In this secret writing, minerals were replaced by animals or gods. The Egyptian bestiary is extremely rich as it contains numerous natural forms of matter and several types of reconstituted bodies. Hybrid animals, made up of parts taken from different beasts in the animal world, are compound bodies, alloys or mixtures. When they have human heads, it means they are under the control of the human mind. These apparently terrifying animals, such as the sphinx or the griffon, are in fact completely inoffensive. Nevertheless it required both time and courage for the chemists to be able to tame them.

Griffon is the common name given to the Gyps fulvus, the griffon vulture, an incarnation of the goddess Mout. On this bas relief, the griffon and the goddess Mout are shown back to back. Each forms part of the other. Today, the griffon is thought to have represented the four elements, but in fact it was a body on which all four elements had acted. It was often shown with the body of a lion, (fire), the hooves of a bull (earth), the wings of a bird of prey (air), and a fish's tail (water).