Christian Gnostics/Mystics: Is Gnosticism based in Cabbalah?

Do Christian Gnostics base their belief system in Cabbalah or is it a different system and what do you consider a good starting point for learning to understand the Gnosis?
I wanted to thank all of you folks for your answers. I am an eclectic mystic who is looking for basics in several related areas so I may have a better understanding of the field. Be Blessed.

Elaine Pagels books (The Gnostic Gospels) can give you a good overview. Then you can go from there.

there was a lot of division in their teachings, probably because they saw wisdom as higher than faith

All I mean all gnostic/mystic/arcane/esoteric systems come from one source and one source only....the serpent!! It's exactly what the tree of knowledge of good and evil is about in the beginning!

Gnosis means knowledge, as opposed to faith. Mysticism is the path of Faith. Gnosis and Mysticism are not the same.

Gnosis is an Occult path. Occult not meaning Evil in this instance. Kabballah is also a path of knowledge. I think we obtain Gnosis, not understand it. If one is a Gnostic I believe a study of Kabbalah will go far towards obtaining nosies.

The two (Gnosticism and QBL) are related, but one is not really based on the other other. There are some good Gnostic gospel books out there, and a search for some Golden Dawn sites might help you with the Kabbalah part.

One of the more accessible authors on the history of early Christianity (including the Gnostics) is Bart D. Ehrman. I recommend his "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code." But even more his "Peter, Paul, & Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend" and "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why."

I also recommend the writings of Karen L. King and Elaine Pagels. (Pagels' "Gnostic Gospels" is a good introduction.) I recommend "The Nag Hammadi Library" (James M. Robinson editor) and Bentley Layton's translations "The Gnostic Scriptures."

Gnosticism originated in Egypt. It is the worship of Baal, the sun god. The Kabbalah is found in the Talmud which was developed during the dispersion in Babylon. The idolatry that the Jewish people learned there is mixed in with Holy Scripture in it.