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History of Kabbalah

There are interesting debates among various great thinkers, philosophers and scholars on the date of origins of the Kabbalah. Many kabbalists claim it as a product of 1st century A.D Palestine, while some trace it back during 12th century, Province, in the school of R. Isaac. He was known as the ‘father of Kabbalah’. However, now there are plenty evidences that ascertain its intimate relation with Jewish mysticism running since early times. This essentially makes it difficult to outline the origin and transitory phases of Kabbalah.
The earliest documentations of Kabbalah came from the ages of 100 to 1000 A.D, which focused on explaining mysticism related to ‘Merkabah’ and its connection with the creation to reach the God. These mystics are believed to be the part of shamanism in which trance states are induced in an attempt to ‘visualize’ God. One of the most powerful document, known as Sepher Yetzirach was assumed to be composed earlier than this period.
During the middle ages, the notion of theosophical development had been quite popularized. This development mainly focuses on the processes within God. It also emphasized on the description of the intrinsic process of creation as manifested in an order of emanations, or Sefirot. This set of guidelines can be found in Sepher Yetzirach.
Kabbalah is essentially a mystical journey that was evolved nearly two thousand years back and is on continuous practice since that time. It is equally popular among non-Jewish masses for about last five hundred years.