1358. What the tongue symbolizes, and who constitute its province
The tongue affords entrance both to the lungs and to the stomach, thus providing for both. So it symbolizes a kind of entryway to spiritual and heavenly regions. For the lungs symbolize spiritual regions, and because the stomach pertains to the heart, which it serves by providing its nourishment to the blood, therefore the tongue serves as an entryway to heavenly regions. It is by virtue of the lungs that man is able to speak.