155. “Those two officials, etc.” Those two officials are called Afrira and Kastimon, and their form is like the forms of the holy angels, with six wings. One has the form of an ox, while the other has the form of an eagle, and when they unite, they become the form of a man.

Explanation: The male is called Kastimon, from the word kosti, which means “destruction.” He is called this name because he is darkness and unfit for human habitation. The female is called Afrira, from the word afar [dust], which refers to something unfit for sowing [seeds]. She is called by this name to indicate that although she contains light, as stated, it is still not enough [to serve as a medium for] sowing and harvesting to provide nourishment for people.

[The Zohar] states that their form is like the forms of the angels, with six wings. This is because they are the corresponding opposites of the supernal angels, who have six wings corresponding to the [letter] vav [numerical value of six] of [the divine name] Havaya. [It is also] in order to distinguish them from the holy ḥayot, [a lower form of angel, ] who have only four wings, corresponding to the letters of the name Adonai. This comes to indicate the stature of these kelippot, in that they are the corresponding [opposite] of the supernal holy angels.

Now, the male, Kastimon, has the form of an ox, which is the primordial clothing in which the Sitra Aḥara dresses. This is as it is stated in the Zohar (Parashat Ki Tissa, 57) that from wine dregs there emerges one protesting accuser, the primordial damager. He is in the mystical meaning of the form of a man when he approaches to enter the holiness. Once he has moved away from there and wishes to descend to below, he seeks to be enclothed in a garment, in order to harm the world, and he and his chariots descend. That primordial garment that he takes is the form of an ox, the image of an ox. The first of the damagers of the four [primary damagers] is an ox.

The meaning is as follows: The supernal brains are called “wine that delights God and people” [Judges 9:13]. At their bottom there is an aspect of dross, which is termed “wine dregs. " From this waste the original damager emerges to the world, which, while he is still connected to holiness, that is, to the sediments, he has the form of a man. However, when he descends to harm people, he enclothes himself in the form of an ox. Accordingly, the ox is the first of the four primary damagers [in Jewish laws of damages] [see Bava Kamma 2a].

This is why [Rabbi Shimon] says here that this Kastimon is the aspect of damager [and that he] has the form of an ox. It is to indicate that he is the root of all damagers that are called “ox of the kelippa.” [This damager category] is of the aspect of dross of the supernal brains of the holy name Elohim. As stated above, this is the aspect of alef*-*lamed-heh of the kelippa, which corresponds to alef-lamed-heh of the name Elohim and exists as the dross and sediments that stand below them. Therefore, while [this Kastimon] was still connected to holiness he had the form of a man, because these brains of Elohim are the mystical meaning of the tzelem [“shape”; “image”] of a man, regarding whom it is written, “For in the image [be-tzelem] of God [Elohim] He made man” [Genesis 9:6]. However, when he separated from the holiness and descended to his place, which is the aforementioned arka, he enclothed himself in the clothing of an ox.

His female in arka has the form of an eagle, due to her role of dropping human souls that fall under her control. Nesher [eagle] is from neshirat [“dropping of”] leaves from a tree. It is her task to wander through the world and cause people to experience nocturnal emissions, that is, to impair the holy covenant. On account of [this impairment] the souls fall off people (as stated in section #131#, above). [Rabbi Shimon] states that “when they unite, they take on the form of a man,” meaning that if they reconnect with [the aspect of] holiness, in order to be [positioned again] as of the aspect of sediment under the wine, they return to take on the form of a man as they were before they descended into arka and became damagers (as stated in the Zohar, Parashat Ki Tissa, cited above; see also Zohar, Parashat Naso, 336).