Book excerpt: Havings studied this material for several years, I had the opportunity to read Brian Lancaster's book on the Essence of Kabbalah. I found the writing to be well based in theory. Lancaster references many of the seminal works in Kabbalah and many of the great writers - from Luria Havings studied this material for several years, I had the opportunity to read Brian Lancaster's book on the Essence of Kabbalah. I found the writing to be well based in theory. Lancaster references many of the seminal works in Kabbalah and many of the great writers - from Luria. He makes sense out of a very complex tradition by providing adequate background, common sense language, and a nice balance of scholarship and approachability. The book is also sprinkled with a few illustrations, and Lancaser does a great job of describing the comcepts of gematria and the Hebrew alphabet - which comprise a major foundation for Kabbalistic thinking. All in all a great introductory book.