﹒ external signs vs internal signs . . .
note: this is all my own upg !!! whether or not you decide to follow this is up to you !!! if it makes your worship easier and makes sense with your beliefs, then by all means, feel free to adopt it.
in my practice, what makes most sense to me is the concept of internal signs and external signs. most deities have their own style of signs, and it usually falls into either of them. sometimes even both.
౨ৎ external signs
these are the more difficult ones to discern, for me at least. these are signs exhibited in the external world. for example, seeing a number associated with your deity or seeing your deity's domain more often if it's uncommon, or seeing your deity's associations more often. usually, i find these somewhat unreliable unless they're super obvious, mainly because as humans, we have a tendency for pattern recognition and confirmation bias. for these kinds of signs, it's very important to consider the mundane before the magical. a rule of thumb many like to apply when it comes to external signs is: if it happens three times or more, it's more likely that it's a sign. otherwise, don't bother.
౨ৎ internal signs
these are much easier for me to personally discern! these are signs exhibited within yourself. for example, dreams, meditations, information obtained through clairs, channelling, etc. for these kinds of signs, it is CRUCIAL to recognise your own thought patterns beforehand. for example, i tend to think in words. one word after the other. when i get an internal message from a deity, depending on the deity, it's either a full message that i have to translate to words or a full message in words that's not a consistent stream of words rather like a whole paragraph dropped in my brain. i also observe the speech patterns and vocabulary used, both my own and any potential messages. as far as dreams go, i confirm if a dream is from a deity through divination.
౨ৎ extra
there is a third kind, which combines both of them, but i find the only thing that falls under that intersection is divination. it relies both on an external component (a physical tool) and an internal component (the reader's interpretation).
౨ৎ how do i know which one xyz deity falls under?
usually, that would correspond with the deity's particular domains. for example, hermes usually uses external signs while apollon primarily uses internal signs or a mixture. it may differ based on your experiences, but i find that's usually how it works.
i hope this helps!