of myself for taking it on.

What card are you most drawn to in your tarot? Why?
The Moon card, because the Hermit’s cabin appears again under the big moon. The emphasis is on shadow work and the subconscious, and the work we do in solitude.

What is your favorite card in your tarot? Why?
The Two of Cups, because when I thought of what falling in love meant to me (and not just romantic love, the 2 of cups is just as much about platonic love!) I thought about how emotionally full I feel when I connect deeply with someone while we share stories, usually over coffee. Getting lost in someone else’s universe is a beautiful experience.

What is the most important aspect of your deck?
The most important aspect of my deck is that it follows one central character, instead of having multiple figures. This brings the focus on the personal experience and doesn’t place power outside of ourselves. Also that the court cards feature animals and the alchemical symbols of each card instead of people. This takes away gender implications and focuses on the double
elemental essence.

How would you recommend your deck to someone?
It is a great deck for self reflection and shadow work

What advice would you give for choosing a deck?
Choose a deck with artwork that speaks to you. While each card has it’s meaning, the cards become special messages that will speak specifically to you beyond traditional symbolism.

What advice would you give for learning the art of tarot?
Throw out perfectionism, that is counter productive for working with intuition and divining. Trust what messages arise, and the energy that you feel when working with the cards. For me, that is the essence of tarot. Not following books and what anyone else says is right or wrong. Trust yourself.

I noticed you offer a Shadow Workshop, can you explain more about that? 
My shadow workshop introduces the idea of the shadow, and offers a safe space to invite it out into the light. We look at fear, identify triggers, explore the concept of mirror work, especially when we are triggered by the behavior and actions of others. In the space of neutrality we can become inquisitive about our darkness. I also introduce using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or 'tapping' as a physical tool to aid in shadow work. Talking, journaling, and tarot can only take us so far. Using EFT to calm the nervous system by tapping the acupressure points along the body's energy meridians helps shift the physical trauma in our bodies while reciting a script, also creates new neural pathways in the brain. 

Do you have anything else to add?
Thank you for taking the time to interview me and your interest in learning more about Moon Void Tarot. This deck doesn’t have a physical guidebook yet, there is public instagram account with pictures of the cards and brief descriptions. Even if you don’t have Instagram, you can type Instagram.com/moonvoidtarot into your browser and view them from your devices. The initial reason for a digital guide was monetary, as this project is entirely self funded. Thank you for your patience.