זוהר שמות — דף רסג ע”ב

In this place the soul is judged until it enters the pit. In the pit are serpents and scorpions that sting the soul and judge it. Before this is a supreme impure spirit that rules over all the other side. The portion of the other side is the husks of vanity, the serpent and the scorpion, which strike man and incline him toward evil. Blessed are the righteous who guard themselves from them and whose reward is good in the world to come.