Kabbalah (aka Cabala or Qabala) according to the Llewellyn encyclopedia is "A mystical system which forms the mystical underpinnings for the three major Western religions as well as for modern Ceremonial Magick. The word is transliterated Hebrew, and is spelled in English in various ways...a complete system of knowledge about all the dimensions of the universe and of the human psyche organized into "the Tree of Life" diagram showing the inner construction and the connections between levels and forms of consciousness, energy, and matter. It provides a resource for understanding and applying the principles of Magick, for understanding the dynamics of the psyche, and for interpreting human history and action. The present-day Tarot specifically relates to the Tree of Life."
That's a lot to wrap my head around >.<
To me, Kabbalah is a spiritual belief system and practice that stems from Judaism.
I had never had an interest in Kabbalah until I ran into the book Simple Kabbalah by Kim Zetter. I read it all in one day while vacationing at the lake house and it got my head spinning. If I someone had explained this stuff to me when I was younger in the way that Zetter did in this book I would have probably stayed in church.
The best lesson I've received so far was from that book and it was the Kabbalistic break down of the very first verse of the Bible Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
This verse took a few chapters to break down, just to give you an idea of the in-depth outlook on the Bible these scholars have. I don't want to copy all of the chapters here but I will say that in the end the true translation should read "In the mind, God created God and the alphabet of the heavens and the alphabet of the Earth." Don't have a clue as to what that means? Read her book - its enlightening.
Ever since reading that book, I have had a further interest in Kabbalah. I'd love to have a set of books called the Kabbalistic Bible, specifically Genesis and Revelations (which notably are the most studied books of the Bible where Kabbalah is concerned).
Looking back at this post, it's not very detailed on the subject but the said subject is so vast and detailed it's hard to put it all in one lil blog post. My suggestion is if this sounds like something you're interested in, learn more either online or through one of the books I've mentioned.