What exactly is kabbalah and which religion does it follow on from?

I’m not an expert in this field, but I know that kabbalah is a mystical practice based in Judaism. Welcome to Fluther.

@stranger has it right. Try a Jewish encyclopedia or wikipedia for more detais.

It’s a form of Jewish mysticism that originated in sephardic (Spanish) Jewish communities during the 1400’s or 1500’s. I’m not an expert, but it involves the idea of “sephirot,” which are ten magical emanations from God that roughly correspond to various aspects of the universe.

It’s popular in pop culture because it seems mysterious, Madonna got into it, and Sephiroth was the name of the villain in the popular videogame Final Fantasy 7.

The people above are correct, but it seems it is trendy now for people of all religions to study Kabbalah. I can understand why Christians, especially Catholics, would find Kabbalah interesting.

Yes, they have it correct. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods to aid understanding of these concepts and to thereby attain spiritual realization. Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the realm of Jewish thought.

Some traditional Jews look askance at the some of the “kabbalah centers” that have arisen in recent years. Traditionally, learning kabbalah was supposed to be reserved for older, mature, and learned people who already had a strong background in Jewish studies in the Torah, Talmud, Jewish law, etc. From this perspective, it doesn’t make sense for people to study kabbalah if they do not have a solid foundation in Jewish learning. If you would like to absorb some kabbalistic teachings in a traditional context, I’d recommend a trip to the mystical city of Tzfat in Israel.

There is probably an Idiots Guide to Kabbalah, those Idiots Guides are great for a quick overview of a religion.