Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on Prerequisities to the Study of Kabbalah

"There are also those who imagine that before pursuing Kabbalah, they must first master the science of astronomy. They have other notions which keep them from following the straight path. They sanctimoniously give themselves the excuse that their bellies are not yet full of the bread and meat of the Gemara. For these poor people, their entire lives will not be sufficient to learn even a bit of Gemara, let alone to fill their bellies so that they could partake of this science and be sated. Thus the poor people go to their eternal rest bereft of wisdom."

-- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Or Ne'Erev 11a