Fraser Nelson writes in the Spectator today giving advice to "Gidders" on what to do now that Yachtgate is a thing of the past. Although some bloggers on Conservative Home suggest that the article will have limited readership (and thus do limited damage), the Spectator does tend to feed gossips elsewhere in the mainstream press. It may also be contended that if its limited readership extends only to its targets we might actually get somewhere again. While Russell Brand and Jonathan "Woss" might be the subject of calls for a Commons debate on the issue (?!? - have we really got nothing else to discuss?) Nelson's arguments make interesting reading for anyone who thought Osborne's troubles were largely over.

I am also road-testing Lucy Cavendish's Oracle Tarot, which promises "always a positive choice, no matter what the situation". No Devil, no Death, no bad cards - just like the Tories' preferred image.

1. Inspiration for Nelson's article - THE HIGH PRIESTESS - Inner Guidance. "You are entering a time when your intuition will be extremely accurate and sensitive. You will also be able to exercise discipline, restraint and spiritual dignity. You may seem to be a little distant and aloof during this time; however a more accurate impression is that you are listening to your higher self so intently that earthly practicalities are going unheeded at this time. You will do the right thing for all concerned - even if this is indeed the hardest choice to make."

In other words Fraser wrote the article because he had a hunch he might get through to the leadership where others have failed, and that the Tories are not basing themselves in the real world but in the future world where they are governing, not opposing. This is probably a good thing on balance - they are casting themselves as an alternative government - but Fraser feels he is able to bring them down to earth again. Although based on rational input and output, with the role of the media such as it is, politics is based largely on what feels right - look at the success of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, even though strategy might have suggested age before beauty - rather than what is necessarily worldly. So in writing Nelson is trying to do the best he can to get through to the higher wavelength the Tories are currently on to make sure they are aware of what is going on down on Earth with the rest of us.

2. Response from Team Cameron - 8 CUPS - Contemplation. "You're in one of those existential fog zones that should come with warning signs; you're wondering what it's all about, this existence thing. Are you really just a fun ride for a piece of DNA determined to get passed on to another generation? Come on. There's a lot more to you than a random dot on life's matrix. Take yourself to bed, get a massage, read Herman Hesse - indulge this fog - until you can't stand yourself anymore. Dare I say now that you know how everyone else has been feeling? Treat them to some of your famous laughter and show them you're back."

I would rather not treat criticism with "famous laughter" but rather with serious thought, but that's just me, I'm not still odds-on favourite to be the next Prime Minister. Given that we are dealing with actual response to this article rather than just advice for Team Cameron, the image of someone in bed on this card seems somewhat peculiar when what we are seeing from a lot of different sources is that we need some action rather than just contemplation. Although a certain amount of introspection is valuable, particularly after what has gone before, perhaps three years' worth is a little excessive and needs drastic curtailment here. Nevertheless I have found the tarot provides both advice and warning - you may think you understand that the future is mutable, but as I regularly find, you ignore warnings at your own risk - because warning can turn into reality very quickly.

3. Impact of this article on the wider scene - 5 SWORDS - Challenges, problems. "While everything looks bleak at the moment, remember that everybody has times like this. So now it's your turn - well, welcome to the learning curve, my friend. This is actually quite inspiring - this is when you can start to take real control of your life. It's all too easy to feel and be marvelous when things are going well, but it's these tougher times that make you strong. Meditate, keep calm and take what action you can - bash a pillow, [or sack a party chairman caught fiddling their expenses], not other people, when you feel furious. Things are going to change - you can bet on it. The question is, will you leave this time a better person? Now, that's one question that you, and only you, can determine the answer to. In other words, it's your life - if you don't like it, work on changing it. If you can't change it, work on changing how you feel about it."

The article may be small and low-key, as well as still equivocal enough to have most people accept it as advice not excoriation, but even a positive, affirmative pack of cards (traditionally, because the pioneers of the modern tarot are mostly American, cards are sold in decks, not packs, but Owlperson is rather stuck in his British ways and insists I call it a pack not a deck) has to have a card or two for when things go wrong. The impact is still only half that needed in traditional packs to wipe out a leadership rather than just give it a kick in the right direction, but since the Brown bounce renewed itself the uphill struggle on this card has become a reverse landslide rather than the hopeful signs in the summer that DC and co could maintain their bubble and turn it into more of a shell to get them through until 2010. This is a challenge the party has to rise to, otherwise it could fall quite far and quite fast back into a rerun of 2003.

4. Direction of trend - TEMPERANCE - Balance, harmony. "The quest for balance and a certain harmony is challenging you at present: it requires a certain kind of calm, steady approach and an almost scientific method to understand the components that will help you to balance and harmonise your life. If you think creatively, and then use a well-thought-out process, you can bring seemingly opposing elements into harmony - whether its friends or relatives, or aspects of your own personality or work life. There is a way to transform your life: if you can fuse creativity and organisation, you'll create a wealth of opportunity and enjoyment in your daily existence."

Team Cameron obviously take something to heart to try and rebalance the party in the favour of people with ideas and opinions beyond their own viewpoints. Balancing out their modernising trends by taking on board criticisms of being lightweight would be good and evidently - this is descriptive not prescriptive - it begins to happen. Ken Clarke and John Redwood are posited by people on Conservative Home as an alternative Treasury team; however realistically neither of these two men have taken full Shadow Cabinet roles since the end of the 90s, Ken Clarke not at all since 1997 and Redwood preferred to stay partially on the backbenches in order to assist Michael Howard but to spend a little more time with his constituency than the average Shadow. I'm not sure whether balance means bringing back big hitters in the manner that Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his alter-ego after similar criticisms, or whether it means incorporating some more ideas that look more like a government in waiting and less like an opposition whose only pronouncements are what they would do in the short-term.

5. Overall outcome - THE STAR - "You are entering a blessed time of new hopes and its best companion: fulfillment. You will be awash with inspiration, and the best news is that your sense that all will be more than well is not simply wishful thinking - it's the kind of wishful thinking that will materialise. You will feel more energised than you have for some time, will enjoy the magical simplicity of life: nature, the stars at night, the dew on flowers, the sweet smell of new blossoms, the musical call of birds, the beauty of an eggshell-blue sky after rain, the operatic drama of an orange and scarlet sunset. Nature will make your soul sing. This time can occur after you have been tested in some way by the Universe: allow yourself to revel in this time of rebirth and joy. Delight in life - it is as the Universe intended it to be for you."

In some packs The Star can be ephemeral - hope and optimism in abundance but still a mountain to climb. If concrete use can be made of this article, in other words, it will have the intended effect for the Party as a whole and Cameron's prospects in particular. The lazy naivete of the card description is in some way similar to the effect Barack Obama has had in the US. But another article in the Spectator asks - is that enough? The Republican Party too want to model themselves on Team Cameron after what is assumed to be a defeat, even a heavy one. But substance is always needed to bring politics down-to-earth, and Brown's gain has been significant in that the first major economic crisis of New Labour's tenure in office seems to have brought out the best in Labour, not the worst, as the party hangs in there together and improves its responsiveness to public worries. The Star is a relief somewhat - I doubt anyone wants to see yet another change of leader before 2010 - but its danger lies in the intangibility of hope and optimism in the face of the need for root-and-branch construction of a proper alternative to Labour's robust plans.