The Kabbalah is a system of mysticism which originated in ancient Sumer, thus putting its beginnings in the same remote epoch as the mysteries of Egypt and the Hindu Vedas. Babylon succeeded Sumer. The word "Kabbalah" comes from a Hebrew root meaning to receive sacred teachings. In order to receive, that teaching has to pre-exist somewhere already.The Jewish mystics added two important works to Kabbalistic lore, namely the books known as the Sepher Yetzirah, reputed to have been written in the 2nd century AD, and the Zohar, dating from the 13th century. The Zohar came to the attention of Christian scholars shortly thereafter, and sparked an interest in the Kabbalah on the part of a wide range of European mystics and occultists.
Thus the Kabbalah became part and parcel of the secret teachings of such groups as the Rosicrucians and Freemasons. These Gentile Kabbalists likewise added much fresh material to the tradition, as did the Theosophists, the Golden Dawn, and now numerous new age thinkers and writers. Thus the Kabbalah as it now exists is far from being an exclusively Jewish doctrine, but is rather an integral part of the Western Mystery Tradition.
An essential teaching of the Kabbalah is that the same patterns that govern the operation of the universe are to be found in the deepest soul of man, as well as the forces that drive those patterns.