Why must we believe *before* we die?

I think the idea in general has something to do with balance. In Shakespeare's tragedies, the world of the tragedy is said to be out of joint, unbalanced, and in order to get the equilibrium back, somebody has to pay, and so the tragic machinery proceeds along its inexorable course. Same thing here. In order to get the world back into equilibrium, somebody must pay the debt by way of suffering.

and as the old crones stir the caldron and chant the encantation, we bid a fond farwell...

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