The Return of Idol Worship and the Occult, Part 1

The Return of Idol Worship and the Occult, Part 1
Monday, October 27, 2025 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apologetics / Apostasy / Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / Spiritual warfare / The church / Thought for Today

Idol worship. The Old Testament is full of examples of it. From the nations that surrounded Israel, to at times, Israel itself, the worship of literal physical idols abounds. Today, we typically think of idols not as a type of physical statue, but of some activity, sometimes in itself sinful, but sometimes not, that has usurped God’s rightful place in our lives. Thus non-sinful activities such as sports, video games, social media, shopping, or work can all potentially become an idol, let along things that are sinful in themselves. But literal idol worship? We tend to scoff at the idea.

Have you heard of Defqon.1? If one is over the age of young, probably not. It is the annual festival for hardstyle forms of dance music, a subgenre of EDM (electronic dance music). It is held annually in the Netherlands, and in 2024, had 300,000 attendees (the attendance figures for 2025 have not yet been released).

For the 2024 festival, three giant “artistic sculptures” towered over the main site of the event. Per Defqon.1’s website, these artistic sculptures, called “Defqon.1 Gods,” represented the legacy of the festival’s holy grounds. Odd, but nothing truly dangerous to see here, please move along, right? Just some weird verbiage, correct?

Wrong. First, the sculptures indicated that the festival leaders themselves viewed the festival as a type of god, arguably in itself a form of idol worship. But it gets worse. Each of the three sculptures bore a striking resemblances to an ancient pagan god: Quetzalcoatl, Poseidon, and Phoenix. Of course, the festival downplayed any intentional resemblance to those gods and publicly rejected the idea that the sculptures might have been representations of actual idols.

From the videos of the festival, participants are seen dancing wildly before these supposed towering sculptures. But just as was the case in the Paris Olympics, the mocking of the Last Supper, and the appearance of idols there as well, do we really take the festival’s denials at face value? Why would we?

Rather, it is wiser to take those supposed artistic sculptures to be, and to mean, exactly what they depict: classic pagan idols. So yes, hundreds of thousands of people were indeed dancing before idols. Biblically, one thinks of Israel and the golden calf in the wilderness, and the Moabites/Midianites enticements of Israel at Peor.

There is also the long history of pagan worship through sensuality and sex (as was the case with the Baal of Peor). It is worth noting that in ancient Babylon, every woman was required to offer herself at least once in sexual service at a temple of her choice to the gods/goddesses. What took place at Defqon.1 2024 is nothing new.

So, yes, Defqon.1 2024 did promote and involve classic idol worship. There is little doubt of the spiritual forces that lie behind that festival. For those who celebrate before those (demonic) spirits, it will not end well. It is never wise to open one’s own self to that sort of spiritual influence.

For 2025, the theme was “where legends rise,” a tribute to the genre. The festival stated that while everyone has their own path, the music brings people together, in essence the unifying tribal force. In a way, one thinks of the role of music when Nebuchadnezzar required everyone to worship before the golden idol he had created. When the music played, the people were to bow in worship.

The path Defqon.1’s leadership is urging people to follow is extremely dangerous. Sadly, it represents all to well what many are seeking. Spiritually, Satan will sometimes entice us with an offer of whatever it is we want, but at the cost of our eternal soul. As Jesus pointedly asked, what will it profit if one gains the whole world, but forfeits one’s own soul?

Does Defqon.1 offer lots of exhilarating fun? Absolutely. But with its embrace of literal idols and the spirits that lie behind them, eternal death will be the end result.

Share This Blog: