Mine was a road-opener spell. Took me about four days to stop trying to explain it away.
I had been stuck, job hunt going nowhere, apartment about to fall apart. Did a simple working with a key, a yellow candle, some oil I’d made the summer before. Nothing from a book, just bits I’d pulled together. When I finished, I didn’t feel anything special.
I think I probably felt a bit deflated. If I’m honest, I was probably expecting a flash of lightning across the sky or my windows being blown in. Yep, I watched Charmed as a kid.
Then things started stacking. I think I’d all but forgotten about the spell attempt because it all got so busy so quickly.
A recruiter messaged about a job I hadn’t applied for. The landlord called saying the issue was resolved. Ran into someone I hadn’t seen in three years who told me about a sublet that worked out. Five things in under a week, all pointing the same way. One coincidence you can brush off. By the fifth, I was laughing in my kitchen because there was no other explanation left.
Tweaking the spell is what makes the difference. It puts your own weight into it instead of borrowing someone else’s, which is why it usually works better than copying straight from a book. I think you also get a better sign that it’s worked at that point because you’re more in-tune with the working rather than just copying.
Since then.. I have had spells with much more obvious and immediate signs but this was my FIRST.